A Contrastive Study On The Translation Of Military Terms In Sun Zi Bing Fa From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Sun Zi Bing Fa embodies the military wisdom accumulated by Chinese people in the practice of war.The rich military thoughts embedded in it have exerted great influence on military,politics and philosophy of later generations.The military theories derive from the unique Chinese military concepts expounded by military terms which are deeply rooted in Chinese traditional philosophy and culture.Therefore,military terms should be the basis for the English translation of Sun Zi Bing Fa.For this reason,based on Skopos Theory,two complete English versions of Sun Zi Bing Fa are chosen as research materials,one by Lin Wusun and the other by Victor H.Mair.The research makes a contrastive analysis of the translation strategies of military terms adopted by the two translators.The research attempts to answer three questions:(1)What are the characteristics of military terms in Sun Zi Bing Fa?(2)What are the strategies adopted by the two translators and the overall orientation of each translator?(3)What are the Skopos Theory explanations for the two translators’ orientation? The major findings are as follows:Firstly,229 military terms were collected from Sun Zi Bing Fa and were divided into five categories,namely military strategy and tactics,natural conditions of warfare,military supply,military system and military management.Secondly,in terms of translation strategies,Lin Wusun adopted multiple translation strategies including amplification,partial omission and free translation to lower the understanding difficulty and create a natural and unimpeded reading experience for the target reader.His translation is more readeroriented.Mair mainly adopted literal translation and the annotation strategy to stay faithful to the original text and add detailed background knowledge of Chinese culture.His translation is prominently source text-oriented.Thirdly,from the perspective of Skopos Theory,Lin Wusun focuses on the coherence and readability of the translated text,showing his observance of the coherence rule.Influenced by the Foreign Languages Press,Lin Wusun’s translation purpose is to ensure acceptability among foreign readers.Mair strives to faithfully reproduce the original text in both form and content which reflects his absolute observance of the fidelity rule.As a Sinologist,Mair’s translation purpose is to probe into Chinese culture and dig up the rich connotations embedded in the military terms.This thesis summarizes the general translation strategies to facilitate further research.According to Skopos Theory,guided by the translation purpose,translators should flexibly adopt different translation strategies to retain the original features to the greatest extent,to give full consideration to the acceptance of foreign language readers,or take both into account.Therefore,excellent translations can achieve the goal of effectively disseminating Chinese culture which responds to the call of“Overseas Promotion of Chinese Culture”.