A Report On The E-C Translation Of Laziness Does Not Exist (Excerpts)

This report on translation practice is based on the author’s own E-C translation.The translation material used in this translation practice is excerpted from the book Laziness Does Not Exist written by American social psychologist Devon Price.In this book,Price points out the concept of “Laziness Lie”,and leads readers to think about a healthier,more humane lifestyle in a dialogical way.The book consists of seven chapters,and the parts selected by the author for translation and analysis come from Introduction and Chapter One of the book.Taking Sperber and Wilson’s Relevance Theory as a guiding theory,this report analyzes the characteristics of the source text,and reviews the translation studies related to social psychology texts and Relevance Theory.Besides,the author of the report discusses the difficulties encountered in translation practice from three levels,including culture-loaded words,passive voice,metaphors,etc.Then,by means of case analyses,the author illustrates the translation strategies for these difficulties,including direct translation plus annotation,corresponding translation,conversion of passive voice to active voice,explicitation,etc.At the same time,the author also explains how she combines Relevance Theory with each example to achieve the optimal relevance between the target text and its readers.Through this translation practice and subsequent reflection,the author of the report finds that translation under the guidance of Relevance Theory is reader-oriented.In this case,the degree to which the translation is faithful to the original,or the translation strategies and methods adopted,largely depends on the cognitive level of the target readers.If a translation does not conform to the readers’ cognitive environment and is not understood,then it is a failure,because communication fails.Through this translation practice,the author of the report has improved her translation ability and proved that Relevance Theory can effectively guide the translation of social psychology texts.The author also deeply realizes that there is a long way to go in translation,and there is clearer direction for improvement of her translation in the future.