A Report On The English-chinese Translation Of A Fragile Mask(Chapter 1)

This translation report chooses contemporary British writer Elizabeth Bailey's A Fragile Mask as the source text and compiles a report on the basis of translating Chapter 1 of the novel.This is a romantic novel which set in the background of the British Regency.In this novel,the characters'behavior,languages and especially clothes are described brilliantly and vividly reflect the social background and the feature of the era.The reason for choosing A Fragile Mask as the source text is that there is no published Chinese version up till now.Through this translation practice,the translator experiences difficulties and characteristics of literary translation,discusses the translation difficulties and the translation methods and summarizes experience.Meanwhile,it aims to recommend this historic romantic novel and its background and features of the era.This translation report makes an analysis from three aspects of words,phrases and sentences,and summarizes the difficulties that encountered in the process of translation,such as translation of descriptive words,translation of phrases,and translation of long and complex sentences.The translator through the analysis of specific examples lists the corresponding translation methods;literal translation is adopted when translating words;the two methods of translating phrases are adopting the usage of four-letter form and extension;the translation of long difficult sentences chooses following the original syntactic order,reinventing sentence structure and division.This translation practice indicates that:(1)the translator needs to have a deeper understanding of the British Regency and the historical background,languages and clothes of the era,and to enrich artistic appreciation;(2)the translator needs to set up a serious and rigorous translation attitude and select appropriate translation methods;(3)the translator needs to grasp more translation techniques,constantly explores new knowledge,and continually improve skills in future translations.