On The Beauty In EST Translation From The Perspective Of Translation Aesthetics

On the whole, substantial achievements have been made in the field of translation studies. However, the links between translation studies and other disciplines are still worth noticing and exploring. Among the humanities, aesthetics has a perfect integration with translation. Aesthetics has been long connected to translation both in theory and practice. Yet, studies in translation aesthetics chiefly focus on literary translation.The rapid development of science and technology and the wide international communication result in a great demand for knowledge of English for Science and Technology(EST) and its translation accordingly. Thus, EST translation has been a hot topic which has aroused many scholars' interests to study. There are many perspectives from which EST translation can be studied. The traditional method to study it has been prevalently based on linguistic analysis. But the writer of the present thesis explores it from a relatively new perspective—translation aesthetics.Aesthetics is the study of beauty. EST is characterized by fixed structure, strict logic and high accuracy. It is natural for people to assume that they have nothing to do with each other. Is there any relationship between these two words which sound contradictory? Does EST translation have aesthetic value? If so, how beauty is reflected in EST translation and how to represent beauty in the practice of EST translation? This is exactly the focus of the present thesis. The qualitative research method is basically employed in the study. Through literature review, analysis, induction and illustration, the thesis probes into the interrelationship between EST translation and aesthetics.At the beginning, the writer introduces the research motivation, objectives as well as significance. In chapter one, the definition of translation aesthetics and other related concepts are provided. Besides, the aesthetic source of translation in the west and in China is respectively reviewed. The second chapter focuses on the features of EST from the aspects of lexis, syntax and discourse, and then analyzes the EST translation based on functional -based text type proposed by Peter Newmark and functional equivalence by Eugene A. Nida. In the following chapter, the writer, first of all, elaborates on the relationship between aesthetics and EST translation, proves that aesthetic constituents do exist in EST translation; thereafter demonstrates aesthetic tropisms of EST translation with sufficient proper examples. And in the fourth chapter, the writer concludes the ways to represent beauty in EST translation from two aspects—aesthetic subject and aesthetic object. Lastly, the writer concludes the whole thesis by summarizing the key ideas, highlighting its possible contributions to the relevant research, pointing out its limitations and also welcoming a further investigation in this field to perfect the research in aesthetics and EST translation.The present research probes into EST translation and aesthetics in a systematic way and tries to seek possible ways to represent beauty in translation practice. It is the writer's wish that the thesis may have some enlightenment on the study and practice of EST translation. It is found that scientific and technical articles are closely related with beauty. For translators, the process of translation is not merely a dull process of rendering scientific and technical information from one language into another, but a process of perceiving, converting and polishing the beauty; for readers, the reading of EST writings is not merely for grasping scientific and technical information, broadening their horizons, together with experiencing aesthetic enjoyment.