An E-C Translation Report On Transforming Food System For A Rising India (Excerpts) In The Light Of Translation Shifts Theory

Translation shifts occur widely in the translation progress for the great difference between SL and TL.British linguist J.C.Catford defined "shifts" as deviation from formal equivalence in the process of the source language entering the target language while putting forward the translation shifts theory.The material of this report is excerpted from Transforming Food Systems for a Rising India co-authored by Professor Prabhu Pingali,founder of the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition,and other scholars.It is an informative text with frequent use of passive voice,nominalized structures and complex sentences.Based on the characteristics of the text,the translator applies Catford’s translation shifts theory as the guidance for this translation practice.During the process,the translator takes into account aspects including level shifts and category shifts(structure-shifts,unit-shifts and class-shifts),and comprehensively considers cultural background,expression habits,thinking modes of both Chinese and English language users.Specific translation techniques transformed from translation shifts theory are used,such as addition,repetition,conversion,inversion,division,to solve the difficulties in dealing with passive voice,inanimate subjects,implicit coherence,nominalized structures,complex sentences and so on.In view of the fact that Catford’s translation shifts theory is only limited to the micro level of syntax or below,this thesis also supplements discourse shifts and cultural shifts at the macro level.This report strongly demonstrates the guiding role of translation shifts theory in the translation process with a series of case studies.This theory and relevant translation techniques are of great enlightening and reference significance in the translation practice of informative texts.