On The Influence Of Cultural Discrepancies On Translation

In the latter period of the eighties of last century, cultural studies and cultural criticism flourished in the western academic circles. So many theorists have long studied translation in the theoretical perspective of cultural studies, then a new school came into being in the field of translation: Cultural Translation Theory. It is also called that translation study takes a cultural turn.In view of this new tendency in translation field, this thesis discusses the influence of cultural differences on translation. This paper defines the concept of culture in terms of sociology and anthropology, and formulates the relationship between culture and language. Cultural differences exist objectively. Its influence on translation is inevitable. But we cannot exaggerate the scope of its influence because of the wide range of culture, and regard translation as a pure transference of cultures. We must argue against "Pan-culture" tendency.At the same time, this paper shows that because of the same biological functions of human beings and the similar living environment, cultural universalities overweigh cultural differences. Through analysis of linguistic materials, cultural-loaded words are as less compared with the total number of vocabulary. Language can be used to convey anything new to its speakers. We can explore some translation methods to overcome the barriers caused by cultural differences. Thus, the influence of cultural differences on translation is limited.As the informational technology and communication develop, some cultural elements are supernational and may be absorbed by people in other cultures and become part of them. Cultural interpenetration will bring about the similarities of cultures and languages. Many foreignized words and expressions are accepted by people of the target language. The translating activity will become easier than before in the context of cultural interpenetration.To argue for this viewpoint, this paper consists of four chapters:Introduction: It mainly introduces the emergence of the cultural translation theory with the flourishing of cultural studies and gives a comment on its advantages and disadvantages.Chapter One: It deals with the definition of culture, the relationship of language and culture. Cultural differences can be mainly classified into four categories: regional culture, religious beliefs, social custom and national psychology. These cultural differences are reflected in language, and their influence on translation is inevitable.Chapter Two: By exploring the reasons of cultural universalities, we know that cultural universalities overweighs differences. Cultural differences can be described in different language. Through analyzing linguistic materials, we know that cultural-loaded words covers only a small part of a whole text. Therefore, the influence of cultural difference on translation is limited. Chapter Three: It proves, from the angle of the translation of cultural-loaded words, that the influence of cultural differences on translation can be overcome to some extent through the improvement of translation methods such as foreignization, domestication, annotation, etc.Chapter Four: It demonstrates the external and internal causes of cultural interpenetration. The cultural interpenetration results in the linguistic and cultural convergence, and new culture and foreignized language are easily to be accepted by people of the target language. The translating activity will become easier than before.In conclusion, we stress that language is the primary factor in translation, and the major barrier is the difference between languages. Cultural factors are unavoidable. Cultural universals aredominant, and cultural differences can be bridged in translation. Moreover, with the development of cultural interpenetration, the influence of cultural differences will become smaller. The translating activity will become easier than before.