Translation Strategies Of Political Terms From The Perspective Of“political Equivalence"

Xi Jinping:The Governance of China(also referred to as The Governance of China in this study)embodies Chinese President Xi Jinping’s insights into the political landscape of China and the whole world in recent years.Its English version is regarded as a precious material for studying Chinese political translation and a treasure trove of political terms.Although studies of political translation are not rare,few writers have been able to draw on any systematic research into translation studies of political terms with Chinese characteristics.Such unique and original political terms should be translated under the guidance of more targeted theories.Based on Eugene Nida’s "functional equivalence" theory,Yang Mingxing put forward the "political equivalence" theory targeting the political and international publicity translation.According to "political equivalence",the translation should follow the principles of political orientation,equilibrium,and dynamics.In other words,translators should maintain high political sensitivity,adapt the translation to different scenarios and backgrounds,and keep a delicate balance between the SL and TL.The thesis uses context-specific textual analysis to summarize translation strategies of political terms with Chinese characteristics in The Governance of China from the "political equivalence" perspective.The thesis attempts to answer the following questions.First,what strategies were adopted to translate political terms with Chinese characteristics in the book from the perspective of political equivalence?Second,which strategies can better achieve political orientation,equilibrium,and dynamics of the translation?A thorough contextual analysis was conducted from the perspective of political equivalence in this study.The finding is that translators of the book flexibly adopted multiple translation strategies,such as literal translation,annotation,expansion,reduction,modulation,and combined methods in different cases.The political orientation and dynamics have been generally followed.In most cases,the necessary information was reserved while aesthetic merit was preserved.Nevertheless,some cases of translation lack equilibrium,which may hamper TL readers’understanding of the original texts.Improving the quality of political translation could help the foreign audience get more familiar with China’s culture and policies,and thus improve China’s national image.This thesis analyzes translation strategies of political terms in The Governance of China and the degree of agreement of different strategy with three core principles of political equivalence in order to advance the application of political equivalence in the translation of political terms with Chinese characteristics.Hopefully,it could serve as a helpful reference for future translation practices in this regard.