A Report On E-C Translation Of The Tao Of The West (Excerpt) From The Perspective Of Translation Ethics

This is a report based on the E-C translating practice of The Tao of the West: Western Transformation of Taoist Thought(for short The Tao of the West)written by J.J.Clarke,a contemporary sinologist.This book introduces the spread of Daoism in the West and the understanding of Western scholars towards Daoist thought.The Tao of the West is an academic book with the characteristics of being formal and objective.On the lexical level,it contains many religion terms,for it describes Western scholars’ understanding of Daoist thoughts.Parentheses are used to supplement the information of the Daoism terms in the source text,a typical feature showing the preciseness of any academic works.In addition,there are many proper nouns when it comes to the introduction of the Daoism history.On the syntactic level,because the source text is an academic book,many sentences in passive voice are adopted to achieve objectivity.Because English tends to use logical and grammatical connectives,the source text contains plenty of long and difficult sentences composed of attributive clauses or object clauses.Besides,the simile is used to facilitate the understanding of the readers when the author shows his own opinions.On the textual level,there are many cohesive devices.All of them are difficulties that need to be solved in the translating.It is concluded that the ethics of representation can provide some guidance for the translation of parentheses and proper nouns in the source text in that it is beneficial to reproducing the intended meaning of the source text by way of literal translation of the content in the parentheses or tracing the source of the proper nouns.Besides,the ethics of service,emphasizing translating should cater to the need of target readers,can guide the translating of long and difficult sentences as well as the sentences in passive voice and division and combination are the two methods helpful for the convenience of the target readers.Moreover,the ethics of communication,emphasizing that translation is a bridge of communication,can guide the translating of those culture-loaded words and similes in the source text.The connotations of culture-loaded words can be conveyed in the target text by way of addition,and the simile is translated by way of free translation,conducive to the cultural communication and exchanges.Through this translation practice,Chinese readers could know how the Western scholars treat,understand and express Daoism and how Daoism impacts on Western life and thought.In addition,it is hoped that the reflections of this report can provide some guidance to future translators of similar texts.