Cultural Differences And Translation

In the field of translation studies, scholars' understanding of translation in its traditional sense has shifted along with the popularity and prosperous development of cultural studies in the recent years. Translation is no longer regarded as merely a cross-linguistic activity but essentially cross-cultural communication. Cultural factors begin to gain more and more attention of translators. Nida even claims that "for truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism" ( Nida 1993:110). The recognition and systematic study of the cultural factors that influence the translator's choices in the process of translation are significant for bringing to light the regularities of translation process, as well as for the enrichment of translation studies. But in the field of translation research in China, there are only a few scholars who have made studies of translation from the perspective of culture. Obviously further researches are both necessary and needed in this field.Viewing translation from the cross-cultural perspective, we find that cultural differences pose major barriers in translating. A thing which is self-evident in one culiLure has to be painstakingly explained in another. The most serious mistakes in translating and interpreting are usually not the result of verbal inadequacy, but of wrong cultural assumptions. Hardly any text can be successfully translated without appropriately dealing with the differences between source and target cultures. Therefore in this paper the author intends to analyse thedifferences between Chinese and Western cultures as reflected in translation, to put forward some translation methods in dealing withVthem,and to analyze the possible factors affecting a translator's choice. hoping that they can be of some help to translation practice.This paper consists of six parts, including the introduction and conclusion.As a starting point, the introduction briefly discusses the significance of studying translation from the perspective of cultural differences and explains the reasons why this topic is chosen.Chapter one, " Language., Culture and Translation," deals primarily with the inter-relations of language, culture and translation. It points out that both language and culture are intrinsically bound together. In order to understand a culture, one must do so by means of its language, and in order to comprehend the meanings of words, a person must look to the culture. If culture is compared to the boby of a person, then language will be the heart within the body of culture. Therefore, in the same way that the surgeon, operating on the heart, cannot neglect the body that surrounds it, so the translator treats the text in isolation from the culture at his peril. Definitions, main features as well as classifications of culture are also discussed.Chapter two is an overview of cultural differences and translation. It points out that there are similarities as well as differences between cultures. Cultural similarities provide a basis for mutual understanding, which, in turn make translation and cultural exchange possible. While cultural differences pose a great barrier to translation and to cultural exchange. A good translator should not only find the differences between cultures but also try in various ways to reduce the difficulties in translation caused by cultural differences.Chapter three and Chapter four are the main parts of this paper.VIChapter three studies meaning from the perspective of semiotics. It mainly explores three semantic non-equivalence caused by culturaldifferences, namely the non-equivalence of referential meaning, nonequivalence of pragmatic meaning and non-equivalence of intralingual meaning. The primary responsibility of translators is to make the three meanings maximally equivalent 1)etween cultures.In Chapter four, the focus is upon the translation methods in dealing with cultural differences, namely foreignizing method and domesticating method. Both of them...