A Report On The English-Chinese Translation Of The Enigma Of Reason

This is a working report on the English-Chinese translation of the book The Enigma of Reason,published in April,2017.Its Chinese translation was published in January,2019.The cases selected in this report cover the entire book.As it is a psychology book with obscure concepts and the original authors’ novel insights,and also because of the translators’ lack of experience in translating such kind of book,it seems really hard for them to grasp the exact meaning.The author has listed 1600 translation problems occurring in the initial translation that cover almost all kinds of translation problems in translation practices.As for all these problems,she makes a detailed division,conducts careful analyses,and puts forward specific solutions for specific types of translation problems.Through the analysis of each case,the author finds that although the problems appearing in the translating process are different,they can all be solved with the same train of thought,that is,to make every effort to make the target text meet the expectations of target readers.This will involve the translator’s bilingual ability,basic translation literacy and strong vocabulary.This report is composed of four chapters.Chapter one is an overview of the project,covering a brief introduction to the book and its author,and the reasons why this book has been chosen.Chapter two illustrates the whole translating process,points out the difficulties encountered,and offers the solutions.Chapter three conducts detailed case studies based on different sorts of translation problems that were roughly divided into three major categories,namely,form-,content-,and emotion-related problems.Chapter four is the conclusion of this translation practice report and summarizes the author’s experience and translation methods in completing the project,expecting to provide a few valuable suggestions for other peers who intend to translate relevant texts.