A Reprot On The Translation Of God Save Texas:A Journey Into The Soul Of The Lone Star State(Chapter 3-4)

This is a report on the translation of God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State,written by Lawrence Wright,who is an American author.The Chapter Three and Chapter Four are selected as source text.God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State is a journey through the most controversial state in America.It explores the history,culture,and politics of Texas,while holding the stereotypes up for rigorous scrutiny.And Wright’s profound portrait of the state not only reflects the country back as it is,but as it was and as it might be.In chapter 3,starting with the monument and staues at the Texas capitol grounds,Lawrence Wright briefly introduces Sam Houston’s life story and his contributions.Then he tells us the situation of astronaut group in early time at the Johnson Space Centre.After that,the auther introduces the dilemma of famous Astrodome,which was once brilliant but now is abandoned.Finally,Wright expatiates the impact of hurricane disaster on Texas.Chapter 4 has formulated a theory of cultural development,dividing Texas culture into three levels.Level one is about traditional elements of Texas culture;Level two is deeply influenced by other culture,which brings vitality to Texas culture,but also makes Texas culture same as other culture;And level three of Texas culture combines the essence of foreign culture with local traditions.God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State is an elegant mixture of autobiography and long-form journalism.Chapter Three and Four,involving numerous historical events and proper nouns,are informative with a sense of humor..The report is guided by Nida’s functional equivalence theory.Meanwhile the translator analyzes cases in translation practice from four aspects,including vocabulary equivalence,syntax equivalence,textual equivalence and style equivalence to achieve functional equivalence.From the practice,translator has benefited a lot.In the process of translation,the translator has consulted much information both in Chinese and English,which expand translator’s horizon and improve English skills.Meanwhile,the translator has become increasingly aware of the importance of bilingual ability.At last but not least,the translator has clearly realized that bilingualism should be further improved.