A Study Of English Translation Of Chinese Four-Character Structures In The Government Work Report Of 2019 From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

With the continuous enhancement of China's comprehensive national strength,China is gradually entering the center of the international stage and China's domestic and foreign affairs have increasingly attracted the world's attention.The Government Work Report(hereinafter referred to as the “GWR”)covering all aspects of Chinese society including politics,economy,culture,science and technology,military affairs and so on,provides an authoritative vehicle for the demonstration of China's national conditions,policies and development situation.On this ground,its translation plays a pivotal role.There are a great number of linguistic phenomena with Chinese characteristics in the GWR,among which Chinese four-character structures are the typical representatives,and occupy a large proportion.Hence,their translation poses a significant impact on the overall translation quality of the GWR.The research subject is the translation of Chinese four-character structures in the GWR(2019)delivered by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang,at the National People's Congress in 2019.Under the guidance of Skopos Theory,this study combines both qualitative and quantitative research methods to address the three questions below:(1)What is the translation purpose of the GWR(2019)?(2)In order to achieve the translation purpose,what translation methods of Chinese four-character structures are used in the translation process?(3)Do the translation methods of Chinese four-character structures adopted by the translator effectively realize the translation purpose? And what improvements can be made for the translation to better fulfill the purpose?The study is carried out in the following four steps: Firstly,the needed data is collected.Secondly,the translation purposes are identified with reference to the target text's communicative purposes,the receivers' needs,the translators' aims and the clients' goals.Thirdly,Chinese four-character structures in the GWR(2019)are classified based on a systematic exploration,combined with their features.Lastly,under the guidance of Skopos Theory,a statistical analysis is performed on the translation methods of Chinese four-character structures adopted by the translator to probe into whether they effectively accomplish the translation purpose of the GWR and in what way the purpose is fulfilled.On this basis,some suggestions are put forward for the translation.The results of the investigation show that the ultimate goal of the translation of the GWR is to properly convey intelligible and adequate information of Chinese government's summary,which contains the work performance in the past year,and the main goals,tasks,measures and work priorities for the coming year,so as to spread China's voice,and build an excellent international image.To reach the translation purpose of the GWR,firstly,the translator mainly adopts literal translation when translate the following contents: Chinese four-character structures of political terminology,parallel four-character structures and four-character idioms,with liberal translation occupying a subordinate position.Secondly,liberal translation is more applied when Chinese four-character structures with reiterative locution are translated,while literal translation becomes an auxiliary and literal translation plus explanatory notes is relatively less utilized.Considering the translation purpose is to deliver messages properly and naturally to target readers,the author believes that literal translation plus explanatory notes could be more efficient to realize the translation purpose of the GWR in the process of translating some obscure four-character structures with Chinese characteristics.