Chinese-English Translation Strategies Study Of Culture-loaded Terms In Journey Of Civilization From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence Theory

As a medium that integrates audio-visual input,documentaries have outstanding advantages in cross-cultural communication.Documentaries play a vital role in promoting cultural exchanges between different nationalities and different cultures,because they have authenticity,depth,and the attributes of ideology,culture,and ethnicity.Since the beginning of the new century,more and more imported documentaries have been shown in TV channels or on the internet.And Chinese documentaries are far from being content with “bringing in”,and they are increasingly focusing on “going out.” However,in the process domestic documentaries face many difficulties,such as how to expand the market,how to compete with the same type of media,and how to face the conflict of cultural values between different countries.Therefore,the translation of documentaries is a top priority.Therefore,how to ensure the language acceptability of overseas audience and show the original Chinese characteristics at the same time,it has become the top priority for documentary translators.The Journey of Civilization column is a high-end cultural interview program specially intended for foreign viewers by the Chinese International Channel(CCTV4).The documentary offers a large number of Chinese idioms,allusions.Researching on their translation can not only spread Chinese culture,but also enable more foreign audiences to understand the essence of Chinese culture.The translation of culture-loaded terms is a difficult topic in interpreting Chinese culture,which deserves our attention.What's more,subtitle translation is unique in that it is restricted by screen and picture frames.In 1964,Eugene Nida proposed a functional equivalence theory,which is different from the traditional translation theory.For the first time,functional equivalence theory proposed that “ receptor's response” should be given priority to,which also suggests that translation should achieve “closest natural equivalence”.Nida proposed that there are two types of equivalence in translation: formal equivalence and functional equivalence;formal equivalence is text-oriented,and functional equivalence is targeted at the target language reader.Nida believes that a good translations should make the target language reader and the primitive readers produce the same or similar effects.Nida's functional equivalence theory provides a new perspective on translation theory and practice.According to Nida's cultural classification,this article divides the culture-loaded terms in Journey of Civilization into five categories,namely ecological culture-loaded terms,such as geographical names;material cultural-loaded terms,such as tools and equipment;social and cultural-loaded terms,such as personal titles;religious and culture-loaded terms,such as religious figures;language and culture-loaded terms,such as idiom numbers.From the perspective of functional equivalence,this article studies the culture-loaded terms in the subtitles of Journey of Civilization and discusses the translation strategies adopted by the translators of Journey of Civilization.The main purpose of Chinese documentaries is to introduce Chinese culture to Western audience.Therefore,when translating culture-loaded terms,it is necessary to maintain Chinese characteristics while meeting Western understanding requirements.At the same time,appropriate adjustments were made based on the target language reader's understanding of Chinese culture.This article analyzes culture-loaded terms from three translation strategies: literal translation,free translation,and annotation.It is concluded that language conversion is only the foundation,and cultural transmission is the most important.