A Report On The Translation Of Chapter Eight Of Law 101:Everything You Need To Know About American Law

The 4th Plenary Session of the 19 th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in October 2019 proposed to further popularize the law knowledge and strengthen all citizens’ legal awareness.Accordingly,the translation of proper legal works is of great significance since it can enable Chinese readers to have access to the advanced legal thoughts abroad and improve the legal construction of China.The translation version is expected to achieve the same effect as the source text,which introduces the process of lawmaking to the readers through bringing them to ponder over the tough questions and tricky cases.It is with the great hope that the Chinese translation of the source text can arouse Chinese readers’ interest in law and strengthen people’s legal awareness.This translation report is based on English-Chinese translation of the excerpt of Law 101:Everything You Need to Know About American Law(5th edition).The book presents an introduction to the American law but it is not strictly a legal document.In addition to the legal regulations,this book is full of puzzles,thought-provoking questions,intellectual stimulation and tidbits.The proper comprehension of the American law is achieved through the use of the humorous language.An in-depth analysis of the source text and the parallel texts was done in its initial phase of the translation.An English-Chinese glossary of legal terminology was established on the basis of taking full advantage of the relevant translation journals and other academic references.The computer software of CAT Déjà Vu X3 was employed to ensure the coherence throughout the translation process.Through the profound study on the translation theories,Static Equivalence and Dynamic Equivalence were chosen as the guidances for this translation practice.The translation of the rigid and specific legal terms and regulations of the source text was done by virtue of adhering to Static Equivalence theory for the sake of making the translation equivalent to the source text in connection with the surface meaning and deep meaning,linguistic structures and styles.When translating the non-legal part,the translator followed the principle of Dynamic Equivalence theory to reproduce theinformation of the source language in the most appropriate natural and equivalent language from semantics to style,so as to achieve the same effect as the original text.From the perspectives of the types of the source text and the translation strategies,the case analyses of the translation were conducted through singling out 32 examples,which indicate the difficulties encountered in the translation process.Upon the completion of the translation task,the translator made revisions to the Chinese translation with reference to the suggestions from the specialists in the field of law.This report consists of five parts.Chapter One introduces the background,objective and significance of the translation task,as well as the source text and its author.Chapter Two describes the three steps of the translation practice:Pre-translation,Translation Process and Post-Translation.Chapter Three addresses the values,functions and the connotation of Static Equivalence and Dynamic Equivalence.Chapter Four centers around the case studies with two categories,which are the translation of the legal texts under the guidance of Static Equivalence Theory,and the translation of the extrajudicial part within the framework of Dynamic Equivalence Theory.Chapter Five summarizes the experience and insights of this translation practice,and it also provides the limitations of the translation and the suggestions for the future translation practice.