A Report On The Translation Of Walls:A History Of Civilization In Blood And Brick(Chapter One)

The source text of the translation report is excerpted from the first two parts of Chapter One of Walls: A History of Civilization in Blood and Brick.The excerpt mainly describes the historical stories and cultural characteristics of ancient times that occurred in Mesopotamia and Greece respectively.The work was published in October 2018 by American historian David Frye.Taking the wall as a clue,the work introduces the development process of civilization,the evolution of life style and famous historical figures in different regions in different historical periods,covering archaeological research,historical myths,and geographical knowledge.The work is mainly narrative with clear expression and strong logicality.According to the Text Typology put forward by Katharina Reiss(1923-2018),a German translation theorist and scholar,this work is an informative text which is content-oriented,and should concentrate on the conveyance of the content in the process of translation.Based on the features and functions of informative text,Peter Newmark believes that communicative translation is suitable for the translation of informative text.Communicative translation aims to convey the original information based on the language habits and cultural characteristics of the target language readers,so as to make the target language readers have the same feelings and reactions as the source language readers.The author believes that communicative translation can make the target text more in line with the environment and logic of the target language,thus helping readers better understand and receive the information contained in the original text.In a word,communicative translation is conducive to achieve the translation purpose and communicative efficiency of the informative text.Therefore,the translation of the source text in this report is guided by communicative translation.The translation report consists of four parts.The first part is a brief introduction of the translation task: the source of the translation task,the introduction of source text and the significance of the project;the second part is the translation process: pre-translation preparation,translation draft composing and post translation revision;the third part is the analysis of translation cases,in which on the basis of the linguistic characteristics of the target language,the author analyzed examples with various translation skills,and resolved the difficulties through reflection on the translation;the fourth part is a summary of the translation project.Through this translation practice,the author realizes that a fluent reading experience can improve the readers' reception of the information of target text and promote the transmission of those information.Hence,the author should make good use of communicative translation method in the future translation work of informative text to remove and solve the communication barriers and difficulties in the translation.Historical works have far-reaching research significance in summarizing the laws of natural development and studying the process and trend of human development.The purpose of this translation report is to present the national history and civilization development related to the walls introduced in the first two parts of Chapter One of Walls: A History of Civilization in Blood and Brick to the readers for the reference of relevant researchers engaging in translation and interested individuals.