Strategies of Chinese Translation of Cosmetic Brand Name-化妆品翻译.doc

Strategies of Chinese Translation of Cosmetic Brand Name-from the Perspective of Reception Aesthetics yyySupervisors: xxxA dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor the Degree of BA in English（medicine-oriented） at Guangzhou University of Chinese MedicineMay, 20xxContentsAcknowledgements. i中文摘要. iiAbstract iii1. Introduction. 1 2. Literature Review. 3 2.1 The Previous Studies of Trademark Translation From the Perspective of Cultural Difference. 3 2.2 The Literature Review of Translation Aesthetics. 3 2.3The Significance of Aesthetics to the Translation of Cosmetic Trademarks 43. The Cultural Differences in the Translation of Cosmetic Trademarks 63.1 Definitions of Trademarks 6 3.2 Functions of Trademarks. 7 3.2.1 The Informative Function 7 3.2.2 The Vocative Function. 7 3.2.3 The Aesthetic Function 8 3.3 Cultural Characteristics in the Translation of Cosmetic Trademark 8 3.4 Cultural Differences Reflected in the Translation of Cosmetic Trademark 9 3.4.1 Cultural Connotations. 10 3.4.2 Cultural Association 11 3.4.3 National Culture. 134. Aesthetic in the Translation of Cosmetic Trademarks 14 4.1 Beauty in the Sound. 14 4.2 Beauty in the Form 14 4.3 Beauty in the Image. 155. Principles and Strategies Applied to the Translation of Cosmetic Trademarks. 16 5.1 Principles Applied to the Translation of Cosmetic Trademarks. 16 5.1.1 Brevity Principle. 16 5.1.2 Novelty Principle. 16 5.1.3 Readability Principle 16 5.1.4 Image Principle 17 5.2 Strategies Applied to the Translation of Cosmetic Trademarks. 17 5.2.1 Domestication. 18 5.2.2 Foreignization. 196. Conclusion.20Bibliography. 21 AcknowledgementsI want to give my thanks to people who have given me help in the process of finishing my paper. Firstly, I would like give my thanks to my supervisor, XXX. Without her help, guidance and advice, my paper cannot be finished at time. She gave me detailed revision suggestions so I can find my shortcomings and make it better. My thanks also go to all the teachers in Foreign Language College of XXX University, without them I will not have enough knowledge and skills to finish my paper, Last but not least, I want to thank my parents and my classmates who give me help in the way of my life and the writing of my paper. 摘要全球经济一体化的今天,行业间的商业竞争日趋激烈,在这样的环境下,商标之于产品和企业的作用就更不可忽略。产品的商标恰如人的名字,赏心悦目的商标名让人过目难忘,能够促进产品的销售,而不恰当的商标名将给产品甚至其企业带来厄运。随着国际经济的发展,越来越多的企业走出国门进军世界市场。为了成功地让产品在国际市场上夺得一席之地,好的译名商标必不可少。化妆品商标作为企业参与国际市场竞争的重要武器有它独特的功能：产品区分功能,信息提供功能,广告宣传功能和法律保护功能。化妆品商标的独特功能决定了商标词语的翻译不仅是两种语言符号的转换,而且还是文化的转换。得体贴切的商标译名能更好地促进商品的品牌形象销售,使商家获得最大的利润。化妆品商标翻译在开拓世界市场、参与国际竞争、树立品牌意识中起着举足轻重的作用。然而,由于中西方国家风土人情、社会意识和文化背景的不同,有些在一国为消费者所喜爱的常用商标,在另一国家却未必适用。由此,若对于中西方的跨文化交际和文化差异没有一个系统的认知,商标的翻译恐怕是差强人意。文章从美学角度结合化妆品商标翻译的特点对中西文化的差异做了系统介绍， 并提出了化妆品商标翻译的原则和策略。关键词：化妆品商标；翻译；美学；文化差异 AbstractAs one of the best strategies of marketing, brand name is of vital importance in the keen competition of businesses in the global economy. Brand name to product is like name to people. A good brand name contributes to the good reputation of a company and can help to propel sales of products while a poor brand name could be disastrous to a company. With the fast development of the international economy, more and more companies are cultivating their markets outside their own nations. To successfully promote products in the global market, a good translation of the brand name is of utmost importance.As an important weapon in business competitions, cosmetic trademark is a special language which has functions of distinguishing one product from another, informing the public of the product, advertising and protecting the product. Special functions call on special treatment in translation. Brand name is heavily culture-loaded and embodied with rich connotations and associations. Not only is the translation of cosmetic trademarks the transfer between the two language, but is the shift from one culture to another. A good and appropriate translation of the brand name may help to build the image of the product and be beneficial in the sales of the product, which will bring maximum possible profit to the company. Cosmetic trademarks translation plays a significant role in cultivating international market, competing with other same products and, building a positive image and brand loyalty. However, there are many differences between western and eastern cultures. Some beloved brand names in the source language culture might be hated or even be taboos in another culture. Without a thorough understanding of cross-cultural communication and cultural differences between eastern and western cultures, the translation of brand names might not be satisfactory.Thispaper gives a systemic introduction of the cultural differences of the translation of cosmetic trademarks combining the characteristics of cosmetic trademarks from a perspective of aesthetics, and it puts forward some principles and strategies of the translation of cosmetic trademarks.Key words: cosmetic trademarks; translation; aesthetics; cultural differences211. Introduction The trademark is the product deriving from the rapid development of market economy and has prevailed among our life. From the micro point, the cosmetic trademarks not only promote business, bring added value for the product, but also facilitate the consumers purchase and bring convenience to consumers. From the macro perspective, the trademark stands for the reputation of a nation plays a vital role in the development of its economy. According to research into trademarks, trademark study comes into a new branch in the