A Report On C-E Translation Of A Journey Back To The Ancient Forts:Humen Travel Guidebook (Excerpts) Under Adaptation Theory

Fast growth in China’s economy has promoted the tourism industry and foreign cultural publicity.Along with the increase of tourists to China in recent years,there is also an upsurge in tourism translation studies and practices.The translation of travel guidebooks gives a direct and comprehensive introduction of a tourist destination to tourists,from history and culture,economic development and local customs to transportation and accommodation.The translation material of this report is A Journey Back to the Ancient Forts: Humen Travel Guidebook(Excerpts)compiled by Humen Town Bureau of Publicity,Education and Sports,and published by Guangdong Tourism Press in 2017.The first two chapters of the book are chosen as the target of translation and Adaptation Theory is selected as the theoretical framework to guide translation practice.It attempts to explore the effectiveness of Adaptation Theory in the translation of travel guidebooks and summarize translation strategies and techniques.This report summarizes the text features of the original travel guidebook: the extensive use of proper nouns,including place names,names of people and scenic spots,culture-loaded words,four-character words and literary allusions.At the sentence level,declarative sentences and long sentences connected with commas are used frequently.From the four perspectives of Adaptation Theory,the report draws the following findings: communicative context focuses on how to narrow the cognitive gaps of target readers;as for linguistic context,conjunctions should be added in long sentences to conform to English hypotaxis;as for structural object of adaptability,the translator adapts to the language style of the original text,and uses rhyming and similar sentence structure for the translation of four-character words;dynamic adaptation requires the translator to understand and interpret outdated words to make them conform to contemporary language,and to adopt flexible translation methods due to dynamic context.The translator’s consciousness is reflected in improving the attractiveness of the translation and emphasizing readers’ demands through rhetorical devices and adding personal pronouns.Through this translation practice,it is applicable and necessary to apply Adaptation Theory to the translation of travel guidebooks.Since translation is a process of constantly making linguistic choices and adaptations,when translating travel guidebooks,the translator should carefully analyze the readability of the translation and consider the practical needs of target readers,highlight the translator’s awareness,and consider the way of expression of the target language,so that foreign readers can understand the basic features of a city and be attracted by it.