A Chinese-English Translation Practice Report On Jiangxi Hakka Traditional Residence From The Perspective Of Thick Translation

Based on the background that China is firmly on its way to propagate Chinese culture globally and to reinforce culture self-confidence domestically,the practice has been done under the guidance of the thick translation especially strategies and methods it provides.Five chapters from the book entitled A View of Grand Longnan Enclosing Houses introducing five most representative Hakka enclosing houses have been chosen as the source text.Accurately,the practice is an excerpt of the book which is trying to vigorously disseminate both Chinese and Hakka culture by presenting enclosing houses locating in Longnan County,Jiangxi Province.Constructions are the epitomes of politics,economy,culture and folk custom of the certain era.Traditional constructions are more than the products of the architecture but the carriers of the traditional folk customs,local conditions and even thoughts about Fengshui.As a type of Hakka traditional buildings that can be dated back to centuries ago,Longnan enclosing houses are no exceptions.The book A View of Grand Longnan Enclosing Houses,documents about one hundred enclosing houses that are relatively well-preserved and the most famous ones dispersing the county.From the constructing characters,folk tales,local customs to historical deeds and even the local dishes,the book is abundant with cultural information,some of which are even hidden behind words.Telling from the functions and traits of the original text,it belongs to the vocative text that is loaded with considerable culture elements.Derived from the thick description,thick translation is initially put forward by Kwame Anthony Appiah,a translation scholar working at Harvard Center on Africa-American Cultural Studies.Thick translation has been considered as a translation strategy as well as a research method since introduced domestically.The core of the thought is seeking with the translator's annotations and accompanying glosses to locate the target text in a rich cultural and linguistic context.According to the location of the annotations,they can be categorized into three types: text-self,text-close and text-remote which are made to disseminate and pay tribute to the source culture by preserving its culture elements.By taking advantage of substantial expounding languages,thick translation provides for target readers a rich cultural and linguistic context which allows them the opportunities to learn and understand the source culture and these are prerequisites for culture assimilation and propagation.The initiative happens to meet the demands of the translator in conducting the practice.Furthermore,after the dedicated practices and deliberate researches,the translator has found that a proper application of thick translation strategies and methods will obviously improve the readability and the acceptability as they are capable of clarifying and unveiling hidden culture elements which would improve the entertainment of the target text.Consequently,both the Chinese and Hakka culture can be disseminated and respected with more chances.In one word,it is safe to say that thick translation is highly compatible with the source text and the intentions of the translator.In addition,the writer finds that most domestic scholars' attention is paid to the practicability and operability of the thick translation on literature work,few of it on vocative texts which in point of fact carry considerable culture elements though the thought is actually applicable as Hermans proved.Therefore,the translator is trying to further testify that thick translation is applicable to vocative texts which are loaded with substantial culture factors taking the excerpt from the book A View of Grand Longnan Enclosing Houses as an example.Besides,the translator also wants to take the opportunity to make her contribution to further develop the thought.