On C-E Translation Of Popular Science Books Under The Theory Of Translation As Adaptation And Selection

Popular science books, as an effective way of popularizing science and technology, are playing a very important role in disseminating knowledge and creating material and spiritual civilization of mankind. In the great trend of information globalization, the marvelous achievements during China’s reform and opening-up have been bringing China to an ever-elevating international status. China is exerting a great influence on the world in all fields. The whole world comes to understand more about China. Chinese people have accumulated abundant knowledge on geography, geology, meteorology, agriculture and so on over thousands of years. Therefore, there are more and more chances for English-version Chinese popular science works being introduced to the world, which can promote cultural communication and social progress thus benefiting human beings.This importance starts to attract some outstanding scholars and translators to devote themselves into C-E translation of popular science, which greatly contributes to the formation of this thesis. This thesis is conducted from a new perspective, the theory of Translation as Adaptation and Selection(TAS).Inspired by Darwinist Evolution theory “survival the fittest”, TAS, the core theory of Eco-translatology, was initiated by Hu Gengshen in 2004, which defines translation as “a selection activity of the translator’s adaptation to the translational eco-environment(TEE)”(Hu Gengshen, 2004:120). Under the theoretical framework of Eco-translatology and the guidance of TAS theory, the research is intended to deal with the following questions:1) What are the stylistic features of popular science?2) What does a translator have to adapt to in the translational eco-environment of C-E translation of popular science books?3) How can a translator make adaptive selection successfully in the process of C-E translation of popular science?The thesis first introduces the theoretical framework of Eco-translatology and proves the feasibility of applying TAS to C-E translation of popular science.Then it analyzes the stylistic features of popular science and further combines the two processes of translation,namely the translator’s adaptation to the TEE of popular science and the translator’s adaptive selection in C-E translation of popular science on linguistic,cultural and communicative dimensions with the real cases in the translation of the book“防震减灾科普知识手册(Earthquake Preparedness and Disaster Mitigation Handbook)”.Through research, the thesis has some findings:First, technical or semi-technical words and frequent use of passive voice, norminalization are common in popular science writing. However, there is also a new trend of flexible using less professional expressions, active voice, verb structure and mixed use of simple, compound sentences to make it more popular and interesting. Besides, conjunction, substitution, reference and other cohesive devices are frequently employed to enhance logicality, conciseness and integrity of the text.Second, the translator has to be well adaptive to TEE of popular science, not only including the stylistic features of ST, also the translator’s personal intentions, competence and reader’s demands, etc. Thus a translator has to be well prepared in his bilingual competence, sharp cross cultural sense, background knowledge of certain scientific field, popular science translating experience, insight into the market, etc.Third, the translator ought to be flexible in making selections by transforming on three dimensions to produce the most survivable translation work of popular science. Transforming on linguistic dimension can be realized from lexical, syntactic and textural aspects accordant with the linguist features of popular science; transforming on cultural dimension can be realized by amplification, transliteration and adding explanatory notes or pictures; transforming on communicative dimension can be realized by shifting target readers, using expressions accordant with the habit of the target language and changing the type setting, etc.In balance, this thesis is a tentative application of TAS theory to translation study. It shows the translation process of a popular science book and proves that TAS theory is applicable to popular science translation. It can help translators produce better popular science translation works, and can give slight inspiration for studies in popular science translation in the days to come.