On The Application Of Semantic And Communicative Translations In The Translation Of Funeral Expressions Of The Hui Ethnic Group: A Report On The Translation Of The Stream Of Time (Excerpt)

This is a translation practice report on The Stream of Time by Ma Jinlian, a woman writer of Hui ethnic group. The report explores the application of semantic and communicative translations in the translation of funeral expressions of the Hui ethnic group, such as the words about funeral rites, appellations in funeral, material objects, sayings about death.The novel includes four stories about the death of four people of different ages with four seasons as a linkage, which indicates the author’s life experience and view about death, expressing her gloomy feelings. Since there is no English version at present, the novel is translated by our translation team as a project. The report is intended to summarize this translation practice.By relevant case studies, the conclusion can be safely drawn as follows:semantic translation and communicative translation could provide a valuable perspective for the translation of the specific information in the literary works with distinctive etnic features. Local features and aesthetic value of the source text could be reserved by semantic translation, and communicative translation should be adopted if there are too much cultural barriers so that the readers could understand the fluent and genuine expressions.