A Study On Translating Expressions With Chinese Characteristics From A Cultural Perspective

In China,various press conferences are held by the governments at all levels every year,among which,the press conferences during the two sessions are the most attention-grabbing ones.As the largest developing country in the world,with the rising of its national power and international influence,China's policies have gradually caughtthe attention of western media.In recent years,a growing number of scholars are following the interpreting activities on the press conferences during the two sessions with interest.Research in translation strategies from cultural translation perspective is thus becoming more and more important.Cultural translation theory views translation as a cultural shift from the macro perspective.Interpretation is hence regarded as an oral cultural shift activity.The press conferences during the two sessions are an important platform for China's culture and civilization to go global.As a window through which the public can have access to the Chinese policies,every year on the press conferences during the two sessions,spokespersons may mention many expressions with Chinese characteristics.These expressions are the authoritative expressions of China's development and policies at the present stage.Therefore,translations for these expressions are drawing great attention,too.In this paper,the author collected original interpretation texts of the press conference for the 4th session of the 12th NPC and analyzed the texts from the perspective of Susan Bassnett's cultural translation theory.After research,the author classified the expressions mentioned during this press conference into five categories:abbreviations of figures with Chinese characteristics;Chinese quadra-syllabic idioms;new policies on China's politics,economy,culture,law and society;Internet languages and culture-loaded lexis.After analysis,the author came to the following conclusion:from Susan Bassnett's cultural translation perspective,the interpreters mainly adopt two ways to achieve cultural equivalence between Chinese and English,namely,to preserve cultural images and to replace cultural images.During diplomatic interpretation activities,the interpreters should apply the two approaches in a flexible way,so that they can better deliver the cultural contents of expressions with Chinese characteristics.