博物館展覽文案翻譯與紐馬克理論應(yīng)用（英文）

摘 要：博物館展覽文案的翻譯質(zhì)量在宣傳推廣中華文明和自然遺產(chǎn)方面起著重要作用，因此雙語(yǔ)文案的編寫工作具有重大意義?？偨Y(jié)了的特點(diǎn)：信息量大、解說性強(qiáng)、文字優(yōu)美，并且與文物緊密契合、蘊(yùn)含豐富的內(nèi)涵。從文本類型上看，博物館展覽文案屬于信息型文本。以廣東省博物館為例，應(yīng)用紐馬克的翻譯理論指導(dǎo)博物館展覽文案的翻譯實(shí)踐，從用詞、造句、文化元素等方面進(jìn)行闡述。同時(shí)，運(yùn)用交際翻譯的策略，對(duì)涉及的翻譯問題及技巧進(jìn)行深入探討。

關(guān)鍵詞：博物館展覽文案 紐馬克理論 交際翻譯

Abstract Translation of the museum's publicity materials plays a crucial role in introducing the Chinese culture and natural heritages to foreign visitors. This article discussed about the features of the museum's publicity materials， then it summarized the informative， expositive， rhetoric， visible and cultural features. Similarly， the translation should also have such characteristics. According to Newmark's text typology， the museum's publicity materials belong to the category of informative text. The author studied several examples from the publicity materials of Guangdong Museum. All the examples are analyzed either from the lexical， syntactic or cultural perspective. Furthermore， the article discusses specific problems and techniques used in the translation in order to evaluate and improve the target texts with communicative translation.

Keywords the museum's publicity materials， Newmark's theory， communicative translation

0 Introduction

A museum is responsible for the acquisition， preservation， display and research of the collected natural and cultural relics. It is a non-profit organization， which serves the purpose of educationand entertainment. Since 2008， most Chinese museums have been open to the public and offered free admission inciting an increased number of visitors to museums. The museum has become an important window to public service， and an important platform for the cultural exchange between domestic and foreign cultures. Translation of the museum's publicity materials plays a crucial role in introducing Chinese culture and natural resources to foreign visitors， who have great interest in collections. Therefore， the effective translation of the museum's publicity materials is of great significance. Unfortunately， as the museum industry in China started later than it did in most western countries， the study on translation of the museum's publicity materials has been neglected for a long time. Therefore， the need for us to research on translation of the museum's publicity materials is imminent.

This article mainly applies Newmark's text type classification and communicative translation. Peter Newmark is a famous scholar in the field of translation studies with experienced translation techniques. His major contribution is the distinction between communicative translation and semantic translation， which is relevant to text type classification.

1 Literature review

Translation of the museum's publicity materials is not a novel idea， but as mentioned above communicative translation is seldom used as material for research. In general， translation of the museum's publicity materials can be divided into two parts. One is the collection translation， which mainly consists of the interpretive texts of the collections， the titles of the collections， and exhibition atlas. The other part is the exhibition content not included in the collection translation. The content here is essentially only the introduction and explanation of the history and development of the exhibition.

Mu[1] is the first one to publish an article about collections in 1991. He discussed the faithfulness and smoothness of the collection translation， and mentioned word choices.Li[2] published the second paper concerning the titles of the collections， and revealed its cultural implication at the surface， middle and deep levels. In the following years， Wang and Yang[3]published the first book on the names of collected items， and this book has become important and popular among translators for museums domestic. The book has a Chinese-English glossary of collections and functions as a dictionary， despite some inaccuracy. Huang[4] applied cognitive theory to the collection translation of antique names and pointed out that the features of antique names express the basic traits of human cognition. Li[5] wrote her thesis using the theories of domestication and foreignization in the collection translation. Her study analyzed the translations based on underlying factors that can determine the translator strategies. Ding[6-7] wrote her thesis and article about Newmark's theory related with museum. These researcheshave discussed the collections from translation strategies of domestication and foreignization， translation criteria of "faithfulness， expressiveness and elegance" and translation principles of smoothness and faithfulness. However， these aspects are too general to follow during the translation practice. Similarly， the strategies used in museum translation are always including domestication， foreignization， relevance theory， and intercultural communication.

