ON INFLUENCE OF INTERCULTURAL FACTORS ON CHINESE—ENGLISH TRANSLATION—ILLUSTRATED BY CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHINA AND WESTERN COUNTRIES

Yuhao Hu

ABSTRACT

A nation’s own language remains and inherits its original culture， in a certain scope.Because a large number of differences exist between Western and Chinese cultures， the translation between these two languages differ distinctly. From the perspective of cultural characteristics， in regarding to their different historical and cultural backgrounds， regular practices in English and Chinese also reflect the unique cultural atmosphere of the two countries to a considerable extent. Therefore， when translating， we must have a deep understanding of the cultural information contained inEnglish and Chinese， including different living environment， social customs， religious beliefs and so on. After discussing the impact of these factors on the translation between English and Chinese， this paper explores some effective translation strategies. Besides， the author combine reality with modern requirements of translation to put forward a few useful translation strategies for contemporary college students. Finally， it is concluded that when translating between English and Chinese nowadays， intercultural factors should be taken into consideration on the basis of respecting the original text， and then it should be perfected to the level of faithfulness， expressiveness and elegance.

Keywords：cultural differences; translation; translation strategies; English-Chinese translation;

I.Introduction

Language is a dominant facade of culture. On the one hand， it is influenced and restricted by culture， on the other hand it is also the expression of culture， showing its physical form with symbols. Translation， in a broad sense， is the exchangeof information between different cultures. Translation only changes linguisticsymbols externally， but notcultural information internally.

Eugene. A. Nida， a famous scholar of translation studies area， asserts：

“The rolelanguage plays in culture and the influence of culture on the meaning of words and idioms are so common that no one can understand it properly without taking the language cultural background into account”（1993：114）. He believes those common mistakes we make when translating are often not due to improper methods but to misunderstanding of mutual cultures. Therefore， we should acknowledge cultural differences between Chinese and Western cultures certainly have a significant impact on the accuracy of the translation.

II.Influence of Similarities Between Chinese and Western Cultures on Verbal or Written Translation

The similarity of language is determined by the commonality of humans’ life experience. Therefore， the ideological meanings respectively expressed in English and Chinese generally have something in common. We can takethe following English-Chinese translations for examples. After this， we may find literal translation can be adopted in some specific situations because of their commonality.

E. g. 1. “to praise somebody to the sky”（將某人捧到天上去）;

2. “to add oil to the fire”（火上澆油）， etc.

（Yuan Xianghua，2008：217）

However， the similarities between Chinese and Western cultures are relative and special， while ambiguity between the two sides is absolute and universal. Chinese and English differ in the expressions to reflect their own national or local characteristics. When translating， it is better to fully consider the influence of cultural differences and maintain their mutually unique cultural characteristic rather than mechanically apply the expressions with distinctive national or local flavor in the corresponding language.

III. Influence of Cultural Differences Between China and Western Countries on Translation

The forms of culture cannot be separated from the influence of geographical environment. The specific geographical environment creates a specific culture， and a specific way of expression will be generated by the culture. Britain is encircled by the sea and is at least about 30 kilometers away from theContinent of Europe. Because the early life of the British had a lot to do with the sea， they created the "Sea Culture" in their struggle against the sea， which was vividly reflected in some words. （Bao Mingjie，2006：19）

Western culture is self-oriented and pursuing personal freedom and equality， paying attention to the protection of personal possessions and privacy. So westerners are used to starting from their own points when communicating. On the contrary， collective interests are superior to individual interests in Chinese culture. In addition， Chinese culture values the priority of status in society and stresses the importance of putting ourselves down to respect others.

E.g. 1.Secretary：Mr. Zhang， there is a call from abroad for you.

譯文：秘：張老板，有跨國電話找您。

2. You must have had a nice journey. （While picking up somebody at the airport.）

譯文：您一路上辛苦了。（在機場接到某人的航班后。）

3. Teacher： Am I making myself clear？

譯文：老師：你們聽明白我說的話了嗎？

4.A：You are so smart.

B：I’m glad you say that.

譯文：A：你真聰明。

B：哪里，哪里。

（Xu Liangfeng， Peng Hefen，2014：96）

IV. Possible Methods in English-Chinese Translation Based on Cultural Differences

4.1 Method of Literal Translation

If both Chinese and English have the same meanings in semantic and cultural aspects， literal translation can be adopted without hesitation. For example， we translate “藍圖” into "blue print"; “同舟共濟” into “on the same board”; and “三思而后行” into“Better think twice before acting.” and so on.

4.2 Combination of Free Translation and Literal Translation

Chinese contains so rich and colorful cultural information that some sentences translated into English by means of literal translation cannot make theirin-depth Chinese meaning clear. For instance， the sentence “He only bendsuponinterest” should be translated as “他這個人唯利是圖”rather than “他只在利益之前彎腰”. As for another example like “Wet paint”， it should not be simply translated into “濕油漆”， but into “油漆未干”.（Chen Jinjie，2008：123）

V. Conclusion

With increasingly frequent communication in various aspects， Chinese culture has been continuously influenced and updated， but it never abandons its nature and continuously absorb excellent foreign cultures in the whole world. Modern translators are not confined to the research of differences contained in combination of phonology， deliberation of words， analysis of sentences between Chinese and English， they also pay attention to the similarities and differences of the cultural connotation， textual structure， social customs， religious beliefs， social value orientation and so on of the two languages. Obviously， Chinese-English translation and English-Chinese translation are based on firm comparison and study between Chinese and English， which are gained from a deep research on the principles of intercultural translation and the rules of language and culture integration.

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