academic field, and involves many disciplines and fields pertaining to it such as advertising, cultural studies, linguistics, psychology and semantics. With the advent of global village and international market, cosmetic trademark translation concerns the lifespan of products as well as business. Nowadays, the international character of trademark is becoming notable day by day with the continual improve of the economic changes in the world. Trademark will work with the expansion of Commodity Exchange, as a result, the commoditys symbol has increased, and also it is shown as national culture to other countries. Therefore, the translation of trademarks should pass information about the characteristics of the goods or function. Also, the cultural connotation of it is very important. The cosmetic trademark translator should not only regard the trademark translation as a commercial activity, but also clearly know about what differences between the original country and the target country. According to a kind of language, the translator should aware of the key meaning of trademark, while making it conform to the culture of the consumer market in foreign countries.Effective trademarks translation can make our culture in rich. Besides, it can improve communication between two countries. Also, the understanding of different manufacturers increased. In a word, successful cosmetic trademarks play a very important role for the products to expand itself in the foreign market. Moreover, it improves cultural communication among different countries.2. Literature Review2.1 The Previous Studies of Trademark Translation From the Perspective of Cultural DifferenceIn recent years, the translation of trademarks has drawn world-wide attention. The cultural factors affecting trademark translation have caught the attention of many scholars, so many experts pay high attention to cultural factors when they translate trademarks. Shengtao Zheng argues the significance of an appropriate transformation of the culture, Xiaodong Liang have studied the trademark translation with the combination of national psychology and Xiaoju Zhu decides the translation of trademark from the angle of cultural differences, it is extremely important to know the western consumer concept and its response to the trademark translation. Shuqin Li, by contrast, is close to this problem from the angle of the transfer of interlanguage. She thinks that, the trademark translation should abide by the standard of the communication meaning. Whats more, Huinan Bao studies C-E translation of trademarks from the level of culture. He holds the idea that the culture plays an essential role in the trademarks translation. Besides, the principle of presenting Chinese trademark into English proposed, such as the respect of national target consumer psychology, pays high attention to the political significance and the use of simple words. Lei Jiang pointed out finally, ignoring cultural differences can lead to pragmatic failure of trademark translation. 2.2 The Literature Review of Translation AestheticsAesthetics is connected with beauty, and thus the human beings are created, and translation aesthetics is an interdisciplinary subject, and aesthetic theory is applied in translation studies. The study of translation theory left behind a long stream in the development of translation in China and western countries, in China, since the birth of the third century, it has experienced four stages: source text localization loyalty, the spirit of close and sublimation. In western countries, to explore the experience of development of the dispute between translation word by word, philosophic poetic theory for translation and interpretation from the age in the 18th and 19th century until now. The recent investigation of an interdisciplinary research is based on modern linguistics cross-cultural research, etc. From the research in China and western translation theory has never stopped from aesthetics for reference.1Translation for aesthetics defined by Mengzhi Fang as: translation aesthetics reveals the source of aesthetic translation, exploring aesthetic translation and understanding the special significance of the nature of science and art from the aesthetic point of view and basic aesthetic principle, though different types of the translation of the aesthetic standard to analyze, explain and solve the problem of aesthetic transformation in their interlanguage.2 The research object of the translation of aesthetic are: subject of translation aesthetics, aesthetic object, aesthetic activities and creative aesthetic expression though translation.The outstanding modern Chinese translator, Yuanchong Xu, not only in the translation practice achieved impressive achievements, but also made a lot contribution to the development of translation studies. In his translation of art, he comes up with three principles of beauty. He thought the poetry translation, translators should make their best to keep the beauty of the original meaning, sound and form.3 Using translation theory described above, it is very clear that there is a close relationship between translation and aesthetics research, mainly in the field of literary aesthetics.2.3 The Significance of Aesthetics to the Translation of Cosmetic TrademarksAesthetics aims to examine the relationship between subject and object, content and form as well as all parts of forms. There are many schools of aesthetics in the west, among which influential ones are Hane-Georg Gadamers hermeneutic aesthetics, Ernst Cassiers sign aesthetics and Han Robert Jausss reception aesthetics and