In China， the researches on translation of the museum's publicity materials started from 1990s. In the early 20th century， from 2001 to 2007， the articles in this area were limited to discussing the faithfulness and smoothness of the translated materials; after 2007， some scholars began to approach the topic from the angles of domestication and foreignization. At the same time some scholars introduced Skopos theory into the research. By doing extensive reviews， the author discovered that no scholar wrote a thesis or a dissertation on this topic， to say nothing of any translation strategies in this field. Yet no systematic research has been done on the museum's publicity materials from the perspective of communicative translation.The translation research on collections will attract more attention than on exhibitions. The researchers in this area are mainly divided into two categories， one group belongs to the theoretical linguists， and the other relies on their own working experience. Looking at geographical position， the researches focused more on places that have rich culture heritage resources and cities involved in foreign trade， such as Beijing， Shanxi， Henan， Sichuan， Chongqing， and Zhejiang.

From the previous review， the author finds that there are no dissertations on museum translation. Though translation strategies are used and have been discussed in this field， no systematic research has been done on the museum's publicity materials from the perspective of communicative translation. The majority of past researches focus on translation of the names of collected items and famous museums. Here， the author will attempt to systematically research the museum's publicity materials from the perspective of communicative translation.

2 Theoretical framework

2.1 The priorities for text analysis

Many theorists have divided the texts according to subject-matter （literature， institutions， technology， etc.）， but it is perhaps more reasonable to begin with the famous German scholar Karl 's statement[8] on the functions of language. Karl?proposes "organon model" of language functions. The threemain functions of the language that Karl ?distinguishes in the model include representation， expression and appeal. The predominant linguistic sign marks the function of language and communicative action in a communicative situation.

RomanJakobson modifies 's category of language functions into six functions of language： the main functions of language are expressive， descriptive or informative， and vocative， directive or persuasive; the minor functions being phatic， metalingual and aesthetic[9]21.

Peter Newmark considers 's functional theory of language as the mostuseful theory applied in translation. Based on -Jacobson's functions of language， Peter Newmark classifies source texts into three major types according to three main language functions： expressive， informative and vocative，as well as three minor ones： phatic， aesthetic and metalingual[7]39.

（1） Expressive texts

According to Peter Newmark， "The core of the expressive function is the mind of the speaker， the writer， the originator of the utterance to express his feelings irrespective of any response."[7]39 He states that the characteristics of "expressive" text type are： serious imaginative literature （e.g. lyrical poetry， short stories， novels and plays）; authoritative statements （e.g. political speeches， documents， etc）; autobiography， essays and personal correspondences[7]39.

（2） Informative texts

"The core of the informative function of language is external situation， the facts of a topic， and reality outside language; including reported ideas or theories. The format of an informative text is often standard： a textbook， a technical report， an article in a newspaper or a periodical， a scientific paper， a thesis， minutes or agenda of a meeting."[10]39The purpose of informative texts is to convey new information， and therefore this type of text delivers the substantial information. So the author thinks the museum's publicity materials mainly belong to this type.

（3） Vocative texts

"The core of the vocative function of language is the readership and theaddressee. I use the term 'vocative' in the sense of 'calling upon' the readershipto act， think or feel， in fact to 'react' in the way intended by the text. For thepurposes of translation， I take notices， instructions， publicity， propaganda， persuasive writing （requests， cases， theses） and possibly popular fiction， whosepurpose is to sell the book/entertain the reader， as the typical 'vocative' text."[8]39 Vocative texts are reader-oriented. The purpose of the vocative texts is to make the readers react or take certain activities according to the intention of the author. Table 1 lists the features of three types of language functions：

Generally speaking， though the expressive， the informative and the vocative functions are all included in the texts， there is always one dominant function in the text. And the museum's publicity materials mainly belong to the informative type.

