A Report On The E-C Translation Of A History Of Shaolin Buddhism,KungFu And Identity(Excerpted)from The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

The source text of this report is taken from Associate Professor Lv Zhouxiang’s book,A History of Shaolin Buddhism,Kung Fu and Identity,Chapter 1:The Early Days of Shaolin.By tracing the development of Shaolin Monastery from 316 A.D.to 845 A.D.,this chapter explores the history of Chinese martial arts and the development of Chinese Chan Buddhism.This report is based on the translation of The Early Days of Shaolin from English to Chinese.The source text shows the characteristics of historical texts pursuing authenticity and objectivity,as well as the features of academic writing focusing on literature citation.To enhance the authenticity of the text,the author uses manifold culture-loaded words,including English and Sanskrit religious terms,as well as names of ancient people and places.To make the historical narrative more objective,multiple expressions in passive voice are used in the source text.While repeating historical facts,the author either directly quotes or indirectly summarizes authoritative domestic and overseas writings in brief words.Skopos Theory holds that translation is a cross-cultural communicative activity with corresponding purposes.The translator should first clarify the translation aims and adopt appropriate translation methods to finish the translation assignment according to the skopos.According to the hierarchical order of priority,Skopos Theory comprises the skopos rule,the coherence rule,and the fidelity rule.Skopos Theory proposes that the skopos rule is the central leader among the three rules.When any two of the rules are in conflict,the translator should prioritize the skopos rule over the other two rules.The translation project is goal-oriented,with the ultimate skopos of preserving the objectivity,credibility,and scholarliness of the source text and fulfilling the reading expectations of target readers.Skopos Theory is thus a good choice to direct this translation project.This report summarizes the translation procedures guided by Skopos Theory.Through case studies,this report demonstrates the translator’s choices during the conflict.According to the hierarchical order,the skopos rule overrides the coherence rule and the fidelity rule.When the skopos rule conflicts with the coherence rule,the translator adds endnotes to obscure Chan terms,transfers Sanskrit words in the source text,and annotates current locations after ancient place names.These annotations trade off some internal linguistic consistency,whereas they balance the receptivity of specialists and ordinary readers.When the skopos rule and the fidelity rule are in conflict,the translator autonymizes emperors with pure honorific titles in the ST by the addition of names,two-way back translates reference materials in the ST,shifts expressions in passive voice into active ones,clarifies indirect citations in the ST by the addition of information,and replaces the plain expressions in the ST with four-character expressions.While these translation methods push the target text off the course to a completely faithful version of the source text,they ensure the credibility and objectivity of the target text and reveal its academic value.It is intended that this report will provide some helpful information for the translation of historical or sinological texts.