Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Report
More English works can be seen in some Chinese libraries or bookstores inrecent years, which makes contributions to the cultural exchange between China andsome western countries. Over last decades of years, not only novels but also someother books have been acceptably read in different walks of life. Due to these factors,different versions of translated books are more and more popular in China. Also,some translation theories have been researched from many different perspectives byscholars. Compensation Strategies Applied in the Translation of the PowerfulAttitudes (Excerpt) is the very translation report that the translator researches andapplies the compensation strategies into the translation practice.
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1.2 Research Objective and Significance
For the most part, a best seller can not be uneasily accepted by any class ofreaders. Thus, the translation of this kind of book into Chinese will make apromotion on the cultural and ideological exchange between China and the westerncountries. The Powerful Attitudes (Excerpt) has been just a best seller written byMichael Murphy (Mo Wenlong) in America. In this book, the writer told us manystories about some successful persons and their positive attitudes in their lives,encouraging the reader to make a success. The words and stories in this book are ofgreat significance in encouragement and motivation, and the translator wishes toshow them to more Chinese readers. However, some losses have been witnessed inthe translation of this book, due to the different expressing habits between the twolanguages. To compensate them, the translator takes some appropriate measures andtries to preserve the original features of the source text.
Generally, translation compensation strategies should be with translation loss.So if the translator tries to reserve the characteristics of the source text in translatingit into a target one, she has to take translation compensation strategies into account.But, a question is raised that whether or not the translator should put compensationdevices into every place in which translation loss appears. And another question ishow to choose compensation devices when meeting losses in translation. In a sense,the Powerful Attitudes (excerpt) as a case study aims to answer these two questionsand testify the effectiveness and feasibility of the translation compensation strategiesin translation. In addition, the translator who is using the compensation strategiescan also receive a difficulty reduction in doing her translation task and then improvethe readabilities of the target texts. Thus it can be seen that the study of thecompensation strategies in the case study should get a greatly realistic significanceand can be involved in our practical learning.
英语毕业论文
Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Previous Studies on Translation Compensation Strategies
Since 1960s, many scholars at home and abroad, such as Hawkes (1973), Wilss(1982), Malone (1988), Hickey (1998), Nida (2001),Chen Jirong (2008), Ke Ping(1991), Li Yuying, Jia Lei (2011), Wang Enmian(1988), Xu Jun (2003), ZhuGuangqian (1984),have been working on translation compensation, aiming to settlethe problem of translate loss, and made many great achievements. Nida (1964) says,a better means could be offered by the functional equivalent theory to compensatethe translation loss either fully or partially. Furthermore, Nida (2001) thinks, thedifferences in culture give rise to more important adjustments than the differences inlanguages.
But, during the 1960s and 1970s, the compensation and some terms related to itjust existed as quasi-technical terms when mentioned in translation studies. Therewere no systematic studies and researches on this kind of translation device.
Since the 1980s, translation compensation has been a must in the process oftranslation practice. As for the definition of the translation compensation, manytranslation scholars develop some as follows:
In translating, compensation is the making good of some communicative lossby substituting equivalent effects(Hatim&Mason, 1990).
Compensation is said to occur when loss of meaning, sound effect, metaphor orpragmatic effect in one part of a sentence is compensated in another part, or in acontiguous sentence (Newmark, 2001).
Compensation means that one may either omit or play down a feature such asidiomaticity at the point where it occurs in the source text and introduce it elsewherein the target text (Baker, 2009).
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2.2 Analysis of the Feasibility of Compensation Strategies inTranslation
Translation theories can offer an effective guidance for the translation practice.In addition, the translator’s knowledge and experience can also play a significantrole in translation. Without those two factors mentioned above, the target text cannot exist to be qualified and acceptable, since translation is regarded as a hard and,even a creative task.
But, sometimes, in order to make target text that is translated from the sourcework understood by target readers, the translator brings some losses in translation.Then, she needs to compensate them in other ways to match the features of thesource text with those of the target texts, which makes a great contribution tooffering a better target text for readers.