Based on the theory of language functions and the classification of text types， Peter Newmark proposed semantic translation and communicative translation. Although the two concepts are slightly similar to the old-fashioned literal translation and free translation， yet they also have a new dimension of significance. Eugene Albert Nida[11] mentioned that they were Newmark's major contribution to translation theory. Peter Newmark also believes that they represent his own main contribution to translation theory in general[7]62.

2.2 Newmark's semantic translation

"Semantic translation attempts to render， as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow， the exact contextual meaning of the original".[7]39This type of translation remains the original culture and assists the reader only in its connotations， and mainly consists of the essential （not-ethnic） message of the text. Semantic translation tends to be more complex， more detailed， and more concentrated， and it pursues the thinking process rather than the intention of the transmitter. It tends to overtranslate， to be more specific than the original， and to include more meanings than the communicative type does[7]39.

In semantic translation， the translator's first loyalty is to his author; in literal translation， his loyalty is， on the whole， to the norms of the source language[7]63.

2.3 Newmark's communicative translation

Communicative translation attempts to involve its readers as close as possible to such an extent that the readers get the original text. It addresses itself only to foreign readers who do not necessarily anticipate certain difficulties or obscurities， and expect a generous transfer of foreign elements into their own culture and language. This method emphasizes the "force" rather than the content of the message， and it is likely to be smoother， simpler， clearer or more direct. It conforms to a particular series of language and often tends to undertranslate when using more generic， general terms to translate obscure texts.Normally in communicative translation it is assumed that the readers of the translations are identified with those of the original[7].Communicative translation assumes that exact translation may be possible and may be perfect as well. It always reads like an original and it must， as Eugene Albert Nida stresses， sound "natural"[7]68. Thus communicative translation is not as mechanical as word-for-word translation， while some modulation like the restructure information， addition and omission are allowed.

However， in semantic translation as well as in communicative translation， provided that equivalent-effect is secured， the literal word-for-word translation is not only the best; it is the only valid method of translation[7]39.

2.4 Comparison between semantic translation and communicative translation

Jeremy Munday[12]45 clarified the differences between semantic translation and communicative translation. Table 2 shows the details that semantic translation attempts to be source language centered， and to preserve the literary rhetorical devices and the cultural elements. Thus， it is suitable for the literary text， and the literature of serious and formal nature. On the contrary， communicative translation， in most cases， is target language centered. The translator resorts to necessary modification to produce a smoother and simpler result. It is often used in the text with informative functions. The museum's publicity materials belong to text with informative functions， so it can be applied to communicative translation.

Based on Newmark's text type classification， the function and writing style of the museum's publicity materials， together with the targeted readers are suitable for communicative translation. Diagram 1 summarizes the theoretical framework. It shows that communicative translation is the most appropriate approach for the Chinese-English translation of the museum's publicity materials. The readers of these translations always are foreigners without any Chinese culture background. And the intention of the translation is to deliver lots of information about displayed the collection and the exhibition content. Thus the main features of the translation should be rhetoric devices and informativeness. Therefore it is not necessary to be confined to the superficial structure of the source text. Thus， the author uses communicative translation to approach the Chinese-English translation of the museum's publicity materials. The examples are taken from Guangdong Museum. The author of the thesis analyzed history， culture， natural resource and arts in Guangdong. All of the examples taken from the titles of the collected items include five character terms， cultural elements， ambiguity， "poetic" language and complex sentences. Furthermore， specific translation problems and translation techniques are discussed in more detail as the author manages to evaluate and improve the target texts under the guidance of the theory.

3 Anapplication of communicative translation to the museum's publicity materials

Guangdong Museum， is a comprehensive museum with a collection of over 170 000 pieces （sets）. The museum has permanent exhibitions dedicated to the history and culture of Guangdong， the natural resources and arts of Guangdong as well as temporary ones.

The author takesthese examples from the Guangdong Museum's publicity materials for the following reasons. First， they are the English translation of the Guangdong Museum's masterpieces. Second， they are discussed by the curators in order to make a better version. Meantime， they are representative in the Guangdong Museum.

