Approaching Advertising Translation From The Perspective Of Intercultural Communication

With the development of our socialist market economy since China's opening up to the outside world, advertising industry has been developing at a speed no one could imagine twenty years ago. The globalization of the world economy, China's entry to WTO and the fast development of the internet and information communications technology, all these make it possible for the cross-cultural communication of international advertising. International advertising translation is of great significance in the internationalizing of China's enterprises and tapping the global market for made-in-China products under the circumstance of globalization of world economy.This dissertation aims at exploring the principles, criterion, and methodology of the international advertising translation from the perspective of inter-cultural communications, applying the theories of intercultural communications, western translation theories to the translation practice of advertisement. The main points are as follows: As a language for special purpose, advertising language has its unique stylistic characteristics, which determines that advertising translation should have its own principles, criterions and approaches. The western translation theories, especially Nida's Functional Equivalence theory, Vermeer's Skopostheorie and Peter Newmark's Communicative translation, are very instructive for advertising translation. Advertising translation should meet the requirements of the stylistic characteristics of advertising language. Language is the carrier of culture. Advertising language is also embedded in its own specific culture. Advertising translation is a cross-lingual, cross-cultural communication interaction. Therefore, advertising translation should meet the requirements of the cultural properties of the advertising languages. Advertising translation is distinct from literary translation and other translations because of its specific commercial Skopos or purpose, which determines the supreme status of the target audience and the target culture. The source text is just an offer of information and is no longer the first and foremost criterion for the translator's decisions. As an important part of international marketing strategy, the overwhelming function of advertising is to promote sales. Therefore, the criterion to judge an effective translation is whether it can best serve the Skopos of advertising. "The ends justifies the means", translations that can best help promote sales in the target cultural environment are good translations. Free translation, literal translation, domestication or alienation are all translation approaches to achieve the purpose. The cultural properties of advertising language determine the orientation of advertising translation from literalism to culturalism.