Cultural Studies And Translation Strategies Of English Idioms

Language is the carrier of culture, bearing the national cultural information. English is a global language. Learning and mastering English is helpful to understand and grasp culture differences, and thus broaden the knowledge of the world. As the bridge connecting diverse cultures, translation plays a major role in the process of cultural exchange. With the depth and breadth of Sino-western communication, it has become an important topic to study English and its translation from the cultural perspective.English idioms are fixed expressions of language in its long-term usage. They are not only a cultural phenomenon, but also the recording and heritage of other ethnic culture phenomena. English idioms are the crystallization and carrier of Western culture. With the deepening of Sino-Western exchanges, English idioms are playing an increasingly significant role in both oral and written English. Their number is growing as their quality is constantly sublimated. The knowledge and performance of English idioms is an important factor to evaluate English acquisition proficiency. We can understand western cultural characteristics through English idioms, so that we can have a deeper understanding of the close connection between language and culture, and thus deepen our comprehension of differences between Chinese and English cultures.Cultural factors take a great part in translating English idioms. We should be more concerned about translation attitudes, strategies and approaches in dealing with the cultural information of English idioms. In order to solve the cultural barriers in learning and using English idioms, the author collects 347 neutral-typed idioms from several authoritative English and Chinese idiom dictionaries. Based on the current cultural studies of English idioms home and abroad, the thesis explores cultural factors of English idioms and their translation strategies. It starts with the analysis of the relationship between culture, idioms and translation, and makes an investigation of cultural factors affecting idiom translation such as subjective and objective factors. Then it discusses the application and tendency of domestication and foreignization in order to transfer the cultural information within English idioms. Based on these analyses, the thesis proposes the cultural translation principles and strategies focusing on cultural connotations of idioms so as to eliminate the language level translation and promote the cultural level translation.