A Report On The Translation Of West Point:An Intimate Picture Of The National Military Academy And Of The Life Of The Cadet(Excerpts)

This is a translation report.The text of this translation task is the first three parts excerpted from West Point: An Intimate Picture of the National Military Academy and of the Life of the Cadet,written by Robert Charlwood Richardson Jr,the former Colonel of the United States Military Academy.Published in 2018,the book is a documentary literature and composed of thirteen parts with a total of more than 90,000 words.As a memoir of history,it's mainly about both the development process of West Point and the life of cadets here.The first chapter introduces the building of forts in West Point and the treason of Benedict Arnold during the American Revolutionary War;In the second chapter,it relates the establishment and development of the United States Military Academy(West Point)and the life of its cadets;The third chapter mainly deals with West Point's space structure and landmarks for different uses with various styles.The book,presented in chronological order,relates to a series of events in America such as the American Revolutionary War and American Civil War.Thus,the translation of the text is of great significance for an understanding of the American military history and its culture for Chinese readers.The translation text,which aims to reflect the objective facts and convey information,belongs to the informative one.The text contains quite a few terms on military and war and is professional to some degree.Under the guidance of Skopos theory put forward by Vermeer in translating,the writer explores the translation strategies and skills from Skopos rule,coherence rule and fidelity rule,which is to provide information by faithful representation of the original text for people interested in American military history in a most acceptable way.The thesis is divided into three parts.They are the original text,the translation text and the translation report.The translation report contains four chapters.Chapter One gives anaccount of this translation project,including the source of the translation task,a brief introduction to the original text and the significance of the translation project;Chapter Two is about translation process,mainly covering an analysis of the translation text,preparation of translation tools and formulation of glossary,preparation of translation theories and selection of translation strategies and so forth.In Chapter Three is case analysis,the body part of the whole report.For this chapter,the writer classifies and summaries various problems during translation and then makes some representative analyses of selected typical cases respectively.In translation,the writer,guided by Skopos theory,employs corresponding translation skills,such as conversion,amplification,omission and free translation.Chapter Four makes a brief summary of experience and inspiration the translator has got from this translation practice,in which the translator provides an outlook for her translation work in the future.This translation task makes up the most important translation practice for a master's degree.This translation practice enables the translator to have a better understanding of the history of West Point and America.the author also realizes that the translation is not the simple transform between two languages but the selection of proper translation theory,according to the text type and language features,so as to closely and greatly convert the original words into the target words to readers.In the meanwhile,the author hopes the translation version will have some significance for giving Chinese readers a glimpse into American military and history.