Analysis on a translation of a tourism text from the perspective of comparative stylistics

【Abstract】This thesis mainly discusses the stylistic features of the translation of a tourist website called the London pass. The analysis of the translation is based on Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnets model on stylistics and methodology of translation. The thesis aims to present the underlying reason of the stylistics features of the target text.

【Key words】tourism text； stylistic features

【作者簡介】蒲婷（1992-），女，汉族，浙江舟山人，桂林理工大学，在读硕士研究生，外国语言学及应用语言学教学法方向。

1. Introduction

1.1Options and servitudes

According to Vinay （（1910-1999）） and Darbelnet （1904-1990） （1995： 15）， a language is a system of servitudes that language users must obey， to some extent， referring to grammars and conventions. Whereas within these restrictions， language users have freedom to choose from existing resources and to produce various kinds of utterances， which is called parole. In this case， it is an option. If there are options in translation， the stylistic features of a text will be presented. If language users have options to produce their utterance， that means the choices they made determine the stylistics of their utterances.

1.2 Internal stylistics and comparative stylistics

Internal stylistics proposed by Vinay and Darbelnet （1995：17） also identifies the stylistics within a language. It aims to identify the methods of expression of a language by contrasting the affective elements with the intellectual elements. The other one is comparative stylistics aiming to distinguish different expression ways between two languages. The latter is important in translation. While before analyzing the latter， the former shall be analyzed. So， firstly， it is necessary to identify the stylistics of the source text.

2. Internal stylistics of the ST

A typical extraction of a brief introduction of a tourist website is as follows：

Fast Track Entry

Bored of waiting in line when you should be exploring attractions and enjoying your sightseeing？ Make the most of the Fast Track Entry privileges that come with The London Pass to skip the queues at selected popular attractions.

This brief introduction starts with a question， which draws peoples attention to the common troubles that nearly every visitor will encounter. What follows next are the solutions of the problems proposed. It is also the main subject of this brief introduction. This is a very common example in tourism texts. Firstly， it is necessary to discover the problem that bothers customers. After that， it is high time to propose a solution to the customers. Those two sentences should have a strong relation of reason and result to convince a customer to buy it. At the same time， there are other choices to manifest this relation. For example， in order to save your time on your sightseeing， The London Pass offers the Fast Track Entry that can skip the queues at selected popular attractions. At this level， the way of expressing a reason becomes an option， and the connection of result and function are servitudes.

3. Comparative stylistics of the ST and the TT

The corresponding target text is as follows：

跳過队列。

免除排队烦恼，充分节省时间。

在伦敦，值得您体验之处数不胜数，因此这座城市是全世界最热门的旅游胜地之一，近年来已接纳了超过4000万的游客。尤其在旅游旺季的夏天，伦敦的景点常常人满为患，而伦敦一卡通能够在这些地方带您体验快速通道入口。

As it is analyzed in the last chapter， the brief introduction of the Fast Track Entry can be divided into two different groups. One is an option， and the other is a servitude. In terms of semantic units of translation， translators can choose from the existing ways of expression that are options. Translators can either translate the text word by word， namely applying the method of direct translation proposed by Vinay and Darbelnet （1995： 31）， or translate by change the point of view， namely using the opposite method which is oblique translation proposed by them （1995： 36）. On the account of the special function of this text， oblique translation may be the best choice for translators. In this case， the reason of choosing a Fast Track Entry is the first and the most important step to attracting and convincing customers. As it is translated into Chinese， it shall be accepted by Chinese customers and localized in Chinese culture. However， how to achieve this goal is an issue of priority.

3.1 Analysis on recreation of the situation of the TT

Vinay and Darbelnet （1995： 29） classify three planes of external stylistics. The third plane is the message. And the extralinguistic phenomenon is context， a situation generated under the organization of all the metalinguistic information. What translator needs to do is to represent that situation to the target readers.

By comparing the source text with the target text， it is obvious that the first sentence of the target text is considered as additional information to recreate the situation which may be unfamiliar to the target readers. It is possible that people in China are not aware the fact that places of interests in London are as crowded as the hottest tourist places in China. So， before convincing Chinese visitors to choose The London Pass， it is advisable to let them firstly know the fact that London is a very busy tourist city. Visitors may queue all the time in order to pass entries to explore attractions. Apart from explaining the business of London， that part also functions as an introduction of the city.

3.2 Analysis on adaptation of the TT

In Vinay and Darbelnets model （1995： 39）， adaptation is also considered as an important method of translation. “It is often used in those cases where the type of situation being referred to by the SL message is unknown in the TL culture. In such cases translators create a new situation which will cause the same effects in TL culture. Adaptation can， therefore， be described as a special kind of equivalence， a situational equivalence （Vinay and Darbelnet 1995： 39）.” Whereas， in this text， the case is not merely on the account of no equivalence between those two languages. The case is mostly because of the special function of the text. It aims to create the same effects on Chinese customers. That is the reason why this translation adopt adaptation as a translation method. In the source text， there are no explicit descriptions about the reason why people bored of waiting in line， because it is a common situation that is familiar to the local people and people are experiencing it all the time. So， it is no need to say too much about it， and what they need to say is something that people share the same experience. And that will arise most peoples feelings. However， people from China do not experience those things. So， if translators translate it word by word， people from China may think waiting in lines is not a big deal and it may not be that serious to pay extra to skip queues. Therefore， the large part of this text anticipates the serious crowd that visitors would encounter by presenting the various facts of fames， high seasons， and quantity of visitors and so on. To sum up， the added facts aim to recreate a new situation to the target readers.

3.3 Analysis on explanation by situation of the TT

Explanation by situation is also an important point of view proposed by Vinay and Darbelnet （1995： 180）. “Since situations provide the conceptual background to messages， translators have to understand them in order to decode the texts without risking of error， especially in cases where the structure is insufficient to give a clear picture of the situation （Vinay and Darbelnet 1995： 180）.” In this case， the whole situation is implicit. Although that does not constitute any ambiguity in some way， if it is translated word by word， it may not be able to convince Chinese visitors to believe in this necessity. After fully understand the background information of the tourist city， London， Chinese may consider it is a serious issue which should be avoided in advance while they are planning their trips.

3.4 Servitudes

At the same time， there are elements that should be translated the same as the source language， because the information of how to use a Fast Track Entry is based on the fact of the service. If they are treated as options， over-translation will happen according to Vinay and Darbelnet （1995： 16）. In this case， the translation would be a false advertisement to customers if they are not faithful to the original text. In terms of units of translation， which refers to semantic units， either an option or a servitude shall be identified first. After that， the message can be discussed in a linguistic level.

4. Conclusions

Based on the analysis of this simple text about a Fast Track Entry from the perspective of internal and external stylistic view which is based on options and servitudes proposed by Vinay and Darbelnet， this essay simply shows the different stylistics between English and Chinese on a text level and how translation balances the differences. In terms of options， this translation uses an oblique translation method to recreate a new situation to the target readers because of the special function of the text. As to servitudes， the situation would firstly be analyzed and then the information or message will be rearranged to make it adapted for the target text in a whole.

References：

[1]Salm，Adriane M.Vinay，J.P.&J.Darbelnet.Comparative; Stylistics of French and English：A Methodology for Translation[J].Cadernos De Tradu??o，vol.1，no.2，1995.

[2]Fast Track Entry.London Pass， www.londonpass[OL].com/how-it-works/skip-the-lines.html.retrieved November 5，2018.