A Study Of Cultural Negative Transfer In Translation Of Scenic Spots Introductions

In C-E translation of scenic spots introductions, cultural negative transfer means that when cultural differences arise, the translator tends to unconsciously and inappropriately apply his native cultural mode to conduct the translation which leads to translation errors. This type of errors can not be easily identified and they may become obstacles of understanding, leading to misunderstanding and a bad impression on foreign tourists.In order to help translators who translate tourist materials to realize and avoid cultural negative transfer problems, this thesis takes the methodology of qualitative analysis and makes an in-depth study on cultural negative transfer in the translation of scenic spots introductions. The author collects many examples of cultural negative transfer in current translation of scenic spots introductions, and then classifies them into two types. By error analysis, the author finds that most cultural negative transfer problems are the result of the translator conducting the translation on the basis of his native cultural background and message itself to achieve the equivalence in form. Scholars have ever focused on cultural negative transfer from different perspectives, but the writer believes that it is more feasible to cope with the problem based on Nida’s functional equivalence theory. In the theory, receptor’s response is put at the first place and equivalence of language function is emphasized which can tremendously help translators to overcome cultural negative transfer. Finally, translation strategies and suggestions are provided.In summary, the study of this thesis shows that cultural negative transfer is common in translation of scenic spots introductions which should be put more attention to. Nida’s functional equivalence theory can help translators to overcome cultural negative transfer which contributes to improvement of tourism translation.