English-Chinese Translation Strategies For The Dash In Buddhist Texts

This report is based on a 40,000-word English-Chinese translation task of a Buddhist text.The translation material was selected from a Buddhist monograph Why Buddhism Is True published in August 2017.It is the latest work of Robert Wright,a professor of evolutionary psychology at Princeton University.Once published,the book was strongly recommended by the New York Times and was considered as the book of the year.It is not about the religious content of Buddhism,but the first insight and understanding of Sakyamuni's earliest human condition.The book uses a large number of modern and contemporary brain science,evolutionary psychology experiments and knowledge to provide scientific evidence for some basic insights in Buddhism,and to some extent lead the scientific and modernization of Buddhism.The selection of the material for translation practice is out of the consideration that the translation of such Buddhist texts can enable us to have a deeper understanding of Buddhism and thus promote the spreading of Buddhism culture.In addition,under the heavy pressure of the spiritual life,it provides people ways to ease pressure and anxiety and leads readers to a journey of psychology and meditation.The report analyzes and summarizes the translation problems encountered in the process of English-Chinese translation,including mechanical copying,unsuitable conversion and semantic incoherence of the dash.After that,some corresponding translation strategies for these problems are offered,hoping to provide warnings and references for translators in the related field.The report is divided into five chapters.The first chapter is the introduction,which explains the reasons for choosing the project,the research significance and the research content.Chapter two is the process of translation task.It is a brief statement about the three stages of translation preparation,translation process and post-translation correction.The third chapter discusses the usage and function of the dash in English and Chinese languages,and the double dash phenomenon is also introduced.Chapter fouris the case study.First of all,it presents problems in the processing of dashes in translation practice,including mechanical copying,unsuitable conversion and semantic incoherence of the dash.Then,in response to these problems,combined with the previous research on dash,it proposes some practical translation strategies,such as reasonable conversion,appropriate deletion,flexible conversion and careful attention to cohesion.The final chapter is the conclusion,which briefly summaries the experience and lessons gained in the translation.