A Report On The E-C Translation Of Now:the Physics Of Time(Excerpt)

Popular science work is a variant of scientific and technological text in terms of stylistic feature,which has the characteristics of both literary work and scientific work in genre.The main purpose of the popular science works is to popularize scientific knowledge to the public,advocate scientific methods,at the same time spread scientific ideas,and promote scientific spirit.Popular science works are scientific,literary,popular,and interesting.In the process of translating popular science works,it is difficult to convey the above basic characteristics.The author's translation of Now:the Physics of Time,written by American physicist Richard A.Muller,is a typical popular science work,which contains a large number of terms and professional expressions in the fields of physics,mathematics,philosophy,etc.,increasing the difficulty of translation.When translating popular science works,the translators should not only accurately convey the meaning of the terms and sentences concerning professional knowledge,but also avoid obscure and arcane expressions,so that the translation can be better understood and accepted by readers,and then the effect of popularizing scientific knowledge to readers can be achieved.In terms of the text content and function,popular science work is a kind of informative text,focusing on the expression of information and the feelings of readers,so it is suitable to use Peter Newmark's communicative translation theory to guide translation.Therefore,in order to better convey textual information,the author is reader-centered and applies communicative translation theory to solving translation problems at lexical,syntactic,and discourse level.Meanwhile,under the guidance of communicative translation theory,the author makes full use of various translation techniques and strategies,such as literal translation,free translation,amplification,conversion,and so on,to make the translation smooth and easy to read.In addition,the author uses computer-aided translation(CAT)technology to process the terms in the text,which not only ensures the consistency and scientific nature of term translation,but also improves translation efficiency.Through this translation practice,the author finds that the communicative translation theory is an effective way to guide the translation of popular science works at lexical,syntactic,and discourse levels,and to improve the quality of translation,which is a reference for the translators who want to translate popular science works.