Cultural Difference And Translation

In the field of translation studies, scholars'understanding of translation in its traditional sense has shifted along with the popularity and prosperous development of cultural studies in recent years. Translation is no longer regarded as merely a cross-linguistic activity but essentially cross-cultural communication. Cultural factors begin to gain more and more attention of nowadays translators. Nida even claims that"for truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism"(Nida 1993:110). The recognition and systematic study of the cultural factors that influence the translator's choices in the process of translation are significant for bringing to light the regularities of translation process, as well as for the enrichment of translation studies.Viewing translation from the cross-cultural perspective, we find that cultural differences pose major obstacles in translating. A thing which is self-evident in one culture has to be painstakingly explained in another. The most serious mistakes in translating and interpreting are usually not the result of verbal inadequacy, but of wrong cultural assumptions. Hardly can any text be isolated from its social and cultural backgrounds.Translation is not simply a matter of seeking other words with similar meaning but of finding appropriate ways of saying things in another language. Observed and analyzed from the whole, the practice of translation can never be regarded as an isolated task, because a source text never exists out of its social and cultural background. Different languages, then, may use different linguistic forms. But these forms are only one of the aspects of the difference between the two language systems. Translation in nature is an activity of cross-cultural communication. The diversity of cultures creates many barriers for cross-cultural translation.In this paper, I will firstly check the definition of culture and its relation with language and translation. Then I introduce some contemporary theories and fundamentals in translation. Lastly I would like to try to explore some workable approaches to major obstacles in cultural translation. From many examples in translation, we conclude that in translating cultural elements, the translator should keep a balance between the target language readers and the author. That is to say, the translation should on one hand maintain the original flavor, while on the other hand be accepted and comprehended by the target language readers in almost the same manner that the readers of the original text do. To reach the corresponsive effect in translation between English and Chinese, we have to be aware of the cultural elements, especially the cultural differences involved between these two languages.