论文总字数：38312字

摘 要

作为宣传旅游景点和推广当地文化的手段，旅游文本具有信息功能和呼唤功能，在吸引外国游客方面起着十分重要的作用。然而，国内旅游资料的英译质量却不尽如人意，常常造成误解，从而不能满足宣传旅游景点的目的。针对这种情况，本文试图通过奈达功能对等理论的指导，以苏州市旅游文本翻译为例，探讨旅游翻译的有效途径。功能对等理论认为，翻译即在目的语中用最自然切近的对等语重现源语信息。此外，该理论还强调目的语读者的反应。这也就是说，译文是否被读者接受和理解应作为评价翻译是否成功的一个重要标准。苏州素有“人间天堂”之称，且如今已成为古典与现代完美结合的国际城市，每年都吸引大量外国游客前去游览。所以，提高该地旅游文本翻译质量更是迫在眉睫。在功能对等理论的指导下，笔者首先分析了苏州旅游文本英译中存在的问题，并发现只要译者多译文多加注意，避免一些不应犯错误，译文的质量就能得到较大程度的提高。笔者还分析了旅游文本翻译中常用的方法，并且发现这些翻译策略可以单独或结合起来使用，从而提高译文质量，尽可能多地传达文化信息。

关键词：功能对等；旅游文本；汉英翻译

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments i

English Abstract ii

Chinese Abstract iii

Table of Contents iv

Chapter One Introduction 1

1.1 Background and Significance of the Study 1

1.2 Methodology of the Study 2

1.3 Layout of the Thesis 2

Chapter Two Literature Review 3

2.1 A Brief Introduction of Nida's Functional Equivalence Theory 3

2.2 Previous Studies on Tourism Text Translation 3

2.2.1 Studies Abroad 3

2.2.2 Domestic Studies 4

2.2.2.1 Studies from the Cross-cultural Perspective 4

2.2.2.2 Studies from the Skopos Theory 5

Chapter Three Current Situation of Suzhou Tourism Translation 6

3.1 Classification and Features of Tourism Texts 6

3.2 Main Problems Existing in Translation of Tourism Texts 6

3.2.1 Wrong Diction and Collocation 6

3.2.2 Redundancy 7

3.2.3 Ambiguity 8

3.2.4 Over-simplification 9

Chapter Four Application of Functional Equivalence in Tourism Translation 11

4.1 Feasibility of Functional Equivalence 11

4.2 Common Approaches Adopted in Tourism Translation 12

4.2.1 Addition and Omission 12

4.2.2 Transliteration plus Literal Translation 15

4.2.3 Analogy 15

4.2.4 Restructuring 16

Chapter Five Conclusion 18

5.1 Major Findings 18

5.2 Significance and Implications 18

5.3 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Study 19

References 20

Chapter One Introduction

1.1 Background and Significance of the Study

Over the past few decades, tourism has been booming in China with a surging amount of foreign tourists traveling to this great ancient country, thanks to the nation’s rapid social development and opening-up policy. Against this backdrop, the role of tourism text, which is a key means of publicizing scenic spots and promoting local culture, becomes more and more prominent. However, the English versions of these tourism texts are not satisfying enough, and some translations even contain a large number of mistakes. These poor translations, which may cause misunderstanding and impact our country’s image, are quite necessary to be improved. As a city with abundant natural and cultural resources, Suzhou’s value of tourism cannot be overestimated. Therefore, priority should be given to enhance the quality of Suzhou’s tourism texts.

Eugene A. Nida, a great contemporary American linguist and translation theorist, proposed the theory of Functional Equivalence, in which he defines translation as “reproducing the information of the source language with the closest natural equivalent in the target language, firstly in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style” (Nida amp; Taber, 1969: 24). Meanwhile, Nida lays much emphasis on the receptors’ response, stating that the text should be translated to such an extent that the response of the target language readers is almost the same as that of the source language readers. Since tourism texts also highlight the feelings and response of the potential foreign visitors, Functional Equivalence theory can be applied to guide the texts’ translation.

The significance of this study can be both theoretical and practical. Theoretically, this thesis has analyzed C-E translation of Suzhou tourism texts under the guidance of Functional Equivalence, and may offer some help to future translation studies and tourism text translation. Practically, it has helped to realize tourism texts’ informative and vocative functions, accelerate the development of Suzhou tourism industry and promote cross-cultural communication.

