Culture and Translation.doc

Culture and TranslationAbstract: Translation is not simply a matter of seeking other words with similar meaning but of finding appropriate ways of saying things in another language. Different languages, then, may use different linguistic forms. Translation is also the social and psychological activities. One should be familiar with ones own culture and be aware of the source-language culture before attempting to build any bridge between them. As translators, we are faced with an alien culture that requires that its message be conveyed in anything but an alien way. That culture expresses its idiosyncrasies in a way that is culture-bound: cultural words, proverbs and of course idiomatic expressions, whose origin and use are intrinsically and uniquely bound to the culture concerned. So we are called upon to do a cross-cultural translation whose success will depend on our understanding of the culture we are working with. 翻译并不仅仅是找到意思相近的其它词，而是要找到合适的用另一种语言表达的方式。 不同的语言使用不同的语言形式。 翻译也是一种社会和心理的活动。 在试图在他们之间建立任何桥梁之前，一个人应该熟悉自己民族的文化并且要意识到源语言文化的特征。 作为翻译者，我们所面对的是一种外国文化，那么这就要求信息的传递也要以一种不同的方式进行。 那文化在表达自己的特点时明显带有地域色彩：例如方言，谚语及惯用语等，它们的起源和使用与对应的文化息息相关。 因此，我们翻译成败的关键将取决于我们对异域文化的理解程度。 Keywords: culture, translation Introduction Though the activity of translation includes a series of language conversion, it is also the social and psychological activities in essence. The reason for translation to become the necessary activity of a society is that it has many practical functions. The functions of it under different culture background or different era are not always the same. As a translator, he or she should be able to answer such questions: “What to translate? When to translate and how to translate and for whom?” In order to answer these questions, translators must understand the function of translation and the social background they are related to. Translation is a decision-making process in a certain social culture frame. The translators decision not merely depends on the language he/she learns, but also on the cultural environment of a specific era to a great extent. As what Bassinet and Lefebvre have said, “Translation reflects a certain ideology and poetics and as such manipulates literature to function in a given society in a given way”(Bassinet&Lefevere: “Translation/History/Culture”). So we can say that any translation cant be carried on well without getting to know the culture. We should pay attention to the relationship between culture and translation. As we know translator doesnt operate under an abstract and ideal situation. He is a human being living in a certain society. It is quite natural that his idea is greatly influenced by the environment around him. We can see this from his choice of words. The choice of a translator in different period shows different characteristics, which proves that the society and political background where the translator lives affect him a lot. Translators usually have certain anticipation or prejudice of the original text, while the anticipation or prejudices exactly reflect his political orientation. We can say the translation is jobs of recreation with the translators own feeling. The translators political orientation can explain why a translator will intend to explain a neutral word in the original text into a vocabulary with obvious political tendency in the translation. And sometimes there is even a totally opposite meaning in it. As we mentioned above, the translator must be a person with certain culture in a real sense. As a translator, he must grasp the two languages well .It is quite true. And we cant imagine someone can do a good translation without the understanding of the social culture of a language. Understanding the meaning of the original text while translating is not simply a matter of understanding. The language is a component of the culture, which is affected and limited by culture. In the course of translating, whether the translator has the right understanding or not, depends on his knowledge of the relevant culture to a great extent. For a translator, without the comparison of two cultures, his correct understanding of the spoken and written languages is unimaginable. That is why we say, “Learning a language is a kind of learning the culture and habit of the country where the language is spoken”. So long as we study the culture behind the language during the process of studying a language, a large amount of culture information can be transmitted equivalently. These are comparatively simpler in translation. Besides similarities, there are also many differences between two cultures, which form the most difficult part in translation. We must keep in mind that translation is a cross-cultural activity. When we face an original text, it may be well written, attractive, tempting and aesthetic. But if one does not know the difference between two cultures, it would be rather difficult for him to achieve the same effects in the translated work. In the following, I am going to discuss the relation between culture and translation in many aspects, such as trademark translation, international ad translation, idiom translation etc. 1.Trademark translation and culture The truth has proved that a well-translated trademark can make the product more famous and is a valuable intangible asset of those enterprises. The trademark of goods, like name of people, is a symbol of the product itself and enjoys a widespread reputation with enlargement of the goods exchange. And it plays an important role in deciding the sale of the goods. The following are some characteristics, which a successful trademark can not do without: (1). Accord with the characteristic of the goods; A good name should show the special characteristic of the goods. (2). There is a symbolic meaning, which makes people produce association; (3). Easy to remember; (4). Bright and suitable for reading. Today, with the constant