3.1 Comparing the British Museum's publicity materials with those of Guangdong Museum's

The museum's publicity materials make different points depending on theused language. From many aspects they are different in English and Chinese. The author takes the British Museum and Guangdong Museum as examples. The British Museum is the first national public museum in the world. From the beginning it granted free admission to all "studious and curious persons". The numbers of visitors have grown from around 5 000 a year in the eighteenth century to nearly 6 000 000 today. The British Museum has always been a good role model， so in order to sum the differences from Chinese-English museum texts the author makes a comparison between the British Museum's （abbreviate to B）and the Guangdong Museum's （abbreviate to G） materials.

Example B： Lamp showing a chariot race

Roman， about AD 175-225

Probably from central Italy

Racing in the Circus Maximus

The circus， with its long， narrow structure purpose-built for chariot and horse races， was an essential feature of any large Roman city. The scene on this terracotta oil lamp almost certainly represents a race in the Circus Maximus in Rome， the largest in the world， with a capacity of 250 000 people.

The lamp maker has skillfully condensed the whole event into a small space. In the centre the four-horse chariots （quadrigae） of the four factions （reds， blues， whites and greens） race around the track. Below them is the central island （spina， literally "spine"） of the circus， complete with statues， shrines， an obelisk and turning posts （metae）. The starting gates and the crowd in the stands complete the scene.

Candles and lanterns were known in the Roman world， but lamps which burned olive oil were far more popular. Huge quantities of mould-made terracotta lamps were mass-produced throughout the Empire， ranging in form from animals to objects such as boats and pine-cones. The most common lamp type had a flat， circular body， decorated with a wide range of different motifs; wildlife， deities， allegorical symbols， and scenes of everyday life. The manufacturer， Saeculus， whose name is stamped on the base of the lamp， often featured gladiator or race scenes.

Example G： 端石千金猴王硯（清）

傳說中的清末廣東“三大名硯”之一。硯長(zhǎng)25.5 cm、寬17.6 cm、厚2.7 cm，由端溪老坑大西洞石制成。清末兩廣總督張之洞曾主持開采老坑大西洞，出產(chǎn)了一批上佳的石料，被后人稱為“張坑石”，此石或?yàn)槠湟弧?/p>

此硯石色紫藍(lán)，石質(zhì)細(xì)膩，石品花紋絢麗。硯堂中有大片魚腦凍，形似獼猴，側(cè)蹲回首，栩栩如生。硯工因材施藝，將硯面及硯背巧妙設(shè)計(jì)為花果山、水簾洞。硯右側(cè)鐫隸書銘文：“千金猴王硯。光緒壬辰禺山何氏閑叟珍藏?！背幾髠?cè)鐫隸書銘文：“郭蘭祥作硯，項(xiàng)信南刊字?！惫m祥為肇慶制硯世家郭家傳人，郭家曾為宮廷制作貢硯，項(xiàng)信南為廣州雕刻工匠。

From the examples above， the differences between the Chinese and Englishmuseums' texts can be vividly presented， and further include value， custom， way of thinking and religion. The examples are taken from the British Museum and Guangdong Museum web sites， and they are different in the following aspects.

（1） Information

The Chinese texts are more simple and concise. They cannot express the collection culture clearly， and mainly focus on introducing the appearance of the collection， such as the color， the pattern or things like these.Obviously， it gives the audience a clear description of the collection， while the background of the collection is not introduced well. The English texts are more detailed and complete. In example B， only 40 words （17.9%） in 223 wordsare about the appearance of the lamp. There are 183 words （82%） about the cultural background. In this paragraph， all elements are introduced， such as the four-horse chariots， candles and lanterns. From it， the audience receives the information easily. The most important aspect is that the audience understands the content better. From the two examples， the viewers can not only appreciate the physical beauty of the collection， but also its functionality and historical stories. Because the content of the Chinese texts are different from those of the English texts， the styles of museum texts are also different in accordance to the language used. The information in English texts is much more detailed and complete which will help to give the audience a better understanding of the collection.

