A Study On The Translation Ethics: Seeking And Respecting For Difference In The Background Of Globalization

Globalization is a mixed concept which includes economy, politics, culture, ideology and so on. To some extent, globalization can intensify the unbalanced development among different countries and cultures. In the process of globalization, some cultures changed or lost their natural functions. Moreover, some traditions have been fading away. The extinction of a nation's language means the extinction of the nation's civilization. Therefore, any country in the world who wants to protect its cultural value will not allow the disappearance of its own language. Translation, as one of the important methods that is used to express thoughts, exchange ideas, as well as to create cultures, must be alert day and night not to become a weapon to humiliate, trample or colonize others.In the process of cultural globalization, we can see some embodiments of cultural hegemony. To be specific, the developed countries that have strong political and economic advantage use their cultural ideology to subvert cultural others that are at disadvantaged positions. Actually, there is a long history for the translation to be used for political purposes. For example, the 17th and the 18th century was the golden age of European colonialism, at that time translation is undoubtedly one of the important means used to achieve European colonization. Besides, translation in the African continent also has its political significance. Therefore, the imperialist countries take translation as an important means to help them to realize their purpose of cultural hegemony.The study focus of Ethics is some certain social basic-norms and the corresponding ethical principles among people. Translation, as a cross-cultural activity, should conduct its behavior ethically to ensure a reasonable and appropriate inter-cultural communication. Because of this, translation is in urgent need of guidance from the Ethics. Theories from the Ethics will be used in this paper to make an exploratory analysis on cultural globalization. From the perspectives of cultural globalization and culture diversity etc, the thesis will go into the issues about the nature, the function, the responsibility and obligation of translation in this macroscopic background. Then questions like what kind of translation ethics should be taken to guide translation activities, and what positive effects this translation ethics can bring to human will also be included.Seeking and respecting for differences rather than similarities reveals the humanistic value of translation. What we mean by seeking differences is to regard the original text as a whole which has it own values, and not to take what one need from the original text for one's own purpose. And respecting for difference equals to respecting for the cultural other. Generally speaking,in the historical background of cultural globalization, seeking and respecting for difference is a correct moral attitudes towards the cultural other, it is put forward for the sake of establishing a reasonable mode in cross-cultural communication.