A Report On The Translation Of Fifty Major Philosophers From The Perspective Of Nord's Functionalist Approach To Translation

The “eastward transmission of western sciences” brought the advanced scientific,technological and cultural achievements of western modern times to China,which not only promoted the development of Chinese science,technology,and culture but also affected the traditional thinking mode of the Chinese people.As far as philosophy in western learning is concerned,it involves ontology,epistemology,and methodology,covering logic,language,mind,morality,aesthetics,reality,value,rationality and other categories,which can be said to be all-encompassing.Therefore,the translation and dissemination of western philosophy are of great significance to the inclusiveness of Chinese culture.The Fifty Major Philosophers introduces readers to the most influential thinkers in the western world over the past 2,000 years in plain and simple language,presents the mainstream tradition of European philosophy,and provides critical investigation to meet the reading expectations of the general public.This report is based on the translation practice of the first eleven chapters of the book.In the early stage,under the guidance of the tutor,I completed the translation task of the first eleven chapters of the book.The first eleven chapters of the book respectively introduce the philosophical tho ughts and life experiences of eleven different philosophers to readers.The source text is an informational text intended to share with readers the philosophical views of famous western philosophers.At the same time,the author of the source text also wants readers to appreciate the ideas in the book and gain critical understanding.Therefore,I should not only ensure that the information function of the target text is effectively played,but also consider the expression function of the target text so that the readers of the target text can enjoy the same reading experience as the readers of the source text.Nord introduced the “loyalty” principle in functionalism,requiring me to consider the relationship between the originator,the original author,and the intended recipient.I give a detailed description of the translation process from the perspective of Nord's functional translation theory.According to the “top-down” mode of dealing with translation problems proposed by Nord,I analyze the specific cases in the translation from the aspects of theme,content,sentence pattern and vocabulary.At the same time,I also realize that the practice is not fully connected with the theory,the translation quality needs to be improved,and the text analysis still has some shortcomings.The purpose of this translation practice is to provide an empirical method for other translators to carry out relevant translation tasks.By combining theory with practice,I have flexibly utilized translation strategies for various problems encountered in the process of translation,striving to achieve the expected translation function and coordinating the needs of all parties in the translation project.