论中西方文化差异对商务广告翻译的影响

论中西方文化差异对商务广告翻译的影响摘 要中国加入世界贸易组织后，商务广告在我们的日常生活中更是频繁出现。广告的创意来源于文化，中西方文化的差异导致了广告人的文化价值观和思维逻辑的不同，因此广告的创作方式与表达方式也有差异。广告作为一种信息传播手段，需要考虑到公众对信息的接受心理和习惯。把握中西文化的差异并加以利用是广告成功的本质和关键。如何通过翻译把一个商务广告准确而又贴切地传达给拥有着不同文化的受众，这个课题值得研究。关键词：文化差异；广告；翻译On Cultural Differences in Advertisement TranslationAbstractWe are embraced by all kinds of commercial advertisements in our daily life since China has entered into the WTO. The idea of an advertisement comes from culture, so the culture difference may lead to different cultural values among different advertisements. As a widely used medium of communication in modern society, an advertisement needs to take the cultural differences into consideration. How to communicate a commercial advertisement to people of different cultural backgrounds correctly and appropriately deserves to be investigated.Key words: cultural difference; advertisement; translation.On Cultural Differences in Advertisement Translation论中西方文化差异对商务广告翻译的影响1. IntroductionThere is more and more acute marketing competition today. Under this circumstance, an advertisement of good quality will be necessary if you want to make your products competitive and attractive to the consumers among millions of other competitors. Besides, a successful advertisement is also a very important part in world-wide business.Chinese economy has already melted into the world market.A good translated advertisement will not only convey the information in accuracy and reap a good advertising effect, but also stimulate receptors cultural and appreciating association, which will be of much help to the cultural communication, thus it is also an impulse in cultural diffusion. We cant deny that most of the private enterprises havent realized how to create an English advertisement and searched for help from an inexpert translator instead of professional agency. This leads to a poor quality of the advertisement translation. Some of the translation principals know little about English; therefore the quality of the translated advertisement will not be assured. Many translators do a very poor job with various intolerable mistakes.With the development of economy, trans-national advertising will become more and more frequent. Therefore, successful advertising language must be able to impress people and create a lasting and strong memory in peoples mind. Writers and translators of advertisements should pay attention to the features of advertising language, cultural differences and translation principles.This article mainly focuses on the influence of advertisement translation due to the cultural differences between China and western countries and what we should do if we are dealing with an advertisement translation job.2. The Overview of an Advertisement.In this section, I will mainly focus on the topic about the functions, the features and the standards of an advertisement. How to classify so many kinds of advertisements will be mentioned too.2.1 The definition of an advertisementThe word “advertise” stems from the Latin “advertere”, meaning “to make known to the public”.We live in a world full of advertisements. What on earth is an advertisement? One of the famous definitions is that “An advertisement is a message or an announcement that informs or influences people. It can use words, pictures, music or film to convey its message. Advertisements are not only made and paid for by business, but also by individuals, organizations and associations that wish to inform or educate the public.” The other one is that “Advertisement is a form of communication intended to promote the sale of a product or service, to influence public opinion, to gain political support, to advance a particular cause, or to elicit some other response desired by the advertiser. Advertisement is distinguished from other forms of communication in that the advertiser pays the media to deliver the message.”(Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume I, 1994)，2.2 The functions of an advertisement They tell people about new products and help promote sales. :95 They provide us with a good collection of goods and service, from which we can make our best choices. :95Advertisement bridges markets, products and consumers together. It can help the consumers to identify and differentiate products and build brand preference and loyalty. :95 Advertising has to create new demands and they should educate the people about more and more new things coming up in the market. And another important function of an advertisement is the identification function, that is, to identify a product and differentiate it from others. This creates an awareness of the product and provides a basis for consumers to choose the advertised product over other products.2.3 How do we classify so many kinds of advertisementsAdvertisement can be classified by medium (newspaper, TV, magazine, etc)Advertisement can be classified by target audience (consumer, business)Advertisement can be classified by purpose (profitable, non-profitable)2.4 The features of advertising language The language of advertisement should be clear and easy to understand in general. There are some distinct features of advertisement.(1) Puns are widely used in advertisement, such as homophonic puns or grammar puns;(2) Using adjectives and adverbs in Hyperbole-exaggeration;(3) Using a limited range of evaluative adjectives including new, clean, white, real, fresh, right, natural, big, great, slim, soft, wholesome, improved, etc.;(4) Influencing the readers by using short sentences. This influence is especially clear at the beginning of a text, often using bold or large type for the “headline” or “slogan” to capture the attention of the reader;(5) Being humor. This can be verbal or visual, but aim at showing the product positively;(6) Simple and Colloquial language; Example 1:“It aint half good” This advertisement appeals to ordinary people, though it is in fact often complex and deliberately ambiguous.