A Report On The E-C Translation Strategies Of Informative Texts In “Bibliotheca Sinica” In The Indo-Chinese Gleaner

From May 1817 to April 1822,Protestant missionaries Robert Morrison and William Milne commenced the quarterly English periodical The Indo-Chinese Gleaner in Malacca.Introducing religions,politics and economy of the Indo-Chinese nations,it became an important channel for foreigners to learn about Chinese society when the Qing Empire cut off the whole country from outside.And articles on Chinese classics,as vital parts of The Indo-Chinese Gleaner,were mainly serialized in “Bibliotheca Sinica”,with focus on religious and philosophical books and Chinese dictionaries.This report is based on the translation of four articles excerpted from “Bibliotheca Sinica”.The original writer Milne introduced the basic information of Chinese classics from the aspects of “title”,“date of issue”,“nature”,“contents” and so on,and he provided book reviews from the standpoint of a foreigner.Besides,in order to facilitate western readers' understanding and to attract them to further study Chinese classics,Milne supplemented extra knowledge beyond the basic information of the classics.In these respects,articles in “Bibliotheca Sinica” can be regarded as typical informative texts which require communicative translation,according to Newmark's text typology.Whether the original information can be conveyed accurately,clearly and succinctly holds the key to the quality of the translation.In the translation process,irregular Romanized Pinyin and unnecessary explanations are omitted and household stories are abridged to enhance the conciseness of information;quotations are traced to their origins and mistakes are corrected to increase the accuracy of information;vague expressions are substituted and added footnotes are restructured to improve the clarity of information.The whole report consists of five parts.The first two chapters give an overview of the translation task and translation process;the third and fourth parts center on the text type of articles in “Bibliotheca Sinica” and case analysis;the final part is the summary of the entire report,including major findings and limitations.