On The Translation Of Idioms: A Cultural Perspective

Idioms, widely recognized as the essence or the crystallization of language, hold an important position in language use. An adequate translation of idioms is not only helpful but also essential in intercultural communication.With the influence of, among others, communication theory, a shift from a linguistic approach to a cultural approach has been found in translation studies. With the two approaches integrated, translation has now been broadly seen as an act of intercultural communication . Since no linguistic text can exist out of a certain cultural context, translation rightly involves culture as well as language A qualified translator should not only have language proficiency but also have adequate culture awareness.Translation consists basically in understanding and rendering. During the years of study, I find that many misunderstandings are culturally derived. Actually, the influence of the culture on the meanings of words and idioms are so pervasive that scarcely any text can be adequately understood without careful consideration of its cultural background. Since adequate understanding of the text is the first and fundamental step in translation, therefore, it is worthwhile to make a comparative study of English and Chinese idioms from a cultural perspective so as to have a good grasp of the meaning and use of the language.Moreover, proper rendering of a text also cannot be achieved withoutdue consideration of the cultural factors, because translation equivalence in its very sense should be matched in meanings, functions, scopes and feelings in the two cultures . Therefore, a translator should make continuous comparisons between the two cultures so as to achieve the aim of adequate rendering.In this thesis, I shall attempt a brief comparative study of the cultures embodied in Chinese and English idioms and explore the role the culture plays in understanding and rendering of both English and Chinese idioms.Song Ying (Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics)Directed by Professor Han Zhonghua...