On The Translation Of English Idioms From A Cultural Perspective

In 1990, American scholar Andre Lefevere and British scholar Susan Bassnett suggested that translation studies take a "cultural turn" and look forward to the work of cultural studies scholars. They researched the history of translation of both the West and China and concluded that translation practice has been under the influence of some cultural factors like the role of ideology, the power of patronage, central texts and central cultures, etc. Therefore a new translation theory—Culturology was formed and brought great inspiration to the field of translation. According to them, translation shouldn't be constrained in the realm of dictionaries or grammars, but is a kind of cultural interaction. Now we live in a world of globalization, we should take up cultural translation on the basis of linguistic rendition in order to catch up with the need of social development and cultural communication.Idioms are the cream of language as well as crystallization of national culture. English idioms include set phrases, proverbs, allusions, colloquialisms and slangs. They mainly come from people's daily life, the Bible, ancient Greek and Roman myths, fables and parables, literary works and historical events, etc., reflecting all walks of life. In other words, idioms carry rich cultural connotations. Then culturally translating English idioms becomes a good way to realize cultural interaction. This is the topic that the thesis is about.The first part is the introduction, in which the cultural background and the significance of cultural translation of English idioms are stated.The second part is the main body of the thesis which consists of three chapters. Chapter One reviews Andre and Bassnett's ideas on translation, who are the main representatives of Culturology in the field of translation. As well as this, three translators in the history of Western translation are exemplified to support the ideas of this translation theory: translation is a process of cultural interaction.Chapter Two introduces the definition, classification, sources and cultural features of English idioms.Chapter Three discusses three translating methods of English idioms: literal translation, free translation and literal plus free translation. To the following three kinds of English idioms, literal translation can be adopted: lexemic idioms, similarly figurationed idioms and some idioms whose cultural connotations have no equivalent in Chinese. To the shift-image idioms and some other idioms whose cultural connotations have no equivalent in Chinese, free translation is more applicable. If possible, attempt to use literal plus free translation in order to retain the spirit and flavor of the source text. Among them, literal and literal-plus-free translation methods are emphasized to enrich Chinese vocabulary and push forward the cultural interaction between English and Chinese. Further, two noticeable problems are mentioned when rendering: never use heavily nation-colored terms and never assume the meaning of English idioms from the linguistic level.The third part is the conclusion, in which the author summarizes the main idea of the thesis and points out the importance of cultural translation in the present world.The last part is the bibliography, including both the foreign and domestic books cited.