A Critical Commentary On The E-C Translation Of Chapter 1 Of Experiences In Translation

This thesis is a critical commentary based on the English-Chinese translation of the excerpt from Experiences in Translation.Actually the original text is Chapter 1,“Translating and Being Translated” of the English translation of Experiences in Translation(Umberto Eco,University of Toronto Press,2001)(translated by Alastair Mc Ewen).In this book,Eco points out that translation is not about comparing two languages,but about the interpretation of the same text in two different languages,and therefore translation involves cultural transformation.In chapter 1,Eco discusses some of the essential issues of translation,such as that translators can translate without adhering to a certain translation strategy,as long as the translation conveys the correct original meaning and maintains the intent and effect of the original text.Eco also cites some examples to demonstrate that translators should employ different strategies in different situations.Actually,Experiences in Translation is a discussion of translation experiences by Eco in his lectures rather than a monograph on translation methods or theories.The book provides new perspectives on translation of the Western texts which will also be helpful to Chinese translators.This translation,inspired by the Skopos theory,is conducted in terms of the Skopos rule,the Coherence rule and the Fidelity rule.In practical translation,the translator adopts the strategies of literal translation which touches on transliteration plus notes,following the original word order or sentence structure,and free translation which mostly involves diverse approaches of amplification,omission,restructuring,and reorganization,aiming to make the translation conform to the Chinese expressions.The discussion is made at the lexical,syntactic,and textual levels with typical examples from the translation of the excerpt.It is hoped that the commentary based on the selected translation of Eco’s comments on translation will be of referential value for future translators in their practices.