A Functionalist Approach To C-E Translation Of Introduction To Loan Products

With the development of economic globalization and China's entry into the World Trade Organization,the economic communication between China and the World has become increasingly extensive.As one of the main pillars for the banking industry,the loan products play a crucial role for the development and prosperity of the industry.In order to meet the requirements of fierce competition,to expand business scopes and to strengthen market position,many Chinese banks have translated their Chinese introduction to loan products into English versions.However,it is found that studies on the C-E translation of loan products are insufficient.Furthermore,the quality of the existing English versions leaves much to be desired.As a communication medium between banks and clients,introduction to loan products plays a significant role in publicity.The quality or level of translation is essential for the image and market competition of the banking industry.Adopting a functionalist approach,the study on the C-E translation of introduction to loan products is supposed to be enhanced with the author's endeavor.Adopting the functionalist approach and Nord's model for text analysis,the author starts with the comparison of the Chinese introduction to loan products and the English introduction to loan products by analyzing intratextual and extratextual factors for the purpose of identifying their respective features as well as the similarities and differences.Based on the functionalist approach that translation strategies are determined by the target culture and communicative purpose of the target text,features and purposes of the English introduction to loan products are analyzed.The English translation of the Chinese introduction to loan products is evaluated and revised based on the features and purposes of the English introduction to loan products.Finally,the relevant translation strategies are advanced accordingly.The study shows that there exist significant differences between the Chinese and the English introduction to loan products in terms of content,structure,language,etc.The Chinese introduction to loan products lays stress on the requirements and conditions that clients have to meet and follow in terms of content.Besides,Chinese introduction to loan products presents product introduction to clients' obligation in structure and is stricter and less vivid in language use.Comparatively,the English introduction to loan products gives a detailed introduction to the features and value of the products in content.Furthermore,the English introduction to loan products adopts a problem-advancing to problem-solving structure pattern and the language is negotiable.From the functionalist approach,translation is not merely a linguistic process.The translator is supposed to take the translation purpose,target readers' thinking modes as well as the features of the English texts into consideration.By doing so,the translator can select appropriate items from the source text in order to form a new offer of information in the target text and to realize the intended function of the translation.