Selected E-C Translation Of Napoleon And The Transformation Of Europe And A Critical Commentary

This report is written on the basis of the translator’s translation of an excerpt from Napoleon and The Transformation of Europe by Alexander Grab, an expert on early modem and modern European history. The text selected is Chapter One and Chapter Two, which elaborates on the formation of the Napoleonic Empire and the influence of Napoleon’s rules.The source text is a historical text, and is therefore full of technical terms and culture-loaded words that are difficult for the translator to understand. In order to get a full and correct comprehension of technical terms and culture-loaded words, the translator consulted related articles, dictionaries and encyclopedias. As for expression of some words and phrases, the translator has adopted different strategies, including words addition, conversion, and change from passive voice to active voice. The experience makes the translator aware that knowing the subject of the source text is of great importance in translation, as it helps the translator in comprehending the text. Besides, the translator has to have a good command of the knowledge of contrastive linguistics in order to make her translations comprehensible.The translation report is divided into four parts. Part One is an introduction to the translation project, which consists of a brief introduction of the project’s background, aim and significance; Part Two explores two translation methods, namely following the original syntactic order and turning phrases into clauses. Part Three enumerates some of the typical problems the translator has encountered in executing the project, and the measures she has adopted in resolving them. Part four is the conclusion, which sums up what the translator has learned through the execution of the project.