1.2 Methodology of the Study

This study belongs to applied research, and it adopts Nida’s Functional Equivalence theory as its theoretical framework. Methodology included in this study is as follows:

1. Qualitative method: it conducts descriptions and explanations in strict accordance with definitions of Functional Equivalence Theory;
2. Case study: it takes the C-E translation of tourism texts in Suzhou as one example for tourism text translation.

1.3 Layout of the Thesis

The thesis is divided into five chapters: chapter one, introduction, states the background, significance and methodology of the study. Chapter two gives a brief introduction of Nida's Functional Equivalence Theory on the one hand, and reviews the literature on the translation of tourism texts on the other hand. Chapter three first presents classification and features of tourism texts, and then lists the main problems existing in the tourism translation of Suzhou, which include 1) wrong diction and collocation, 2) redundancy, 3) ambiguity, and 4) over-simplification. Chapter four first analyzes the feasibility of Functional Equivalence Theory applied to tourism text translation, and then presents the common approaches adopted in translating tourism texts, which include 1) addition and omission, 2) transliteration plus literal translation, 3) analogy as well as 4) restructuring. Chapter five is conclusion and includes three parts: major findings, significance and implications and limitations and suggestions for further study.

Chapter Two Literature Review

2.1 A Brief Introduction of Nida's Functional Equivalence Theory

Functional Equivalence holds that the so-called translation refers to “reproducing the information of the source language with the closest natural equivalent in the target language, firstly in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style” (Nida amp; Taber, 1969:24)”. According to Nida, “closeness” means “being close to the information of the source language”; “natural” refers to “the ways of expression in the target language”. That is to say, Functional Equivalence pursues the effect of translation, emphasizes that the response of recipients to the translation should be basically consistent with the response of original readers to the original, and regards this as the only standard to evaluate the quality of a translation. Therefore, in the process of translation, the translator should focus on the meaning and spirit of the original text, rather than the original language structure.

2.2 Previous Studies on Tourism Text Translation

The following literature review is divided into two main parts: studies abroad and domestic studies.

2.2.1 Studies Abroad

Numerous studies and researches have been carried out by foreign scholars on tourism text translation from different perspectives, which mainly include sociolinguistics and genre analysis. In his book The Language of Tourism: A Sociolinguistic Perspective, Graham MS Dann (1996) notes that tourism texts have their own unique characteristics. He thinks that since various tourism texts such as pictures, brochures, introductions, etc. are targeted at attracting tourists and encouraging them to take subsequent actions to facilitate cultural exchange, the translation of tourism texts will definitely play an important role in the propagation of tourism.

Studies on tourism text translation are also made from the angle of genre analysis. In Tourist-Information Texts: Corpus Based Study of Four Related Genres (2002), Italian scholar Erik Castello tries to describe the features and structures of tourism language by taking advantage of genre analysis. He adopts the concept of genre as the theoretical framework in his research to explain his findings and emphasizes the similarities and differences of different types of tourism texts.

2.2.2 Domestic Studies

Chinese scholars and professors have also done many researches and investigations on tourism text translation from different angles. Among them, the use of cross-cultural perspective and Skopos Theory to study tourism translation has become the mainstream.

2.2.2.1 Studies from the Cross-cultural Perspective

Tourism, which serves as a bridge of cultural transmission, is evidently a cross-cultural activity between different countries with different cultures. And the purpose of tourism is to be aware of various values, lifestyles, beliefs, customs, and thinking patterns among different cultures, so good tourism text translation plays a key role in successful intercultural communication. Owing to its importance, numerous studies from the cross-cultural perspective have been done, and the main thoughts are summarized as follows.

1. It is of great importance for translators to pay attention to transmitting the cultural message when translating. Only in this way can the translated text reflect the features of Chinese culture so as to raise the interest of foreign tourists and make translation become the real means of cultural exchange (Jia Shunhou, 2002, No.4: 90-92).

2) Cross-cultural communication is a prominent feature of our age and tourism text translation is a cross-cultural translation. Therefore, a qualified translator must possess a good knowledge of different cultures to promote Chinese culture (Chen Gang, 2004: 324-329).

