中英广告翻译中的文化差异.docx

中英广告翻译中的文化差异.docx

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中英广告翻译中的文化差异

CulturalDifferencesinEnglish-ChineseAdvertisementTranslation

中英广告翻译中的文化差异

学生姓名：

魏杨杨

所在系别：

____外国语言文学系

所学专业：

英语

完成时间：

2014年5月

Contents

Abstract………………………………………………..................................................i

摘要…………………………………………………………………......................…ii

I.Introduction……………………………………………………...............................1

II.TheRelationshipBetweenCultureandAdvertisingLanguage………………..1

2.1LanguageandCulture…………………………………………………………1

2.2AdvertisementandCulture…………………………………………………….2

2.3AdvertisementLanguageandCulture………………………............................2

III.Culture-SpecificinAdvertisementTranslation..................................................2

3.1Differencesinrelatedculturalbackground……………………………...…..3

3.2Differencesinculturalvalue...........................................................................3

3.3Differencesinnumbers...................................................................................3

IV.ThePrincipleofEnglish-ChineseAdvertisementTranslation…………..........4

4.1Understandtargetlanguagecultureadequately..............................................4

4.2Balancetherelationshipbetweenmetaphraseandparaphrase.......................4

4.3Adopttransliterationandfreetranslation.......................................................4

V.Conclusion...............................................................................................................5

Bibliography.................................................................................................................6

Abstract

AsMarkTwainsaysthatmanyasmallthinghasbeenmadelargebytherightkindofadvertising,advertisementhasbecomeoneofthemostimportantproductofcultureinthemodernage.Itisaformofcommunicationthattypicallyattemptstopersuadepotentialcustomerstopurchaseortoconsumeproductsorserviceofabrand.Especially,advertisinglanguageischaracterizedbyculturalandagebackground.

Advertisinghasgonethroughfivemajorstagesofdevelopment:

domestic,export,international,multi-nationalandglobal.Nowadays,sincetheeconomicglobalization,therelationshipbetweenadvertisementandculturebecomemoreclosely.Thispapergivesadetailedanalysisofculture-specificinadvertisementtranslationandthenprobesintosomeeffectivemethodsofitstranslation

Keywords:

advertisementtranslation;culturedifference;language

摘要

马克吐温曾经说过，很多微小的事物通过广告而使其功能扩大化。

在当今世界，广告已成为最重要的文化产品之一。

它是一种试图去引导消费者消费产品或服务的一种典型的交流形式。

广告语言有典型的文化特征。

广告经历了五个重要的发展阶段：

国内化，向外发展，国际化，多国文化交融，全球化。

如今，自从经济全球化以来，广告与文化的关系变得日益密切。

本篇文章主要针对广告翻译中的文化进行详细的分析以及探讨一下翻译的一些重要策略。

关键词：

广告翻译；文化差异；语言

I.Introduction

AmericanMarketingAssociationdefinesadvertisingasthenonpersonalcommunicationofinformationusuallypaidforandusuallypersuasiveinnatureaboutproducts,servicesorideasbyidentifiedsponsorsthroughthevariousmedia.However,whateverthestrategiesadvertisertakes,languageisanessentialcarrierofinspiration.Therearemanyunsuccessfulcasesofadvertisementtranslationwhichleadnosaleforproduct.Themainreasonisthatthetranslatordoesn'thaveadequateunderstandingoftargetculture,andislimitedbysuperficialmeaningofthetext.Inordertoattractthetargetespeciallynon-domesticconsumers,itisasignificanttasktobeawareofthedifferencesbetweenChinesecultureandwesternculture,andthekeytotranslateadvertisementistohavethesamestronginfluenceonthepeoplewhoreadthetranslatedversion.

II.TheRelationshipBetweenCultureandAdvertisingLanguage

2.1LanguageandCulture

Therearevariousculturaltypessuchasnationalcultureandforeignculture,whiletheyhavecommonfeaturethatalmosteachcultureexistsinaformoflanguage.Althoughlotsoffactorsresultintheformationofculture,itsspreadreliesonsomecertainforms.Thepracticeindicatesthatlanguageuseisheavilytintedwithitsculture.Wecaninferthatalanguagenotonlyexpressesfacts,ideals,oreventswhichrepresentsimilarworldknowledgebyitspeople,butalsoreflectsthepeople’sattitudes,beliefs,worldoutlooksetc.Inaword,languageexpressesculturalreality.

2.2AdvertisementandCulture

Advertisementandculturehavereciprocalandbidirectionalrelationship.Frommacrolevel,advertisementindustryacceleratesthedevelopmentofsocialeconomy.Frommicrolevel,theadvertisementisoneoftheagentswhichleadtothereformofculture.Contemporaryculturecontainstheadvertisement,meanwhile,itisalsothedisseminatorandcreatoroftheculture.Whilepublicizingproductsorservices,theadvertisementunconsciouslyoutputssomeculturalawarenessandchangespeople’sthinkingwaysorvalues.Let’stakeCoca-Colaadvertisementforexample.Itsoriginalmessageis“Ican’tcatchthatfeeling”.ButJapaneseversionmeans“IenjoyCoca-Cola”andItalianversionmeans“Theuniquefeeling”.Therefore,itimpliesthatonlytheadvertisementinformationtrulyreflectslocalculturewillitliveuptotheculturalexpectation.