（2） Discourse structure

In example G， none of the sentences are the topic sentences in the paragraph; however， every sentence is an inseparable section from the text body.The Chinese texts usually adopt an inductive organization， which has a loose sentence structure and native audiences are familiar with this kind of structure. Each sentence in this structure contains information on different aspects of the object. The readers would not understand the material thoroughly unless they finish reading the whole paragraph.

Comparatively， the English texts are quite logical， and give us a general impression of the work by reading its first sentence. The following pieces of information are there to support the topic sentence. Cultural background is explained in a vivid and logical way. More logical sentences are better accepted by the target readers.

In conclusion， the information is usually displayed in a different structure and language. Furthermore， a more logical structure enhances the readers' ability to understand the texts.

（3） Cultural aspect

Edward Burnett Tylor， a British anthropologist defined "Culture as that complex whole which includes knowledge， belief ，art， morals， custom， and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society"， which is mentioned by Liu[13]. This definition is still being used， for it covers the correct concept. Culture in the form of published materials is noticed.

The general audience of the Guangdong Museum is Chinese and therefore familiar with Chinese culture as they have， who has certain basic knowledge about their native culture. Thus Chinese texts mentioned less explanations about culture， such as "清末兩廣總督張之洞""猴王""老坑". Most of the Chinese audience already knows the meaning of these words， so it is not necessary to explain further. But for foreign audiences， there should be an additional explanation about the piece and the culture behind it. Furthermore， in English texts， extra content such as "Candles and lanterns were known in the Roman world， but lamps which burned olive oil were far more popular""the four factions （reds， blues， whites and greens）" which are relevant to understanding the collection yet unfamiliar to the audience should be explained.

This point allows us to find cultural differences in different versions of museum texts. "Translating means communicating， and this process depends on what is received by persons hearing or reading a translation."[9]86 Therefore， the English translation of the museum's publicity materials should be logical， detailed and more complete. When translating the museum's publicity materials， these differences in the culture should be noticed and the translator should pay close attention to this in order to communicate better with the target audience.

3.2 The features of the museum's publicity materials

（1） Informative

A museum's publicity materials， from the content to the attractive design， should always be new to the audience. Furthermore the museum translation should be informative， and it always provides information to the audience to give them a better understanding of the exhibition. Audiences usually learn from museums and refer to them as the "second school" of society.

（2） Expositive

Collections are evidences that prove the truth of history， nature and art. Collections must dominate in the exhibition. Therefore， the transition of texts in museum is always expositive for collections. The translation is a way for the viewers to communicate with the culture. So the museum's publicity materials try to exposit the main feature of collections， origin， and functions.

（3） Rhetoric

The museum's publicity materials should be so eloquent and rhetoric that they could grasp the audience's attention in a short time， which is one of their main aims. The target text in museums firstly arouses the interest of the readers and makes them notice the relevant information about Chinese culture. In this feature， the descriptions seem to be embellished with classical quotations， in order to pursue rhythmical prose style and well proportional parallel structure.

（4） Visible

It is obvious that the museum texts are always visible. Some museums provide audio guides， which is not the main way for an audience to get knowledge. As a matter of fact， the audio guide needs to be recorded by someone who reads the texts of the museum translation. So the texts of the museum translation still need to be prepared before recording can even start （the materials are visible）.

（5） Cultural

Some of the collections in the museum are unique in the world， because of the national culture that they entail. The museum's publicity materials should display this particular culture to the viewers. Therefore， translation of the museum texts must always contain cultural elements so that foreigners can have a better understanding and acceptance of the collection. There are also differences between translation for the collection and for the exhibition. The collection translation is usually printed on a small label on the wall close to the collection that they describe. The label contains the name and the approximate date of the collected items. The collection translation must be simple and concise in order to help the audiences to understand the collection better. However， a simple translation is not equivalent to a short translation. Furthermore， translation of the exhibition is always related to the background of the historical event， the culture， and the close knowledge. The content is descriptive to guide the audience through the exhibition. Thus it also contains the collection culture element in the exhibition.

