A Report On The E-C Translation Of The Art Of X-Ray Reading(Excerpt)

Educational materials have always played a pivotal role in helping learners to digest what they have learned.As the readers’ desire for knowledge and aesthetic taste improved,and as their reading demands diversified,foreign literature gained increasing popularity in China.Foreign literature reading guides have become key to literature lovers.In this context,it is particularly important to study the translation strategy of literary reading guides.Selecting The Art of X-Ray Reading by Roy Peter Clark,a well-known American writing coach,as the source text,the report discusses its Chinese translation from the perspective of Reception Theory,in particular,Horizon of Expectations.Based on the characteristics and functions of instructional texts,the translator summarizes her translation experience.Hopefully,the report will offer effective suggestions to future translators of educational materials.The analysis has led to the following findings.First,readers’ accumulated experience could not be overlooked.A direct translation strategy caters to the habits of Chinese readers when they come across instructional materials.Second,adjustments on word choice and sentence structure as well as deletion of unnecessary modifiers should be considered in order to make target text concise and idiomatic.Third,translators should broaden readers’ horizon through additions or annotations,which requires the translator’s extra work of searching parallel texts and other references.Fourth,the overall style of educational materials should remain straightforward,clear,and succinct.This translation practice is expected to offer insights for other translators of this genre,to help them better meet target readers’ expectations and achieve the goal of education.