摘 要

湖北省博物馆藏品丰富、种类繁多，有着极高的考古和旅游价值。近年来，随着湖北省旅游产业的发展以及全球化进程的推动，越来越多的外国人来到湖北武汉，通过各种途径感受湖北省的秀丽风光和悠久文化。湖北省博物馆作为湖北省对外宣传的主要窗口，成为外国游客必去的游览地。博物馆是文化的重要载体，通过展示出土文物，以最直观的方式展示人类文明的辉煌成就；同时，文物又曾历经各大历史事件，承担着传承传统文化的重任。由此可见，湖北省博物馆文物名称的翻译在促进中外文化交流和扩大传统文化的影响力方面意义重大。本文将以目的论为指导，以湖北省博物馆部分文物的英文名称为参考数据，分析湖北省博物馆文物名称的英译策略。

关键词：目的论；湖北省博物馆； 文物名称翻译

Abstract

Hubei Provincial Museum is rich in collections and has a high value for archaeological and tourist purposes. In recent years, with the development of tourism industry in Hubei province and the promotion of globalization, more and more foreigners come to Wuhan city of Hubei province to enjoy the beautiful scenery and long-standing culture of Hubei through different ways. As the main window for international propaganda of Hubei province, Hubei Provincial Museum has become a must-visit place for foreign tourists. Museum is an important carrier of culture, which shows the brilliant achievements of human civilization through the display of unearthed antiques in the most intuitive way. At the same time, antiques have undergone major historical events, and bear the responsibility of inheriting traditional culture. Thus, the translation of museum relics in Hubei Provincial Museum is of great significance in promoting cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries and expanding the influence of traditional Chinese culture. This article aims to study the English names of the antiques in Hubei Provincial Museum and analyze the Chinese-English translation strategies under the framework of the Skopos theory.

Key Words: Skopos theory; Hubei Provincial Museum; translation of antique names

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Research background 1

1.2 Research motivation 2

1.3 Research significance 2

2 Literature Review 4

3 Theoretical Framework 6

3.1 Formation and development of Skopos Theory 6

3.2 The basic Components of Skopos Theory 8

3.2.1 Skopos rule 8

3.2.2 Coherence rule 9

3.2.3 Fidelity rule 9

4 Analysis of the Translation of Antique Names in Hubei Provincial Museum 11

4.1 Literal translation 11

4.2 Supplementary translation 12

4.3 Explanatory translation 12

4.4 Combination of literal translation and transliteration 13

4.5 Annotative translation 13

5 Conclusions 15

5.1 Summary 15

5.2 Limitations and recommendations 16

References 17

Acknowledgements 18

On C-E Translation of Antique Names in Hubei Provincial Museum from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

1 Introduction

CCTV large-scale exploration program "National Treasure" fired up comments on the internet in 2017. This is a magnificent exhibition of nine museums and 27 unique treasures. Once the program was aired, it aroused a hot discussion among the general public about museums and their cultural relics. We can see that China has paid great attention to the development of its culture by enhancing its own cultural self-confidence through different ways in order to export the elite parts of its culture to the world, so that people in the world can understand, appreciate and love Chinese culture.

Research background

With the development of globalization, the communication between countries is becoming more and more frequent, let alone cultural communication and exchange. The museum is the place that collects the cultural relics, which plays the irreplaceable role in the cultural dissemination and the exchange. It also provides people with artistic and cultural appreciation. Cultural relics are the crystallization of the splendid culture that evolves and develops from the past. The historical relics of the museum's collection reflect human's material and spiritual cultures, and also symbolize the development of human civilization. China has a long history and culture, and the cultural relics collected in our museums are not only the cultural treasures of the Chinese nation, but also the common priceless wealth of all mankind, which plays an important role in disseminating Chinese culture. The museum is also a window for people of foreign countries to understand and enjoy traditional Chinese culture. Therefore, this paper hopes to examine the English-version names of the cultural relics in Hubei Provincial Museum and analyze the translation strategies of the names of antique in order to achieve a better communication between the Chinese and foreign cultures.

Research motivation

Culture is the core of a country's comprehensive national strength and its development should be valued by all. As we all know, as a kind of soft power, culture often plays a role in edification and exerts an influence on people's thought. Hubei Provincial Museum has a profound heritage in history and culture, both showing the glorious achievements of human civilization and social development, and shouldering the mission of disseminating traditional culture. The translation of museum cultural relics serves as a chain between Chinese culture and foreign tourists.

The translation of the name standard of museums can not only convey the information of cultural relics to tourists correctly, but also highlight the charm of Chinese culture, which is an important window for the Chinese culture to "go out".

In recent years, China's national strength has enhanced and cultural exchanges between Chinese and foreign have been becoming frequent. Hubei Provincial Museum often introduces temporary exhibitions abroad, attracting a large audience to enjoy them, as well as the collection of cultural relics from the Museum of Hubei province, which attracted many foreign audiences to visit. This kind of two-way cultural exchange activity must involve the language transformation, and the translation of the names of the cultural relics plays an indispensable role in it.

Good translation can not only convey the information of cultural relics accurately, but also increase ordinary people’s interest in Chinese civilization.

1.3 Research significance

Hubei Provincial Museum exhibits a wide variety of cultural relics. There are more than 240,000 (sets) different types of cultural relics and specimens. There are thousands of first-class cultural relics. The majority of the collections are unearthed antiques, coming from archaeological excavations, with rich and distinctive local colors. It basically reflects the appearance of ancient culture in Hubei area. In addition, many of the collections are rare treasures and important scientific materials. This is not only a mirror of Chu culture, but also a representative of the Chinese nation's material and spiritual civilization.

Hubei Provincial Museum has attracted much attention because of its unique and important function. Thus, the translation of cultural relics with different cultural functions has also come into focus. In this case, visiting museums has gradually become the most convenient and quick way for a foreign friend to understand the Chinese culture. Under the background of cultural exchange, the English translation of museum artifacts is particularly important. The translation of museum cultural relics not only involves the conversion between English and Chinese, but also plays an important role in conveying cultural information behind cultural relics through the names of cultural relics.

With the help of Skopos theory, this paper aims to analyze and summarize the translation strategies used in the English-version names of the cultural relics in Hubei Provincial Museum.

2 Literature Review

The translation of the names of cultural relics plays a crucial role in passing on history and spreading traditional culture to foreign tourists. There have also been many studies on the translation of the names of antique. Researchers analyze the strategies of the translation of the name of cultural antique and museum culture from various aspects.

In 2005, the Forbidden City Press published Wang Yangming and Yang Yanhua’s “Chinese-English Archaeological Dictionary”, which provided important reference for the translation of professional terms. In fact, as early as 1991, Mu Shanpei (1991:11-15) put forward the problems of “faithfulness” and “fluency” in the translation of Chinese historical relics. Since then, experts and scholars have studied and combed the translation of cultural relics from various aspects, and put forward a large number of conclusions.