Chapter I Introduction
1.1 The Background of the Task
Since the 21st century, with the deepening development of the global economy and the frequent exchanges in the world, news has played an indispensable role in people's life. At the same time, the information updates very fast and people have a wider demand for news information. Therefore, the spread of news has undoubtedly opened a window for Chinese people to know the foreign countries. Therefore, the translation of foreign news into Chinese is a good way to help Chinese readers learn more about international political news.
The translator selected the source text from the current political news column of The Washington Post and analyzed the practical process of translation. The Washington Post is a national English newspaper with a wide range of content and a wide range of authority. The Washington Post is the largest and oldest newspaper in Washington D.C. The translator selected the text on the website from 2017 to 2018, and initially translated 20 pieces of news. After comprehensively balancing the difficulty and the number of words, the author finally selected 10 pieces of them to complete this translation report, the selected news is relatively close to reality, both of which are recent political events. Secondly, these events have significant international influence, including: Trump pledges new wave of ‘major sanctions’ on North Korea after call with China’s Xi; China’s ‘long arm’ of influence stretches ever further; Trumps set to launch two real estate projects in India, despite conflict-of-interest concerns; France’s Macron visits China to talk fairer trade and the future, etc.
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1.2 The Goal of the Task
The key point of this translation report is to study the Chinese translation of political news according to the three principles of Skopos Theory. Compared with literary texts, there is not much subjective expression in the political news report, the political news language is more concise, accurate, objective, and logical. Ordinary readers are the main receivers of news, but people's level of education is uneven. At the same time, as international exchanges continue to be closer and closer, the translation of current political news is becoming more and more important. Therefore, the main task of the translator is to convey the news information effectively and objectively to the readers and achieve the communicative purpose.
First of all, considering the target readers of the translation, the translator chooses to translate the selected news, with the aims to make Chinese readers understand the current political news in various countries and regions, at the same time, the political news can also attract more Chinese readers.
Secondly, through this translation practice, it can help the translator understands the current political events, accumulate the knowledge in this field, improve the translation skills, and rich the translation experience.
Finally, the primary role of political news is to disseminate the latest and significant news to the public. However, considering the English and Chinese differences in cultural connotation and expression, the accuracy of the translation directly affects the quality of the whole translation. Therefore, the translated news can attract more readers, enhance the readability of the translated text, increase the attention of the article and achieve the purpose of translation by studying the translation of the text and ensuring the accuracy of the translated information, embellishing the translated text and news headlines.
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Chapter II Translation Theory
2.1 Definition of the Skopos Theory
In 1978, the Skopos Theory emerged in Germany. The Skopos Theory is the core of functional translation theory. The creation of Skopos Theory frees the translator from the original text. Since its creation, the Skopos Theory has gone through three phases: the preliminary phase (1971-1977), the development phase (1978-1987) and the maturity phase (1988-present).
Hans Vermeer, a German translation theorist, first proposed the three guiding translation principles of Skopos Theory: the Skopos rule, the coherence role and the fidelity rule. After laying the theoretical foundation, Vermeer regards the purpose of the target text as the factor that determines the translation method and strategy, and regards the principle as the universal principle of the translation work. Skopos theory holds that the translation is a purposive activity based on the original text, which must be completed through the joint negotiation of the author and reader. The translation must follow a series of principles, among which the Skopos rule top the list. In other words, the translation depends on the purpose of the translation.
According to the Skopos Theory, the expected communicative purpose of the target text determines the translation method and the translation strategy adopted by the translator. Therefore, as the evaluation standard of translation, the Skopos rule is obviously the most important, and the coherence rule and fidelity rule are second to none. (Yang Yujie, 2008: 159-160)
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2.2 Three Rules of the Skopos Theory
2.2.1 Skopos Rule
The translator needs to analyze the source text before starting the translation. The purpose of analysis is to find out the text author’s purpose, and the translator can proceed from this translation purpose as the direction. Most translation activities can achieve more than one translation purposes, but the realization of translation purpose should be strictly arranged according to its importance. ( Reiss，
2004:36)
The Skopos Rule believes that the first rule should be followed by all translation activities is the "Skopos Rule", that is, the translation should be able to take effect in the context of the translation of the language and culture, in the way that the readers of the translation are expected. The purpose of the translation behavior determines the process of the entire translation, that is, the desired outcome determines the translation method and strategy. In a word, the translator should clarify the specific purpose in a given translation context, that is, clarify the purpose of political news translation, and decide which translation method to use according to this purpose.
2.2.2 Coherence Rule
The coherence rule refers to “internal coherence within a text”, which means that the translation must be acceptable in terms of meaning and conform to the reading habits of the target language readers (Reiss and Vermeer, 1984, quoted in Nord, 2001; 32). The translator should use some translation strategies to make the translation context more coherent and readable, so that the target reader can understand the text with a specific knowledge background and context.
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Chapter III Description of Translation Process ················· 9#p#分页标题#e#The Skopos Rule believes that the first rule should be followed by all translation activities is the "Skopos Rule", that is, the translation should be able to take effect in the context of the translation of the language and culture, in the way that the readers of the translation are expected. The purpose of the translation behavior determines the process of the entire translation, that is, the desired outcome determines the translation method and strategy. In a word, the translator should clarify the specific purpose in a given translation context, that is, clarify the purpose of political news translation, and decide which translation method to use according to this purpose.
2.2.2 Coherence Rule
The coherence rule refers to “internal coherence within a text”, which means that the translation must be acceptable in terms of meaning and conform to the reading habits of the target language readers (Reiss and Vermeer, 1984, quoted in Nord, 2001; 32). The translator should use some translation strategies to make the translation context more coherent and readable, so that the target reader can understand the text with a specific knowledge background and context.
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3.1 Preparation before Translation ························ 9
3.2 Translation Process ·················· 9
3.3 Post-translation Proofreading ·················· 10
Chapter IV Cases Analysis ························· 11
4.1 Translation of the Headlines ························ 11
4.1.1 Amplification ························· 12
4.1.2 Use of Figure of Speech ···················· 13
4.1.3 Use of Coordinate Sentence ·························· 13
Chapter V Conclusion ··························· 27
5.1 Findings of the Report ························ 27
5.2 Limitations of the Report ······················ 27
Chapter IV Cases Analysis
4.1 Translation of the Headlines
Headlines are the generalization and summary of the news content, the headlines are always the soul of news. Political news headlines can also help readers to choose news that they are interested in. Considering the cultural differences between Chinese and western readers, translators should pay attention to the choice of short and easy-to-understand words when translating the headlines of political news. On the one hand, the headline should concise and reflect the full text, so as to attract the readers. On the other hand, it is also necessary to accurately convey the content of the main news and summarize the purpose of the full text. In the process of translating the political news headlines, the translator mainly adopts the following methods:
The most obvious feature of literal translation is one-to-one translation, which can directly reflect the original meaning of the English headline. Literal translation, guided by the Skopos Theory, puts the fidelity rule in the first place. If the meaning of the news headline is clear and direct, and the readers can understand it easily when translated into Chinese, then the literal translation method can be adopted. For example: Trump to visit five Asian countries in November in bid to raise pressure on North Korea(特朗普十一月份连访亚洲五国，借此对朝施加更大压力) In this example, the headline is intended to convey President Trump's purpose of visiting the five countries. The direct translation is simple and clear, and the events and reasons are clearly explained in one sentence.
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Chapter V Conclusion
5.1 Findings of the Report
reference(omitted)
