A Report On The Translation Of Cecily The Flower Fairy (Excerpts)

The source text of this translation report is selected from Cecily the Flower Fairy,written by Miao Xiaojun and often described as a “fairy tale book for adults”.The book is a work of children’s literature written in simple yet vivid language,telling eighteen stories in an innocent voice of children;it is also a collection of fairy tales that blends Chinese and western cultures.The author of this book brings his rich experience of Chinese and western cultures to his pen,writing stories that have elements of western children’s literature and Chinese cultural classics.The translator categorizes the translation difficulties encountered during translating into three parts: translation of chapter names,translation of rhetorical devices,and translation of sentences with Chinese cultural elements.The translator chooses translation variation theory to guide her translation.The theory is proposed by Huang Zhonglian and is summarized from a large amount of translation practice and has a great guiding significance on translation practice.It proposes that translators can absorb valuable information from the original texts and convey them to target readers based on their specific needs in specific conditions by employing seven adaptation techniques.The theory is applied to translating pragmatic texts and absorbing foreign cultures from them,while the translator applies it to translate children’s literature and transmit Chinese culture to the world.The translator mainly applies four adaptation techniques: adding,narrating,condensing,and altering to satisfy target readers’ specific needs,reflecting the feasibility of applying translation variation theory to the C-E translation of children’s literature.The translation project provides a good opportunity for the translator to better understand the importance of maintaining and transmitting cultural elements in C-E translation.It is also conducive to deepening the translator’s understanding of the theory and has great reference significance for her translation practice in the future.