2.2.2.2 Studies from the Skopos Theory

Some scholars hold that the Skopos Theory also provides us with solutions to exerting the utmost effect of tourism text, and the representative views are listed as follows:

1) Based on the three rules of the Skopos Theory (skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule), three new basic standards of tourism text translation are put forward: faithfulness (the translated text should be faithful to the original text, which includes the historical stories, geographical information, cultural background, etc.), expressiveness (include both the coherence of the target language and complying with the features of tourism language) and elegance (the translated text shall maintain the aesthetic element of tourism language). And the tourism text translation shall emphasize expressiveness and elegance at the same time under the prerequisite of being faithful (Chen Gang, 2004:133).

2) The Skopos Theory lays emphasis on the communication function of the translated texts, and thus it is applicable to tourism text translation, whose purpose is to help foreign tourists understand the cultural background of the tourist sites. Successful tourism text translation will attract foreign tourists, help them understand Chinese culture and finally promote the development of the domestic tourism industry. (Zhang Yuanyuan, 2011, No.5: 64).

Chapter Three Current Situation of Suzhou Tourism Translation

3.1 Classification and Features of Tourism Texts

Tourism texts, including names of scenic spots, introductory texts, public signs, pamphlets, etc., play a vital role in attracting the tourists and publicizing the scenic spots. According to Newmark, there are three major types of texts: informative, expressive and vocative (1981). Tourism texts are applied texts with various forms, rich contents, vivid narration and strong cultural connotations. Thus, there is no denying that they are informative texts. Meanwhile, since the main purpose of this type of propaganda materials is to attract the readers, activate them to take corresponding actions and finally boost the development of the tourism industry, they also belong to vocative texts.

3.2 Main Problems Existing in Translation of Tourism Texts

Although the quality of tourism translation of Suzhou is much better than that of some tourist cities, there still exist many problems. The problems the author will discuss in this paper are wrong diction and collocation, redundancy, ambiguity and over-simplification.

3.2.1 Wrong Diction and Collocation

According to the author’s analysis of the collected material, wrong diction and collocation are the commonest mistakes made in the tourism text translation. Here are several examples:

Example 1:

苏州古运河旅游有限公司长期经营水上游船、观光旅游、餐饮等项目，前期一直做政府接待，在目前现有基础上扩大了规模，开通了散客航班、精品线路和会议包船、生日派对等业务。

Translation: Suzhou Ancient Grand Canal Tourism Co. Ltd for many years, has been engaged in different items of water-route traveling including boat trip, site seeing, food and beverage service, etc. More services are being developed, such as flights for individuals, essence flights, and conference on the water, as well as birthday party celebrations.

Here, “航班” is translated into “flight”. However, as we all know, “flight” refers to “a scheduled airplane trip”, and it does not have the meaning of “a scheduled ship trip”. Thus, this translation is not appropriate enough.

Example 2:

同里的历史可追溯到五六千年前的“崧泽文化”和“良渚文化”。早在新石器时代即有先民在此刀耕火种、生息繁衍。

Translation: The history of Tongli can be traced back to Songze Culture and Liangzhu Culture 5000 or 6000 years ago. As early as New Stone Age, the ancestors of Tongli cultivated and bred generations here.

There is a small mistake of the use of the word “cultivate”, because it is a transitive verb. If we want to express the meaning “刀耕火种”, we had better translate it as “cultivate the crops”.

3.2.2 Redundancy

Redundancy is another problem that is seen quite often in the translation of tourism texts, making the translated version lengthy and tedious. The examples are as follows:

Example 3:

缀云峰的形态自下而上逐渐壮大，其巅尤伟，如云状，岿然独立，旁无支撑，此峰苔藓斑驳，藤蔓纷披，不乏古意。

Translation: Cloud-Capped Peak gradually expands from bottom to top. Its cloud-like summit stands in splendid isolation without any support. The peak is overrun with moss and vine, full of interest and charm of antique taste.

Generally speaking, this translation is a good one and the only problem is in the translation of “不乏古意”. The three words: interest, charm and taste, have similar meanings, so the expression is not concise enough.

Example 4: 整座亭子犹如一只展翅欲飞的凤凰，给本来平直、单调的墙体增添了飞舞的动势。

Translation: The whole pavilion is like a flying phoenix, adding flying dynamic potential to the original flat and monotonous walls.

