For Beauty And For Diversity

Since China’s entrance into WTO, Chinese enterprises have come to realize that a seemingly insignificant brand name means a great deal and is the mouthpiece of the enterprise and the representation of a product. A good brand name is one of the most valuable assets of a producer and products with good brand names can improve the images of companies and attract potential consumers to buy their products, which can lead to volumes of sales and huge profits. For this purpose, enterprises all make great efforts to come up with effective trademarks and brand names, sometimes even spending a very large amount of money in this respect.Based on an investigation made by author, of this thesis there have been, up until now, over three hundred papers on brand name translation in Chinese journals, of which more than two hundred published on foreign language teaching and research journals. Those published in economic, political or legal journals amount to fewer than fifty. Moreover, the papers on this topic published in leading journals in recent years have become fewer and fewer, i.e. about thirty or so. This indicates that the quality of current brand name translation research needs to be improved, and more importantly, it shows that China’s current research in this respect is lacking in practical consideration. Many Chinese scholars, such Yang Quanhong, had pointed out that the current problems on brand name translation in China are:"Too many parrots but too few creators; too much blind action but too little cooperation; being over subjective but lacking in field research, being over self-righteous without objective discussion; more thinking but less reflection"The complicated nature of brand name translation is perhaps one of the reasons behind this problem, for good brand name translation involves knowledge and expertise from many disciplines, such as linguistics, translation studies, marketing, aesthetics, psychology, law, etc. It is really an interdisciplinary practice that requires strenuous research and long experience. In addition, the research methodology thereof is also quite problematic.This paper aims at bringing a latest translation theory—cannibalism—into brand name translation and test its applicability in brand name translation practice.