(7) Present tense is used most commonly, though nostalgia is summoned by the simple past.(8) Long noun phrases, frequent use of suffix and prefix for descriptions.(9) Use Imperative, such as “Buy Browns Boots Now!”:212.5 The standards of a good advertising translation A good advertisement translation is one that reproduces the effect as closely as possible. A good advertisement translation is one that elicits the desire of the consumers to buy things. There are some basic standards for a good advertising translation: It should contain the original spirit. It should be easy to be understood.It should be vivid and persuasive.3. Cultural Differences in Advertisement TranslationThe target of advertisement writer is the native reader who has same values, thinking ways and living habits, so the advertisement translator needs to face the people whose cultural background, tradition and social values are utterly different. Therefore, as an intercultural activity, advertisement translation requires the translator to put acceptance degree of target reader in the first place and to consider adequately the specific details of a culture in advertisement.Advertisement can influence peoples values, traditions and customs.We dont need to worry about the cultural difference in our own country while we are making an advertisement. We Chinese people underestimate the communication situation when we prepare for readers, listeners, or viewers from western countries somehow.A qualified advertisement translator should know clearly about the cultural differences, thus, he or she could be able to make a good advertisement and arouse the customers purchasing desire.In this section, I will focus on 6 aspects to illustrate the influence of cultural differences on advertisement translation as follows:The different values can influence advertisement translation.The different social background can influence advertisement translation.The different traditions and customs can influence advertisement translation.The different taste for beauty can influence advertisement translation.The different courteousprinciple can influence advertisement translation.The differentways of thinking caninfluence advertisement translation.3.1 The different values can influence advertisement translation.Every country has its own cultural values. What advertisers and translators should do is to make the advertisement consistent with values of the targeted people. If not, they are likely to be rejected.There are lots of different values. For example, worshipping the individualism is a typical value of western countries. We can see it very often in western advertisements. Inwesterncountries,peoplepursueindependence.Everyone tends to be independent. Everyone is unique (why should I do the same as others?). So advertisements there never advocate people to follow the public to show admiration to the so-called authority people. What is reflected in the advertisement are “individuality”, “independence” and “privacy”. Example 1: “obey your thirst-spirit” (服从你的渴望). “impossible made possible” (使不可能成为可能). :21Example 2: “孔府家酒，叫人想家”Chinese people put more emphasis on collectivism while western countries value individualism more. From this advertisement we can see the typical spirit of Chinese people. Example 3: Western countries value the spirit of innovation while Chinese people follow the spirit of mediocracy. And people in western countries dont feel like running only in one groove. Take the slogan of Apple as an example: Apple thinks different(苹果电脑，不同“凡”想). :213.2 The different social history background can influence advertisement translation. Western people treat the official position as the very common thing. Western culture pays more attention to the personal value and self interest. It may lead to the dissimilarity in advertising translation. Just look at these following examples of brand name translation in advertisement translation. Example 4: Western people treat the official position as a pretty common thing. Western culture pays more attention on the personal value and personal interests. Such as the trade mark “白熊”. There are two versions of translation: “polar bear” and “white bear”. Which one is better? This is something related to politics. “Polar bear” has another meaning in the political field in western countries, so people could get confused easily. In this case, “white bear” would be a better choice.:195Example 5: “金龙食用油，绿色的食用油”Dragon is definitely a sign of lucky and fortune in China, but in western countries it is just an evil creature, so this is so inappropriate if you translate the brand name “金龙” to “golden dragon”.Example 6: Southern Comfort the spirit of New Orleans since 1860. Actually, this advertisement is total a success in America because it relies on native peoples understanding of American traditional culture. “Southern Comfort” wine just like the American Jazz all comes from New Orleans. Due to the cultural identity, we can easily figure out its pun meaning which means a lot in a good advertisement translation. “Southern Comfort” wine has become widely familiar in America from middle period of 19th century when people began to create Jazz music. It presents the spirit of New Orleans somehowdeploitation, innovation and optimism. However, due to the lack of related cultural background, it is hard for Chinese reader to perceive cultural connotation in the original text. So, the translation should be based on Chinese audiences point of view and mainly focus on cultural apprehension.Example 7: “Fresh Up with Seven-Up” (七喜广告语)Numbers in an advertisement is an important factor that we should pay much attention to. The word seven is a positive word in these areas: America and