A Study On Zero Translation From The Perspective Of Post-colonial Translation Theory

With China deepening its reform and opening up and the world becoming more integrated in economy, politics and culture, language plays an increasingly important role in the process. English, the most widely accepted language worldwide has become more and more influential. It is broadly acknowledged that language, a carrier of culture contributes to the transmission and expansion of the culture it is embedded in, and a powerful language may symbolize the great economic and political strength of that country. In the past decades, large numbers of foreign words have been cramming into Chinese. Of course, the frequent interaction between languages and cultures of different nations can account for this situation. However, the direct transplantation of foreign words into the Chinese language should be eyed, especially when this trend is getting out of control. From the angle of translation, it deals with the term "zero translation", which is the research target of this paper. As far as this issue is concerned, the paper is intended to make an analysis of zero translation from the perspective of post-colonial translation theory on the basis of the present research concerned on it. To be specific, three objectives are expected to be achieved. In the first place, the author exposes the potential linguistic and cultural colonialism in zero translation by elaborating on the inter-relationship among zero translation, translation, language, culture, economy and politics, paving the way for the suggestion that a prudent attitude should be taken toward English-Chinese zero translation. In the second place, the author expects some reflections on the introduction of foreign words grounded on the research on English-Chinese zero translation and intends to propose some translation strategies, principles and techniques in dealing with translation of foreign words. In particular, the state authorities concerned should fulfill its due function. In the third place, the author attempts to lead to the thought on how to transmit the Chinese language and culture on the ground of the study on Chinese-English zero translation, aiming to achieve moderate fairness in exchanges of two languages and cultures.With reference to the methodology, the paper is based on qualitative research. Throughout the thesis, such specific methods as introduction of the relevant literature, list of examples and logical reasoning are involved. To be more exact, when providing a general knowledge of zero translation, the author employs the existing research on zero translation to give a definition and presents many examples during the classification of zero translation. When it comes to analyzing zero translation in a post-colonial approach, the author mainly conducts reasonable inference to illustrate his view of point.Through the research on this topic, the author finds that the previous research was largely confined to the scope of language itself and very little attention has been paid to the cultural range regarding it. Moreover, two extreme attitudes are adopted for zero translation in the existing study. In this paper, the author tries to take an objective stand toward zero translation. On the one hand, it is worth noting that zero translation has its motivations for existence and does have some positive functions. On the other hand, the author places more importance on the illustration of how zero translation will exert a detrimental impact on the development of the Chinese language and culture in the long run. In this process, a respective analysis will be made on the English-Chinese zero translation and Chinese-English zero translation. To the author’s astonishment, letting alone the influence of the powerful western cultural values, it is Chinese people’s ignorance and lack of consciousness of the nature of English-Chinese zero translation that resulted in the possible linguistic and cultural colonial control. In the mean time, some efforts have been made to promulgate the Chinese language and culture, but far from adequate.In the end, the paper will come to a conclusion:At the state level, the country must take some measures to contain the seemingly unchecked flow of zero-translated foreign words to an appropriate degree. In handling the intentional introduction and natural flowing of foreign words, the pertinent state authorities should assume the accountability of language standardization and monitoring. As for the general public, they should eliminate their psyche of blindly pursuing foreign objects and mean to promote the native language and culture. In translation practice, hybridization should be applied. However, it must be made clear that the author shows a great support for the introduction of foreign words and the more extensive communication in language and culture of different countries, the point being that irrational use of foreign words through zero translation should be contained. Just as the English idiom goes, a stitch in time saves nine.