A Comparative Study of the English Translation of the Reports to the 19th and the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China from the Perspective of Corpus-based Critical Translation Studies

Abstract

Using the English translations of reports to the 19th and 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China as corpora and the AntConc corpus research tool, this study employs a quantitative research method from a diachronic perspective to explore the similarities and differences in the language features of the two reports’ English translations. It also investigates how the translations shape the image of the Communist Party of China by examining modality verbs and material process verbs. The results show that compared with the English translation of the 19th National Congress report, the vocabulary and sentence structure of the English translation of the 20th National Congress report are more varied and concise. The use of high-value modality verbs is significantly less in the English translation of the 20th National Congress report, successfully portraying the image of the Chinese Communist Party as close to the people. The translations of both reports highlight the diligent and pragmatic character of the Chinese Communist Party through the use of material process verbs.