increase in international trade, the trademark also becomes international. It is very essential for translators to get to know peoples aesthetic psychology of foreign lands before they do the translation; otherwise, there will be a failure in trademark translation. From one language to another, the translated trademark should keep quintessence of the original one, and accord with consumers aesthetic psychology. Different from other translations, this purpose must be realized in the process of translating a word, which needs the comprehensive knowledge of languages, marketing and aesthetics. During the translation, transliteration can be combined with free translation .We should pay attention to choosing the word with its sound and meaning comparatively close to the original one, in order to reach the satisfactory result. When translating the trademark of the Chinese products into a foreign language, we should give consideration to the cultural habit and aesthetic psychology of foreign consumers. We cant rush through simply by transliteration or the free translation. Speaking from the aesthetic psychology, people will produce a kind of expectation when they enter the appreciating of the rhythm, such as rhyming in the poem, the parallelism in the article, repetition of the object in the photography composition etc. All those things are used to satisfy the psychological need of people. In fact, the translation of trademarks depends on this kind of psychology to a great extent. There are requests not only in the number of words, tone, the level and oblique tone, but also in the meaning of the translated name. All those elements determine the success or failure of the translated name. Several years ago, the translators of our country didnt pay too much attention to those problems mentioned above when translating the trademark of some exported products. And those products didnt sell well in some western countries. For example, “白象” is the band name of a very famous battery in China. When it was translated into “White Elephant”, no one had expected that there were some problems. But it turned out that few people came to buy it in the American market. Why? It is because “white elephant” has the meaning of useless and burdensome thing. How can you expect someone to buy a lot of useless and burdensome things? The translator didnt notice this when they did the translation. For another example, 帆船 carpet is a traditional export product too. When it is translated into “Junk”, it suffered the same destiny. The reason is that Junk also has the meaning of rubbish in English. At the time of translating trademark of Chinese, the translator must consider that the coordination between the shape and meaning. People usually adopt the method of Chinese Pin Yin to translate Chinese trademark into English. The result of doing it is that it makes the trademark difficult to understand, not suitable for reading and even causes misunderstanding. There is a kind of lipstick named “芳芳”,which is a pretty good name in Chinese. When we see it, we cant help raising a beautiful association. Not only can we see a beautiful young girl but also smell the fragrance around her. But when this trademark was translated into Fang fang, it is not suitable e at all. Since “fang” has the meaning of “poison-tooth”, the English customers cant help growing a kind of terrific sense. What they imagined is not a young girl using lipstick, but an evil dog or poisonous snake baring fangs and brandish claws. It is unlikely that they will buy those products that may endanger their lives. If we translate it into “Double Fun”, maybe more people would come to buy it. For another example, we know Washing machine “荣事达” is a very famous brand in China. If we translate it into “Rongshida”, it is too long to read comfortably. Also “rong” has the same pronunciation as “wrong”, which may arouse peoples misunderstanding. If we change it into “Run star” or “Young star”, I believe the effect would be much better. The literal translation for 蜜蜂 toilet soap is Bees, which seems to correspond with the English way completely. But English customers do not like this translated name, for the honeybee has the invisible fine hair stinging. And they may feel it is not comfortable to use this type of soap with a lot of hair stinging. The transliteration for “马戏” brand cards is “Maxipuke”, which accords with translation skill and principle. However the translated name is the combination of two English words “Maxi”(verylargeorparticularlybig） and “puke” (Vomit things , emetic) . People play cards for entertainment, and circus is a very ideal name for Chinese. But English people may hang back to this translated name. The English people do not welcome it, for it will cause them feel sick instead of happy. There are also some successful examples of brand name translation. For example, it is a right choice to translate the trade mark “白熊” into “White Bear”. You may be wondering why not using “polar bear”, which is a scientific name for it. It seems to be reasonable. However with the development of the international political situation in recent years, “Polar bear” has already referred to something else. People are apt to regard it as the nickname linking to a kind of political force in the world. So “white bear” is a much better choice. A good product, with a beautiful and suitable name, is tantamount to make perfection more perfect. And it would attract more customers. The comparatively famous example should be Coca-Cola. When it is translated into “可口可乐”, it keeps the syllable and sound of the original word. It is easy to associate it with a type of beverage, which tastes delicious. The translated word makes the product more vivid and tempting to the customers. We can say that the effect of the translated name has exceeded the original name; and coke has already become the symbol of the beverage in modern society. We can