There are two redundant parts in this English sentence. One is “original”, translation of “本来”, and the other is “flying”, translation of “飞舞”. Actually, the meaning of these two words is already connoted in the translation, so there is no need to specify it once more.

3.2.3 Ambiguity

Although ambiguity is not as common a mistake as the previous two in Suzhou tourism texts, its appearance is disturbing as well and easily leads to readers’ misunderstanding.

Example 5:

榭是我国古代很美的一种建筑形式，凭借周围风景而构成，形式灵活多变。

Translation: Chamber is a beautiful architectural style of ancient China, constituted by use of surrounding landscape with flexible forms.

Reading the original text, we know “flexible forms” modifies “chamber”. But in the translation, the phrase is put behind “surrounding landscape, thus causing the ambiguity: which one has flexible forms, chamber or surrounding landscape?

Example 6:

镇内由15条河流把镇区分割为19块，至今保存完好的49座建于各个朝代、风格各异的石桥将其联成一体.

Translation: The town is divided into 19 parts by 15 rivers connected by 49 stone bridges of different dynasties and styles.

By reading the source text, we know that it is 19 parts of the town that are connected by 49 stone bridges. However, in the translated version, “connected” is put behind “rivers” and it may seem that 15 rivers are connected by 49 stone bridges. To avoid ambiguity, the sentence can be revised as “The town is divided into 19 parts by 15 rivers, and is connected by 49 stone bridges of different dynasties and styles.”

3.2.4 Over-simplification

Sometimes, translator of tourism texts may delete some difficult cultural parts of the material for foreigners’ better understanding, and this is understandable. However, if too much information is removed in the translated version, the result will just be the opposite to what they have wished.

Example 7:

莲厢，是流传于江浙沪一带的一种民间自制器乐。它一般选用一米长，内径为两厘米左右的青竹为原材料，艺人们从两端起每隔十厘米左右就在竹筒上打一个穿通的孔，在孔上嵌两个铜钱（孔稍大于铜钱，能摇响铜钱即可），并用螺丝螺帽固定住，同时在此处系上红绿黄的绸带。一般两端各打三个孔，系上三对五彩绸带。

而所谓的打莲厢就是艺人们手持莲厢，和着乐曲按照各种方法用莲厢拍打自己的手脚，胳膊，肩腿等。舞动时，莲厢内的铜钱会因此发出悦耳的声响，五彩的绸带也上下翻飞，煞是好看。

Translation: The performing artists hold Lianxiang and lap their own hands, feet, arms, shoulders, legs, etc in different ways to the music. When they dance, the copper coin in Lianxiang will give forth melodious sound, and the colorful ribbon will fly up and down, making it an eye-catching activity.

We can see that the first paragraph is the introduction of the instrument, Lianxiang, and it is quite important as a lead-in to arouse foreign tourists’ interest. However, the part was not translated at all. Without necessary background information, a lot of foreigners may wonder what Lianxiang is when they see the translation.

The above-mentioned are some of the mistakes most likely to appear in tourism text translation, which will leave a bad impression on foreign tourists and are likely to cause misunderstandings and exert negative influence on the image of Suzhou, even China as a whole. Therefore, when translating tourism texts, we should consider Nida’s Functional Equivalence Theory as the guiding rule, attach importance to recipients’ response, and try our best to avoid similar mistakes.

Chapter Four Application of Functional Equivalence in Tourism Translation

4.1 Feasibility of Functional Equivalence

Tourism texts, which contain a large amount of cultural information, aim at introducing related historical and cultural knowledge to receptors and motivate them to take corresponding actions. Therefore, much attention needs to be paid to the communicating effect in translating tourism texts. Otherwise, many problems shall appear. Since foreigners are not familiar with Chinese culture, literal translation is very likely to lead to misunderstandings, thus blocking cultural exchange between different countries. Then, how to translate this type of texts?

Clearly, Nida’s Functional Equivalence is the answer to the question. The theory has shifted the focus of translation from the form of message to the response of the receptors and emphasized that the response of receptors of the target texts should be almost the same as that of the receptors of the source texts. Since tourism texts also attach importance to readers’ responses, both the theory and the texts are receptor-oriented.