2.3AdvertisementLanguageandCulture

Advertisementlanguageisthecoreofanads.Socialcultureinfluencesevenlimitsthiskindoflanguageandexpression,meanwhile,theadvertisementlanguagecontainsandreflectsthesocialculture.Theadvertisementexistsinasocietywhichmeansphilosophicalconcept,thinkingmode,culturalpsychology,moralcaliberandculturalhabitsofanationcertainlyhaveagreateffectontheadvertisementlanguage.Inthefact,peopletendtoacceptsuchmessagesthatarousetheirsenseofidentity.

Forinstance,thepublicityofaproductorservicecloselyrelatedtosexylifesometimesinEnglishadvertisement.Inordertoincreaseitsallure,wecanfindsuchwordsascondomsorsexinit.Althoughwesternpeopleareaccustomedtoit,thesekindsofadvertisementshavedefinitelysurpassedtheculturalpsychologicalenduranceofcommonpeopleinChina.Soapprehensionoftheadvertisementlanguageshouldbebasedonlocalculture.

III.Culture-SpecificinAdvertisementTranslation

Thetargetofadvertisementwriteristhenativereaderwhohassamevalues,thinkingwaysandlivinghabits,while,theadvertisementtranslatorneedstofacethepeoplewhoseculturalbackground,traditionandsocialvaluesareutterlydifferent.Therefore,asaninterculturalactivity,advertisementtranslationrequiresthetranslatortoputacceptancedegreeoftargetpeopleinthefirstplaceandadequatelyconsiderculture-specificinadvertisement.Otherwise,itisimpossibletoputpublicityintoeffect.Ultimately,thecompanyfailstoachieveitsmarketvalue.Now,thispartlistseveralaspectsrelatedtoculture-specificinadvertisementtranslationanddiscussitsproblemsandsolutions.

3.1Differencesinrelatedculturalbackground

Let'sstartfromtheheadlineofafamousAmericanwine'sadvertisement

"SouthernComfort—ThespiritofNewOrleanssince1860."

Actually,thesuccessofthisadvertisementreliesonpeople'sunderstandingofAmericantraditionalculture."SouthernComfort"wine,aswellasAmericanJazzallcomesfromNewOrleans.Basedonculturalidentity,wecaneasilyfindoutitspunmeaning.Thatis"SouthernComfort"winehasbecomewidelyfamiliarinAmericafrommiddleperiodof19thcenturywhenpeoplebegantocreateJazzmusic,anditpresentsspiritofNewOrleans－deploitation,innovationandoptimism.However,duetothelackofrelatedculturalbackground,itishardforChinesereadertoperceiveculturalconnotationintheoriginaltext.So,thetranslationshouldbebasedontargetaudience'spointofviewandfocusonculturalapprehension.

3.2Differencesinculturalvalues

ThefollowingsentenceisexcerptedfromanadvertisementofanAmericanmagazine.

"Heishisownman.Anindividualist."

"individualist"isalwaystranslatedinto"个人主义者"or"利己主义者".Meanwhile,itcouldnotbeconsideredasequivalentbecauseofthedifferencesinculturalvalues.Theword"individualist"inEnglishcontainspositiveandcommendatorymeaning.Itisusedtodescribeakindofpeoplewhoprizepersonalrightandarewillingtoshowhisorherpersonality.However,"个人主义者"inChineseisaderogatorytermwhichmeansself-concern.Theyseekbenefitsforthemselvesattheexpenseofothers.Consequently,thetranslatormustreadjusttheoriginaltextonthebasisofapprehendingculturalvalues,otherwise,itisimpossibletorealizeintendedfunctionoftheadvertisement."一个有主见的人，一个有个性的人。

"isabetterversionintermsofbothunderstandingandpsychologicaleffectsonthetargetpeople.

3.3Differencesinnumbers

Thedifferencesinnumbersreflectstypicalculture-specificinadvertisementtranslation.First,let'stakeabeveragebrand－"7-up"asaexample.ThenumbersevenimpliespositivemeaninginAmerican－Europeancountries.ItisequaltothenumbereightinChinawhichstandsforagoodluck.Meanwhile,"7"isjustanordinarynumberinChina.Inordertoconveythehappyfeelingofthisbrand,"七喜"becomesanappropriateChineseversion.Then,thefollowingexampleis"三枪"brandunderwearwhichisproducedinShanghai.ItsEnglishbrandis"ThreeGuns".ThereasonwhyitiswellreceivedbyconsumersinJapan,ColombiaandNorthAfricaareaisthat"three"isregardedasaluckynumberinthesecountries.What'smore,"9"isoftenusedforexpressingthemeaning"foralongtime",especiallyasablessingfortheelderinChina.Thereis"999"medicineinthemarket.However,itwillnothavesameeffectontheEnglish-speakingpeopleduetothedistinctionoffigurebetweenEnglishandChineseculture.

IV.ThePrincipleofEnglish-ChineseAdvertisementTranslation

Whenwetranslateadvertisement,itisnecessaryforustoconsidersuchfact