Since translation loss is unavoidable, translation compensation should be takeninto account when the translator tries to do a better job in translation. For example,in the translation of the chapter 17 in the Powerful Attitudes, the translator adds afootnote to give an explanation of the phrase“情绪安全感”，making the wholesentence understood by target readers clearly. Another case also shares thefeasibility of compensation strategies, which is also in the chapter 17. In the targetsentence, the translator uses amplification to emphasize Suzanne’s unhealthy life,taking the target text as“他常愤怒地指责妻子和孩子们，过去的整整 15 年，苏珊娜就如囚犯一样，维持着这样的状态。…… (第 17 章)
In a sense, compensation strategies can be used in some translation tasks, especiallyin the translation of best-sellers. And this report taking the Powerful Attitudes (excerpt) as its case study aims to verify that the translation compensation devices’effectively implementation in the translation of this kind of text.
英语毕业论文
Chapter 3 The Powerful Attitudes (Excerpt) as a Case Study......................................8
3.1 Annotation............................................... 8
3.2 Merging and Domestication............................................11
3.3 Amplification.......................................13
Chapter 4 Conclusion......................................................15
4.1 Major Findings..................................................15
4.2 Limitations and Recommendations................................... 16
Chapter 3 The Powerful Attitudes (Excerpt) as a CaseStudy
3.1 Annotation
Xia Tingde (2006) has classified annotation as “Annotation within the Text”and “Annotation outside the Text”, while Ma Hongjun (2003), a professor of Nankaiuniversity, pointed that both of them belong to the “explicit compensation”. Andthey both believe that annotation is a strategy of translation compensation.
“Annotation within the Text” means that behind some words or sentences,some explanations or compensation are placed in brackets in target language. It isoften used to introduce some backgrounds or other cultural information unfamiliar to its readers. And “Annotation outside the Text refers to offer some specificinformation and explain some points difficult to understand, such as footnote andendnote. It is usually employed to introduce some special cultural phenomena orsocial events of source text, such as religion customs, allusions, diet, etc.” (XiaTingde, 2006:210)
Example1. If you believe that God doesn’t want you to be rich,then you need to cross out much of the Old Testament. (Chapter13)
Version1:要是你认为上帝不想让你成为富人，那你就需要删掉《旧约全书》(基督教对《圣经》前一部分的常用称呼，用希伯来语写成，后一部分称为新约)中的许多内容了。(第 13 章)
Example2. …., Don had a genius I.Q. but the emotional securityand maturity level of a newborn. (chapter 17)
Version2:他智商极高，可情绪安全感1和心智却如新生儿一般。（第 17 章）
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Chapter 4 Conclusion
4.1 Major Findings
Every country has its own culture. And every language has its own uniquefeature. Just due to these factors, much difference stands in the usages of words,structures of sentences in different languages. Therefore, in the course of translation,the translator needs to choose some appropriate techniques to make the target textunderstood completely and easily. Just owing to the features of the PowerfulAttitudes as a best-seller, the translator chooses some of the translationcompensation strategies at some different levels, namely, annotation anddomestication accompanied by merging and amplification, as devices to compensatethe translation loss in the target text. According to Ma Hongjun (2003), annotation isan explicit compensation, while domestication and amplification are two techniquesof implicit compensation (Ma Hongjun, 2003).
First, a difficulty lies in the translation of some psychological terminologies inthe source text. The readers are confused when meeting these terminologies, whichwill increase the burdens of the readers’ understanding of the target text. Therefore,the translator chooses annotation as an appropriate device to account for theterminologies, reducing the burdens of the understanding in the target language. Inaddition, with regard to domestication, the translator merges or splits the structuresof sentences into the forms which the readers are familiar with and produces thetranslation of them, due to the different expressing habits and the cultural differencebetween Chinese and English. Then the translator uses amplification as changingsome long sentences into short sentences or adding some words of passive voice tomake up for some translation losses, conveying the meanings hidden in the contextand not changing the original means, which conforms to the fidelity principle ofSkopos theory.
reference(omitted)