The Applications of Equivalent Effect Theory in Publicity—oriented C/E Translation

Jin+Yue

【Abstract】The article illustrates the publicity-oriented Chinese-English translation based on the Nidas equivalent effect theory.Due to the feature and significance of publicity-oriented literature， it could be well served by equivalence theory.The article introduces the feature of publicity literature and Nidas equivalence theory， then， indicates some translation problems.The article also claims the corresponding Chinese-English translation strategies in publicity-oriented materials by using equivalent effect theory.

【Key Words】equivalent effect publicity-oriented translation translation strategies

Introduction

After Chinas accession to the WTO， lots of enterprises and products push into the world market.China also becomes the most popular tourist place.Publicity-oriented Chinese-English translation becomes extremely important.When translating corporate texts， the introduction of products and companies frequently make target language speakers feel puzzled or weird if translated literally because of the different languages and cultures.The same is true with the tourism materials translation.If not translated properly， foreigners will fail to have the feeling and impression from the tourism materials.In this way， any attempt to achieve the equivalent effect would be hopelessly impossible.Although proposed about several decades ago and many new more specific translation theories have been popping up among these years， equivalence translation principle still plays the most important role in the field of translation.It provides a platform for the later translators for the new translation ideas and methods.This article researches the translation in publicity field following the equivalent effect principles， expecting to make some contributions to the publicity-oriented undertakings.

1 Nature of equivalent effect

Nidas famous equivalent effect concept， specifically speaking， is dynamic equivalence and later functional equivalence that centers on the receptor language and the receptor.This classical definition best describes the nature of Nidas idea of equivalent effect translation.There has long been a hot dispute between literal translation and free translation.It is even more acute on the impact between the two methods in C/E translation.Instead of aiming at adjusting literal translation and free one， Nida put forward the theory of “dynamic equivalence” and he finally altered to name the theory as “functional equivalence” which became more popular and acceptable now.A functional equivalent effect is “the closest natural equivalence to the source language message” （溫玉斌，2006）.He claims that translation is communication.The eternal task of communication is the transference of meanings while the form of language is just a facility.Undoubtedly， as many critics conclude， entire equivalence is not possible in translation.When interpreting functional equivalence， Nida classified it into different adequate levels.A maximal level of equivalence is that a translated text reader can appreciate and understand it mostly the same as the original readers did.When a translation is closer to the maximal level it is a better one.endprint

2 The characteristic of publicity-oriented translation

Publicity-oriented literature is one type of the pragmatic discourse that is basically the informative style.Generally speaking， its readers are those target language receptors who mostly have no idea about China and its present-day situation and culture boasting a history of 5，000 years.Publicity-oriented literature concerns with all that we hope foreigners to know about China， including diversity of texts， such as economic literature， political writings， tourism materials， legal documents， technological materials， etc， and vocal materials， such as news broadcast and documents which introducing China to the outside world.

Pragmatic style is an informative and functional discourse.Characterized by the transference of information， pragmatic texts are properly served by the equivalent effect theory which underlines the transference of meaning as analyzed above.

Considering the characteristics of publicity-oriented literature as one part of pragmatic style， we provide the theoretical ground of all the above to be put into practice of publicity-oriented translation.

3 Problems in publicity-oriented translation

3.1 Inflated language and complicated rhetoric.As to Chinese， a number of characteristics are shown in the introductive and propagandistic materials according to Chinese conventions， such as the use of flattery and big words， exaggerated descriptions and abstract， and indirect introduction.As a result， these texts are inevitably full of redundant and repeated messages in meaning for foreign readers and will not be welcomed in English culture.

3.2 Difficult and verbose.The lengthy translated text that fails to be correspondent with the features of English will certainly puzzle the target language receptors and will by no means attract their attention and interest.

3.3 Lack of goal directness.In addition， some translators have no awareness of questions such as who the target readers are， what the function of the translated text is in the target language， what expectations and requirements they want.Translating blindly， they overstate faithfulness of source texts and in this ways， even the basic message may not be transferred.

3.4 Lack of the cultural element explanation.The cultural element explanation is always neglected.Some Chinese outstanding persons and famous allusion are well-known between our Chinese people， foreigners will not certainly understand.endprint

3.5 Ignore the interpretative translation in certain field.In some field， especially in political field， new words and new terms， when it is translated and mentioned for the first time， some translators forget to interpret its background knowledge.It makes the target language receptors feel confused.

