Abstract

The year of 2016 has witnessed a dramatic change in both economy and politics. Even the development of Artificial Intelligence strikes most people in the world. It seems that only in culture little has altered and the Western culture still plays a leading role. But in fact something is happening. More countries are turning their eye on China to seek not only more information about China’s dynamics but also the confidence of a bright future of the whole world, with all these changes mentioned above. A great opportunity it is to reshape China’s image and spread Chinese culture.

Therefore, the translation of Government Work Report (hereinafter referred to as GWR), one of the most important Chinese official documents, must be paid more attention nowadays to make foreigners get easier access to it. And in this process, the rendering of culture-loaded words is a demanding task. This thesis tries to analyze the translation of culture-loaded words from the perspective of intercultural communication and make an assessment of the methods having adopted, in the hope of making some contributions to a better English version of GWR.

The study has discovered that culture-loaded words in the GWR of 2016 are mainly expressions about some political ideas, campaigns or meetings, idioms and proverbs about history, tradition or religious beliefs, and some new culture-loaded words about the modern society. And the methods of liberal translation, liberal translation plus explanation and free translation are applied. But translation is an intercultural communication activity, which stresses not only the transformation of languages but also the understanding of cultures. The use of the method of free translation tends to lead culture loss in the analysis practice of the author and therefore in her opinion, more importance should be attached to the cultural message of culture-loaded words in GWRs. 

Key words: culture-loaded words, translation methods, Government Work Report，intercultural communication

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 Significance of the study-1

1.2 Objectives of the study-1

1.3 Structure of the thesis-2

Chapter Two Literature Review-3

2.1 Definition and classification of culture-loaded words-3

2.1.1 Definition of culture-loaded words-3

2.1.2 Classification of culture-loaded words-4

2.2 Previous researches on GWRs-5

2.2.1 Previous studies on the translation of GWRs-5

2.2.2 Issues of studies on the translation of GWRs-7

Chapter Three Theoretical Framework-8

3.1 A brief review of intercultural communication theories-8

3.1.1 The relationship of culture and language-8

3.1.2 Differences between Chinese culture and Western culture-9

3.1.3 Major intercultural communication theories-10

3.1.4 Translation as an intercultural communication activity-12

3.2 Translation methods to Chinese culture-loaded words-12

3.2.1 Transliteration-13

3.2.2 Transliteration plus explanation-13

3.2.3 Literal translation-13

3.2.4 Literal translation plus explanation-14

3.2.5 Free translation-14

Chapter Four Analysis and Discussion-16

4.1 Culture-loaded words in GWR of 2016-16

4.2 Analysis and discussion from the perspective of intercultural communication-17

Chapter Five Conclusion-20

5.1 Summary and Major Findings-20

5.2 Limitations and Suggestions-20

References-22

文献综述报告-24