A Report On The E-C Translation Of Observations On China And The Chinese(Excerpts)

In the mid-19th century,many foreign missionaries,journalists,and writers visited China and wrote a large number of travel narratives.It not only helped the West understand China but also contributed valuable historical information.A travel story contains rich information and feelings.As a result,travel narrative translation can enhance cultural interchange,enrich the spiritual world,and help the development of relevant research.This thesis is a report on the translation practice of an excerpt from the travel narrative Observations on China and the Chinese（OCC）by W.L.G.Smith,an American writer,and consular official,and sorted by[the US]Li Guoqing.This travel narrative provides extensive information about China’s geography,politics,economy,and culture,as well as customs and the environment in the mid-19^thcentury.It was recommended as one of the“BOOKS OF THE WEEK”by major book review magazines in 1863.This excerpt is about 13,200 English words.This translation report covers the core content,linguistic characteristics of the source text,and translation methods.It summarizes the challenges of translating culture-loaded vocabulary,varied descriptive phrases,and maintaining cohesion and coherence throughout this journey story.Under the guidance of Nida’s functional equivalence theory,the translator makes a case analysis and provides three corresponding strategies:first,to attain functional equivalence on the lexical level,procedures such as annotation,transliteration,and free translation may be beneficial in translating culture-loaded terms and proper nouns.Second,methods of conversion,such as the usage of Chinese four-character,sequential translation,and amplification,can be utilized to establish functional equivalency on the syntactic level.Third,methods such as adding connective words and retaining punctuation are used to establish functional equivalency on a textual level,as well as to make the text cohesive and coherent.In the last section,the translator comments on the translation process,pointing out her gains,and identifying shortcomings.