| This translation project contains two parts:selected translation of a historical work An Indigenous Peoples’History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and a critical commentary on the significance of the project and the translation strategies and methods used in the project. Majoring in History, Roxanne graduated from San Francisco State College and then completed her doctorate in History at University of California, Los Angeles. Her paternal grandfather, a white settler, farmer and veterinarian, was a labor activist and Socialist in Oklahoma with The Industrial Workers of the World in the first two decades of the twentieth century. The stories of her grandfather inspired her to lifelong social justice activism. In An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz offers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples.In the critical commentary, the author of the translation project first introduces the source text and the significance of the translation project. Then the author illustrates the theoretical guidance and strategies used in the translation project. The translation project employs Nida’s theory of Functional Equivalence as the guideline, which aims at keeping functional equivalence between the source text and the translated text. Accordingly, a series of strategies are employed both at lexical level and at syntactic level:a) proper diction; b) conversion; c) transliteration; d) following the original syntactic order, e) turning phrases into clauses; f) reinventing sentence structures. The translation project has some realistic meaning and research value. On one hand, the project will be beneficial to readers who are interested in American historical literature; on the other hand, this translation practice proves that Functional Equivalence is very useful in the translation of historical literature. |
