A Study on Tourism Translation of Southeast， Guizhou by Translation Variation Theory

Yang+Danping

【摘 要】 本文從貴州旅游勝地黔東南苗族侗族自治區，尤其是西江苗寨的旅游文本漢譯英入手，通過梳理歸納英漢文本的異同，選取具體的實例進行深入分析，力圖證明變譯理論的各種技巧能夠為更好的提高旅游翻譯的水平、促進跨文化交流和旅游產業的發展有較好的理論指導作用。

【關鍵詞】 變譯理論；西江苗寨；旅游翻譯

【中圖分類號】 G642.3 【文獻標識碼】 A 【文章編號】 2095-3089（2017）17-000-02

【Abstract】 This study mainly focuses on a C-E cross-cultural tourism translation of Xijiang Miao Village， a tourism destination in southeast Guizhou from the perspective of translation variation theory. By illustrating and analyzing four translated versions， it desires to verify that the proper use of translation variation is an ideal and indispensible strategy in English and Chinese Translation， especially in cross-cultural tourism translation， which may well help improve the quality of Tourism translations and facilitate the development of tourism industry.

【Key Words】 Translation Variations； Xijiang Miao Village； Tourism Translation

Background information

China's tourism industry has enjoyed a rapid and sustained development in recent years. According to the statistics from the National Tourism Administration of China in 2015， tourism industry accounted for 10.8% in the overall growth of the national economy. Moreover China has become the largest outbound tourist source country and the fourth largest inbound tourist reception country in the world.

Guizhou， a southeast province of China， boasting rich resources for tourism， has attained a rapid progress in its economy as well. Tourism industry has become one of its pillar industries in the overall development of economy. Its exceptional geographical location， pleasant climate and abundant tourism resources all contribute to its strategic development， particularly in tourism industry. Southeast Guizhou， a well preserved wonderland of nature， incorporating beautiful landscape with mountains and rivers has become an ideal tourism destination for tourists both at home and abroad.

This thesis is to analyze the C-E translation of tourism texts of Xijiang Miao Village from the perspective of translation variation theory so as to verify the guiding role of the above-mentioned theory in appropriate translation of tourism translation.

Theory of this study — Translation Variation Theory

In the late 20th Century and the early 21st century， scholars of translation fields at home and abroad attached great importance to practices and studies of translation variation. After thirty years study， Translation Variation Theory was established at he turn of the present century （Huang， 2011：101）and finally proposed by Professor Huang Zhonglian in 2002.endprint

According to him， Translation， in the traditional sense， falls into complete translation and translation variation. （Huang， 2009：116）Translators are entitled to adopt strategies namely addition， omission， interpretation， adaptation and rewriting for the purpose of achieving the best effect in cross-cultural communication.

Currently， studies made with Translation Variation Theory mainly lie in fields of Translation and Interpretation of news report， film subtitling， political essays and literature works. Some scholars have already applied it to the study of tourism translation. Hoverer the relevant studies in regard with Tourism translation of Guizhou are far from enough. This is why this thesis is to carry out a study in this aspect. Moreover， this thesis is desired to verify the effect of the theory played particularly in cross-cultural tourism translation by appropriately employing strategies of it.

Features of the tourism text both in Chinese and English

Tourism texts are usually used to introduce tourist resources and its products especially the highlight of the tourism destination. Since it is a kind of cross-cultural activity， factors especially like culture and language shall be taken into consideration. Generally speaking， Chinese tourism texts lay emphasis on the nourishment of natural landscapes， with deft use of flowery words and four-character expressions so as to be rhythmical in style， profound in meaning and beautiful in the layout of sentence. Moreover， a wide range of the rhetoric such as simile， personification， and hyperbole is employed to attain the beauty and artistry of expression. Furthermore， to prove the conviction of such propagation， plentiful anecdotes and ancient poems of Chinese specific characteristics on its history and culture are frequently adopted and quoted.

While the English tourism texts， comparatively speaking， primarily focusing on the objective representation and narration of the tourism destination. Therefore， the English tourism text is usually simple and objective in style with a prominence on the logic. Simple words and sentences are employed to provide accurate information in a clear and well-organized way. When it comes to scenery description， facts and statistics are much more provided right for the exactness and being void of subjectivity.

