Abstract

China has been developing rapidly in many aspects since reform and opening-up. At the same time, more and more frequently the Chinese government interacts with the rest of the world. Obviously China is playing an increasingly important role in dealing with international affairs. On the other hand, the rest of world is eager to know more about China’s current situation and policies being applied. As an official, formal and authoritative government document, Report on the Work of the Government (hereinafter referred to as RWG) reviews government work in the previous year and proposes plans and goals for the up-coming year. Thus it is important that its translation quality should be assured and the meaning should be precisely and appropriately conveyed. With Skopos Theory as the theoretical base, careful text analysis of 2014 RWG is discussed, and translation difficulties are identified in this thesis. Accordingly specific translation strategies are proposed in hope of making slight contributions to improving the RWG translation quality. 

Key words: RWG; government work; Skopos Theory; translation quality

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction1

2 Skopos Theory.1

2.1 Text Typology2

2.2 Skopostheorie3

2.3 Function Plus Loyalty.3

2.4 Pragmatic Use of Skopos Theory in RWG Translation6

3 Text Analysis of 2014 RWG6

3.1 Composition and content of 2014 RWG.6

3.2 Features of 2014 RWG7

3.2.1 Stylistic Features of 2014 RWG.7

3.2.2 Linguistic Features of 2014 RWG8

4 Translation Brief of 2014 RWG.9

5 Translation Difficulties and Strategies of 2014 RWG.10

5.1 RWG Translation at Lexical Level11

     5.1.1 Preciseness.11

5.1.2 Intensifiers12

5.1.3 Chinese Culture-specific Words.14

5.1.4 Cohesion.15

     5.1.4.1 Repetition16

     5.1.4.2 Synonym and Antonym.16

5.2 RWG Translation at Syntactic Level.17

5.2.1 Null-subject Sentences.17

5.2.2 Long sentences.18

6 Conclusion.20

References22