A Report On The E-C Translation Of A History Of Political Thought:From Ancient Greece To Early Christianity(Excerpts)

A History of Political Thought: From Ancient Greece to Early Christianity(Excerpts),the source text,is all about the explanation and reinterpretation of the great philosophers of various periods from the perspective of author Janet Coleman.The source text permeates historical contents and philosophical theories analysis.Its narration is informative and strictly logical,and long sentences are not rare to be seen.Besides,it contains many new terms and concepts with rich cultural background connotations that have no counterparts in Chinese.Thus,it is very difficult for the translator to translate the text accurately.The translation report was done under the guidance of the theory of translation shifts put forward by British translation theorist John Catford.By analyzing specific cases,the translator explores the E-C translation process of A History of Political Thought: From Ancient Greece to Early Christianity(Excerpts).The translator believes textual equivalence rather than formal correspondence should be prioritized in order to faithfully convey the information or opinions of the source text.Therefore,shifts of different types are necessary while the source text is translated from English into Chinese.According to Catford’s narrations of translation shifts,the report analyzes two different types of shifts,known to us as level shifts and category shifts so as to enhance the fluency and reduce translationese in the translating process.However,Catford’s definition of the translation shifts theory mainly focuses on shifts from the linguistic perspective but overlooks the extra-linguistic factors which,generally speaking,are equally essential in the process of the translation.At the end of the report,the translator would also discuss some drawbacks and limitations of the theory.The translation report’s main goal is to illustrate how to put the translation theory into practice during the process of translation and how the translator improves his translation under the guidance of the theory.The translator’s analysis is not perfect,but it will push his translation level to a higher level.Meanwhile,the translator also hopes to acquire some practical translation skills and methods so as to guide the translation of other similar philosophical texts and inspire readers to some extent.