As stated by professor Jia Wenbo （2012） after a comparison of English and Chinese tourism materials from aspects of writing style and the rhetorical， being aware of the aesthetic differences between the source text reader and the target reader is crucial for translators in rendering translation of such.endprint

Thus， in the process of translation on the tourism text， factors namely language and culture， reflecting different modes of thinking and expression shall be given due attention.

Case Study

Due to the definite differences between English and Chinese both in language and culture， the translation of tourism text need to be considered in terms of vocabulary， sentence patterns and information “accommodation” and “transformation”.（Huang， 2010：104） Typical examples illustrated here are desired to testify the role played by the variation theory in tourism translation of Xijiang Miao Village， Guizhou province.

（1） 西江千戶苗寨位于貴州省雷山縣東北部，坐落在苗嶺主峰——雷公山腳下。

（China tour guide）

Translation1：

Xijiang Miao Village is located in the northeastern part of Leishan County， Guizhou Province， and it locates in the main peak--Lei Gong Mountain.

In fact tourism translation is a kind of cross-cultural communication. While some information that might be self-evident to the source text reader because of his or her source-cultural background knowledge， may be unknown to the target reader who does not acquire the same background knowledge at all. Therefore it is essential to provide necessary background information in the target text to better facilitate their comprehension in this regard.

Considering that the target readers are authentic foreigners from abroad and have very limited knowledge about Xijiang Miao Village， a remote tourist destination in southeast China. Therefore， strategies of amplification and rewriting can be adopted here for providing a thorough and well-understood introduction of the position of the tourism destination. The sentence can be retranslated as：

Translation2： Nested at the foot of Leigong Hill， Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village is situated in the northeast of the Leishan County， about 35 km （22 miles） away from Kaili city， the capital of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture ， Southeast of Guizhou Province， and about 260 km （162 miles） away from Guiyang， the capital city of Guizhou Province.

The above Translation not only provides complete geographical information of Xijiang Miao Village but also offers necessary information for foreign tourists to get there， which is more accurate and helpful. According to the principle that tourism translation should highlight the effective transmission of source language information， the priority shall be given to the readability of the translation and the reader's acceptance. Thus Translation 2 better achieve effective transfer.endprint

（2）整個建筑群占地11000平方米，最早建于明代中葉以前，曾幾度毀于兵火，歷代均屢毀屢建。1983年以來，有關部門對各組建筑物進行全面修復，使其歷史面貌得以保存。（http：//www.wabuw.com）

Translation：The whole group of buildings， occupying 11000 square meters， was first built before the mid-Ming Dynasty and has been rebuilt many times.

From the translation， the original information that “曾幾度毀于兵火，歷代均屢毀屢建。1983年以來，有關部門對各組建筑物進行全面修復，使其歷史面貌得以保存”has been omitted and rewritten as “has been rebuilt many times”. According to the translation variation Theory， the translator is entitled to change the content or even structure of the source text in case the original text is full of expressions of no importance. For the ultimate purpose of being practical and appealing in the translation， translators are not refrained to make necessary adaptation， omission， deletion only if the main idea can be fully clarified in the target text. Therefore， the above translation has well adopted such strategies to make the translated version concise and to the point.

But considering the negligence of the knowledge of foreigners about the Chinese history of Ming dynasty， “ 明代中葉以前”need to amplify necessary information about the beginning and ending of the dynasty. Therefore it shall be retranslated as Translation：The whole complex of buildings， occupying 11，000 square meters， was firstly built before the mid-Ming Dynasty（ B.C.1368―1644）， and has undergone restorations for quite a number of times afterwards.

（3）西江有遠近聞明的銀匠村，苗族銀飾全為手工制作，其工藝具有極高水平。西江是一個保存苗族“原始生態”文化完整的地方，是領略和認識中國苗族漫長歷史與發展的首選之地。西江牯藏節、苗年，聞名四海，西江千戶苗寨，一座露天博物館，展覽著一部苗族發展的史詩，成為觀賞和研究苗族傳統文化的大看臺。（http：//www.wabuw.com）

Translation 1

There is also a silversmith village in the county， making silver ornaments of Miao minority by hand. Xijiang has the most intact and original ecology of the Miao， being the ideal place to admire and study the traditional culture of Miao minority. Xijiang Miao Village， due to its unique Miao culture， has been honored as “the Gallery of Miao Culture”.