3.3 Different approaches for the museum's publicity materials

As mentioned before， communicative translation indicates that the translator attempts to produce the same effect in the target text as in the original source text. Hence， communicative translation， which is always concentrated on readers， can be considered as the basic rule in the museum's publicity materials. Communicative translation can make translating the cultural background more freeing and still have the same effect on the audience.

（1） Translation of the names of the collected items

There is a Confucius proverb which says "If language is incorrect， then what is said does not concord with what was meat， what is to be done cannot be effected"[14] This signifies the importance of the names. Naturally， translation of the museum's publicity materials are used to describe and introduce the collection to the audience. Therefore it is particularly important that translation in the target text should use the words which can convey the proper meaning. The principle for the collection translation is right words at right places.

a. Transliteration

It is both a quick and simple way to translate the collection for native audiences. In the meantime， the translation should accurately present the meaning and be integrated into the museum's publicity materials.

Example 1： 吉州窯黑釉木葉紋小盞（宋）

Black glazed cup， Jizhou ware Song Dynasty

Example 2： 建陽(yáng)窯兔毫盞（宋）

Tea bowl with hare's fur steaks， Jianyang ware Song Dynasty

In example 1-2， the same word "盞" is translated into "cup" and "tea bowl" respectively. The collections in the source language are all vessels of the Song Dynasty. In the Song dynasty， tea was very popular among people. The way of drinking tea was always connected with Dou Cha， which was a competition centered around the technique of using pouring water into vessel with some tea. And people used the vessel to observe the result of the competition. That is the original meaning of "盞". It is larger than a cup but smaller than a bowl. If the translator does not know the historical background， the translation in the target language will lose this cultural information. So "盞" should be translated as "tea bowl".

A minimal， realistic situation could be "The readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it."[7]87 The substitution of "functional equivalence" is just to stress the concept of function[15]. When transliteration is used in the museum's publicity materials， it should be the same as the source language to improve the effect on communication. Therefore there should be a standard use of transliteration in the museum's publicity materials.

b. Terminology

Research about terminology appears in many fields， because it is highly influenced by the methods and the activities which it serves. Meantime， terminology is deeply affected by possibilities of collecting data by computers. If there was a database of terminology in the collections， this problem may not have to be mentioned here.

Example 3：月頭兔鲀（English name： moontail blaasop， Latin name： Lagocephalus lunaris）

Example 4：六斑刺鲀（English name： balloonfish， Latin name： Diodon holacanthus）

Example 5：雜斑腹刺鲀（English name： monkfish， Latin name： Gastrophysus suezensis）

The examples above are from the marine animal collections. "鲀" in example 3-5 only declares they are from the same Superorder， but not from the same Family. Therefore， neither the Chinese name nor the English name of the animals meets the need of the audiences. In order to better convey the necessary information， the translator needs to incorporate the Latin name for the animals in the tags. These Latin names are scientific names that are widely accepted by international viewers. Scientific names firstly appear in Carolus Linnaeus' Species Plantarum in 1753. As scholars use these scientific names extensively， a system combining the Chinese name， the English name and the Latin name meets the need of both common viewers and scholars. Furthermore， the English names should be updated to the more commonly used translations.

In 1986， "dynamic equivalence" is superseded by "functional equivalence" in the book From One language to Another. The maximal and ideal situation for functional equivalence is that "the readers of a translated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as the original readers."[15] This requires maximal effectiveness on the basis of both cognitive and experiential factors. Nida's functional equivalence theory is objective to realize the communication with readers of the target language. Similarly， as communicative translation theory is applied to the informative text， the informative text also seeks communication with the readers. Functional equivalence emphasizes the response of the target language readers， and the communicative translation theory focuses on the effect produced by the source text upon the readers of the target language. There is a little difference between "the effect upon the readers"， and "the readers' response". Both of them are reader-oriented and focus on communications with the readers using the targeted language. Hence， all people should understand the collection category， pursue standard of international items， and make terminology acceptable in the target text.

（2） Translation of the cultural elements

In Chinesemuseum's publicity materials， many of them consist of the cultural elements. Chen and Chen[15] pointed out that "Cultural elements have three parts： the background of the collection， the differences between the origin culture and the receiving culture， and the selection of the culture information." When the translators try to express the cultural elements of a text， they need to pay attention to these three parts.

