Translation Strategies of Cultural Factors

【Abstract】Foreignization and domestication are two main commonly used translation strategies. This paper aims to analyze the application of the two translation strategies when dealing with cultural factors and provide suggestions on how to balance them dialectically.

【Key words】cultural factors; translation strategies; domestication; foreignization

【作者簡介】鄭軍，哈爾濱工程大學。

As two dominant translation strategies dealing with cultural factors in translation， domestication and foreignization have their respective values. This paper will try to make a dialectical analysis about the phenomenon and provide new clues to balance them regarding cultural factors in translation.

1. Influence of Cultural Factors in Translation

According to Peter Newmark （A Textbook of Translation 46）， translation is the rendering of meaning from one language into another language in the way that the author or speaker intended. The aim of translation is to provide semantic equivalence between the source and the target languages. Thus， translation as an important means of cultural exchange can and should shoulder the responsibility of promoting the cultural prosperity in the nation and even in the whole world.

2. Translation Strategies of Cultural Factors

Venuti， the representative of foreignizing translation， defines foreignization as “an ethno deviant pressure on those values to register the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text， sending the readers abroad” （The Translators Invisibility 20）. Foreignization can keep the original flavors of the SL text better retained in the translated version. When translating “一個和尚挑水吃，兩個和尚抬水吃，三個和尚沒水吃”， we can render it as “one monk， two buckets; two monks， one bucket; three monks， no bucket， no water—more hands， less work done.” but not just replace it with a ready English idiom “one boys a boy， two boys are half a boy， three boys are no boy”.Though the foreignized translation may sometimes seem to be odd to the reader， the overall style and other artistic features of the original text is preserved to give him a whole new foreign experience.

Domestication can be defined as “an ethnocentric reduction of the foreign text to target-language culture value， bringing the author back home” （The Translators Invisibility 95）. Domestication refers to the translation strategy in which a transparent， fluent style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers. Nidas concept of “functional equivalence” in translation is the representative of domestication strategy. “Gods mill grinds slow but sure” can be translated into “天網恢恢，疏而不漏”. “Gods mill” is a religious image in Christianity and it refers to “punishment from God”. The connotative meaning of the proverb is that one who has done evil things is sure to suffer punishment in the end. But the image is illegible to common Chinese readers and they cant figure out what it refers to. So if the proverb is translated into“上帝的磨轉得慢，但一定會轉”， Chinese readers will get confused.The domestication of cultural images in such cases contributes to the achievement of “equivalence translation”.

3. The Combination of Foreignization and Domestication

Venuti， admits that translation is an inevitable domestication， wherein the foreign text is inscribed with linguistic and cultural values that are intelligible to be specific domestic constituencies （Rethinking Translation 145）.

From the perspective of current cross-cultural communication and promotion of different languages and cultures， it is not difficult to find domestication and foreignization should be integrated with each other. And the selection of translation strategy is not decided by which one is superior but by the combination of various factors operating at different levels because both strategies have their respective advantages and serve different translation purposes.

Thus， translators must have a right view of translation. They should bear in mind that the relationship between foreignization and domestication is dialectical and combine them organically in their translation practice.

References：

[1]Newmark，Peter.A Textbook of Translation[M].Shanghai：Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，1988.

[2]Nida，Eugene A.Language，Culture and Translating[M].Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，1993.

[3]The Translators Invisibility：A History of Translation[M].London and New York：Routledge，1995.

[4]Venuti，Lawrence.Rethinking Translation[M].London and New York：Routledge，1992.