A Report On The Translation Of Thinking Small: The Long And Strange Trip Of The Volkswagen Beetle(Excerpts)

This translation report analyses how the writer prepares, proceeds, proofreads and reviews a translation task within the framework of Gutt’s Relevance Theoretic Approach to Translation(1991).With the development of modernization and internationalization, the world presents a brand new political, economic and cultural pattern; the masses’ comprehensive qualities in terms of educational status, cultural cultivation, learning capacity elevate to a new stage. After the 1st decade of the 21 st century, they are now having more free accesses to all types of detailed news, information and knowledge through not only traditional media like newspapers and journals but also through modern information platforms such as internet, laptops and well-informed connections. Most importantly of all, these information platforms are available to the masses without any limitations. Under this background, the target reading materials of the masses is no longer restricted to novels, dramas, fictions and other traditional literature, but has extended to areas of sciences, economics, technological discoveries, industries, domestic and global finance, and many others. But some highly specialized books and magazines are out of the reach of the majority for their lack of professional knowledge and special demands. However, there is still a strong need for the masses to read something that can not only provide them with special knowledge and broaden their horizons but also can give them a new way of looking around the world. Thus, lots of popular writings referring to certain specialized knowledge have appeared in response to the public demands. Thinking Small: the Long Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle is one of such books created to meet their needs.Luckily enough, I fell in love with the book the moment I opened its first page. Based on this book, the practice report studies how the writer completes his task as both a translator and a cross-cultural communicator. The author’s priority is to choose some pragmatic translation strategies to guide his work.The report intends to adopt Relevance Theoretic Approach to Translation and to apply it to the translation practice: construction of a shared cognitive environment, and use of different translation strategies to generate highly qualified translation text. Therefore, this report attempts to study how the author combines the theoretic approach with his specific translation process, namely preparation work, translation performance and post-task assessment so as to make the task successful. Also in the report, the translation text is analyzed; specific translation tactics are concluded; major findings are summarized and other difficulties are spotted out.In the translation process, the author emphasizes two points: 1) the original writer’s informative intention and communicative intention which can help to deepen the translator’s understanding of the original text; 2) the writer’s intended contextual effects and target reader’s processing efforts which are highly related to the quality of the translation.The author will accomplish his translation report mainly under the guidance of the Relevance Theoretic Approach to Translation, and some other pragmatic translation strategies will help a lot as well. In the report, the author summarizes his findings and frankly confesses what still needs to be improved in terms of language proficiency, translating tactics and scope of knowledge. Hopefully, this report can help translators perform better in dealing with similar tasks in the future.