A Study On The Interpreting Of Culture-Bound Factors In Political Addresses-Based On The Functionalist Approaches To Translation

Interpreters play an instrumental role in the communication and cooperation around the globe, bridging the cultural gap tactically whenever necessary in a political encounter. Political addresses are laden with numerous culture-bound factors, including idioms, allusions, proverbs and poems which are unique in one culture historically as well as the political notions which are coined only recently. These factors, undoubtedly, pose a huge challenge for interpreters. Given this, the present study intends to observe the culture-bound factors inherent in the interpreting of political addresses by drawing insights from the functionalist approaches to translation.The functionalist translation theories attach great importance to the purpose of a translation activity, stating that it is the purpose of the translation mission that justifies the means. Apart from this, the “function plus loyalty” principle proposed by Christiane Nord ensures that interpreters are not at liberty to render information in whatever way they see fit, enabling interpreters to limit the freedom of interpreting. The current research takes a retrospect of previous related studies drawn from a substantial number of scholarly journal articles from credible and reliable sources. The study then goes on to analyze the culture-bound factors in the opening address by President Xi Jinping at the 22 nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and Xi’s address to the APEC CEO Summit. In addition, the paper touches upon the profound implications of the functionalist approaches to translation for both professional interpreters and interpreting trainees under the guidance of the functionalist translation theories, as a novel application of the functionalist approaches in the realm of interpreting.