Moreover, the theory of Functional Equivalence has also been successfully applied to the translation of Bible. Although these two kinds of texts seem distinct from each other, they have many similarities as far as the function of language is concerned. When translating the Bible, Nida demands that the translation must be informative, expressive and imperative, and tourism text shall have the same functions. Firstly, as the guidance of the tourists, it shall be able to provide sufficient information of the scenic spots, and thus it is informative. Secondly, right and beautiful language of the text can give a vivid description of the tourist sites and impress the tourists, and thus it is expressive. Lastly, it can also attract tourists and encourage to take actions by motivating their interests in the scenic spots with its persuasive description, and thus it is imperative. In a word, Functional Equivalence is feasible to tourism text translation.

4.2 Common Approaches Adopted in Tourism Translation

Since the translation of tourism texts aims at attracting potential foreign tourists, translators should always take the recipients’ responses into account and strive to produce a closest natural equivalent instead of merely pursuing superficial “equivalence” of words or outputting equal amount of information. However, it is easier said than done, because tourism texts, especially those of Suzhou, contain a lot of cultural information, which is difficult to be understood by readers from other cultures. Therefore, we should adopt the following approaches to translate tourism texts.

4.2.1 Addition and Omission

Addition and omission of information is the most commonly used approach in tourism text translation. Addition means to complement some relevant background information while maintaining the original meaning. Since Chinese tourism texts contain much cultural information, like famous figures, dynasties, historical events and allusions, it is of great necessity to add relevant information for foreign tourists’ better understanding. Here are some examples:

Example 8:

虎丘被誉为“吴中第一名胜”，可以说是苏州最有名的地方。康熙乾隆下江南均游历过虎丘，邓小平、胡锦涛、朱熔基等党和国家重要领导人都来过虎丘。宋代大文豪苏东坡也曾经说过“到苏州不游虎丘，乃憾事也”。

Translation: Huqiu is known as “the first landscape in Suzhou area”. Sure it may be the best one here. In the ancient, Emperor Kang Xi and Emperor Qian Long in Qing Dynasty (1616-1911)，visited the scene as long as they came to south China for inspection. Also, our state leaders, Deng Xiaoping, Zhu Rongji, and present President Hu Jingtao and so on, had been Huqiu. The great poet in Song Dynasty (960～1127)，Su Dongpo ever said “It would be a pity if you had been to Suzhou but didn’t get to visit the Huqiu”.

In this example, Song Dynasty and Qing Dynasty are familiar to most Chinese. However, foreigners may have no idea of the specific time of the dynasty, so the translator adds the duration of the dynasty in the bracket to make it clearer for foreigners.

Example 9:

拥翠山庄，在墙的二边刻有“龙、虎、豹、熊”行草大字石刻四方，苍劲有力，气势磅礴。相传为清咸丰八年（公元1858年）桂林陶茂森所书，由他处移置于此。拥翠山庄是苏州唯一一座无水的园林，它是晚清赛金花丈夫、苏州状元洪钧发起兴建的，这座建筑总平面呈纵长方形，占地一亩多。结合虎丘山的天然山坡所建，为台地园格局，依山势分四个层次，每层布局不同，景色富于变化，在苏州古典园林中独树一帜。

Translation: On both sides of the wall of the Green Resort are large four characters in cursive style carved: （龙）Dragon, （虎）Tiger, （豹）Leopard and （熊）Bear, which look vigorous and powerful. It is said it was written by Tao Maosen (a person born and lived in Guiling) in 1858—the eighth year of Emperor Xianfen Reign, Qing Dynasty (1616-1911). They were moved here from other place long ago. This Green Garden is the only one that has no pool among all gardens in Suzhou, and was built by Hong Jun, who was the Number One Scholar in the imperial examination of late Qing Dynasty, and the hubby of the well-known beauty Ms Sai Jinhua. The garden is a rectangle covering more than one acre. The structure is based on the natural landform of the tableland, with four levels, each of which has different layout and scenery is varied. It develops a school of its own in Suzhou Gardens.

In this example, “状元” is a common word in China. Nevertheless, foreigners know, if not nothing, little about this word, so the translator explains it as “the Number One Scholar in the imperial examination” and let target language readers know the rank of this title. Moreover, the translator also tells more about Sai Jinhua, “the well-known beauty”. This woman, the author dare say, is strange to most Chinese, let alone to foreigners. Therefore, the addition is absolutely necessary.

