An Exploration Into Translating Strategies For Informative Texts

As the channel for information delivery between cultures, translation aims to achieve the closest correspondence between the source language and target language. Translation is closely associated with the types of text. Based on Buhler’s tripartite classification of language and Reiss’s conception of text typology, Peter Newmark, the British translation theorist, put forward the most widely-known theory of text typology, in which texts are divided into three categories. They are expressive texts, informative texts and vocative texts. For these three types of texts, Newmark also proposed semantic translation and communicative translation. He suggested that communicative translation strategies can properly be used for dealing with an informative text. This thesis discussed the communicative translation strategies for minutes, a special type of informative texts. The strategies, illustrated by the examples from the author’s own translation of The History of Nanking University, include various translating methods such as how to deal with terminologies and difficult long sentences. Having summarized the theories and extracted the experiences of the translating practice, the author found that translation of the informative text must abide by the principles of fidelity, standardability and readability and emphasize the content and effects of information. Only by making the best use of communicative translation can an informative text be translated appropriately.