Comparison of Two Chinese Translations of the Gettysburg Address

Lili ZHAN, Haiqing CHEN

Abstract


Translation is seen as a process in which the translator is trying to re-contextualize the source text (ST) to make the translation adaptable to the target culture and target language norms. As one of far-reaching speeches, the Gettysburg Address has been translated into many languages, including Chinese. This paper makes an attempt to illustrate the procedure of translation through a comparison between two Chinese versions of the Gettysburg Address. The paper first makes a general description of the organization and language features of ST, and then a detailed analysis has been conducted alongside the comparison in order to unveil the process of translation. Through the comparative study, both strengths and weaknesses of two Chinese versions have been analyzed and revisions are made when necessary.
Key words: Gettysburg address; Translation; Source text; Target text

References


Baker, M. (2000). In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Capp, G. R. (1971). Basic Oral Communication. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Hatim, B. & Mason, I. (2001). Discourse and the Translator. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
Pearson Education Limited. (2001). Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (3rd ed.). Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Ross, R. S. (1980). Speech communication. Englewood Cliffs, N. J: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
SHI Youshan (2001). 100 Famous Speeches (English-Chinese). Beijing: China Translation and Publishing Corporation.
ZHANG Peiji (2009). A Coursebook in English-Chinese Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.


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