Omission is to delete the unnecessary or excessive part of the source texts. In tourism texts, quite a few poems, famous sayings and allusions are included, because Chinese people like to quote them to express their subjective feelings and increase the aesthetic value of the scenic spots. Yet, in the eyes of foreign tourists, it is nearly impossible to know their meaning without enough and clear explanation, and thus their interests may be lessened. Therefore, without influencing the source texts, excessive information can be deleted in the target texts to make them more understandable. The following are some examples:

Example 10:

相传被封为“茶圣”的陆羽在贞元年间来到虎丘，挖了一口井，以这口井中的泉水作标准，对比各地水质，写了我国第一部《茶经》，由于井水清冽、味甜，被陆羽命为“第三泉”，这池四周石壁赭色，纹理天然，秀如铁花，所以取苏东坡“铁花秀岩壁”诗句又称它为“铁花崖”。

Translation: According to the legend, Lu Yu, named as Tea Saint, came to Huqiu in Zhen Yuan Period, Tang Dynasty (618～907), digging a well here and taking the water in this well as standard. He wrote a book Tea after comparing different waters in separate places. Because the water is clear and sweet, the well was named by Lu as "Third Fount". The walls of fount are in ochre with nature vein, as beautiful as iron flowers. So Su Dongpo, famous poet in Song Dynasty (420～479) also named it Iron Flower Wall.

In this example, the translation of Su Dongpo’s line “铁花秀岩壁” is omitted. This is because, on the one hand, the previous sentence has already explained “铁花”, the iron flower clearly enough. On the other hand, by omitting the decorative words, the translation makes the poem concise and understandable without changing the general meaning of the original poem.

4.2.2 Transliteration plus Literal Translation

Transliteration means to translate by using letters of a different alphabet or language. Since some Chinese proper names cannot find their correspondence in English, transliteration can be utilized to make the translation process easier and to make foreign tourists better understand the translated version. For example, Huqiu(虎丘). Since Pinyin has been increasingly recognized in the world with China’s rapid development of tourism industry, transliteration will undoubtedly be more acceptable among foreign tourists and the conveyance of information will also be more effective.

Nevertheless, in some other cases of proper name translation, transliteration is adopted together with literal translation. For instance, The Hanbi Mountain Villa(涵碧山房), Panmen City Gate(盘门), Shihu Lake(石湖), and Tianping Hill(天平山). The strategy not only makes up for the shortcomings of transliteration but also better describes the meaning contained in the proper names.

Under most circumstances, literal translation is employed alone. For example, The Winding Stream Tower(曲溪楼), The Distant Green Tower(远翠阁), The Small Fairy Isle(小蓬莱) and Millet Fragrance Hall(秫香馆). This kind of translation gives target language readers a more vivid description of the scenic spots and may be more eye-catching to potential travelers.

4.2.3 Analogy

Analogy is defined as a comparison between two things with similar features. In the process of translation, the translator sometimes tries to transfer cultural information of the source texts to that of the target language with which the receptors are more familiar.

Example 11:

罗汉堂内的疯僧、济公两像最为著名, 其传神与妙趣横生令人为之倾倒,堪称杰作。

Translation: The statues of Mad Monk and Jigong (Robin Hood in China) at the Hall of 500 Arhats are the most attractive. Visitors will gasp in admiration at their facial expressions full of wit and humor.

In the translation, the translator compared Jigong to Robin Hood, a famous hero in Western culture enjoying great popularity. Through this analogy, foreign readers can easily understand why Jigong is so popular in China and thus become interested in this scenic spot.

4.2.4 Restructuring

Restructuring, also known as rewriting, means to adjust the content or structure of the source texts to increase the readability of the target texts. It is an important strategy of translation in that there exist great differences in the writing style of Chinese and English. In order to make the translation readable, understandable and acceptable by foreign tourists, it is crucial to make some adjustments in sentence structures or sequence of words.

