A Report On The Translation Of The Literary Character Of The Bible

Under the influence of the prosperous development of western biblical literary study, the Chinese scholars have gradually started their biblical literary research as well. The translation of The Literary Character of the Bible is the very product of this trend. This translation task was entrusted by Professor Liang Gong, one of the leaders in this field and editor-in-chief of Biblical Literary Studies (《圣经文学研究》), whose purpose for this translation is to promote the development of this field in China. The Literary Character of the Bible mainly discusses the Hebrew Bible from the perspective of literary research, so it falls into the non-literature translation. The introduction of the article can help to facilitate the connection, interaction and the mutual understanding between the East and the West, providing some reference to Chinese biblical research and researchers.I spent about three months in translating this article during the second half of2013, and my supervisor Professor Ma Lemei finished the revision in December. The theory adopted in this translation is semantic and communicative translation, which is proposed by Peter Newmark. I combined the two translation strategies with emphasis on the former. During the translation process, I was confronted with many challenges such as the proper nouns, long and complex sentences as well as quotations from the Bible. But finally I resolved these problems in various ways, for example, searching relative references, asking my supervisor and the writer of the SL text for help, etc. With more emphasis on semantics rather than communication, the work is overtranslated to some degree.Through this translating practice, I realize that, first, translating is difficult, and it is a second-time creation; second, not only expression but also understanding should be paid enough attention during the translation process; third,"accepting any job can be risky", a translator should accept translation tasks prudently; fourth, getting some knowledge of translation theories and stylistics is important for translators to formulate translation strategy and determine the language style of the TL text; fifth, with the rapid development of modern network technology, the faster pace of producing translation requires translators to accelerate their translating speed; sixth, the translation strategy should be flexible, the translation methods should be varied, and the translation tools should be enough. The limitation of this translation is that it falls short to present Robert Alter’s academic competence and profound knowledge fully due to my limited knowledge and expressing ability.The report consists of four parts. Chapter one is the description of the translation task, including the source of the task, requirements and aims of the translation. Chapter two is the description of the translation process, including preparation before translation, introduction to the translation theories of Peter Newmark, text type analysis and translation strategies, difficulties and challenges. Chapter three is case study, including special terms, long and complex sentences, quotations and notes. Chapter four is the conclusion, including lessons from this translating practice and the deficiencies of this translation.