A Study On The Translation Of China—related Historical Materials From The Perspective Of Text Type

Historical material is a special type of text.Accurate translation of historical material is of great significance to historical research.This paper is a report of the translation practice of the historical materials of the Nanjing Massacre with a view to restoring the historical background of the Nanjing Massacre and the post-war effects of the Nanjing Massacre on future generations through the use of particular skills in the translating of historical materials.The two paragraphs selected for translation and analysis are war reflection,the cultural differences between China and Japan towards the Nanjing Massacre and pre-war situations in China before the Japanese troops committed massive war crimes in Nanjing.The source text,which belongs to informative texts,contains a large number of historical personages,historical events and historical terms.As a result,it is appropriate to apply Katharina Reiss's translation-oriented text-typology to the translation practice as the text typology of Reiss defines informative texts as a text type that stresses communication of content.In the translation of informative texts,faithfulness to the original text is the priority in order to guarantee convey of the original concept and information.For this purpose,in the process of translation,the translator should take into account the complexity and particularity of the historical materials and the use of relevant translation methods so as to obtain an ideal translated version that are faithful,expressive and elegant,pertinent to the languages styles of historical documents and in accordance with the historical facts.Under the guidance of Katharina Reiss's translation-oriented text-typology,the author employs annotative translation,parallel texts,and back translations in a bid to uncover the historical truth so that historical documents can bring into play the value and role they should have.At the same time,the author also puts forward three translation methods to deal with the difficulties encountered in historical materials translation with a view to better promoting the research on historical materials translation given that past research on the translation of historical materials is far from enough according to the translation practice and case analysis.This article is divided into four parts.The first part is the introduction of translation project and the purpose of research;the second part is the introduction of text typology;the third part is the presentation of specific translation methods and case studies;the fourth part is the conclusions drawn through analysis and reflections obtained through analysis,as well as the deficiencies in translation studies.