A Report On The Translation Of Hannah Coulter(excerpts)

This translation task is based on the translation of the novel Hannah Coulter(excerpts),with a total translation volume of 36,140 words.The source text,which encompasses the whole life of the main character Hannah,reflects the importance of family,community and farming and is seen as a literary version of American traditional country life.It’s hoped that the translation of the excerpts can offer fresh insight into American culture and improve the translator’s translation skills.The source text is characterized by plain and simple language,the use of figures of speech and syntactic devices,and the abundance in long and complex sentences and less frequently used expressions and idioms.Thus,the translator chose Newmark’s communicative translation to guide this task.This report centers on the translation difficulties at the lexical,syntactic and rhetorical levels.At the lexical level,paraphrase and annotation are used to deal with the translation of culture-loaded and figurative words;at the syntactic level,division and restructuring,omission,and conversion are exploited to tackle the translation of long and complex sentences;and at the rhetorical level,amplification and domestication are utilized to deal with the translation of idioms,metaphors and personifications.Based on this translation practice,the translator has gained a better understanding of the translation activity between English and Chinese,in which language and cultural differences are closely related.It is found that communicative translation offers a new perspective for the translation of long and figurative sentences.In addition,under the guidance of communicative translation,cultural elements in the original are better introduced.Still,there are limitations in the translated text.One is the intranslatability of sound and souse,and the other is a lack of cultural background.Therefore,it is suggested that being a translator should never stop learning and polishing his or her writing.