Compensation Theory In The Translation Of Documentary Works

An ideal translation is one that produces the same effects on the target readers as that produced by the source text on the original readers.However,information loss caused by the intrinsic structural differences of the two languages and the disparities between the two cultures often hinder a translator to achieve that goal.The meaning,pragmatic function,cultural information and the aesthetic forms of the source text might be reduced or even transformed in the process of translation.Therefore,certain compensation techniques should be applied to minimize the information loss.This thesis is a case study of why and how the compensation theory should be applied in the E-C translation of a documentary text.The text translated is three chapters excerpted from A Further Contribution to the Study of the Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians,a typical documentary text that unfolds the archaic funeral activities of the North American Indians and their understanding of death.Various cultural elements peculiar to the North American Indians are incorporated in the book.When such a book is translated into Chinese whose funeral culture is drastically different from that of the North American Indians,the information loss is unavoidable.Therefore,several translation compensation techniques including cultural compensation,grammatical compensation,semantic compensation and aesthetic compensation are adopted to make up for the information that might be reduced if the translation were conducted literally.A comparison of the specific translation cases with and without applying certain compensation techniques demonstrates that the compensation theory is of great use in translating a documentary work.