A Functionalism-Based Systemic Study Of Chinese-English Tourism Translation

With the development of the practice of tourism translation and the discipline of translation studies, the study of Chinese-English (C-E) tourism translation is becoming an increasingly important subfield in translation studies. As a result, there have been continuous efforts to study tourism translation in general and C-E tourism translation in particular. So far, such studies have made remarkable progress toward the understanding of the process of C-E tourism translation but are simultaneously limited in their philosophical guidelines, theoretical bases, methods and procedures, object and scope of study and other respects. With the achievements already made in mind, the present study attempts, by employing the dialectical systemic view of translation proposed by Jia Zhengchuan as its topmost philosophical guideline, using the German functionalist theories of translation especially Vermeer's Skopostheorie as its theoretical basis, choosing C-E tourism texts in Penglai as samples of analysis, and adopting an integrated methodology using both theoretical and empirical or both deductive and inductive methods and procedures, to make a comprehensive investigation of C-E tourism translation so as to achieve an integrated understanding of, and propose some systemic strategies for, the operational process of C-E tourism translation in Penglai in particular and C-E tourism translation in China in general.According to the dialectical systemic view of translation, translation is a complex human activity system involving the transformation of a discourse in one language into a discourse in another language, being composed of source text (ST) addresser, translator, target text (TT) addressee, ST, TT, methods and other components, being conditioned by and performing certain functions in certain situational and socio-cultural contexts, and exhibiting itself as a continuous process of operation; in the process, errors occur when the TT cannot perform the desired function(s). According to functionalism, translation is a purposeful activity composed of ST producer, sender, initiator, translator, TT receiver, ST, TT, strategy and other factors; in it, errors occur when the TT fails to fulfill the intended purpose(s) or Skopos(i). From the above view and theories of translation, we may deduce a theoretical understanding of C-E tourism translation as follows: C-E tourism translation is a complex human activity system involving the conversion of a Chinese tourist text into an English tourist text, being composed of many factors such as ST producer, ST sender, ST, ST receiver, initiator, translator, TT, TT receiver with nonlinear interrelationships among these factors, being conditioned by and fulfilling certain Skoposi in the source and target socio-cultural and situational contexts, and exhibiting itself as a process of operation according to a set of rules (i.e., the Skopos rule, the coherence rule and the fidelity rule); in the process, three types of translation errors will occur when these rules are violated: Skopos errors occur when the Skopos rule but not the coherence plus the fidelity rule is violated; coherence errors occur when the Skopos rule together with the coherence rule but not the fidelity rule is violated; fidelity errors occur when the Skopos rule together with the coherence rule plus the fidelity rule is violated. Through an empirical analysis of certain C-E tourist texts collected in Penglai, it is found that the above-mentioned three categories of translation errors are all present though the number of coherence and fidelity errors is larger than that of Skopos errors. The causes behind these translation errors are various, including those related to the various factors of the translation action and their interrelationships, especially the administrative authorities, translators and text producers; Such translation errors may be avoided through the use of such strategies as the formation of a unified understanding of the Skoposi of translation, the theoretical and practical training of translators, and the employment of native English speakers as translation aids.The results of this study may help to improve the present C-E tourist translation practice in Penglai in particular and the practice in China in general. Hopefully, this study may also help to compensate for the weaknesses of the relevant existing studies and promote the development of C-E tourism translation theory. It can therefore be said to have both practical and theoretical relevance.