Approach Of Variation To C-E Translation Of Tourist Brochures

Chinese tourist brochures (hereinafter abbreviated as CTB) are a media to introduce to the public the Chinese tourism and culture, the aim of whose translation, accordingly, is to attract the foreign tourists to travel in China by offering them well-understood information of both natural and cultural scenery, leaving them the same experiences and effects as the Chinese readers after reading. Therefore, whether or not the English translation is able to achieve functionally the same effect would be very crucial in the tourist translation. This thesis holds that, due to the particularity of tourist brochures and the differences between Chinese and English languages, the application of the variation theory to the tourist translation is very necessary in the translating process.The translation variation as a new concept in translation field was first put forward by Professor Huang Zhonglian in the late 1990s, which covers seven adaptations and eleven variation methods. What's more, Professor Huang provides a basic framework for the translation variation in order to provide effective theoretical principles and methodological guidance for the translation variation studies. In this thesis, the author gives a detailed introduction of translation variation theory, pointing out that, based on the case study of the current translation of CTB, it is very necessary and feasible to apply the variation theory to the process of its translation by suggesting some strategies according to different theme-levels of tourist brochures in order to achieve its translation functions and purpose.This thesis falls into five parts as follows.In the introduction, a brief review is made on the latest development in tourist translation studies and some problems in translation practice. It introduces the emergence and objective of research as well as the methods. The translation variation is regarded as an effective approach to solve the problems in Chinese-English (hereinafter referred to as "C-E") translation of tourist brochures. The author holds that translation variation theory can be applied efficiently to the practice of tourist brochures translation (hereinafter abbreviated as TBT).Chapter 1 makes a discussion on tourist brochures. The author first discusses on the stylistic conventions of tourist brochures, and then goes deeply into the differences between Chinese and English tourist brochures in linguistics, aesthetics and culture. At last, the aims and requirements of its translation are introduced.Chapter 2 presents the conception of translation variation, including its background and theoretical framework and so on. A comparison between translation variation and complete translation has been illustrated here.Chapter 3 begins with a discussion on the necessity and possibility of application of translation variation theory to TBT, and then analyzes the causes of translation variation as well as its macro-process and micro-process. Since choosing information is the base of TBT, information-filtration based on theme-oriented information priority proposed by Professor Zeng Lisha has been simply introduced later.Chapter 4 is the most important part in this thesis. It deals with the application of the translation variation in process of English translation of CTB. The author focuses on the concept that translation is an act of communication between two cultures with language as a medium. Due to the differences between Chinese and English, this chapter stresses that only the strategies based on translation variation theory can work well in TBT. In this chapter, the author illustrates domestication-oriented strategy and then analyzes several adaptations by some examples.The last part is a conclusion, which summarizes the viewpoint made in the previous chapters, including some criticisms to translation variation theory. The thesis attempts to be a spur to more comprehensive and profound researches and gives some efficacious instructions in this area, hoping that it would offer some help or guidance for the practice of English translation of CTB.