Analysis of the Characteristics of Museum English Interpretation from the Perspective of Skopos Theory, with the National Museum of China as an Example

Abstract

With the rapid development of science and technology, social change is rapid, and the level of human civilization has achieved a qualitative leap. Museum is an important carrier of cultural dissemination and plays an important role in society. More and more people pay attention to the importance of inheriting ancient culture. In order to promote traditional culture to a broader level, it is inevitable to publicize the local excellent traditional culture to overseas countries, and museums are a very good carrier. Among the many exhibitions and exhibits about Chinese culture in museums, the wonderful use of English translation of explanatory notes aims to maximize the cultural output. Taking the National Museum of China as an example, this paper analyzes how translation promotes folk culture from the perspective of Skopos Theory by analyzing the examples and combining the cultural and contemporary backgrounds with the three principles of Skopos Theory. This paper selects the English commentary in the special exhibition "Ancient Chinese Food Culture" of the National Museum of China as the research object. Specifically, it analyzes the application of the three principles of Skopos Theory in the English translation of the commentary. It is found that the translator usually adopts methods such as increasing or decreasing the translation method and adjusting the syntax and tense to show the main content of the translation to achieve the ultimate translation goal. Moreover, the overall translation activity is carried out with the core of being close to the thinking and reading habits of the English readers to realize the interaction of cross-cultural communication.