Chapter One Introduction
1.1.Research background
With the development of globalization, tourism has become an importantindustry in the world. The rapid growth of tourism industry in China boosts the needfor guide interpreting to facilitate tourism interactions. It is reported that more andmore tourists from the West are coming to Xinjiang, hoping to approach Xinjiang’sunique culture in a closer way, thus a desperate call for more qualified guideinterpreters. Since whether tourism in Xinjiang can be prosperous or not,multi-culture be introduced and transmitted，or sometimes the reputation and image ofXinjiang, largely depends on the performance of these guide interpreters, the study onhelping guide-interpreters provide satisfactory service for foreign tourists becomesvital. However, due to various reasons, especially the cultural differences betweenwestern countries and China, and the differences between Uyghur and other ethnicgroups, a series of problems have been emerged. And the professionalism of guideinterpreters fails to keep up the same pace with the development of tourism industry.Therefore, the field of guide-interpreting in Xinjiang calls for special attention andfurther studies due to its peculiarities.
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1.2.Methodologies
The author made detailed theoretical and practical analysis of the data based onher own experiences and various guide-interpreting materials from books andtraveling handbooks as the data for this study. The author also went to XinjiangMuseum and culture exhibition with ethnic features in the other places in Xinjiangand took part in various cultural activities to learn more about the ethnic cultures sothat all the data collected are true and effective.The descriptive analytical approach is frequently used in this thesis. Since thisthesis aims to analyze the difficulties in guide-interpreting caused by ethnic culture inXinjiang and put forward possible interpreting strategies, a descriptive method maywork well in this research. All the data collected are analyzed in the framework ofSkopostheorie. Based on the collected data and Skopostheorie, this author analyzesthe correlations between Skopostheorie and guide-interpreting first, and then study allthe materials related to ethnic culture in Xinjiang so as to provide feasibleinterpretation strategies for dealing with all the difficulties caused by ethnic culture.
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Chapter Two Literature Review
2.1 Skopostheorie
According to KatharinaReiss, the ideal translation should be integral communicative translation, in whichtarget text should be equivalent to source text with regard to conceptual content,linguistic form and communicative function (Nord, 2001:9). However, in practice, thepriority is often given to functional perspective. It is Katharina Reiss’ effort that pavesthe way for the coming of Skopostheorie.Developed on the basis of Katharina Reiss’s research, Skopostheorie was putforward by Hans Vermeer in the 1970s. Hans Vermeer breaks through the restrictionof equivalence theory and claims that translation should be a purposeful action basedon the source-text. In the framework of Skopostheorie, “one of the most importantfactors determining the purpose of a translation is the addressee, who is the intendedreceiver or audience of the target text with culture-specific world-knowledge, theirexpectations and their communicative needs.”(Nord, 2001:12). Compared withequivalence-based theory, the source text is no longer of the top importance; it is onlysource of information offered to the translator. In this case, the translator isunnecessary to conform to the source text strictly so as to achieve the so-calledequivalence between two languages; he/she has the right to choose appropriatetranslation strategies and methods based on the target receivers’ background,expectations and communicative needs.
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2.2 Guide interpretation
2.2.1 Definition of guide interpretation
Being a kind of cultural communicative activity, guide interpretation is neededwhenever foreign tourists are introduced to scenic spots or cultural phenomenon.According to Professor Chen Gang, guide interpretation is used when guideinterpreters provide services for foreign tourists in tourism industry including all theoral introductions concerning transportation, accommodation, entertainment,shopping and tourists attractions.(Chen, 2004:1) That is to say, guide interpretation isan act of cross-cultural communication between foreign tourists from differentcultural backgrounds and local people, and it is tourist-oriented and culturetransmission-oriented, which aims at ensuring a satisfactory service to foreign guestsand introducing and transmitting unique local culture to the outside world. Therefore, guide interpreters play a vital role in the act of transmitting and exchanginginformation related to tourism industry since guide interpretation is a basiccommunicative tool for guide interpreters to introduce tourist information andtransmit tourist culture. In short, if guide interpreters can transfer culture-specificinformation successfully during the tour, the interpretation tasks can be acknowledgedfulfilled.
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Chapter Three Difficulties caused by ethnic cultural .......15
3.1 The current situation of guide-interpreting in Xinjiang ....... 15
3.1.1 Lacking qualified tour-guides ......... 15
3.1.2 Lacking relevant references ...... 15
3.1.3 Lacking effective theoretical guidance ....... 15
3.2 Difficulties ......... 16
3.3 Summary ...... 25
Chapter Four Strategies for overcoming difficulties caused.... 27
4.1 Transliteration .... 27
4.2 Domestication .... 29
4.3 Foreignization .... 32
4.4 Compensation .... 34
4.5 Simplification..... 37
Chapter Five Conclusion.... 41
Chapter Four Strategies for overcoming difficulties causedby ethnic cultural differences in guide-interpreting
4.1 Transliteration
Every country or ethnic group has its own culture, which is unique and cannotfind equivalent counterparts in the target language. Transliteration, based on thephonetic correspondences between the source language and the target language, iscommonly used in the translation of proper names, like the name of people and thename of cities or tourist attractions. It is the best way to convey local ethnic culture tothe maximum degree.According to the peculiarity of Xinjiang, three kinds of transliteration are usedrespectively. The first group adopts native ethnic language, not Chinese Pinyin, intransliteration, since Xinjiang is inhabited by 49 ethnic groups, such as Uyghur,Kazakh, Mongolian, Kirgiz, Tatar, Tajik, Hui, Xibe, Uzbek, Manchu, Daur andRussian, and they all have their own languages. For example: 乌鲁木齐 Urumqi(Mongolian), 喀什 Kashgar (Uyghur), 阿勒泰 Altay (Kazakh), 克拉玛依 Karamay(Uyghur), 阿克苏 Aksu(Uyghur), 克孜勒苏 Kizilsu (Kirgiz), 英吉沙 Yengjisar(Uyghur), 塔什库尔干 Taxkorgan (Tajik), 博尔塔拉 Bortala (Mongolian), 察布察尔Qappal (Xibe), 巴音郭楞 Bayangol (Mongolian), 塔克拉玛干 Taklamakan (Uyghur),巴 音 布 鲁 克 Bayanbuluk (Kazakh), 慕 士 塔 格 Muztag (Kirgiz), 博 格 达Bogda(Mongolian)
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Conclusion
Culture is an inevitable factor in tourism industry since it is just the peculiarculture in a certain place that attracts tourists from other cultures. Guide-interpreter, asthe media of cross-cultural communication, is to interpret the expressions, intentions,concepts, and expectations of one cultural group to the other. Therefore,guide-interpreter should first be competent in language and be skillful ininterpretation and communication, far more important is that they should have a goodcommand of the cultures involved.The study on cross-cultural communication in guide interpretation is no longer anew field, especially the discussion on the communicative barriers caused by thecultural difference between China and the western countries. However, studies on themulti-culture within certain regions are rather limited. As we know, ethnic culture, asan important part of the splendid Chinese culture, is the spiritual resource andprecious wealth shared by all ethnic groups. It is the uniqueness and peculiarity ofeach ethnic culture that fascinates so many tourists from other countries. Therefore,how to deal with the culture-loaded information becomes a thorny problem for us toconsider.
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Reference (omitted)