论文总字数：29593字

摘 要

文化语境是研究语言应用与功能的重要语言学范畴之一。翻译是一项跨文化交际的活动，文化因素总是制约着文本的理解与表达，因此文化语境对于翻译的重要性不可忽略。在翻译的过程中，译者常常发现，扎实的语言功底似乎远远不能保证创造出一篇令人满意的译文。更重要的是，译者必须掌握原文本中和译出文本的文化差异。充分重视文化语境的重要性，就必须对文化中相关的时代背景，约定俗成的表达，价值倾向，某种文化中的特有物质以及含文化因素的巧妙表达有一定的了解和认识。总之，一个成功的译者不仅仅应该是一位双语学家，更应该精通两种相关文化，因为文字只有在特定文化语境中才有意义。译者不仅仅要掌握两种语言，更要掌握两种文化。

关键词: 文化语境；翻译；实用方法

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

2.1 The concept of context of culture 2

3. The Importance of Context of Culture in Translation 3

3.1 Times background 3

3.2 Entrenched conventions 4

3.3 Value preference 5

3.4 Unique objects 6

3.5 Some clever expression embedding cultural factors 6

4. Pragmatic Methods to Meal with Context of Culture when Translating 7

4.1 Go-ahead model 7

4.2 The block model 9

4.3 The integration model 10

4.4 The annotation model 10

4.5 The adaptation model 11

5. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction

In translation studies, translators would often face such a problem, i.e., the text has no new word but just difficult to understand. In reality, what leads to such a problem is the translator’s unacquaintance with the relevant background of the source text, because translation is not a mere matter of language but, to some extent, a matter having close relation to cultural background of the source language.

Being deprived of the full understanding of the social culture, one will never have a true command of this language (Liu Lihua, 2002:11). Every translator must first be a mater culturist (Wang Zuoliang, 1989:115). From the previous statements by Wang Zuoliang we can see the extreme importance for a translator’s knowledge of cultural background in a language. In the academic circle of transition, the issue of context of culture has gained much attention. To the cultural school, the translation before full realization and proper conveying of cultures is only a mechanical exchange between two verbal codes, and only by the marriage of culture and translation studies can the cultural function be achieved and in this way the theoretical system to guide translation practice be formed. Therefore, the translation of cultural context is beyond the abilities of any machine that attempts to replace human brains.

To become a successful translator, it seems that a double cultural person"s ability is more important than that of a bilingual person, for words only possess meaning when culture functions (Nida, 1993:56).

In a word, every nation or every verbal community has formed their unique culture owing to the diversity in geography, race, history, religious belief and many other aspects, so the cultural background must be integrated into the text when translating.

This paper has comprehensive studies on context of culture from three aspects. The first is the definition of cultural context; econd is the cultural context in the process of translation of the specific importance; and last are the pragmatic methods to deal with context of culture when translating.

2. Literature Review

On the translation of the cultural context, from the perspective of English and Chinese, there are a lot of books and papers.In the West and China, scholars have made a lot of research and Analysis on the importance of cultural context in translation process. Eugene A. Nida lays great emphasis on the influence of context of culture in his translation book “language and culture--context in translation”. To him, translation is an activity across cultures. Translation is not only a transformation of language, but also a more culture from the source text to the target text.

It was B. Malinowski, a celebrated anthropologist of Poland, who first proposed the concept of cultural context. Then, other scholars, such as Huang Guowen and Hu Zhuanglin, have given their own definition.

On the importance of context of culture in the process of translation, there also put forward many reflection and illustrations of it. Their classifications on the concrete importance are quite different and this paper, also, propose its own classification on its importance.

In addition, there are also a great number of methods proposed by the researchers on this aspect. What worth mentioning here is the 5 pragmatic methods put forward by Li Yunxing.

2.1 The concept of context of culture

The concept of context of culture was proposed first by B. Malinowski, a celebrated anthropologist of Poland. As he stated, context of culture refers to the specific social customs in a verbal community, including politics, history, philosophy, folk customs and many other types of ideological cultural awareness at that time as well as the contemporary writers and works.

Respecting the concept of context of culture, there are also many definitions proposed by scholars in China. According to Huang Guowen, every verbal community has its own history, culture, customs, social restrictions, thinking ways, moral sense and value preference. These specific ways to reflect the uniqueness of a certain verbal community is context of culture. On its concept, Hu Zhuanglin also put forward his own definition. Context of culture is the product of social construction and the environment of the verbal system as a whole. The concrete context under certain situation comes only from cultural context.

From the above authoritative explanations on the concept of context of culture, a much simpler definition we can sum up from their common points and shared focus on the features of it, i.e. context of culture is the specific context under the backgrounds of specific time and culture.

To some extent, translation is a process in which the translators convey one culture into another.

3. The Importance of Context of Culture in Translation

Translation means communicating, this process depends on the person"s sense of hearing or reading. From the comparison of the corresponding lexical meaning, grammatical class and rhetorical skill, the validity of the translation can not be judged. It is important that, to some extent, the receptors correctly understand and appreciate the translated texts. Therefore, it is essential that functional equivalence is in the understanding of the original receptors and appreciation of the text, in comparison with this way to illustrate the translation text understanding and appreciation of the translated text. As stated above, translation is to some extent a process in which the translators convey one culture into another (Nida, 1993:123).

