Catford’s Translation Shift Theory As Guidance In English-Chinese Translation Of Economic Texts

This thesis is a translation practice report based on Catford’s translation shift theory.Chapter five and six of the book Accumulating Capital Today: Contemporary Strategies of Profit and Dispossessive Policies are chosen as the economic text in this translation practice,which illustrate the process of capital accumulation through finance.The chosen translation material is a kind of informative text,mainly aiming at conveying information.The thesis gives in-depth analysis of typical examples in the translation practice from the perspective of level shifts,structural shifts,class shifts and unit shifts and to demonstrate the application of translation shifts in English-Chinese translation of economic texts.Through the analysis of the research,the author believes that Catford’s translation shift theory can guide the translation practice of economic texts well.During the translation practice under the guidance of this theory,translators have some freedom to select proper translation shifts on the basis of keeping the meanings of the original text to produce smoother translation version,which is consistent with the habits of target language.