Example 12:

秫香，指稻谷飘香。此处以前墙外皆为农田，丰收季节，秋风送来一阵阵稻谷的清香，令人心醉，馆亦因此得名。秫香馆为东部的主体建筑，面水隔山，室内宽敞明亮，长窗裙板上的黄杨木雕，共有48幅，雕镂精细，层次丰富，栩栩如生。落地长窗加上精致的裙板木雕，把秫香馆妆点得古朴雅致，别有情趣。

Translation: Millet Fragrance refers to the fragrance of rice. Outside the wall were all farmlands. In the season of harvest, the autumn wind sent waves of fascinating fragrance of the rice, hence the name Millet Fragrance Hall. Millet Fragrance Hall is the main building of the eastern part. Facing hills and water, it is bright and spacious. A total of 48 boxwood carvings on the long window apron are lifelike with refined carving and rich layers. French window, together with exquisite apron carvings, makes Millet Fragrance Hall simple, elegant, and enjoyable.

In this example, the sentence “长窗裙板上的黄杨木雕，共有48幅，雕镂精细，层次丰富，栩栩如生” is translated into “ A total of 48 boxwood carvings on the long window apron are lifelike with refined carving and rich layers”. The original Chinese sentence is loose in terms of structure, and the logic among the clauses is not specified. So, if we adopt a literal translation, the short sentences combined together may puzzle the foreign readers, who often have a linear way of thinking. To avoid this trouble, the translator rearranges the loose Chinese sentence into a coherent English one by adjusting the sequence of some words.

In conclusion, this chapter has discussed some strategies for future tourism text translation by giving examples based on the theory of Functional Equivalence. Due to the limit of space, it is impossible to list all practical and effective methods of successful translation. More often than not, one strategy is used together with others in translation practice. But whatever strategies are employed, they should be used under the guidance of Functional Equivalence to convey as much cultural information as possible.

Chapter Five Conclusion

5.1 Major Findings

This thesis presents an analysis of Suzhou tourism translation under the guidance of Functional Equivalence Theory. It firstly provides the classification and features of tourism texts, in order to let readers know to what extent the tourism texts should be translated. Later, it lists the main problems existing in tourism translation of Suzhou, including wrong diction and collocation, redundancy, ambiguity, and over-simplification, gives concrete examples to illustrate and offers some proper suggestions. The existence of such translation mistakes shows that the C-E translation of Suzhou tourism texts is not taken seriously enough and easily causes foreign tourists’ misunderstanding. Therefore, more efforts are needed for enhancing the quality of tourism translation.

Then, the thesis discusses the feasibility of Functional Equivalence Theory to tourism text translation. Since both Functional Equivalence and tourism texts are receptors-oriented and the theory has been successfully used to guide the translation of Bible, which is similar to tourism texts in terms of language function, it is quite applicable to tourism translation. Next, the thesis presents common approaches adopted in tourism translation of Suzhou, such as addition and omission, transliteration plus literal translation, analogy and restructuring, and offers some well-translated examples. These approaches are properly employed to convey a lot of cultural information, and they might be used together to improve the quality of translation as well in the future.

5.2 Significance and Implications

This thesis has both theoretical and practical significance. This is because, on the one hand, it has analyzed C-E translation of Suzhou tourism texts under the guidance of Functional Equivalence, and may offer some help to future translation studies and tourism text translation. On the other hand, the thesis has helped to realize tourism texts’ informative and vocative functions, accelerate the development of Suzhou tourism industry and promote cross-cultural communication.

The implication is mainly for translators. According to the analysis of the above-mentioned problems, we know that many mistakes are caused by translators’ lack of attention. Thus, in order to guarantee the acceptability of the target texts and realize the informative and vocative function of tourism texts, translators should, under the guidance of Functional Equivalence, take flexible advantage of the listed approaches to make the target language recipients identify with the translated English version while avoiding the above-mentioned translating mistakes.

5.3 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Study

Despite the significance of this study, there are undoubtedly some limitations. First of all, this study only lists four problems of translation and quotes just a few examples to illustrate, and there are probably more problems and more examples in point. Secondly, the approaches proposed may not be sufficient. Tourism text translation is a relatively complicated task that it is impossible to cover all aspects in the thesis. Therefore, further research and efforts are still needed. As for the direction of research, the author thinks more studies can be done on tourism text translation from the angle of Functional Equivalence, which are not enough in terms of both quantity and quality.

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