Realization of functional equivalence in translation, it is of extreme significance for a translator to be aware of the importance of context of culture when translating. Failure to correctly understand the context of culture in the original text and to convey it by an acceptable cultural expression in the target language would at many times invite bewilderedness and misunderstanding in the receptors.

Context of culture can be divided into the following 5 types: context of culture concerning times background; context of culture concerning entrenched conventions; context of culture concerning value preference; context of culture concerning unique objects; and context of culture concerning some clever expression embedding cultural factors.

3.1 Times background

Any work is write to the contemporary readers at the author’s time and thus inevitably printed with the backgrounds of that time. While when the work is translated into another language years or centuries later, there must be suspicious diversities presented before the translator on the backgrounds both of time and cultures.

Take the word “abolitionist” for example. Published in a newspaper in 1963, there was such an expression as “congressman Sherman—the oldest abolitionist in the House of Commons”. What does “abolitionist” mean here? If translated into “废止主义者”, it is obviously too general at large and cannot convey the specific meaning here. Proper explanation of this word require the translator to have a thorough command of the political background at that time when the whole House of Commons was in a heated debate on whether should the death penalty be abolished. In this case, it will be very clear that “abolitionist” here refers to a person who is for abolition on death penalty.

If the same word appears in texts concerning the matters in 20s~30s of the 20^th century in America, it means another thing. At that time the United States issued a new law on abolition on alcohol-prohibition. While in texts describing the relevant situations in the 1960s of America, the word “abolitionist” means one who is against slavery, for times then the biggest social problem is the civil war on slavery.

At different times, the same expression can mean different things even within the shared language, so it calls for the translators’ profound knowledge of the times background and analysis of the context of culture in a deep-going way.

Only by command of the current background could the true and specific meaning be understood without twisting (Claire, 1999:132).

3.2 Entrenched conventions

Apart from the specific differences on times background; there also exist different images of some certain objects from the perspective of culture in different nations.

Take the image of dragon (Long in Chinese) for example.

In China, Long (dragon) is traditionally seen as the token of national spirit and the ancestors of Chinese people. We all like to praise ourselves as the generations of Long. So the image of Long has a lofty and unparallel meaning in Chinese literature. We have “龙生龙， 凤生凤”，“龙腾虎跃”，“龙马精神”, in Chinese (Waler, 1988:109). All these expression has a meaning of auspiciousness, Pray for good fortune and luck. While in western nations, dragon is fierce, brutal, evil, and disastrous. Therefore, we have the translated text of “亚洲四小龙”, in Chinese “four tigers in Asia” in English. The shift from dragon to tiger can well convey the original meaning and is helpful to give the receptors of the translated text the same or similar response as the receptors of the source text（Zheng Guangyi, 2002:221）.

But if the translation is a word-to-word one, i.e. “four dragons in Asia”, the readers of the translated text must be bewildered by such an expression. How could dragon the fierce beast be compared to the booming advancement and development of the four economies in Asia?

3.3 Value preference

Different nations nurture different histories which forms different value preferences. For instance, affected by the traditional philosophy of Chinese culture, one has been taught to hide one’s abilities and advantages so as to follow the mediocre ideology proposed and maintained by the unique culture like Confucianism, Taoism, and the Dark Learning. We have many expressions concerning this aspect, such as “木秀于林，风必摧之；人出与众，众必诽之”，“人怕出名猪怕壮”。

During the period of Cultural Revolution, we often read such a sentence:

“对待个人主义要象秋风扫落叶一样无情”

If the translated text is simply as: “To treat individualism like the autumn wind sweeping the fallen leaves.”It is a kind of translation which is not paid much attention to in the context of culture, because in west there has the tradition of eulogizing individualism. No one in west see the word “individualism” as a negative one. So why should Chinese people be as relentless to individualism? Here require a second consideration on the true meaning of “个人主义”and the proper expression in English should be selfish rather than individualism. There is another true example took place many years ago from which the importance of context of culture in translation can be detected in a vivid way.

Once in a party held by an American officer to welcome a Chinese ambassador to the USA, the officer praised the wife of the ambassador:

“You are very beautiful, Madam.”

Answered this ambassador:

“哪里哪里……”

Then the interpreter translated it as:

“ Where? Where...”

This is in fact a very common exchange of conventional greetings in China and also a manifest of Chinese’ modesty the good personal cultivation, but owing to the opposite entrenched philosophical cultures between the Orient and the West, the officer would not understand the meaning of “Where? Where…” Under such a circumstance the translator need try to consider from the receptor’s perspective and shift the strange culture into a familiar one to the American officer. In translation, language shouldn’t be separated from culture.

3.4 Unique objects

Every verbal community has its own codes shared by the people within it. The distinctive regions, persons, substances, matters and other material objects in a verbal community form their own unique culture which need to be careful attentioned in the process of translation.

Take the name of a river in China for example:

“你真是不到黄河心不死”她低声说，无可奈何地摇摇头”。（《寒雪》）

Translated text:

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