Approach Of Functionalist Translation Theory To The Chinese-English Translation Of Fenghuang Tourist Materials

With the deepening of globalization and China’s open-door policy, there comes a dynamic development in China’s tourism industry, and accordingly the C-E tourist translation is playing an important role in the development of China’s international tourism industry. In this case, the purpose of the tourist translation in China is undoubtedly to appeal to the foreign tourists for their visits to China by offering them effectively the tourist information and the unique local cultures. However, at present, there are a series of problems in the C-E translation of tourist materials, thus hindering the development of China’s tourism industry. This thesis attempts to discuss how to improve the propagandistic effect of Fenghuang external tourist materials with effective translations in light of functionalist translation theory.In Introduction, the author gives a general account of the development of China’s international tourism industry and explains the research background, purpose and significance of this thesis.In Chapter One, the author introduces the features of Fenghuang tourist translation. The author starts from the introduction of tourism in Fenghuang County, Hunan, China, and classifies Fenghuang tourist materials into four types, i.e. tourist advertisements, travel brochures, ethnic folk customs and celebrity introductions. Then the author analyzes the features of Fenghuang tourist materials from three aspects, namely, linguistic features, functional features and culture-specific content. At the end of this chapter, the author points out the common problems existing in translation of Fenghuang tourist materials, including those on the linguistic level, pragmatic level and cultural level.In Chapter Two, the author introduces the functional orientations in tourist translation. Firstly, the author introduces the highlights of Functionalist Translation Theory, including Reiss’s "Text Typology", Vermeer’s three rules in "Skopostheorie", Nord’s "function plus loyalty" principle and the perception of viewing the translation process as a communicative interaction among agents. The author then points out the three functional orientations in tourist translation, i.e. government institutions as the initiator, foreign tourists as the reader and introduction of folk arts as the purpose.In Chapter Three, the author relates theory with practice, discusses the C-E translation of Fenghuang tourist materials from the viewpoints of Functionalist Translation Theory. This is the emphasis of the thesis. Firstly, the author introduces the translation process of C-E tourist translation, namely, grasping the difference in writing styles, understanding the ST substantial message and giving full play of the TT advantages. Then the author puts forward the criteria of C-E translation of tourist materials, i.e. source texts as the "Offer-of-information", target-text-purpose as its orientation, TL readers as its center and TL stylistic-convention as its style norm. Lastly, exampled by Fenghuang tourist materials, the author concludes several common tactics of C-E translation of tourist materials, i.e. preference of objectiveness in diction, subordination in sentence structure, interpretation plus annotation for culture-loaded words and adjustment and adaptation for textual structure.In a word, Functionalist Translation Theory is the guide of C-E translation of Fenghuang tourist materials. Under the theoretical guide, on the basis of fully understanding the culture of English countries and the differences between Chinese and English tourist materials, and by skillfully using the related techniques of C-E translation of tourist materials, the translators can definitely accomplish the translation task with ease, form an excellent tourist translation work, and really reach the expected functions.