A Report On The Chinese Translation Of Elements Of International Law (Excerpts)

Elements of International Law,written by Henry Wheaton(1785-1848),is an authoritative work of Western International Law.The source text is excerpted from Chapter II,Part IV of the book,of which the contents involve the laws and regulations on the capture and recaptures of the ships and cargoes of various countries at that time.The only version was translated by William M.P.Martin(1827-1916)with classical Chinese,which is not a completed translation work for some content of it has been cut down.This translation project aims to translate the original work into modern Chinese,and present the content of the original completely.Legal translation,as a technical category in translation,has its own features and difficulties.The author analysed the features of legal texts,and used the four principles of legal translation put forward by Li Kexing to guide the translation,namely,the principles of accuracy and precision,the principles of consistency and identity,the principles of clarity and concision,the principles of normalization and technicality.Through analysis and comparison,this report introduces the translation project and the translation process,and expounds the specific contents and core points of the four principles of legal translation.Based on these four principles,the author combed the vocabulary problems in the process of translation,and discussed the accuracy of legal terms,proper nouns,modal verbs and other types of vocabulary,as well as the consistency of their meanings.Meanwhile,the author analyzed the compound sentences and complex sentences in the original text by using the translation techniques such as omission,conversion and division.Finally,from the perspective of coherence and cohesion,the author discussed the accuracy and logicality of information transmission of the original text.This translation practice focuses on the Chinese translation of legal texts.The author hopes that these translation principles can be applied to similar texts in the future,and enlighten other translators.At the same time,the translation project can contribute to the publication of complete translation with modern Chinese,and present the historical significance and research value of the original comprehensively.