Influences Of Cultural Context In The Translation Of C-E Political Writing

Since the 1970s, the study of translation had shifted to the conveying of cultures. The introduction and practice of the concept of context accelerate the explorations of translation theorists in this field. According to Systemic Functional Linguistics, context can be divided into three levels: context of culture, context of situation, and context of context. Cultural context refers to special social rules and customs observed by certain lingual community. In translation practice, it reflects translators'judgments and understandings of different cultures. However, translators think about cultural context in literary translations, while always neglect its influences on the translation of political writings.As a media for foreigners to understand Chinese present conditions as well as development potential, political writings must have political sensitivity, concise expressions, and formal style. Its unique functions and features determine its special translation skills. Since many new words or Chinese idioms are used in political writings, only translators with profound cultural background could convey the modern and Chinese characteristics of political writings.The consideration of cultural context in the translation of political writings unveils two inappropriate tendencies: one is under translation, the other is over translation. Some translators translate innovative words or abbreviations word by word without providing necessary background information; while others give so specific explanations that twist the writing style of original texts. After analyzing many translation practices, the author suggests the cautious combination of Foreignization and domestication strategies to solve these problems. From the perspective of cultural context, the author tries to integrate the elements of cultural diffusion with the maintenance of the style of political writings, and thus explores the effective translation methods.