（3） Annotation

From many cultural elements are translated by using transliteration exist in the target text. If the examples refer to Chinese history or stories， they should be further explained. Communicative translation calls for a generous transfer of foreign elements into their own culture and language.

Example 7： 南粵源流 History of Nanyue

Example 8： 馬壩人 Maba Man

In example 7-8， "南粵" "馬壩人"， are all directly translated in pinyin. Cantonese people are familiar with all the words， but other people may have difficulty in understanding them. The translator can add some details after the words so that the translation affects the readers in the same way as it affects readers of the original.

Better versions are included below：

Example 7： 南粵源流 History of Guangdong

Example 8： 馬壩人 Maba Man （ancient human named the discovery place）

（4） Completeness

The culture should be translated loyally in cultural transmission. Having loyalty makes mistranslation easier to avoid. The main information and details about the collection should be complete， and should make the audience feel comfortable reading the target text."Completeness" here does not happen word by word， as it is more important that the translation occurs according to the overall content of the collection information.

Example 9： 青釉瓷圈足硯

廣東梅縣畬口公社出土

唐代（公元618—907年）

梅縣水車窯地處粵東北山區(qū)，是唐代廣東外銷瓷生產(chǎn)的重要基地。

Celadon ink stone with circular foot， Tang Dynasty （618-907）， unearthed in Meixian

Example 9 is about celadon inkstone with circular foot. In the source language， there is still more important information "梅縣水車窯地處粵東北山區(qū)，是唐代廣東外銷瓷生產(chǎn)的重要基地"， but the translation does not convey this. If the content is not translated， the information will likewise be lost to a foreign audience， and more important maybe some of the cultural information will be lost. The missing information is shown below：

It located in Meixian， Guangdong. The Shuiche Kiln was an important base of producing export celadon in the Tang Dynasty.

One of the most important purposes of translation in the museum's publicity materials is to introduce Chinese culture to the world so that it can be understood and accepted throughout the world. Likewise， the cultural information should be complete so that audience can understand it. The inclusion of cultural information is also central to having effective cultural communication. The adjustment focuses on the readership in target text as well as taking the cultural background into consideration.

（5） Handling of the ambiguity

Museum's publicity materials are different in English and Chinese. Slide negligence can lead to huge differences and make the translation ambiguous. There are some items in the translation which are ambiguous to the audience.

Example10： 河南 Henan

In example 10， "河南" is a province in China， and it also often refers to the south of the Pearl River. In this case， the translator can use pinyin， or add annotations to explain the meaning.

Gu[16] mentioned that the character "號(hào)" was always confusing in calligraphy translation. Many different terms have been used to describe this concept， for instance， alias， pen-name sobriquet， and poetic name. However， none of these terms is a loyal translation. The translator can connect the items with the characters used by the writers， and use the proper words. Therefore， when translating certain terms that could potentially cause ambiguity， the translator should include the cultural background in order to communicate with the audiences in the target text.

（6） Handling of the "poetic" language

Poetic language always appears in Chinese tourism materials to show the history and cultural background， but it is rarely seen in English materials.

Example11： 菊之落英，生如夏花般燦爛，死如秋葉般靜美，沉積許久的芬芳，剎那綻放生命的輝煌。華麗的花朵，精致的葉片，豐滿的果實(shí)，治愈我們傷痛的一切良藥，這些景象只有我們努力的愛護(hù)才可以永存，才有生命綿延的可能……

Drinking the dew on the orchid in the morning and eating fallen flower of chrysanthemum in the evening as meal. Let life be beautiful like summer flowers and death like autumn leaves. Accumulating the fragrance for such a long time， instantly bloom the magnificence of life， gorgeous flowers， exquisite leaves， plentiful fruit， and good medicinal can cure all our pain of diseases. However， we have to work hard to protect all these wonderful natural treasure， to let their life continue.

