On the principles and strategies of C-E publicity

1IntroductionEversincethe1980s,sincetheadoptionofthereformandopening-uppolicy,Chinahascommunicatedwiththeoutsideworldmorefrequently.MoreandmorescholarsbegantodoresearchesonC-Epublicitytranslation,suchasDingHengqi,JiaWenbo,etc.Inrecentyears,duetothedeepeningofglobalization,China,asadevelopingsocialistcountry,hasattractedever-increasingattentionoftheworld.NeverbeforehavesomanyforeignersofdifferentcolorsandcreedswantedtoknowmoreaboutChinaandgetintoclosecontactwithChinaandChinesepeople,thuspublicitytranslationinChinasharplyincreasesinquantities,andthequalityofpublicitytranslationhasalsobeenimprovedalot.TheChinese-EnglishpublicitytranslationaimsatmakingChinaknowntotheworld.ThesuccessfultranslationofpublicitymaterialsplaysanimportantroleinexchangesandcommunicationbetweenChinaandotherEnglish-speakingcountries.ItwillleadtoabetterunderstandingofChinaincludingitslonghistory,uniqueandsplendidculture,rapideconomicprogressandwillbehelpfultotheprocessofChina’smodernizationandconnectionwiththeoutsideworld.ThenhowtomakethetranslatedEnglishversionclearlyunderstoodbyreadersinothercountriesandatthesametimemaintaintheChineseuniqueness?ThispaperwilldealwiththeproblemfromtheperspectiveofSkopostheory,adoptingtranslationstrategiesofdomesticationandforeignization,completetranslationandtranslationvariationandsoon.1.AnoverviewofChinese-EnglishpublicitytranslationThischapterisacomprehensiveresearchonC-Epublicitytranslation.Itfirstoffersananalysisofpublicitytranslationincludingitsdefinition,history,textfeaturesandfunctions.Thenitshowstheachievementsthathavebeenmadeinthisfieldandrevealstheproblemsthatstillexist.1.1ThedefinitionofpublicitytranslationBeforeweanalyzethepublicitymaterials,weshouldfirstunderstandwhatthe2publicitytranslationis.PublicitytranslationinChineseisduiwaixuanchuan(对外宣传),whichmeanstheactivitiesthatcommunicateswithforeignersandintroducesChinatotheoutsideworld.Butthere’snoexactEnglishequivalenceofduiwaixuanchuaninmostC-Edictionaries.Duiwaixuanchuanwasoncetranslatedas“foreignpropaganda”,ofwhichtheword“propaganda”hasunfavorableornegativeconnotation.Sothispaperwillusetheword“publicity”todenoteduiwaixuanchuan,as“publicity”isaneutralword,whichmeans“stateofbeingknownto,seenby,etcthepublic;providinginformationinordertoattractpublicattention”(OxfordAdvancedLearner'sEnglishChineseDictionary,2002:1197).PeterNewmarkmentionsinhisbookApproachestoTranslationthattextshavethreekindsoffunctions:a)theexpressivefunction;b)theinformativefunction;c)thevocativefunction(Newmark,2001:47).AccordingtoNewmark,theexpressivefunctionisauthor-centered.Itisaboutthemindofthespeakerorthewriter.Literatureistypicallyofthistypeoffunction.Theinformativefunctionismuchmoreaboutthecontentofthetext,payingmuchattentiontotheexternalsituationortherealityoutsidethelanguage.Technicalreportsaretypicallyofthistypeoffunction.Thevocativefunctionisreader-centered.Thepurposeistomakepeopletothinkoractinthewayintendedbythetext.Textssuchasadvertisementandpublicitymaterialsareofthisfunction.1.2ClassificationandtextfeaturesofC-EpublicitymaterialsPublicitymaterialshavesomedistinctivefeaturesthatdifferentiatethemfromliteraryworks,technicalandotherwritings.Theyholddifferentintention,contentsandfunctions.Unliketechnicalwritingsorliteraryworks,publicitymaterialscoverawiderangeoffields,andeveryaspectofacountrycanbeshowninpublicitymaterials.1.2.1ClassificationofC-EpublicitymaterialsThereisavarietyofpublicitymaterialstranslatedfromChinesetoEnglish,ofwhichthetargetaudiencesaremainlyordinaryforeignersoroverseasChinesewhoareunabletounderstandChinese.Mr.DuanLianchenghasgeneralizedpublicity3materialsintotwocategories:ordinarymaterialsandformalmaterials.Accordingtohim,ordinarymaterialsincludematerialsintroducingChinesepolitics,economy,society,culture,historyandpeople’slife,suchasbrochuresonscenicspotsorbooksaboutChineseculture,whileformalmaterialsrefertoofficialdocuments,formaltalksandworksofleaders,workingreportsofgovernmentcadres,diplomatictalks,economicandtradeagreements,legalfilesaswellasscientificandtechnologicalbooks(DuanLiancheng,1990:8).1.2.2FeaturesofC-EpublicitymaterialsC-EPublicitymaterialshavethefollowingfeatures:1)Coverawiderange.Publicitymaterialsincludeawiderangeofsubjects,suchaspolitics,economy,history,culture,art,tourism,society,science,education,medicine,sports,people’slife,food,andsoon.ThesematerialsprovidelargeamountofinformationaboutChinaforforeigners.2)WithChinesecharacteristics.Inpublicitymaterialstherearemanypolitical,economicalandscientificjargonsandculture-loadedwords.Inrecentyears,withthedeepeningofglobalization,manynewthingswithChinesecharacteristicshaveappeared,bringinglotsofnewterms.ForallthesewecannotfindtheexactEnglishequivalentsindictionaries.3)Target-readeroriented.C-EpublicitymaterialsaimatintroducingChinatoordinaryforeignerswhodon’tknowmuchaboutChina,sothepublicitytranslationshouldbetarget-language-and-culture-oriented.Otherwise,wecan’tachievethepurposeofcommunicationorexchanges,forreadersofothercountriescannotunderstandthemeaningofthetranslatedmaterials.