so on. Although different languages have different disparities in expressing beauty, they will not pose barriers in conveying beauty. The reason is that aesthetic features share many similarities with aesthetic feelings shown through these forms. It is by these similarities the translators recreate aesthetic features and aesthetic feelings of the source text and target text and show aesthetic connotation of source text aiming to enable the target reader to experience the same aesthetic feelings with the original readers.As a special advertising and marketing language, the trademark not only reflects property of the commodity but also its aesthetic features. In the context of global integration, more and more products have access to the international market. So it is necessary and important to reproduce the aesthetic features of the trademark. Trademark translation is demanded to be practical and aesthetic, and trademark translators will not only reserve the essence of the original trademark but also conform to the psychology of consumers.4 Therefore, aesthetics must be reproduced in the process of cosmetic trademark translation in order to convey the aesthetic feelings to the consumers and stir the purchasing desire of consumers.3. The Cultural Differences in the Translation of Cosmetic Trademarks3.1 Definitions of TrademarksIn the New Column Encyclopedia, the trademark is defined as: Distinctive mark placed on or attached to goods by a manufacturer or dealer to identify them as made or sold by him. The use of a trademark indicates that the manufacturer or dealer believes that the quality of the goods will enhance his standing or good will and a known trademark indicates to a buyer the reputation that is stuck on the commodity. Registration of a trademark is necessary in some countries to give exclusive right to it. The Random House Dictionary of English Language defines trademark as follows, “trademark: 1. any name, symbol, figure, letter or word, or mark adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant in order to designate his or her goods and to distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others. A trademark is a proprietary term that is registered with the patent and Trademark Office to assure its exclusive use by its owner;5 2. A distinctive mark is the feature particularly characteristic of or identified with a person or thing.” From the definitions mentioned above, it could be seen that a trademark can consist of a word or words, letters, numbers symbols and monograms. It is protected by law and used exclusively by the particular manufacturer or owner that has registered it in accordance with prevailing laws and customs. The most essential elements designed in a trademark should include as follows:1. It should suggest something about advantages, qualities and attributes of the products. 2. It should be easy for pronunciation, recognition and memory. 3. It should be distinctive and attractive.4. It should not carry negative meanings or associations on target consumers.5. Registered trademarks are protected by law.3.2 Functions of Trademarks3.2.1 The Informative FunctionThe brand name of cosmetics should be given much information to certain features, and the impact and the value of the goods and attributes will help promote the product sales.6 The cosmetics brand has many different functions and the function should be classified as high. At first, some cosmetics brand naming sponsors name: “Christian Dior”, “郑明明”and“Colgate”, all of which have the pursuit and worship of a large number of women. Secondly, some cosmetics brands such as baby, child, and nice baby clearly shows that the cosmetics like babies or children have become customers who are likely to consume. Thirdly, the product has its own functions and features, consumers will know what kind of skin cosmetics their skin will use. For example, Vichy imply the ideas that the skin will keep comfort and balance; “美加净”and“Pure & Mild”(Maxam) will beautify the skin, making skin clean and white. These cosmetics information cause the strong desire of the pursuit of the goods, so the application of these products has become fashionable, thus big profits by good cosmetics are made.3.2.2 The Vocative FunctionA cosmetics brand is the symbol of products, which aims at the construction and strengthen the good sense to consumers, and persuade them to buy the product which is based on aesthetic functions. It will catch the attention of consumers and their consumption only when the cosmetics brand has the certain meaning. In other words, when cosmetics brand conveys some ideas, specific desire, emotional expression and consumer psychology demand, as well as compatibility, the selling will increase greatly.7 “Safeguard” is soap cosmetics brands, for instance, in our daily life, we use it in the purpose of washing and cleaning. The brand, the consumer will consider a reliable and real earnest protection to prevent bacteria and care for our daily healthy.3.2.3 The Aesthetic FunctionCosmetics of aestheticism is an important factor. As an important part of aesthetics, and aestheticism most of the time leaves consumer good feelings. Also, sweet and beautiful cosmetics brand name impress consumers a good look. While bad and rude cosmetics brand wont cause consumers to buy the product, as a result, the failure without interest and charm of the consumers will lead to the decrease in product promotion.The cosmetics brand in both English and Chinese has formed a beauty by using many different rhetorical forms, contents, alliteration harmonics, etc., which can not only