A Study On The E-C Translation Of Cultural Evolution From The Perspective Of Translation Shifts Theory

Translation Shifts Theory was put forward by western translation theorist J.C.Catford.He defined “shifts” as “departures from formal correspondences in the process of going from the source language to target language”.Translation Shifts Theory emphasizes dynamic equivalence in order to break through the limitations of formal equivalence,which has high feasibility in translation practice.The source text is excerpted from Cultural Evolution,the work of professor Inglehart.Cultural Evolution belongs to informative texts.The frequent use of passive voices and complex sentences make the structure of the source text flexible.The features mentioned above require the translator to avoid formal equivalence and to make necessary translation shifts in the translation practice.Based on the linguistic features of Cultural Evolution,this thesis adopts case analysis,and discusses the applicability of Translation Shifts Theory in translating informative texts from level shifts and category shifts.Since Catford's Translation Shifts Theory only pays attention to the level of syntax or below,this thesis also analyzes the cases under the guidance of cultural shifts to make up cultural default,trying to provide references for the E-C translation of informative texts.The author believes that,on the basis of Translation Shifts Theory,appropriate translation shifts strategies can be adopted according to specific contexts to make the target text more fluent.