A Report On C-E Translation Of The Ancient City Of Hanzhong:The Perspective Of Cultural Schema Theory

This paper is a C-E translation practice report whose source text is The Ancient City of Hanzhong,one of a series of books,Memory of the Old Home in Sketches contracted by the author’s supervisor and Academy Press.The series of book was selected into the project liberary of Reform and Development Project Concerning Press and Publication in 2014.The Ancient City of Hanzhong introduces the local characteristics of Hanzhong Scenic Spots,Temples,Old Streets and Ancient Dwellings in a illustrated way.The author encountered two difficulties in the process of translation: first,the source text involves a large number of culturally loaded words about the local characteristics and customs of Hanzhong,many of which are unique in Chinese and hard to find equivalances in English.Second,the main target group of this book is foreign friends who are interested in Chinese culture,so how to make the translation much more easier for foreign readers to understand while retaining Chinese cultural characteristics is the primary issue to which the author should pay attention.The author adopted the case study method and analyzed the source text under the guidance of cultural schema theory,mainly discussing the translation strategies in three situations: cultural schema correspondence,cultural schema difference and cultural schema vacancy.When dealing with cultural schema correspondence,literal translation is an optimal solution;when dealing with cultural schema conflicts,the use of free translation,amplification,and literal translation with notes can help to finish the job;when dealing with cultural schema vacancy,the use of transliteration with notes,and free translation would be a better way to convey the characteristics of the source text and allow readers to appreciate the meaning of Chinese culture.It is hoped that the findings can provide some reference for the translation of such publicity text in the future,with a view to making some contributions to the going out of Chinese culture.