Cultural Context Analysis In Translation

The essence of translation activities is in fact the transfer of meaning between languages, which consists of comprehension and representation. In the course of both stages, context is indispensable to the accuracy of language meaning. An isolated word often means nothing and it is often difficult to grasp the actual meaning of a sentence without context. In the past, attention was usually paid to the linguistic problems of the language, but now, more and more emphasis is put on the context.Context can be seen as the physical environment in which a linguistic item is used. On the grounds of many scholars'notions, context tends to be classified into co-text, situational context and cultural context. Since any human activity takes place in the range of culture, and language activity is no exception, cultural context, from the perspective of systemic-functional grammar, is the upper context among co-text, situational context and cultural context. Cultural context is mainly related to cultural difference, which is a big obstacle in translation; Eastern and Western cultural differences cause people to have different understandings and interpretations to the same subject or the same concept. Sometimes it may even cause misunderstandings. Cultural difference means the difference in language knowledge, beliefs, life styles, thought patterns, customs and so on, formed by different peoples under various natural and ecological environments. These cultural factors are most difficult to deal with. In English-Chinese translation, it is improper to impose our culture to the other culture; neither can Chinese accept the other culture completely. Nowadays, more and more attention is being paid to the cultural context.However, as a whole, the study of cultural context is unsystematic. Although due attention has been paid to cultural context analysis in the circle of translation theory nowadays, this crucial question is often neglected in translation practice. To this end, based on the empirical research, this thesis aims to show how translation will be restricted and influenced by cultural factors systematically. And then, the strategies employed in dealing with cultural context are explored. By investigating the application of cultural context analysis in translation practice, the thesis, as is hoped, will be of some help to translators to better master this method so as to improve the quality of translation.The thesis consists of five chapters.The first chapter makes a literature review on translation and context. The first section discusses the problem of translation, including the definition of translation and the essence of translation; the second section expounds the problem of context, including the external and internal studies on context, the definition and classification of context. Cultural context, from the perspective of systemic-functional grammar, is the upper context among co-text, situational context and cultural context.The second chapter expatiates on the importance of cultural context to translation, including translation theorists'points of view on question of context and an example which illustrates well the point. Then the importance of cultural context can be seen from two aspects: comprehension and representation.The third chapter is an investigation. The aim is to integrate tile notions into a practical survey, which tends to explore the influence of cultural background of the subjects on the understanding of different cultures. The subjects'feedback has confirmed that cultural background does exercise a systematic influence on the understanding of the target language.The fourth chapter deals with the effect of cultural context on translation. Firstly, the relation between translation and culture are introduced. Then in the following, this chapter provides many examples to show how different cultural context affect C-E and E-C translation. That is to illustrate in what way that cultural factors determine and limit the choice that the translator makes in the course of translation.The fifth chapter dwells on the strategies dealing with cultural context in translation. In dealing with the uniqueness of cultures in the SL, foreignization is the preferred strategy. A foreignizing translation aims primarily to reproduce as much as possible"the foreign elements"in the original. If foreignization is not feasible, the translator should resort to domestication as a supplementary strategy. The thesis is concluded by the summary of the problems of cultural context, translation and their relation. The legitimacy of translation is largely influenced by cultural context and it is impossible for translators to do their job without cultural context analysis.Upon a close observation of cultural context in translation, the thesis, as is hoped, will be of some help to translators to better master this method so as to improve the quality of translation. In addition, the author tentatively intends to prove its significance in widening the scope of translation study and setting up a new angle in translation development and more attention and studies on context in translation are drawn.