Cultural Disparity In Translation

In traditional translation theories, translation is supposed to be an equal dialogue between two languages, and the objective is to achieve equivalence. But their explanatory power is very limited in relation to some translation cases, which forces people to take a macroscopic perspective, that is, a cultural one.Translation, like any cultural practice, entails the creative reproduction of cultural values. But this recreation is not only constrained by certain cultural presupposition but also some other factors: the relative position of the involved cultures, translator's attitude towards two cultures and the purpose of translation. So from this perspective to study translation, we can get many indications that the linguistic-oriented approach can't bring us.The author holds that translation is a cultural practice, which always implies an unstable balance between the powers exerted by one culture over the other. The influence of the disparity between cultures exists in the whole translation process, namely, the selection of texts for translating, as well as the ways in which the texts are translated. The existence of power differentials between strong cultures and weak cultures thus makes balanced dialogue quite an illusion. The development of weak cultures is in return seriously restrained by this phenomenon. Hence, while talking about culture and translation, we must take into consideration the plight of weak cultures. Frorn this perspective, the author makes a case study of David Hawkes' version of HongLouMeng in order to specifically expound the negative influence of cultural disparity on translation. In Hawkes' translation, various adaptations are made, with regard to the displacement of cultural images and deviation of style. The translator consciously or subconsciously shows that his culture belongs to a superior cultural system, and gives priority to the target-language culture in translation. So conspicuously cultural hegemony is echoed in translation. In order to change this trend, the translators in weak cultures should make great efforts to articulate their own voices and try toreconstruct their cultural identities. Last but not least, the author makes the contention that in the context of globalization, translation should be able to fulfill its great commission, that is, to be a reciprocal cultural dialogue in its real sense.