4 Translation strategies of equivalent effect in publicity-oriented C/E translation

In order to obtain the equivalent effect in publicity-oriented Chinese-English translation， different translation strategies must be taken into consideration when translating different styles of publicity-oriented literature.There are several methods to handle those three sorts of texts.However， all the methods mentioned below are not independent from each other.It can apply to all kinds of styles.

4.1 Omission.From the target language receptors psychology， they are more inclined to accept the introductive materials which are informative enough rather than which are full of beautiful language with a relatively small amount of useful information.But the traditional Chinese culture put special emphasis on the authority.Therefore， many writers resort to certain authority to assure the target readers the quality of the advertised companies and their products.Many of these titles have no direct relation with the products as usual.We can often come across messages like 文明單位， 先進企業.English advertising also takes advantage of certain authority but they often support the authority with facts， and they have no idea about Chinas titles.Similar response and feeling of target receptor calls for translation informative enough conforming to the western culture.Those titles that are unfamiliar to the western people and cannot make much sense should be omitted when translating.

If translated the titles one by one， foreign readers will feel weird and tiresome.So translated these titles in a general and coherent way that can inform readers that the company is excellent.

4.2 Rewriting.Tourism materials in Chinese usually are full of descriptive words and sentences， taking on an air of beautifulness and elegance， whereas those of English are quite simple and outspoken， leaving a room for the readers to imagine and to see by using brief introduction.In this case， due to the habitual usage of English in tourism materials， the text need to be rewrite sometimes， expecting the target receptors will have the similar response and feeling.Here is an example：endprint

阿霸橋風光秀麗，山河壯美。原始森林遮蓋天地，座座雪峰高聳入云，跌溪遺跡神秘奧妙，莽莽草原花團錦簇，瀑布溪流跌宕蜿蜒，高山湖泊燦若明珠，藏羌村寨別具一格，肥沃河谷瓜果飄香（杜欣欣，2010）。

The language of the original text is full of attractive four-character phrases and is beautiful to read for Chinese， but it provides less messages.Too many abstract descriptions will by no means amuse the foreign readers.

So it can be translated in this way， Aba Prefecture is a beautiful landscapes and it has criss-crossed rivers， snow-covered high mountains， and limitless forests and a large number of grassland.There are particular geological ruins on this fertile land， and we can see the wonderful streams and beautiful waterfalls， alpine lakes， and unique villages of Tibetan and Qiang in the view.

4.3 Explanation.The explanation of the cultural elements is indispensable， because the big difference existed.For example：

紹興孕育了著名的歷史人物西施、勾踐、陸游、王羲之、魯迅和周恩來等。

If translated as “Shaoxing City is distinguished by many outstanding personalities such as Xi Shi， Gou Jian， Lu You， Wang Xizhi， Lu Xun， and Zhou Enlai”， foreigners will certainly not understand those names.

But if the translation add some explanations like this： Shaoxing is distinguished by many famous personalities.Some of them are Xi Shi， one of the most famous four beauties in Chinese history， Gou Jian， the emperor of the Kingdom of Yue in ancient China， Lu You， a famous poet in Song Dynasty， Wang Xizhi， the famous calligrapher of Eastern Jin Dynasty， Lu Xun， a famous poet in contemporary China and Zhou Enlai， the first premier of the Peoples Republic of China.

Apparently， by simple explanation， English-speaking people can make sense of those prestigious personalities.And leave a deep impression on this city.

5 Conclusions

This paper has attempted to study the equivalent effect theory and its application to the publicity-oriented C/E translation.Equivalent effect theory not only has become more and more popular in China in the past decades， but also has become a necessary part in translation researches.The theory of equivalent effect translation is quite useful and practical.Although the research of this theory is practiced for many years， there still occur problems gradually.Some methods are introduced by analyzing examples in publicity-oriented translation to achieve functional equivalence， a natural and closest equivalence in translation.In fact， every technique is dependent each other.For developing the international communication， there will be more and more people devoted in the pragmatic language field.It can bring more precious advices and experiences.Undoubtedly， the target language will be even more stressed with the new theoretical ideas of translation emerging in the field of translation.

References：

[1]溫玉斌.英漢銜接手段對比研究及其對英漢翻譯的影響[D].山東師范大學，2006.

[2]杜欣欣.從目的論看旅游文本的漢譯英[D].揚州大學，2010.endprint