An E/C Translation Report On The Popular Science Work Of How Innovation Works:and Why It Flourishes In Freedom(Chapter One) From The Perspective Of Translation Variation Theory

How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom is an English work of popular science with Chapter One dealing with energy development and innovation.It mainly reviews the history of energy development.The author’s perspective that“Innovation is achieved through continuous trial and error” is thought-provoking.In this popular science text,there are many long sentences that are complex in structure,various in level,abundant in information,and flexible in word order.In this case,literal translation may lead to verboseness,loose structure,unclear logic and unclear meaning in the translation.Therefore,the translator needs to be flexible when translating these long sentences,so as to make the translation concise in language,rigorous in structure,strict in logic and clear in content.From the perspective of translation variation theory,this paper analyzes the translation of long sentences in Chapter One of How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom and discusses the application of four variation adaptions including addition,subtraction,compilation and combination in the translation of long sentences in popular science texts,and sums up the translation methods of long sentences in English popular science texts.The results show that applying the translation method of “addition” by adding conjunctions,notes,or category words can make the target text more clearer and more explicit in content;applying the translation method of “subtraction” by reducing redundant or repetitive information can make the target text concise in language and prominent in the theme;applying the translation method of “compilation” by adjusting sentence structure before translation can increase the inherent logic of the translation;while applying the translation method of “combination” by combining similar information or relevant information can make the target text more coherent in meaning and more rigorous in structure.These translation methods under the guidance of variation translation theory can effectively solve the problems of verboseness,loose structure,unclear logic and unclear meaning that may exist in the translation of long sentences of popular science texts;and therefore can help the translator to achieve the ideal translation goal that is to meet the reading expectations of the target readers.