Chinese tourism texts are inclined to pertaining expressions of flowery description and quotations of poetry， celebrities remarks， which are typical characteristics of Chinese writings of its kind. However， owning to different aesthetic standard and way of expression， it is of little value to keep them in the translation for foreigners. Sometimes， it may even arouse confusion or displeasure by doing so. According to the variation theory， in this case， these superfluous contents should be deleted in target text， and strategies like adaptation， deletion and rewriting can be adopted to provide a more objective rendering. The original information such as “其工藝具有極高水平” ， “聞名四海” ， “露天博物館” ，“展覽著一部苗族發展的史詩”， “成為觀賞和研究苗族傳統文化的大看臺” have all been omitted and deleted in the translation. Moreover “首選之地” has been adapted as “ being the ideal place to admire and study”. The translation deployed flowery descriptions is more objective， thus better satisfy foreigners expectation and aesthetic standard.endprint

（4） 在豁然開闊的右岸，出現了一個小村莊，只見吊腳樓上炊煙裊裊，田園上金黃和嫩綠相間。這與剛才航行幾個小時也不見人煙的情形對比，令人有恍如隔世之感。這里叫高碑寨。（http：//www.wabuw.com）

Translation 1：The horizon broadened， and a settlement called Gaobei Village appeared on the right bank. Smoke rose lazily above the abodes on stilts. The fields were a try of golden color mingled with a green. It was another world.

Here the order of the original sentence has been rearranged and adapted that is because the Chinese usually prefers an end-focus while English is apt to put the focus at the very beginning. Moreover， owing to the different stylistic features of English tourist text， the translator has transformed the complicated structures and the flowery expressions into logical， concise and clear ones so as to meet the English ways of expression. Since the ultimate purpose of tourism translation is to provide tourism information and arouse tourists interest to travel， translators can make any adaptation to the target text both in content and form only if it can better fulfill the communicative effect.

From above-mentioned illustrations， it is not difficult to draw such a conclusion that the English introduction of tourist attraction tend to describe scenic spots in an objective way， laying much more emphasis on facts， and usually being concise in wording and expression. While the Chinese introduction of tourism texts often employs four-character expressions and flowery wordings to show a vivid picture of the tourism destination. Therefore， in the process of translation， it is wise for the translator to employ strategies of variation theory so as to make the translated version more idiomatic and better received by the target readers.

Conclusion

With the rapid development of Chinese economy， international communication has considerably been promoted， and international tourism has become increasingly popular， which is a typical cross-cultural communication activity. Thus the proper and high-quality translation of tourism text may do a part for the prosperity of tourism industry. Guizhou， a province of China， boasting rich tourism resources both in natural landscape and ethnic folklores has made endeavors to developing its tourism industry in recent years. Therefore it is of great importance to upgrade the quality and quality of tourism translation， to do a bit in introducing the well-preserved wonderland with its unique ethnic cultures to the outside world.

As above mentioned， Chinese tourism text features flowery descriptions and parallel sentence structures， which are rhythmical and aesthetic in terms of Chinese. However， these contents are also the difficult points in C-E tourism translation. According to translation variation theory， translators are entitled to provide the target readers with clear and clarified information in the way of English expression so that the translation purpose can be attained to the largest extent.endprint

Based on the variation translation theory， strategies are available to guide the study of C-E tourism translation. Hence it is primary and indispensible for translators to apply the practical strategies of variation theory to adapting the original text so as to make the translated version well received in the target culture and may further facilitate the development of tourism industry as a whole.

References：

1.Huang Zhong-lian， An Introduction to Parallel Corpus of Translation Variation， Foreign Language Research 2009， No.1

2.Huang Zhong-lian， Research Methods of Translation Variation， Foreign Language Research 2011， No.6

3.Huang Zhong-lian， A Dialectic View on Translation： Accommodation and Transformation， Foreign Language Research 2010， No.6

4.賈文波. 漢英時文翻譯高級教程 [M]. 北京：中國對外翻譯出版公司， 2012（3）

5.China tour guide[G/OL]. http：//www.chinatourguide.com/guizhou/one_thousand_household_miao_village_of_xijiang.html

6.Travel China Guide[G/OL]https：//www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/guizhou/qiandongnan/qianhu-miao-village.htm

7.http：//www.wabuw.com/jd/2468endprint