今天和大家聊一聊“创新”一词在政府公文里的译法。
“创新”一词最容易让人联想到的是innovate。根据牛津词典：
to introduce new things, ideas, or ways of doing sth 引入（新事物、思想或方法）；创新；改革
可以用于在新事物、想法或做法上。但在公文中，一般在科技领域的“创新”才匹配innovate，如果是政治、文化、社会管理等其他领域，可能会酌情选用“采用新方法”adopt new approaches，“突破”break new grounds, “探索”explore……我们要根据与之搭配的词和在语境中的意思具体处理。
如果是科技技术方面的“创新”，可以直接对应成innovation, innovate，比如：
创新驱动发展战略 the innovation-driven development strategy
跻身创新型国家前列 become a global leader in innovation
这两句都是指科技上的创新，用科技创新来发展国力。
“创新”如果和动词搭配，表示“创新地做某事”，则可以理解为在这件事情的执行上“采用新方法”，从而翻译成adopt/develop new approaches/ways，比如：
民族宗教工作创新推进 New approaches have been adopted for work related to ethnic and religious affairs
转变政府职能，深化简政放权，创新监管方式，增强政府公信力和执行力，建设人民满意的服务型政府 The government needs to transform its functions, further streamline administration and delegate powers, develop new ways of regulation and supervision, and strengthen its credibility and administrative capacity, building itself into a service-oriented government able to satisfy the needs of the people.
创新社会治理 develop new approaches to social governance
“创新”和“理论”、“文明”、“思想”、“思维”这种词或意思搭配的时候，可以理解为去发展这些理论文明思想思维，或者在这些方面做出突破、探索，比如：
党的理论创新全面推进 We have explored new ground in advancing Party related theories
*这句话意思就是，不断突破党的理论，赋予它新的内涵。
全党同志一定要登高望远、居安思危、勇于变革、勇于创新、永不僵化、永不停滞。All comrades must aim high and look far, be alert to dangers even in times of calm, have the courage to pursue reform and break new ground, and never become hardened to change or inactive.
同样的思路还体现在：
实践没有止境，理论创新也没有止境。Just as there are no bounds to practice, there is no end to theoretical exploration.
推进理论创新、实践创新、制度创新、文化创新以及其他各方面创新 advance our theoretical, practical, institutional, cultural, and other exploration
和explore意思很接近的还有develop，也可以用在这种情况里，比如：
深入挖掘中华优秀传统文化蕴涵的思想观念、人文精神、道德规范，结合时代要求继承创新。We will draw on China's fine traditional culture, keep alive and develop its vision, concepts, values, and moral norms, and do so in a way that responds to the call of our era.
*“继承创新”就是保持好这些传统思想，同时结合时代要求，发展这些思想，用develop。
有没有把“创新”翻译成creative, creativity的呢？有的。比如：
全社会发展活力和创新活力明显增强 Throughout society, development is full of vitality and is driven by gretaer creativity
坚持战略思维、创新思维、辩证思维、法制思维、底线思维 We should have strategic perspectives, develop creative thinking and a dialectical approach to thinking; we should think in terms of the rule of law and think about worst-case scenarios.
以上例句双语均选自党的十九大报告官方译本。
