A Report On The Translation Of Dark Psychology And Manipulation (Excerpts) Under The Guidance Of Translation Shifts Theory

This translation practice material is excerpted from the book Dark Psychology and Manipulation by Steven Secret,which focuses on the knowledge of dark psychology and psychological manipulation and aims at equipping readers with the knowledge to effectively identify and protect themselves from hidden manipulation techniques.It is a social science text,and it is also an informative text,which is characterized by paying attention to objective facts and tending to direct expression of language.Therefore,it is generally believed that the accurate rendering of the meaning takes priority over that of the form.This translation practice report is guided by translation shifts theory which was proposed by the famous British linguist Catford.He believed that translation equivalence can be established between two different languages,and this equivalence pursues formal correspondence and content equivalence.He interpreted translation from the perspective of linguistics and regarded equivalence as the central issue in translation research and practice.Additionally,he advanced the notion that translation shifts represent the most fundamental method of translation practice.This report includes task introduction,translation process description,case analysis and conclusion.The translator analyzes the guiding role of translation shifts theory on social science text translation from two aspects:level shifts and category shifts.Level shifts mainly refer to the shifts from the level of grammar to that of vocabulary,which could be realized by means of amplification in the translation,thus achieving the equivalence between source and target texts.Category shifts involve structural shifts,class shifts,unit shifts and intra-system shifts.In the structural shifts,methods like the omission and the voices conversion have been used;in the class shifts,the amplification and the parts-of-speech transformation have been adopted;in the unit shifts,the explanation,the repetition and the four-character pattern have been employed;and in the intra-system shifts,the word meaning extension has been applied.The report highlights the significant guiding role of Catford’s translation shifts theory in English-Chinese translation of social science texts.Based on a thorough understanding of the source text,the translator can convert terms and vocabulary properly,as well as carry out information conversion and adjustment according to the language habits and cultural background of the target language,so as to accurately convey meaning while reflecting the style and characteristics of the source text.