交际翻译理论视角下的博物馆展览文本翻译——以中国闽台缘博物馆为例

1、ContentsChinese Abstract2English Abstract31. Introduction41.1 Background of the Study41.2 Significance of the Study42. Literature Review62.1 Studies of Museum Texts Translation at Home62.2 Studies of Museum Publicity Text Abroad73. Introduction to Newmarks Communicative Translation Theory73.1 A Brie

2、f Introduction to the Main Translation Theory of Newmark73.2 The Basic Idea of Newmarks Communicative Translation Theory83.3 The Application of Communicative Translation Theory84. Translation Strategies Towards Communicative Theory94.1 Literal translation104.2 Free Translation114.3 Omission134.4 Amp

3、lification154.5 Transliteration plus Annotation175. Conclusion18References19交际翻译理论视角下的博物馆展览文本研究以中国闽台缘博物馆为例摘 要作为“海上丝绸之路的起点”，泉州可谓是一座文化古城，这里古迹甚多、风景优美、文化繁荣发展,中西文化在这里碰撞交流。泉州的中国闽台缘博物馆是国内首座国家级对台专题博物馆，每年都吸引了许多国内外游客。博物馆展览文本作为西方人读懂中国文物的重要渠道，其译文是否高质有效对促进文化交流起重要作用。但是，由于我国博物馆展览文本翻译起步相对较晚，翻译文本中还存在许多不足之处，中国闽台缘博物馆的

4、展览文本翻译中也存在很多问题。本论文将在彼得纽马克的交际翻译理论的指导下,对中国闽台缘博物馆的展览文本翻译进行分析，从而通过分析直译、意译、省译、增译和音译加注释在中国闽台缘博物馆展览文本翻译中的应用来探索改善博物馆展览文本翻译的策略。关键词：中国闽台缘博物馆；交际翻译理论；翻译策略Exploration on Museum Text Translation from the Perspective of Communicative Translation TheoryA Case Study of China Museum for Fujian-Taiwan KinshipAbstractA

5、s the starting port of the “Maritime Silk Road”, Quanzhou is an ancient cultural city with many historic sites, beautiful scenery and prosperous culture. Chinese and Western cultures have long-term exchanges here. Located in Quanzhou, China Museum for Fujian-Taiwan Kinship is the first national leve

6、l topic museum for Taiwan, and attract many domestic and foreign tourists every year. As an important channel for westerners to understand Chinese cultural relics, high quality and effective translation plays an important role in promoting cultural exchange.However, there are still many deficiencies

7、 of Chinese museum translation texts, because domestic research on translation of museum exhibition texts started relatively late. Based on Peter Newmarks Communicative Translation Theory, the author will analyze the translation of exhibition texts in China Museum for Fujian-Taiwan Kinship and explo

8、re strategies to improve the translation quality.Key words: China Museum for Fujian-Taiwan Kinship; Communicative Translation Theory; translation strategies1. Introduction1.1 Background of the StudyCultural relics are historical, artistic and scientific relics left over from human activities. With t

9、he longest lasting civilization, China attracts thousands of foreign tourists every year. At this time, the exhibition text of the museum becomes a bridge for cultural communication. Therefore, in order to better promote the museums publicity work, better introduce Chinese history and culture, and g

10、ive full play to the role of the museum, it is very necessary to study the English translation of museum exhibition texts. Excellent English translation of museum texts can better publicize our culture to foreign tourists and promote cultural exchanges between China and the West.Located in Quanzhou,

11、 Fujian Province, China Museum for Fujian-Taiwan Kinship is the first national topic museum to reflect the historical relationship between the mainland and Taiwan, displaying more than 1500 cultural relics and documents, including 33 art creations, 18 scenes of different sizes, and 5 virtual imaging

12、. According to the geographical, blood, legal, commercial and cultural relationships, the comprehensive theme exhibition hall is divided into five parts: “Homeland in the Ancient Time”, “Be of One Blood”, “Under the Same Jurisdiction”, “Common Efforts in the Exploration of Taiwan”, “The Same Cultura

13、l Origin”, “The Same Religious Belief”, “Same Customs and Folkways”, which tells the changes of Taiwans geography, the migration of ancient human and animals, and the resistance of both sides of the Taiwan Strait to Japanese aggression. It reflects the historical relationship between the mainland of

14、 China (Fujian) and Taiwan, and accurately explains the historical origin of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait who share the same root, the same etiquette and the same custom.1.2 Significance of the StudyTranslation of museum exhibition texts in China has developed since the 21st centur

15、y. After entering the 21st century, China has more and more frequent contacts with other countries in the world because of the increasing strength. As a epitome of local history and culture, the museum is a good place for foreign tourists to learn more about Chinese traditional culture. Many foreign

