A Study On The English Translation Of Zhongguo Zhengfu Baipishu (CGWPs) From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

Since the concept of "soft power" was put forward in the1990s, people have attached more and more importance to the cultural transmission and international exchange. Soft power, in fact, refers to the cultural power. The cultural influence and the national image presented to the rest of the world make up the overall national strength of a country. With the strengthening of China’s national strength, China’s international stature rises day by day. The voice of China has been paid more and more attention to, and China also needs to communicate with the rest of the world. Foreign publicity materials, including Zhongguo Zhengfu Baipishu(Chinese Government’s White Papers), constitute a very important part in the building of China’s national image. Being an important source of information, foreign publicity materials are regarded as an influential medium to exhibit a country on the world stage. As an authoritative document issued by the Information Office of the State Council, Zhongguo Zhengfu Baipishu stand for the stance that Chinese government takes and reflect the situation and analysis of a series of hot issues, as well as achievements, policies, suggestions for development. That is why the English translation of Zhongguo Zhengfu Baipishu is of great significance. In view of this, the author of the thesis takes Zhongguo Zhengfu Baipishu and their English translations as the subject of the study.At present, domestic researches on the English translation of Zhongguo Zhengfu Baipishu are generally conducted either from the linguistic perspective of presupposition theory or discourse analysis, or from the perspective of Skopostheorie or functional translation theory in translation studies, while few is conducted from the perspective of adaptation theory. Therefore, the author of the thesis makes an attempt to analyze the selection and adaptation that translators make in the course of translating Baipishu at linguistic and non-linguistic levels from the perspective of Jef Verschueren’s adaptation theory by combining the analysis of the linguistic and stylistic features of Baipishu, and to discuss the applicability of adaptation theory in the English translation of Baipishu and how to make the translation of Baipishu better help exchange information and build national image under the guidance of adaptation theory.The study reveals that adaptation is indeed reflected in the English translation of Baipishu, mainly in four dimensions. Adaptation to the communicative context of the English translation of Baipishu is presented by the adaptation to the physical world, mental world and social world respectively. Structural adaptation is revealed by the adaptation at lexical, syntactical and discourse level. Dynamic adaptation is reflected by the translators’dynamic choice-making in language and strategies. Salience of adaptation is demonstrated by the translators’conscious choice-making at various levels in the course of translation. To achieve the expected communicative effect, translators need to consciously distinguish the explicit and implicit information and adopt appropriate translation strategies, and then make explanations, annotations, deletions or adjustments to the cultural background of the source text. In addition, the four dimensions are not completely isolated or unrelated. On the contrary, they interplay and overlap with each other. Translators should choose strategies after comprehensive consideration in the translating process. Besides, the paper assumes that adaptation should be adopted to a certain degree, though how to define the degree requires further in-depth studies. At last, the paper offers some suggestions, hoping to be of help for the improvement of further studies on adaptation theory and Chinese Government’s White Papers.