On C-E Exhibition Catalogue Translation From The Perspective Of German Functionalist Theory

With the development of economic globalization and China’s opening-up and reform, exhibition economy grows rapidly in China. Exhibition catalogue, as one of the most important exhibition public materials, its correct and proper translation will contribute to making the exhibition proceed smoothly.This thesis will discuss the translation of exhibition catalogue under the framework of German Functionalist Translation Theory, taking the catalogue of 2015 China Fruit and Vegetable Fair (2015 China FVF) as an example.The representative theories of German Functionalist Translation are respectively Text Typology, Skopos Theory, Theory of Translation Action and Function plus Loyalty, among which, Skopos Theory is the core.Under the guidance of German Functionalist Translation Theory, this thesis has discussed the text types of exhibition catalogues and tried to summarize the translation principles and methods for the lexicons, sentences and paragraphs of exhibition catalogues.An exhibition catalogue features professional, simple and clear as well as artistic. As one of the public materials of an expo, its function is to deliver information and attract visitors. When translating an exhibition catalogue, one might as well follow the principles of transferring the useful information correctly and observe the linguistic and cultural practices of the environment of the target language. Moreover, make the translation simple and clear. For the lexicon of an exhibition catalogue, names of the exhibitors and exhibits should be translated correctly. Pat attention to using terminology, personal pronouns, such as "I", "we", "you" and "us", and evocative words as well as conspicuous words. As for the translation of sentences, we need to pay attention to the use of interrogative sentences and the break-up and reconstruction of Chinese long sentences by the methods of adding subjects and conjunctions and using participle structures and subordinate clauses. When it comes to translation of paragraphs, one needs to eliminate or adjust the contents to the target readers and make the translation meet the expectation of the target readers.The thesis has shown that the functionalist translation theory will serve to guide the translation of exhibition catalogues and reveal the truth of it. When translating an exhibition catalogue, the translator can flexibly adopt different translation methods according to the aims and functions of the text, in order to make the transition gain the expected effect in target readers.