An E-C Translation Practice Report From The Perspective Of Catford’s Translation Shifts Theory

Translation shifts refer to “departures from formal correspondence in the process of going from the source language to the target language”.Since English and Chinese belong to two distinctive language systems,the absolute equivalence between the original and the translation can never be realized,which results in the necessity and phenomena of “translation shifts”.Examples taken from Mass Communication: Living in a Media World translated by the author are employed in this thesis to illustrate how translation shifts theory guide translation practice from the perspective of level shifts and category shifts.Mass Communication: Living in a Media World is a textbook for undergraduates of Communication Department authored by Ralph E.Hanson,an American professor of communication.Consisting of 432 pages,the book amounts to 200,000 words with comprehensive content,rich materials and innovative layout.The brilliant and colorful version breaks the monotony of traditional textbook.The fifth revised edition explores the latest development of the medium and makes an intensive analysis of those events changing the development of the medium.Furthermore,the fresh additional box “media transformation” highlights the dynamic changes of how we invent and utilize the medium.Each “media transformation” box has an information chart aiming to better illustrate key issues,cultivate students’ high media literacy and help them to master critical thinking skills.This report strives to probe into the translation shifts in English-Chinese translation.Firstly,the author makes an analysis of the characteristics of the material;secondly,based on the translation shifts theory,the author selects specific examples from Mass Communication: Living in a Media World to analyze level shifts and category shifts from the perspective of grammar,lexis and syntax.By the application of translation shifts theory to the translation process,the author proves that Catford’s translation shifts theory is of great practical value in non-literary translation: on grammar level,level shifts can be employed to shift from the grammatical level(e.g.number,aspects and tense)to lexical level;on lexical level,class shifts are of essence to make the target language more consistent with habitual expression of Chinese,for example,noun is converted into verb or preposition is converted into verb;moreover,due to the characteristics of vividness and refinement of Chinese four-character structure,unit shifts can be applied to shift from word to phrase or the clause can be converted into a phrase;on syntactic level,structure shifts can be utilized to shift from passive voice to active voice,non-personal subject can be converted into personal subject or the post-modifier into pre-modifier.However,there is no clear criterion for actual conversion and the individual selectivity of translator exerts considerable influence on translation types.The research draw a conclusion that Catford’s translation shifts theory is of great significance in guiding non-literary translation.Besides,by translating Mass Communication: Living in a Media World,the author expects to provide a readable version for students majoring in communication and offer some experience for the translation of this book in the future.