A Report On The Translation Of Foundations Of Behavioral Health From Catford’s Translation Shift Theory

Behavioral health refers to the healthy behaviors,thoughts,and mental activities in daily life,including physical and mental health.According to the World Health Organization,the number of people with psychological problems in China currently ranges from 200 million to 300 million,and the number is constantly increasing,which undoubtedly challenges the achievement of the Healthy China Strategy.Therefore,national health must be given a strategic priority for development,especially the behavioral health.However,the author found that there were no books which systematically study behavioral health in China,and few studies on women’s behavioral health.Therefore,in this translation project,the author selected the Women’s Behavioral Health Needs in Chapter 9 of Foundation of Behavioral Health as translation practice materials.Catford’s translation shift theory puts emphasis on the information transmission,translation equivalence,semantic equivalence,and achieving equivalence by sacrificing forms,which accords with “content is more important than form”,the standard of the informative text in this translation project.Therefore,in this paper,the author applies Catford’s translation theory to the translation of Women’s Behavioral Health Needs.The author analyzes examples by combining them with category shift which includes structure shift,class shift and unit shift,as well as some translation techniques such as omission,amplification,combination and division.Through analysis and research,the author believes that Catford’s translation shift theory boasts great application value in informative texts,but it is not a rigid rule.The translator’s personal choice also greatly affects the generation of translation shift and the specific type of shifts.In translation practice,translators should adopt appropriate shift strategies based on both the differences between English and Chinese and the actual situation.And it is of great significance for the translator to take into account the characteristics of the informative texts that content values more than form,thus creating an excellent translation which is objective and well-organized,concise and clear,and easy for the readers to accept.The author hopes that the translation techniques adopted in this translation practice project can provide references for translators of informative texts,and enrich the reference materials for studying behavioral health in China,especially women’s behavioral health,so as to promote the two-way communication of psychological knowledge and the development of psychological studies in China.