1．1 What Is Translation什么是翻译
Translation，generally speaking，implies rendering from one language into another of something written or spoken．It is essentially the faithful representation in one language of what is written or spoken in another．It is the replacement of the information of the source language by its counterpart of the target language．Also it can be roughly defined as a reproduction or recreation in one language of what is written or said in another language．
However，translation，in a narrow sense，is the practice of finding the equivalent both in form and essence between two cultures．The two terms translation and translating should be distinguished for a translator．Translation just refers to the act that the translator translates from one language into another，and translating is the process in which the translator does his best to convey the message of the source language．Furthermore，translating is not a word-for-word conversion，but a process of bilingual and intercultural communication．It expresses the message of the source language from the receptor language message，and the relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that between the original receptor and the message．
Translating means communicating，and this process depends on what is received by persons hearing or reading a translation．Judging the validity of a translation cannot stop with comparison of corresponding lexical meanings，grammatical classes，or rhetorical devices．As a means of communication，translation plays an important role in human civilization．In the West，literary translation can be traced back to 300 B．C．，while in China，recorded translation activities were even earlier，dating from the Zhou Dynasty(1100 B．C．)．However，not until recent centuries，especially by the end of the 19th century did systematic study of translation get under way．In the past decades translation theories and activities have developed fast both at home and abroad．
World-famous British writer and dictionary compiler，Sammel Johnson，once said，“To translate is to change into another language，retaining as much of the sense as one can．”This definition for translation has two key points．One is“to change into” ，which tells us that translation is an act of putting one language in place of another language．The other is “retaining much of the sense” ，which implies avoiding losing the sense or meaning of the original．It seems to be simple because translation cannot simply reproduce，or be the original．“A translator is always trying to extend his knowledge and improve his means of expression; he is always pursuing facts and words．He works on four levels: translation is first a science，which entails the knowledge and verification of the facts and the language that describe them—here，what is wrong，mistakes of truth，can be identified; secondly，it is a skill，which calls for appropriate language and acceptable usage; thirdly，an art，which distinguishes good from undistinguished writing and is the creative，the intuitive，sometimes the inspired，level of the translation; lastly，a matter of taste，where argument ceases，preferences are expressed，and the variety of meritorious translation is the reflection of individual differences．”(Peter Newmark，1988)
What is important is the extent to which receptors correctly understand and appreciate the translated text．Accordingly，it is essential that functional equivalence be stated primarily in terms of a comparison between the way in which the original receptors understand and appreciate the text with the way in which receptors of the translated text understand and appreciate the text．Being a very complicated human activity，its whole picture is never easy to describe．Scholars with different academic backgrounds have attempted to define it from various perspectives．
In the linguistic views，translation theorists from the linguistic school conceive of translation as a linguistic activity，and some believe that translation theory is a branch of linguistics，approaching the issues of translating primarily from the viewpoint of the linguistic differences between source and target texts．
Catford(1965: 20)thinks that translation may be defined as the replacement of textual material in one language or the source language by equivalent textual material in another language or the target language．
Nida ＆ Taber(1969: 12)suppose that translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message ，first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style．
Newmark(1982; 1988: 5)believes that translation theory derives from comparative linguistics，and within linguistics，it is mainly an aspect of semantics; all questions of semantics relate to translation theory．
In the cultural views，some scholars think that translation，is regarded not only as a transfer of linguistic signs ，but also as a communication of cultures，i．e．translation is an“intercultural communication” ;hence the terms of “intercultural cooperation” ，“acculturation” ，and“transculturation”are usually used in translation studies．
Shuttleworth ＆ Cowie(1997: 35-82)think that translation is a process which occurs between cultures rather than simply between languages．A translator who uses a cultural approach is simply recognizing that each language contains elements which are derived from its Culture(such as greetings and fixed expressions，that every text is anchored in a specific culture，and that conventions of text production and reception vary from culture to culture．
Nida(2001: 82)believes that biculturalism，for truly successful translating，is even more important than bilingualism，since words only have meanings in terms of the cultures in which they function．
In fact，Chinese scholars are also conscious of the importance of culture in translation．Wang Zuoliang (王佐良，1989)thinks that translation is not only involved in linguistic issues，but also involved in cultural ones．The translator needs to be acquainted himself or herself with foreign cultures and self-ethical ones．In addition，he or she compares the two cultures constantly because the translation should be equivalent in meanings，function，scopes，emotion，effects and others．
In the literary views，translators who hold this view believe that translation is an artistic recreation or a recreated art．Some modern Western scholars from the literary school take literary translation to be“the manipulation or rewriting of the source texts” ．The task of literary translation is to show the intact social life of the works from one language to another，to aspire after its language artistry and value．As Mao Dun(茅盾)puts，literary translation needs to get hold of the same elicitation，inspiration and esthetical reception of the original as what the reader reads the source text when he or she is reading the target text．
In a sense，all the above-mentioned are correct because language is a kind of tool to mold the literary image，and therefore the quality of the literary visualization is certainly put up in language．The features of literary language like image，lifelikeness，trenchancy，connotation，coagulation，fidelity，humor，jocularity，ethnical qualities，local touches，jargons，idioms and proverbs，etc，are all the necessities to mold the image．Translation needs to keep the characteristics and style of the original．
In the semantic views on translation，the translator attempts，within the bare syntactic and semantic constraints of the target language，to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the author(Newmark 1982: 22)．Translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text(Newmark 1988: 5)．This view focuses on the semantic equivalence between the two languages，as well expressed by Eugene Nida(1986): “Translating means translating meaning” ．In semantic translation，greater attention is paid to rendering the author ＇s original thought-processes in target language than to attempting to re-interpret source text in a way which the translator considers more appropriate for the target setting(Shuttleworth ＆ Cowie 1997:151)．
In the functional views，translation is a specific form of human action with a certain purpose，a kind of linguistic service provided to the society．Translators should take into account the needs of the client，the reader as well as the purpose or use of the translation．It is not the source text，or its effects on the source-text recipient，or the function assigned to it by the author，that determines the translation process，but the prospective function or purpose of the target text as determined by the initiator＇ s，i．e．client＇ s needs(Baker 2001:236)
In the communicative views on translation，the translator attempts to produce the same effect on the target language readers as was produced by the original on the source language readers(Newmark 1982: 22)．This approach views translation as a communicative process which takes place within a social context．Communicative translation is generally oriented towards the needs of the target language reader or recipient．A translator who is translating communicatively will treat source text as a message rather than a mere string of linguistic units，and will be concerned to preserve source text ＇s original function and to reproduce its effect on the new audience(Shuttleworth ＆ Cowie 1997: 21)．
In all，we conclude that translation is a kind of social and communicative act，with reference to the text and with the specific purposes，of cross-cultural and inter-lingual，which investigation objects and processes vary from the different desires and social demands of the translator．
In addition，translation covers a very broad range．As far as the form of expression is concerned，translation is classified as oral interpretation，written translation and machine translation．In terms of language，it can be divided into two categories，native language to foreign language and vice versa．In terms of the categorical coverage，it is classified as translation of social science and that of physical science，namely，the translation of scientific materials; translation of literary works such as novels，stories，prose，poetry，drama，etc．; translation of political essays such as treatises on social problems，reports，speeches，etc．; translation of practical writing such as official documents，contracts and agreements，notices，receipts，etc．As far as the disposal，it is classified into full text translation，abridged translation or adapted translation．