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ABSTRACT
Many relic descriptions in Chinese museums have been translated into English to meet readers’ needs, yet a review of studies on those translations reveals a lack of considerations from the perspective of readers. Drawing on Reiss and Vermeer’s concept of translation as a second offer of information, the present study attempts to answer: (1) how the English translations of descriptions in Chinese museums are different from their comparable texts in English-speaking world; (2) how potential readers feel about those translations of Chinese relic descriptions and what kinds of translations they expect to read. The present author compared the English translations (TTs) of 15 jade descriptions in the Nanjing Museum and the Shanghai Museum with their comparable texts (CTs) in the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to illustrate the differences between the TTs and the CTs. A comparative reading of the TTs and their source texts (STs) was conducted to find out which of the two: the STs or the translators, should be responsible for the differences. An online questionnaire was designed to solicit TT readers’ opinions on the English translations for jade descriptions and readers’ expectations for future translations.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Tingting Zhou
The author Tingting Zhou (Birth Date: October 20. 1989) is a Ph.D. candidate majoring in English at Nanjing University. She now works as a visiting scholar at University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research interests include translation criticism and classical translation.