In the above example is the conclusion of an exhibition.It is a concise rhetoric that Chinese can understand by imagining it. However， it is difficult for foreigners to understand it in the same way. Perhaps the translator can use some simple sentences to summarize the exhibition. In this way， the communication effect works.

In general， communicative translation is written according to the readers' linguistic level， while a semantic one according to at the author's. "Communicative translation is used for 'informative' and 'vocative' texts， semantic for 'expressive' texts."[7]47 Hence， the readers linguistic levelis based on the readers' culture. Translation in the target text should make this process easier than in the source text， as the object of the target text is to achieve cultural communication. Eugene Albert Nida pointed "Working out a set of rules for adapting figurative expressions from one language to another is usually a waste of time because no two situations are ever really the same."[7]214 Therefore part of the translation purpose is to leave， the knowledge of special skills and culture to the translator as the part of translation process. When handling poetic language， the aim is to translate the language in a simple manner that is acceptable to the audience.

（7） Handling of the complex sentences

Communicative translation is not as mechanical as word-for-word translation， therefore， modulations， such as restructuring the information， adding or omitting certain words， are acceptable.Translation is operated not on the basis of words and sentences， but on the framework of the paragraph. The translator should adopt the approach of information restructuring in the translation process. "The process of restructure involves the organization of lexical， syntactic， and discourse features of the transferred text so as to provide maximal comprehension and appreciation on the part of the intended audience."[17] Through the restructure of the information， the translation should loyally interpret the information in the source language. Restructuring the information means to break away from the original structure of the sentences in the source language and re-organize them in a way which is more coherent in the target language.

Example 13： 廣東在漢代已開辟海上絲綢之路。唐宋時(shí)期，朝廷倡導(dǎo)“江海求利，以資國(guó)用”，積極發(fā)展海上交通。全國(guó)各地的絲綢、陶瓷、茶葉等商品齊聚廣東，遠(yuǎn)銷海外。天時(shí)、地利、人和，使得廣東成為中國(guó)海外貿(mào)易最重要的起點(diǎn)。

Example 13 is about the historical status of maritime trade in Guangdong. Because of the differences between the Chinese and English language， the section from the original text cannot be translated in the target text. Because Guangdong has been known as "Canton" internationally， considering the acceptance of this term by the audience， the translator can use "Canton" in the translation instead of the pinyin translation "Guangdong". As the focus of the paragraph is to illustrate that Canton had been the base of maritime trade， this information should be structured as the topic sentence of the paragraph， and be placed at the beginning of the paragraph. The rest of the paragraph can be restructuring. The translation is done as below：

Because of favorable factors， Canton became an important base of maritime trade. As early as the Han Dynasty， Canton becamethe starting port of the Maritime Silk Road. Silk， ceramics， tea and other commodities from all over the country were gathered in Canton and sold abroad.

"Equivalent effect is usually recreated in translation of cultural terms. Communicative translation emphasizes communicate effect or the main force of the original messages， and one of the most likely ways to convey communicative effect is to recreate equivalent effect， i.e. produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original， which is clearly marked in communicative translation."[7]48 As a consequence handling complex sentences should be the base of conveying communicative effect.

As a matter of fact， the failure of the translation discussed above can not only be found in the Guangdong Museum， but also in many museums throughout China， which can lead to misunderstandings between nations' cultural communication. Therefore， measures must be taken immediately to perfect translation of the museum's publicity materials. Maybe a standardized translation manual for museums should be published.

4 Conclusion

In conclusion， the most popular principles of translation are faithfulness and accuracy in content， smoothness and fluency in language and appropriateness in style. They are the basic principles for all types of translation including the museum's publicity materials. The author has discussed the different methods for communicative translation used by the museums in their publicized materials. These include： different aspects of translation in the names of the collected items， five character terms， cultural elements， handling of the ambiguity， handling of the "poetic" language， and handling of the complex sentences. The author tried to make a smoother and simpler version of the target texts. From the discussions above， the author concludes that translation of the museum's publicity materials is not only necessary in certain museums， but also in a national scope. Its significance cannot be overemphasized. The improvement of the overall situation of museum translation requires the joint efforts of the whole nation.

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