see the powerful strength of the translated name in the culture. Another example would be the world-famous man dress “Goldlion”. The free translation is “金狮”.In order to create a splendid and magnificent atmosphere for the goods, the translator keeps “gold” in the original meaning and adopts transliteration tactics for the word “ lion”. The two combination makes the famous brand name “金利来” in China. The translation is magnificent and has the meaning of luckiness. Though it is not same with the original meaning, its aim, function, and effect are unanimous. Everybody is familiar with the American product “Nike”. The original meaning of the word is a sweet name of a goddess in the Greek mythology. A lot of consumers in China will be very obscure if it is transliterated in this way. Considering its syllable and that sportswear should have the characteristics of wear-resisting, the translator translates it into “耐克” .This translated name has an endurable meaning, which shows the good quality of the product. A very outstanding enterprise in China is “Procter&Gamble(宝洁公司)” .Many of its products are very popular in China. Besides the elements of marketing, the translated brand name of the products also plays a very important role in promoting these products. For example, “舒肤佳” is the Chinese for “Safeguard”. When we hear the name “舒肤佳”,we can easily associate it with a type of soap which can protect our skin. “佳洁士” is the translated name of “Crest”. “Rejoice” gets the name of “飘柔”, which shows the characteristic of the shampoo. “激爽” is the Chinese brand name of “Zest”. There are also many other successful examples. “乐凯” was translated into “lucky”. “HiSense” is the English name for “海信集团”. These examples have fully proved that the trademark of the product is the symbol of the quality, which represents the image of the products. When translating a brand name into another language, we need to pay special attention to it. The more careful, the better. Because the name of the trademark concerns the internationalized images of the enterprise. A good name can help an enterprise win great success in a market with keen competition. In order to pass on the original information faithfully to the readers, sometimes the translator should make proper cultural change for better understanding. The trade mark 玉兔 was translated into Moon Rabbit rather than Jade Rabbit. Why? The reason is that “Moon rabbit” is a rabbit living on the moon in mythology of our country. Gradually it becomes the symbol of the moon. This translation reflects the culture of our country. So it is much better than “Jade Rabbit”. Or else, the English people may think that it is just the rabbit made of jade. In order to make readers of the translated script get the same cultural information as the readers of the original text, the translator should look for the corresponding expression that can express the culture information. If he is unable to express the same information with literal translation, he needs to try the free translation. 2. Masses aesthetic psychology and advertisement translation There is very close relationship between masses aesthetic psychology and advertisement translation. The aesthetic psychology is a kind of comprehensive cultural consciousness, involving many respects, such as political view, religious idea, life style customs etc. Masses aesthetic psychology is even more like this. And the advertisement is an important means of propaganda, which is an important part of social culture. It follows social culture and caters to masses aesthetic psychology. And it plays a more and more important role in influencing the formation of social culture and aesthetic psychology. “No one can deny that any act of persuasion has a cultural meaning” (O.J. Firestone：The Economic Implications of Advertising） In fact, advertising translation is the means of communication. The definition of advertising translation depends on the meaning given to the word advertising. This word must be understood as a generic designation including all forms of commercial communication and promotion, from a leaflet to a television campaign broadcast on an international scale, because the translator is involved at all levels as long as the advertiser is targeting a foreign market. And defining translation as a mere tool or even as another type of international marketing is somewhat restrictive, because an essential fact is then forgotten: communication becomes effective abroad only after the message has been translated. Without this prior translation, it is very unlikely to have an impact on the foreign consumer. And this implies that a translation must be adapted to each country. Actually, translation must be considered as a business function, the mission of which consists of adapting marketing strategies to a group of market countries. The advertising activity is not merely a kind of economic activity, but also a kind of cultural exchange. It influences peoples life style and consumption habit like an invisible hand. Advertising culture has characteristic of masses, commercialization and era. The advertisement should be made according to the consumers need and certain purpose. Certain cultural tradition, faith and values affect the psychology and behavior of both businessmen and consumers to a great extent. In this way, it influences various countries advertising activity a lot. The international advertisement is a propaganda form with transnational and cross-cultural characteristic. What it faces is not merely a conversion problem of the language. There is an implicit but mistaken assumption that the translated ads will be appropriate for the second population, simply by merit of translation. However, just as with ads in any language, translated ads must be carefully reviewed for cultural and linguistic appropriateness. Sometimes, the individual who transcribed the material from English may not be f