A Study on the English Translation of Museum Cultural Relics from the Perspective of Skopos Theory: A Case Study of Hubei Provincial Museum

Abstract

Against the backdrop of globalization and the “going global” of Chinese culture, the English translation of museum cultural relics acts as an important carrier for the cross-cultural communication of regional culture. As a core platform for the display of Chu culture, the quality of English translations of cultural relics in Hubei Provincial Museum directly influences the international communication effect of the distinctive culture in the Yangtze River Basin. Supported by Skopos theory of the German functionalist translation approach, this paper conducts a case analysis of the English translations of typical cultural relics such as bronzes, ceramics and lacquered wooden artifacts in the museum, centering on the three principles of the skopos rule, the coherence rule and the fidelity rule. This paper shows that the museum’s translations generally achieve a balance between information transmission and linguistic standardization, but there are still problems such as the lack of key information, mistranslation of culture-loaded words and inconsistent translation of craft terms. Looking at both positive and negative translation examples, this paper puts forward an optimization strategy that’s guided by communication goals, balances cultural authenticity and natural English phrasing. It can give practical pointers for standardizing the English translation of Hubei Provincial Museum’s cultural relics, plus provide solid empirical support for the translation of promotional materials about unique cultural content from local museums.