AnalysisofErrorsinTranslaionofScenicAracionInroducion_开题报告

1.Summarize

China, a country with five thousand years of history and specific nature spots, is in possession rich of tourist resources. With China entering into the World Trade Organization and hosting the Beijing Olympic Games, China has become more active and popular in the world. Visiting China is one of the best ways to get more knowledge of China, so more and more foreigners come to China and the China’s tourist industry is booming. In recent years, as the Chinese government strives to develop tourism into a strategic pillar industry of the nation’s economy and accelerates the transformation of the development mode and opens wider to the outside world and strengthen the "soft’ and " hard" environment of the tourist industry, the whole quality and level of service of the tourism will be enhanced. However, the obstruct of language difference and the estrangement of cultural background make it quite difficult for foreign tourists to appreciate many of the tourism resources to full extent, especially for those rich in cultural connotations. Under such a circumstance, the importance of translation of scenic attraction introduction can never be overestimated. The purpose of the translation is to make foreign tourists can understand well and be interested with the scenic, also they can obtain relevant natural, geographical, cultural and custom information of China. A proper translation helps to establish China’s good external image and expand the overseas tourism market at the same time, but a wrong translation may lead to doubts, misunderstandings and even antipathy for tourists then affecting China’s tourism industry.

2.Current situation research

However, many of the English versions of the introductions are poorly translated. Many scholars have studied the translation of introductions of tourist sites and found out that there are many linguistic errors, such as misspelling, grammatical errors, Chinese English etc. Many errors are related to cultural differences, including historical differences, aesthetic differences and structural differences between Chinese and western nations. After analyzing 10 Chinese introductions of scenic attractions and English versions, the author has found out that there are two principles to guide the translation of scenic attraction introduction, one is information-culture oriented translation principle to deal with errors related to historical differences between Chinese and western nations, another is tourists-oriented translation principle to deal with errors related to structural and aesthetic differences between Chinese and western nations. Information-culture oriented translation principle refers to the co-existence of information and cultural implications in the English translation of Chinese introductions of tourist sites. While translating useful cultural information, translators should explain the cultural implications for tourists to better understand tourist sites and Chinese culture. While translating cultural information which has no direct connection to the tourist sites, translators may delete the information or just translate its meaning. Tourists-oriented translation principle refers to the requirement that the translated version should be based on target tourists’ aesthetic standards and thinking modes. The translation of introductions of tourist sites should appeal to tourists, that is the translated introductions should conform to target tourists’ aesthetic standards and thinking modes.

3.Literature Analysis

3.1. Tourism has witnessed a longer history and an earlier development in the West than it is in China. So there are many studies on tourism abroad, such as Eugene J. Hall’s The Language of Tourism in English(1976) and Kevin Meethan’s Tourism in Global society-Place, Culture, Consumption(2001). However, most of these studies are oriented towards language, culture and consumption, with only a few about tourism texts themselves.

3.2. Wu Feng argues that as a kind of pragmatic translation, scenic attraction introduction text have their own characteristics and need proper translation techniques. He analyzes the feature of scenic introduction text from three levels: lexical, grammatical and textual. Under the guidance of functionalism, he analyzes some translation errors in scenic attraction introduction materials and chooses different translation techniques to revise and improve these improper translations.

3.3. Many Chinese scholars have put forward certain strategies and techniques from practical experience according to the characteristics of scenic attractions introduction text such as Min Dayong, Jin Huikang, Chen Gang, Yuan Xiaoning, etc. They have give some very valuable advice concerning some specific questions in tourism translation, such as the translation of scenic spots names, holiday names, menus, local customs names, dynasties and so on. A great number of the translating examples are presented and analyzed, but systematic instructions are rarely introduced. Therefore, to some extent, the studies are empirical and lack theoretical ground.

4. Analysis of existing problems and Strategy

Numerous mistakes and translation errors still exist in the translation of scenic attraction introduction text, which could hinder foreign visitors’ understanding and even undermine China’s national image. It is agreed that translation should transfer the original text as faithfully and correctly as possible. But owing to differences between the two languages, translating errors and defects are inevitable. Translation involves not only languages but also cultures. Incorrect comprehension, expressive defects and lack of social cultural background are normally the three resources for mistranslation. Translation is no longer regarded as merely a cross-linguistic activity but essentially cross-cultural communication. In this thesis, the author investigates the inter-relations of language, culture and translation. It point out that both language and culture are intrinsically bound together. In order to understand a culture, one must do so by means of its language, and in order to comprehend the meanings of the words, a person must look to the culture.

Wring Outline

1.Introduction

1.1. Research Background 

1.2. Research Object

2. Literature Review

2.1. Current situation research

2.2. Analysis of existing problems and Strategy

3. Conspicuous problems in translation

3.1. Misspelling and Capitalization Errors

3.2. Pinyin errors and Punctuation Errors

3.3. Inconsistency 

4.The reasons of errors in translation of scenic attraction introduction

4.1. Proofreading in translation

4.2. Lack of cross-cultural awareness

4.3. Lack of logicality in translation

5. Conclusion

Literature Reference

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