On Inconsistency And Norms In C-E Translation Of Political Terms With Chinese Characteristics

Political terms with Chinese characteristics are fixed in words,collocations and semantics.There are no corresponding terms in English for us to choose readily.Therefore,the C-E translation of political terms must be consistent to reflect the seriousness,connotation and rigor of Chinese political terms.Based on searching English translated versions of Chinese political terms in Chinese authoritative media,leaders’ speeches,and authoritative organizations,this thesis finds that there are multiple translated versions of the same political term,resulted from lack of translation norms and consistency.By analyzing some typical examples of inconsistent translated versions of political terms,the author finds the problem of inconsistency of translated political terms are very serious.The specific problems of inconsistency are as follows:(1)inconsistent translated versions of the same political term in the same authoritative media.(2)inconsistent translated versions of the same political term in the same leader’s speech.(3)inconsistent translated versions of the same political term in different leaders’ speeches,political documents and authoritative media.Such lack of translation norms and consistency of Chinese political terms will greatly hinder the dissemination of Chinese political concepts and international exchanges.And it will also lead to some misunderstanding of China’s national image.Then,based on the Skopos theory,and the translation concept of “the English translated terms with Chinese characteristics should be in accordance with the highest authoritative organization and the English translated version of terms with Chinese characteristics in documents released or used by the highest authoritative organization or media should be fixed and consistent” put forward by professor Liu,this thesis proposed two principles to solve these inconsistent translation problems:(1)When the political terms are not discussed in the Report on the Work of the Government,if English translated versions released by the same highest authoritative media or used in the speech of the same leader are multiple,the most recent used version is the consistent one.(2)When the political terms are discussed in the Report on the Work of the Government,if English translated versions released or used by different leaders’ speeches,political documents on the highest authoritative organizations or the highest authoritative media are multiple,the latest released version in the Report on the Work of the Government is the consistent one.Application of two principles as norms proves that the three problems can be solved effectively to promote the dissemination quality of political terms with Chinese characteristics for English readers to have a better understanding of Chinese political concepts,thus enhancing international exchanges and China’s discourse power.