Europe. Seven is equal to the number eight in China which stands for a good luck.3.3 The different traditions and customs can influence advertisement translation. It is well known that if you want to learn a foreign language you should get to know the local traditions and customs first. The influence of traditions and customs is so obvious in peoples daily life. For example, every language and corresponding cultural system contains specific constrains in speech such as taboo words. We should pay attention to this aspect.Example 8: Take the word “lady” as an example, you never translate the word “lady” in an English advertisement into “小姐” cause “小姐”is a taboo word in China.:196 Example 9:金鸡鞋油（Golden Rooster shoes polish） In this example Rooster can not be replaced by the word “cock”, because “cock” has another meaning in English slang which is also a taboo word.:1963.4 The different taste for beauty can influence advertisement translation.The word “aesthetic” means the taste for beauty.To reach elegance in sound, appearance and meaning, Chinese advertisement language tends to use lots of couplet, parallel structure or four-character structure. You have to admit that this has something related to the unique aesthetic of Chinese people. Just look at this advertisement below. Example 10：A divorced man advertises an advertisement like this: “寻寻觅觅，韶华转眼飞逝；犹犹豫豫，知音再度难逢”. “寻寻” and “觅觅”and “犹犹” and “豫豫” do have the same meaning. They sound good in rhyme and are natural and harmonious in meaning. While In English, “synonyms repetition” is always avoided. Thus the translation would be better if we erase the unnecessary words.From the aesthetic perspective, symbolizing the beauty and shaping beautiful characters can help people shape a better psychological reaction and visual effects. Example 11: “Coca-Cola” is translated to“可口可乐”. Example 12: “Cola Cao” is translated to“高乐高”. Example 13: “Clean Clear” is translated to“可伶可俐”.Example 14: “Colgate” is translated to“高露洁”.Example 15: We often see that“增白”is translated into “white the skin” in Chinese skin care product.“增白”is a commendatory term in China. However, in western countries, people believe white is not beauty. “White” means poorness and sickness. From this example we can see that different aesthetic means a lot to advertisement translation.:1973.5 The different courteousprinciples can influence advertisement translation.Courtesyisthecommonconductingnorm for people to act or communicate in a more appropriate way in public. Harsh tone is not so easy for people to accept.Example 16: In China, public advertisements often start with “禁止.”(“Do Not.”in English). Such as “Do not pick the flower” and “Do not Pee around”. These two stiff and harsh slogans are a commanding tone. People from western countries will feel offended so easily and it will not help anyway. They believe they are not getting enough respect from these kinds of slogans.To change “Do not pick the flower” into a milder slogan “Take care of those dedicate flowers, please” would be great because it arouses peoples sympathy for them.3.6 Differentways of thinking caninfluence advertisement translation.Peoplehavedifferentwaysofthinkingorreasoning due to different cultures. If we do not pay attention to this, it may cause a misunderstanding in advertisement translation.Example 17: “开袋即食，食用方便。”Translation version: “opening and eating immediately”. It describes how convenience the food is.However, there is a problem of this translated version. Foreigners may think this food will go bad immediately if you do not eat it in time. This is totally a disaster to the reputation of this product.Advertisementstranslationshouldnotonlykeepliteralcoincidencewiththeoriginalbutalsoreachtheaccurateclosenesswiththeconnotationofinformationandlanguage.4. Some Basic Methods and Principles in Advertisement TranslationAll above, cultural differences are big barriers for advertisement translators. So it would be great if the translators can be fully aware of these differences. A good translator should know the traditions, values, language, beliefs and customs well. If we just transfer the literal meaning of the advertisement, the product is impossibly accepted in international market.So, in this chapter, some basic methods and principles advertisement translation will be discussed. 4.1 Use both transliteration and literal translation.Literal translation refers to the method retaining the structure and rhetoric of the original sentence and striving to reproduce the form, content and style of the original language. That is, the grammatical structure of the original language must have the corresponding structure in the target language and the vocabularies are translated correspondingly. Lets see the following examples:Example 18: 英雄金笔厂是公司主体，创建于1931年，经过60多年的开拓发展，建树了“英雄”，“博士”两大品牌，产品享誉海内外，成为我国重大国事活动的专用笔。Translation version: The Hero Pen Factory the main subsidiary of Shanghai Hero Co. Ltd, was founded in 1931. After more than 60 years of growth, the company has become famous in China and aboard for its Hero and Doctor Brand Pens and for its Hero golden Pens which are used for important national affairs.In this example, the fact is put into an important place and no cultural background information is supplied in the original version. Literal translation is applied for the purpose of conveying the function of the original version. Example 19: the brand name “Goldlion” is translated into“金利来”. Translators want to translate it into“金狮” at first, because“狮”represents the power and the authority in royal Britain. Unfortunately this product was not so welcomed when it entered in Hongkong for the first time because“狮”sounds like“输”(lose) in Cantonese. However, when it is translated into“金利来”again，it became so popular at that time and earned its reputation eventually.Example 20: When LG first introduc