A Report On The Translation Of Chaucer: A European Life (Chapters 1 2)

The translation material of this translation practice report is selected from the first and the second chapters of Chaucer: A European Life.It mainly describes the experience of poet Chaucer from his birth to entering a great household as a servant.The book belongs to literary biography,and the emphasis should be put on the authenticity and literariness of the translation.Therefore,translator uses Peter Newmark' s semantic translation and communicative translation as the theoretical guides.The purpose is to ensure the communicative effect of the translation while be faithful to the original semantics.The report gives a brief overview of semantic translation and communicative translation,and reviews the opinions of scholars on these two translation strategies.Semantic translation focuses on retaining the linguistic and syntactic features of the source text,while communicative translation tends to cater to the reading habits of the target language readers.The translator analyzes the applications of the two strategies in translation material from the aspects of lexis,syntax,rhetoric,and expression effects through specific examples,and uses methods such as segmentation of sense groups,conversion of part of speech,and adjustment of sentence structure to solve difficulties in translation.This report also analyzes the effects of using different translation methods so as to provide some experiences for the translation of literary biographical texts.