An English-Chinese Translation Report On Defectors(Chapters 5-6)

This paper is a translation report.The original,chapters 5-6,is excerpted from the novel Defectors by Joseph Kanon,an American spy thriller novelist and the Edgar Allan Poe Awards winner.Taking the Cold War as the background,the novel describes the infighting between intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union and America,which specifically tells:Frank,the leading character,was a spy working for the Soviet Union for his strong belief in communism.However,he had to escape to Moscow after his hidden identity was exposed in America,Twelve years later,Frank invited his brother Simon to Moscow to help edit his memoire.However,it turned out Simon's being inviting here is just a cover,with Frank's another treason operation hidden behind.In the former chapters of the novel,Joseph leaves so many questions,which are all come to light in the last chapter.The translation is guided under Peter Newmark's communicative translation theory.According to Newmark,the purpose of communicative translation is to produce the same effect on the target language readers as is produced by the original on the source language readers.Communicative translation,applicable for the translation of fictions and intended for target language,combines advantages of domestication,free translation and idiomatic translation.Under the guidance of this theory,translators has more freedom to interpret the original text,thus producing more idiomatic,concise and expressive translation.In this translation,the translator comprehensively applies amplification,omission and constitution to not only translate the literal meaning of the source text,but also reproduce its stylistic features,thereby providing readers with a continual,readable spy story of Chinese version and building a communication bridge between target readers and the author.Specifically,the paper focuses on the following content:first,studying Newmark's communicative translation theory and its application in English-Chinese translation,thereby verifying this theory from real practice;second,analyzing the translation from lexical level,syntactic level and textual level with exemplifications,especially the translation of pronouns,tenses,long dialogues,parallel structures,broken sentences and stream of consciousness;third,drawing experience and summarizing shortages,thus providing references for future translation research.From this practice,it is found,for the translation of fictions,that characters' personalities,and linguistic and stylistic features should be particularly paid attention to.Besides,a translator should put the author first and give his/her subjectivity and creativity into full play.