Abstract: In light of the rapid development of China’s economy, China’s political essays have received rising attention from people around the world, which has also promoted the translation of its political essays. Under this circumstance, Skopos theory has provided the theoretical foundation for the translation of political materials from a fresh perspective. Combining the Skopos theory with political essays, this paper attempts to give some specific advise to improve translation practice of political essays from linguistic level and rhetorical level through a case study of 2015 Government Work Report to attach scholars’ attention to the current situation in which the official documents lack a guiding theory, which may give a major push to the relevant study and ultimately promote international political exchanges. 

Key words: Skopos theory; political writings; Government Work Report; C-E translation

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Skopos Theory-2

  2.1 Its Origin and Development-2

  2.1.1 Early Views-3

  2.1.2 Establishment of Skopos Theory-3

  2.1.3 Development of Skopos Theory-4

  2.2 Basic Principles of Skopos Theory-5

  2.2.1 Skopos Rule-5

  2.2.2 Coherence Rule and Fidelity Rule-6

  2.2.3 Loyalty Principle-7

  2.3 Applicability of Skopos Theory to the Translation of Political Writings-7

3. A Brief Analysis of Political Writings-8

  3.1 Features of Political Writings-8

  3.1.1 contextual Features-8

  3.1.2 Cultural Features-9

  3.1.3 Textual Features-10

  3.2 Functions of Political Writings-11

4. Translation Methods of Political Writings——A Case Study of 2015 Government Work Report-12

  4.1 At the Linguistic Level-12

  4.1.1 At the Lexical Level-12

  4.1.2 At the Syntactic Level-16

  4.1.3 At the Discourse Level-20

  4.2 At the Rhetorical Level-21

5. Conclusion-23

References-25