Faithfulness From A Cultural Perspective

Faithfulness, as a translation criterion, has been one of the hottest and the most controversial topics from ancient times to the present. Many scholars discuss it from literal translation vs. liberal translation, content, form and style. And a large number of relevant articles have been published, some of which deconstructs faithfulness and others express their doubts and confusions about its fulfillment in practice. With the awakening of the cultural consciousness and the establishment of the cultural perspective, translation studies have developed at a higher level with new dimensions. When reexamined in the cultural background, the nature, criterion and strategies of translation can be studied and discussed at new levels. In the global multi-cultural context, we should be aware of the cultural essence of translation. Therefore, translation activities can be studied and discussed from the perspective of cultural communication and development. Under such circumstances, this thesis chooses to study faithfulness from a cultural perspective. Using cultural perspective and cultural levels for references, analyses and researches have been delivered on translation and faithfulness with the purposes to search out the connotations and specific demonstrations of faithfulness and to disclose the translation strategies on conveying faithfulness.Cultural influences to the process of translation are apparent. The author layers culture into two levels by combining the contents of cultural layers and the concrete translating in the analyzing process:the surface (the linguistic level), and the deep (the deep cultural level). Therefore, translation can also be understood and discussed at these two levels. The translation at the surface level refers to the linguistic translation, while at the deep it refers to the translation of the cultural connotations, cultural information and sense which are loaded in the language. The study has illustrated that factors from the two levels influence translation and faithfulness as well. Faithfulness must be fulfilled not only at the linguistic level but also at the deep cultural level through overcoming the negative influences from the two cultural levels. At the linguistic level, faithfulness can be realized at words, sentences and paragraphs. Faithful translation is not a mechanical transfer of word for word, sentence for sentence, or paragraph for paragraph but an accurate translation in the content with flexible methods. While at the deep cultural level researches on faithfulness are from the three situations about the corresponding of the cultural contents. The cultural connotations and information loaded in language should be transferred to the target readers in an acceptable way through all kinds of methods, such as literal translation, transliteration, literal translation with annotation, etc.Faithfulness in the cultural perspective is to transmit the original meanings and effects faithfully and transfer the cultural information and connotations which are loaded in the original language to the target readers who can thereby succeed in experiencing foreign cultural flavors. "Changes" and "creations" under some circumstances are permitted in order to be faithful to the largest extent. By admitting the relative untranslatability, faithfulness is neither in an absolute sense nor the fulfillment only in the form. Domestication and foreignization should be dialectically integrated to ensure faithfulness. The thesis maintains that it is of profound significance to study faithfulness from a cultural perspective in that both faithfulness as a translation criterion and translation activities can be better comprehended, meanwhile, mutual exchanges among different cultures can be improved.