16、 tourists will visit the local museum. At this time, the differences of culture and language make it more difficult for them to learn Chinese traditional culture. If there is no proper translation to introduce the cultural relics, foreign tourists will not be able to understand Chinese traditional c

17、ulture through cultural relics. Therefore, the translation of domestic museum exhibition texts emerges at the right moment. The research on the translation of museum exhibition texts also appears. Although China has made a lot of achievements in the translation of museum exhibition texts, it is not

18、easy to translate museum exhibition texts. So far, there are relatively few papers on translation studies of museums on the Internet, and the development of translation of museum exhibition texts has not been very perfect, and there are still many deficiencies. In order to promote the translation of

19、 museum exhibition texts, we still need further study and research.In the process of translation of museum texts, there is often a phenomenon that words fail to reach the intended meaning. Many Chinese words have many corresponding English words. Translators should choose the best vocabulary accordi

20、ng to the meaning of different texts. In fact, translation is not only a transformation between two languages, but also a communication between two cultures. In this investigation, the most difficult problem that affects the translation of museum exhibition texts is the cultural default. Cultural de

21、fault leads to word vacancy, that is to say, many Chinese expressions cannot find corresponding expressions in English. In particular, translating sentences with Chinese traditional cultural factors is difficult. As a museum about the origin of Fujian and Taiwan in China，its exhibition text tells ab

22、out many traditional social customs and religious sacrificial activities in Fujian and Taiwan. Through reading the exhibition text, although there are many highlights, the paper finds that because of the word default, many words in the English translation text are directly expressed in transliterati

23、on. It is hard for local people to understand the meaning of the translation completely, let alone the people from other countries. After the research, the author finds that Peter Newmarks Communicative Translation Theory can effectively solve this problem. Therefore, the author tries to use Newmark

24、s Communicative Translation Theory to analyze and improve museum translation texts and explore the applicable translation strategies.This paper consists of six chapters. Chapter one describes the background, and information of this paper. Chapter two reviews researches on museum translation at home

25、and abroad. Chapter three gives an introduction to Newmarks Communicative Translation Theory. Chapter four is the main part of the thesis. In this chapter, the author will analyze some cases of China Museum for Fujian-Taiwan Kinship and put forward the translation strategies applicable to the museum

26、. Chapter five is about the authors findings and shortcomings of this thesis. 2. Literature ReviewBy collecting and analyzing a large number of materials, the author reviews some papers on translation of museum texts and the application of Communicative Translation Theory on museum text translation

27、at home and abroad in recent years.2.1 Studies of Museum Texts Translation at HomeThe study of museum translation has a long history. In the initial stage of the study, scholars only discussed the translation of museum exhibition texts through the language level. Until the 21st century, some scholar

28、s began to study the translation of museum exhibition texts from the cultural level. The articles about translation of museum texts found by CNKI are roughly divided into two themes: the first is to analyze the errors in the existing translation of museum texts and put forward countermeasures; the s

29、econd is to study the principles and strategies of translation of museum texts.Mu Shanpei (1991), the person who published the first article about the translation of museum texts, believes that translators should make efforts for the faithfulness and fluency of the translation, when translating muse

30、um exhibition texts. Moreover, three translation strategies are proposed in this article. Dou Hongli published a very enlightening paper. She analyzed the exhibition texts of Henan Museum and summed up the problems in the translation of Henan Museum texts in comparative study. Then, based on cross-c

31、ulture communication, she tried to explore the translation mode of museum texts. “They (translators) should be directed by cultural convergence theory and share the national heritage of China with foreigners for mutual understanding” (豆红丽, 2009: 54). Zuo Yaokun cited many mistakes in museum exhibits

32、 and magazines in China. He (左耀锟, 2003) believes that it is necessary for China to set up an excellent translation team, so as to better transmit Chinas excellent traditional culture to the world. Li Fang (2009) pointed out that Westerners and Chinese have different thought patterns, and there are g

33、reat differences in the writing methods and key points of the introduction texts of Chinese and foreign museums, which must be valued in translation. By comparing the introduction texts of bronze and porcelain in the four major museums in China, the author put forward three suggestions: 1. Showing t

34、he basic information of the exhibits to the tourists in a more comprehensive way; 2. Adding background knowledge of the exhibits; 3. Adopting humanized cross-cultural translation strategy.Based on the Communicative Translation Theory, Ding Ning analyzed the publicity materials of Guangdong Museum an

35、d put forward different views on the publicity materials of Guangdong Museum. Ding Ning “Suggests the translator to make the wording and phrasing more simple and concise, and above all clear, so that foreign readers can grasp the essence of the materials” (丁宁, 2013: 49).2.2 Studies of Museum Publici

36、ty Text AbroadThe museum culture in western countries started early. Museums are very important in cultural education and communication. They spent a lot of time on the interpretation of cultural relics. Their propaganda texts tend to abide by the principle of communication, take readers as the cent

