The Chinese-English Translation Of Foregrounding Language In Documentary Literature

This report is based on the practice of Chinese to English translation of Speeding Ahead: China's High-Speed Railways(Chapter 10).This book gives a detailed account of the story of China's high-speed railways from non-existence to independent technological innovation and the world-famous reputation.The source text shows the advanced technologies and rapid development of China's high-speed railways.The source text is documentary literature with both informative and expressive features and a rich foregrounding language.Based on the theory of foregrounding elaborated by the two British stylists Leach and Short,combined with the characteristics of the text,the author analyzes the translation difficulties from both qualitative foregrounding and quantitative foregrounding.Qualitative foregrounding is mainly manifested by phonological deviations,lexical deviations,and semantic deviations;quantitative foregrounding is mainly exhibited through repeated and parallel structures.The author uses two translation strategies,i.e.,domestication and foreignization,as well as translation methods such as literal translation,free translation and creative translation with an aim to achieve the translation reproduction of the foregrounding language.Through this translation practice,the translator has got a better understanding of the textual characteristics of documentary literature and the translation strategies of foregrounding language as well as a deeper understanding of the “going out” of Chinese culture represented by the high-speed railways.The author hopes to provide references for the translators in related fields.