英语开题报告的写作指南

FunctionandApplicationofDescriptiveTranslationStudies

1Introduction

TheintentionofthisstudyistoexplorepossibleadvantagesofDescriptiveTranslationStudiesasinitsapplicationintranslationpracticeandtranslationanalysis.

Sinceearly20thcentury,translationstudiesgraduallybrokeawayfromthemarginalstatuswithinotherrelateddisciplinesandestablisheditselfasanempiricalscience.Fromthenon,schoolsofthoughthavekeptcomingoutandeachclaimsitslegitimacyforexistence.AmongtheseschoolsisDescriptiveTranslationStudies(DTS).

DTSapproachestranslationfromanempiricalperspective.Translationisviewedtobeasocialactivityhavingsignificantimportanceinthereceivingcultureandforthetargetcommunity.Therefore,translationisdealtwithbeyondthelinguisticrealizationandlanguagecomparison,andisincorporatedinsocialandculturalcontext.

MyattentionwasfirstdirectedtoDTSbyitspeculiarcharacteristicofobservation,descriptionandexplanation.Thesubjectiswhateverhappensintranslationpractice,fromthedeterminationofprospectivefunctionoftranslationtotheprocessoftranslator’schoiceofstrategies,brainstormingandtherevision,tothefinalproductmakingappearanceinthetargetcommunity.

ThemethodofDTSisbasicallydescriptive.Theprescriptivetendencyandtheproblem-solutionpatternisabandoned.Translationphenomenaarenoteddown.Withaccumulateddata,someunderlyingtruthsabouttranslationwillcomeoutwhichwillprovetobeinstructivenotonlyfortheoreticalprobebutalsoforappliedtranslationpractice.Iwillapplythisdescriptivemethodinthecasestudyofthisthesis.

AconvenienttoolhasbeensetuptoconductDTS.“Norm”isoperativeateverystageofdescriptionandexplanation.Function,processandproductandtheirr

elationshipaswellareskeletalstructureofwhatconstitutedescriptivestudies.Translationphenomenaareaccountedforwiththehelpofnorm.

ThecasetakeninthisthesisistheChineseclassicTheDreamofRedMansions.TwoEnglishversionstranslatedrespectivelybyYangHsien-yiandDavidHawksarecomparedandobservationsaremadeinregardtotheirtranslationapproaches.

Inthisregard,myobservationsarelimitedtoseveralaspects,Ihopein-depthobservationandexplanationwilldoneinlightofDTS.

2Outline

2.1DevelopmentandmajorconceptsofDTS

InthispartIwilldescribeHolms’basicmapofDTSandtherelationshipbetweenfunction,processandproduct.Iwillalsodiscusssomeimportantconceptssuchaspseudo-translation,multipletranslation,translationese,normetc.

2.2Methodolgy

IwillinthispartdiscussthemethodologyofDTSbeforeIapplythesametothecasestudyinthisthesiswithemphasistobeplacedonsemioticapproachandtheconceptnorm.

2.3DTSincontrasttoothertheories

AcontraststudywillbeconductedherewiththeobjectivetofindthedifferenceofDTSfromothertheoriessuchasequivalencetheoryandtheChineseXinDaYacriteria.Someadvantagewillpossiblybeshowninthisstudy.

2.4Casestudy

Inthispart,translationofTheDreamofRedMansions(alsotranslatedasTheStoryofTheStone)willbeunderinvestigationinlightofDTS.Translationsamplestobequotedherewillbeselectedatrandom.

2.5Conclusion

BasedontheaboveelaborationofDTSandthecasestudy,possibleconclusionwillbeontheadvantageofDTSinspecificstudyoftranslation.Suggestionsonfurtherresearcheffortswillbemadealso.

(Note:Whilethetopicwillremainthesame,theabovearrangementofcontentsissubjecttochangeintheprocessofwriting.)

ItisthereforepointlesstotrytomakeTCmorescientificthanissensibleinviewofitscomplexsubject-matterandavailablemethods.Translatingisamental,multi-factorialactivitywhichcannotexhaustivelybeinvestigatedwithinalinguisticframeworkignoringthepersonofthetranslator.”(Wilss,1982:217)