37、er and take the accurate communication of information as the purpose.In More Paragraphs on Translation, Peter Newmark (1998) believes that the exhibition would be more acceptable if the translation of the exhibition text used popular language and conveyed effective information to the audience. In Co

38、nstructing cultures: Essay on Literary Translation, the authors believes that translation is produced and accepted in the context of history and culture. Therefore, when translating, the cultural connotation in its specific historical context of the original text should be taken seriously (Bassnett

39、& Lefevere, 1998). The author also assumes that the translator should be good at reading and understanding the original text and identify the role of the original text in translation (Bassnett & Lefevere, 1998). Hooper (2006) further expanded the meaning of museum introduction text, and analyzed the

40、 language and visual design of the introduction text from the perspective of communication science. Finally, in order to make the information transmission more efficient and accurate, he put forward specific suggestions from the aspects of word selection, text layout, sentence length and so on.3. In

41、troduction to Newmarks Communicative Translation Theory3.1 A Brief Introduction to the Main Translation Theory of NewmarkNewmarks main translation theories are Communicative Translation and Semantic Translation. Communicative translation is a target reader oriented translation, which aims to tackle

42、difficulties in communication. On the contrary, semantic translation is more faithful to the original context. “In semantic translation, the translators first loyalty is to his author” (Newmark, 2001: 63). 3.2 The Basic Ideas of Newmarks Communicative Translation TheoryThis theory emphasizes reader

43、centered. “Communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original” (Newmark, 2001: 39). It means that communicative translation emphasizes that the translator should use words that are more suitable for the target l

44、anguage to convey information.Additionally, in Approaches to Translation, according to different contents and styles, Newmark (2001) divides the text into expressive functional text, informative functional text and vocative functional text. Translators should adopt different translation methods acco

45、rding to different text types. Generally speaking, semantic translation is suitable for expressive functional text, while communicative translation is suitable for informative functional and vocative functional texts.There are many fields related to informative text, such as education, science and t

46、echnology, economy and so on, and its form is often very standardized. The principle of authenticity should be followed when translating this type of text. In language application, the readers language level should be taken as the standard instead of the original text, and strive to be fluent and ea

47、sy to understand. The using of vocative functional text is common in product manuals, brochures, advertisements and so on . This type of text takes readers as the center. Put the target language readers first. The translator can make full use of the advantages of the target language, not limited to

48、the original expression, so that the target language can achieve the same effect as the original language.3.3 The Application of Communicative Translation Theory The translation theory of a famous English translator Newmark is unique among the western modern translation theories. In Approaches to Tr

49、anslation, he put forward two translation strategies: semantic translation and communicative translation. He believes that communicative translation is to produce effects for the target readers similar to those produced by the original readers (Newmark, 2001). We should pay attention to the target a

50、udience of the translation and emphasize that the translation should be smooth and natural, easy to understand and not obscure. As the theory was put forward late, it was not spread in China until the beginning of this century. Since then, many domestic works on communicative translation have been p

51、ublished. This theory has also been applied to thesis writing. At present, there are two kinds of researches on Communicative Translation Theory in China: one is pure theoretical research, the other is based on this theory to study other subjects. In the study of pure theory, the author often makes

52、a comparison between Communicative Translation Theory and other translation theories to give a more clear explanation of his views. The other is based on this theory to analyze other subjects, such as English translation of Chinese dishes, scientific and technological text translation, subtitle tran

53、slation, film translation, tourism attraction, literature translation, poetry translation, drama and novel translation.4. Translation Strategies Towards Communicative Theory After analyzing the exhibition texts, the author found that there are many bright spots in translation, but at the same time,

54、the author also found some shortcomings. The quality of translated texts has an impact on whether foreign tourists can have a deep understanding of the historical origins of Mainland and Taiwan. Therefore, the author will make some suggestions on the translation of museum exhibition texts. First of

55、all, the translator should fully understand what the original text means. In order to make the translation better explain the history of cultural relics, translators should be prepared before translation. Especially when translating terms, in order to better understand the historical information the

56、y contain, it is necessary for translators to consult a large number of materials or professionals. Second, using translation methods flexibly. In order to ensure the communicative function of the translation of museum exhibition texts, we should choose different translation methods and techniques f

57、lexibly. On the basis of fully understanding the original text, the translator should fully consider the readers acceptance and increase the readability of the translation. Due to the discrepancy between Chinese and English, in order to make the target readers understand the text, translators should

58、 adopt different translation methods according to different situations, such as literal translation, free translation, omission and amplification. Of course, the translator can also add some explanations and notes to avoid misunderstanding and enhance readability of the translation. Last but not lea

59、st, taking the target readers cultural background and language habits into consideration. The function of translation lies in the spread and exchange of culture. But if the reader does not understand the translation and cannot extract effective information from it, the translation is invalid.Under the guidance of Newmarks Communicative Translation Theory and through the