Cultural Engagement In Translation

The study of translation is the study of cultural interaction. Despite the diversity of methods and approaches in translation studies, one common feature of the research lays emphasis on cultural aspects of translation, and on the contexts within translational activity, which has caught much attention of translation academia. With the integration of cultural aspects and the contextual aspects in translation studies, this dissertation adopts the perspective of translational cognitive context as intertexturality and adaptation to analyze in terms of linguistic, cultural, cognitive and social dimensions the cultural engagement in translation activity and its interrelationship with translation context, and compares the cultural capital and the operation of acculturation in translation between China and the West, with an aim to the construction of cultural translation theory.Chapter One is an introduction, presenting research background, targets, approaches, structure as well as its contents, and it also explores and redefines the concept of "culture" in translation and the concept of "cultural translation." In Chapter Two, "the perspective of translational cognitive context as intertextuality and adaptation" is briefly interpreted. It is supposed that cultural aspects and translational context should be integrated in translation studies, that is, from the perspective of cognitive context as intertextuality and adaptation, after a review of the achievements and demerits in the contextual approaches and cognitive contextual approaches to translation studies.In Chapter Three, a model of cultural translation based on intertextuality, adaptation and choice is established, with multiple intertextuality of subjectivity, objectivity and intersubjectivity, which emphasizes the function of the ethics of translation, and the translator-centre as the intersection and motivation of the intertextuality in the process of translation. Cultural translation is considered as a result of translator's choice adaptively based on the interrelations under the ethics of translation. With the integration of language, culture and context aspects, the scope of translational cognitive context is dialectically reconstructed, expecting to analyze the cultural elements in translation including translational choices in terms of culture, language, source text, intention, strategy and other translational behaviors.Under cultural translation model based on intertextuality and adaptation, cultural elements in text and their interrelations with social-cultural context is analyzed from the perspective of linguistic cognitive context. Its Focus is on the intertextual interpretation and construction with respect to meaning, intention, ideology and cultural elements at all levels of text. Focus is also on the cultural distance between ST and TT, and the choice of shift in translating for cultural translation. Based on case studies and empirical descriptions, it is found that cultural elements embedded at all levels of text is characterized by nationality, and its representation through intertextuality and adapation is partially manipulated by social-cultural context, which sheds light on the nature of culture in translation and communicator's or translator's role in cultural presentation.From the perspective of nonlinguixtic cognitive context, it attempts to examine the social and cultural characteristics of translation activity, and the interactional choice between translating and social-cultural context. Cultural context, psychological context, social context and dynamic context can be employed as a macro perspective to explore the social-cultural characteristics of translation activity. Based on cultural context, the interrelationship between translator and cultural context is discussed to interpret the motivation of translation choices in ST and translation strategies through case studies of Liang Qichao's translation and Luxun's. From the perspective of psychological context, emphasis is laid on the intertextuality of translator's cultural psychology and cultural construction, and on the motivation of translation choices in ST, strategy, culture and aesthetic representation from cultural psychology. From the perspective of social context, the translation of socio-cultural elements is explored at the levels of communication, psychology and culture. In response to cultural globalization, both cultural identity and cultural integration are analyzed, while sound acculturation in translation can be achieved through harmonious approach of adaptation. It shows that attention should be paid to the culture in linguistic and nonlinguistic aspects, and that intertextuality and adaptation in translation is the foundation and guarantee for harmonious cultural translation and cultural integration.Attentions are paid to the multicultures, cultural foreigness, cultural capital, and acculturation in translation. Therefore, this dissertation start with the exploration of the manipulation of acculturation and cultural capital in Chinese and Western translation activity, which is analyzed through the history of China tradition of translation in from the Buddhist scriptures to modern cultural translation, interpreting the motivation of those translational manipulation and their effects. Then, a comparative study is on the operation of cultural strategy and cultural capital in translation between Chinese and Western translational activity, with an expectation to find out their own characteristics and the solution to translating the other. Harmonious thought is considered as a philosophical foundation for the construction of a harmonious approach to cultural translation studies when the philosophical theory especially the thoughts of "Harmony" of translation in China and Western translation theories and practice have been given a detailed analysis. It is found that the perspective of intertextuality and adaptation is a key approach to the construction of harmony of cultural translation and cultural exchange, while a harmonious framework for cultural translation studies is established as a result of the distillation of the key approach, considered as a new branch of translation studies to carrying out cultural integration and acculturation.Finally, the dissertation points out that the humanistic and social aspects in translation activity are highlighted in the perspective of cognitive context as intertexturality and adaptation, on which cultural translatology is based helps translation as medium for cultural transmission and cultural exchange in the context of economic globalization and cultural globalization. At the same time, the conclusion briefly summarizes the main views and findings of this research, points out the existing limitations of this study and proposes research questions for future studies.