Cultural Discrepancy and Its Influence on Advertisement Translation

張雅蓉

With the rapid development of Chinese Socialist Market Economy since China’s reform and opening up， especially since the accession of WTO， international advertising has been developing at a speed no one could ever have imagined. It is a form of typical communication that attempts to persuade some potential customers to purchase or to consume products or service of certain brand.

Therefore， advertising language， a bridge connecting business and customers， plays an outstanding role in promoting the sales， inviting commercial opportunities， enlarging influence and attracting attention. Advertising language is often characterized by cultural background. As we know， there is great discrepancy between Chinese and Western in value， symbols and consuming tendency， moreover， culture conflicts maybe exist， which cause their impact on advertisement translation. Nowadays， an increasing globalized and internationalized world is presented， many international brands have rushed into the Chinese domestic market， and there will be more and more exchange and operation of cross-culture， advertisement translation between Chinese and English reflects the important commercial activities. Thus， translators should convert the ideas and thoughts behind one slogan into target language by applying the knowledge of C-E culture， give an innovative power to push the national brands to the out-world and guide the western brands to domestic people.

G.N.Leech is a pioneer in exploring the language of advertising in the modern sense and he analyzes in detail different aspects of advertising， including grammar， vocabulary， discourse and rhyme and rhetorical devices in his book English in Advertising in 1966. Many foreign advertisers lack knowledge about the Chinese language and thus unable to imagine potential errors in advertising translation.

This thesis will not only make a comparative investigation on both Chinese and English Then in order to overcome the discrepancies in the advertisement translation discussed， the translators， this thesis concludes， should apply some artistic and effective strategies on advertisement translation.

First， the thesis will present the Introduction which briefly reviews the significance of the current advertising industry. As a means of marketing， advertising texts takes up an extraordinary seat in promoting the sales and enhancing the international visibility of a brand.

Chapter one is the foundation of this thesis，which will mainly introduce the cultural discrepancy between Chinese and English culture. There will make a contrastive analysis of C-E culture in detail. At the same time， this chapter will refer to the different features of C-E culture ahead. Because of today’s economic globalization， the cultural integration between east and west is becoming more and more obvious. As a result， not only the advertisers but also the translators should fully grasp the cultural discrepancy when they are engaged in the advertisement translation.

Chapter two mainly makes a comprehensive analysis of the advertising texts， which includes definition， functions， purpose and classification of the advertising texts. Advertising text is a term that includes various texts relating to advertising industry. Generally speaking， advertiment is a form of communication used to encourage or persuade an audience （viewers， readers or listeners） to continue or take some new action. All the textual information provides information about the product， and more importantly， provides anchorage for the image. Nowadays， the advertisement industry is becoming increasingly prosperous in China. Therefore， advertisement texts play an important role in the spread of Chinese traditional culture and the development of Chinese advertising industry， on the other hand， it also do good to absorb the western advanced culture.

Chapter three is the important part of this thesis. It will make a contrastive analysis of the features of C-E advertising texts and elaborate the cultural discrepancy. With the comparison between Chinese and English advertisement， readers can grasp an overall picture of the two total different advertisement texts.

Chapter four is the main part of this thesis. It will present the impact of the cultural discrepancy on advertisement translation by three points： authenticity， intuitive， and art of the advertisement. The author will focus on the different influences made by different culture on the C-E advertisement from digging out the inner discrepancy of Chinese and English culture.

Chapter five is the additional part of this thesis. It aims to introduce some translation strategies of C-E advertisement translation. There will show four kinds of translation principle on C-E advertisement translation， namely， literal translation， free translation， supplementary translation， transliteration. Different kinds of translation principles apply to different forms of advertising texts. The thesis will present how to translate the C-E advertising texts in a way that is in line with the would-be readers’ expectations and needs with examples.

Nowadays， the advertising industry is becoming increasingly prosperous all over the world. The customers are keeping more attention on the advertisement of a brand. A perfect advertisement will contribute to more sales and better image. The research of C-E advertising texts has the profound theoretical and practical significance.