A Study Of E-C Translation Of Digital Products Advertising Copy From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

As the globalization in economy and society continuously develops and enlarges in scale, China has been expanding its domestic economic activities to a number of nations overseas. Meanwhile, the advancing communication technology has dedicated a great contribution to propel the development of digital products. Consequently, a variety of multi-national hi-tech manufacturer swarm into China and it is no surprise that Apple Company is one of the classic examples. Apart from the excellent quality, trendy design and the outstanding functions, the success of Apple products lies greatly in its advertisements. It is thus clear that the booming advertising industry has made advertising translation a more important part in accelerating economic growth and thriving market at home, as well as promoting the international exchanges in the context of the high-speed development of global economy.Though plenty of advertisement translation studies have been done by many scholars from various perspectives with numerous achievements both at home and abroad, there are not plentiful studies from the perspective of Receptive Aesthetics, and the theoretical studies of advertising translation are not sufficient to meet the demand of fast-growing social economy, especially in China. Established in Germany in the 1960s, the theory of Receptive Aesthetics emphasizes the importance of reader’s role and status, advocates the shift of research focus from the works to the readers, as well as presents the idea that the understanding and acceptance of readers determines the ultimate realization of works. Owing to its commercial purpose, advertising copy is different from the general literature works, so is its translated version. Thus the status of target readers should be taken into account in that the major functions and ultimate aim of translated advertising copy are the same as its original text to persuade the target consumers (i.e. target readers) to accept and purchase the commodities and services it serves. In this regard, advertising translation shares similarity with the viewpoint of Receptive Aesthetics.Therefore, this thesis attempts to probe into the E-C translation of digital products advertising copy from the perspective of Receptive Aesthetics theory.98 typical examples were selected from approximately 200 advertisements in Apple Inc.’s official website to analyze and discuss the feasibility of Receptive Aesthetics applied in advertising translation, as well as the strategies adopted in translation. To begin with, the author uses Apple’s advertisements to illustrate the features of English adverting, which emphasizes on the linguistic features. Secondly, attentions are focused on the basic concepts and the viewpoints of the theory, that is, the central status of readers in the whole appreciation process, a new perspective of the relationship between works and audiences, from which angle of vision to value whether the works meet the readers’ horizon of expectations and eventually reach the anticipative aim of cross-cultural communication as well as aesthetics interests. Moreover, Apple’s advertisements and its different Chinese versions in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are taken as examples to verify the feasibility of Receptive Aesthetics applied in advertising translation study. The author discovers that the major viewpoints of the theory are fully reflected in the three Chinese versions. At last, enlightened by the theory of Receptive Aesthetics, the author concludes six strategies frequently applied in translating English advertising through the case study. It is expected that the study could offer fair references for translation practice, particularly in advertising translation and its related research.