The Cultural Turn

Chapter 3 ：Research on Translation of Expressions with Chinese Characteristics from the Perspective of Cultural Turn Theory

——Based on the Case Study of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Ⅲ 文化转向视角下中国特色用语英译研究 ——以《习近平谈治国理政》（第三卷）为例

李文璇 Li Wenxuan, Hunan Normal University, China

Abstract

Based on the culture turn theory, this article studied the C-E translation of expressions with Chinese characteristics from Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Ⅲ. Therefore, the author wanted to analyze some effective ways for translating the expressions with Chinese characteristics, exploring the translation trend in the future, thus spreading Chinese culture and enlarging the influence of China.

Key Words

Cultural turn theory; Expressions with Chinese characteristics; Translation.

摘要

本文在文化转向的视角下，分析《习近平谈治国理政》（第三卷）中国特色用语的英译处理方式，期望从中能总结出英译中国特色用语的有效方法，探讨中国特色用语的翻译方法及注意事项，从译本、从而更好传播中国文化、扩大中国影响力。

关键词

文化转向；中国特色用语；翻译

Title

Research on Translation of Expressions with Chinese Characteristics from the Perspective of Culture Turn Theory --Based on the Case Study of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Ⅲ

Introduction

With the Reform and Opening-up and the enhancement of China’s strength, the international status of China has been improving significantly. In recent years, with going-global strategy and bringing-in strategy, China has been opening up widely and cooperated with other countries towards a shared future. Under this background, Chinese culture is an important part for China to communicate and cooperate with other countries. What’s more, Chinese Socialism in the New Era has attracted worldwide attention, as the academic circles are paying attention to the translation of expressions with Chinese characteristics in foreign publicity translation, especially for those political articles.

Expressions with Chinese characteristics refer to terms and expressions that have the characteristics of Chinese language and culture and that embody the unique things and phenomena in China. In recent years, more and more scholars have studied the English translation of expressions with Chinese characteristics, most of them use German Functionalist Translation Theory, especially Katharina Reiss’s text typology and Vermeer’s Skopos theory. I choose culture turn theory, for the reason that translating these expressions not only should pay attention to the current situation, but also should study in the broad history scope. So, I choose communicative translation theory and I will explore and analyze texts under the guidance of this theory, hoping to provide a new direction for the study of English translation of expressions with Chinese characteristics.

Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Ⅲ contains a complication of 92 of Xi Jinping’s spoken and written works from October 18, 2017 to January 13, 2020. It is a series of articles put forward by Xi Jinping with many original ideas drawn from his experiences in the governance of China in the new era. In this book, there are many expressions with Chinese Characteristics, whose C-E translations are vital for the transmission of Chinese culture. Additionally, the third volume, published in 2020, is one of the latest materials for studying Chinese Socialism in the new era.

By learning the English version of some political writings and watching some videos on the Internet, I’m interested in the translation of expressions with Chinese characteristics. Also, I have learned a lot about Xi Jinping’s thought, which contains useful knowledge for the governance of China. As an English major, by studying the translation of expressions with Chinese characteristics, I can consolidate and deepen my understanding of professional theories and knowledge. Moreover, by studying and practicing different cultural corpora, my intercultural communication ability can get progress.

Literature Overview

Domestic scholars have made a lot of explorations on the English translation of terms with Chinese characteristics. There are two characteristics as a whole: first, some scholars summarized the appropriate translation strategies and methods by studying the English translation of current political terms and legal terms with Chinese characteristics, which are selected from the English versions of newspapers, political papers and other texts. (Yang, 2006:73-74; Wang, 2020:87-93; Tang, 2013:157-158) Second, under the guidance of particular translation theory, scholars analyzed and studied the English translation of Chinese vocabulary and current political terms selected from the speeches of Chinese leaders and other text in various aspects. For example, most scholars studied the English translation of terms with Chinese characteristics from the perspective of Skopos Theory and explored appropriate English translation strategies. (Lai, 2019)

As far as the domestic research status is concerned, there are still some deficiencies in the research of expressions with Chinese characteristics. First, the theory is relatively unitary. Most scholars use German Functionalist Translation Theory, especially Katharina Reiss’s text typology and Vermeer’s Skopos theory. Secondly, the research sample is limited. Most of the scholars talk about political and economic terms, while there is little research on the translation of classical culture terms with Chinese characteristics. The research on translation methods and strategies of political and economic terms is of little use for the whole translation of expressions with Chinese characteristics. Third, the research on “words with Chinese characteristics” is more than that of “expressions with Chinese characteristics”. When consulting references (June 9, 2021), we can find that there are 69 articles about “expressions with Chinese characteristics” and 484 about “words with Chinese characteristics”. It can be seen that most scholars have done a lot of research on the English translation of words with Chinese characteristics. We should pay more attention to the English translation of expressions with Chinese characteristics, and seek the best way to tell Chinese stories.

Brief Introduction to Culture Turn Theory

The cultural turn theory in translation research is to pay attention to the influence of various elements in the process of translation, the influence of the translator's own culture on the original text, and the study of the image of the original text in the context of the translated version. When concepts are transferred from one language to another, meaning is not so much “transformed”, it is better to say that it has been “recreated” in the regional environment of the latter. The main contents of Susan Bassnett’s cultural translation view include: translation should take culture as the unit, not stay on the previous text; Translation is not only a simple decoding and recoding process, but also an act of communication; Translation should not be limited to the description of the original text, but lies in the functional equivalence of the text in the target language culture; Different historical periods have different translation principles and norms, but these principles and norms are ultimately to meet different needs. Translation is to meet the needs of culture and different groups in a certain culture. (Wu, 2010:123-125)

The cultural turn theory studies translation from the perspective of translator’s subjectivity and target culture. It mainly aims at the cultural conflict in translation, solves the untranslatable problem in translation to some extent, awakens the cultural consciousness of the translation community, widens the research field of translation and adds a new dimension to translation research. (Wu, 2009:103-105)

Bassnett explicitly introduced the concept of culture into translation studies and proposed that the essence of literary translation is cultural translation. In literary translation, we should not only pay attention to the transformation and expression of text, semantics, rhetoric and style, but also consider the cultural differences between the source language and the target language, as well as the translator's position in translation. (Wu, 2010:123-125)

Brief Introduction of the Expressions with Chinese Characteristics and Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Ⅲ

Introduction of Expressions with Chinese Characteristics

Expressions with Chinese characteristics refer to the unique language expression forms of Chinese, which have the characteristics of Chinese language and culture, and reflect the national conditions and policies of China. Expressions with Chinese characteristics include some political and economic terms, idioms, poems, four-character phrases and expressions with distinctively Chinese national culture, which reflect the national policies, people’s life, culture and their values at that time. Expressions with Chinese characteristic are a unique language phenomenon in Chinese language and culture. In fact, it is highlighted in the process of cultural communication between China and foreign countries. These terms have rich cultural connotations and more distinctive political text features. (Wang, 2020:87-93; Tang, 2013:157-158)

According to the different stylistic features, the expressions with Chinese characteristics are divided into several categories, including political and economic terminology, literary quotations, four-character expressions and idioms and rhetoric expressions.

Political and economic terminology refers to the strategic principles reflecting China’s national conditions and terms with Chinese cultural characteristics. They contain many expressions about our Party’s policies, national interests, political propositions, territorial sovereignty, etc. To a certain extent, they represent the code of conduct and guiding plan issued by the state and the government in an authoritative and standardized way. There are many expressions in political and economic terminology with Chinese characteristics, such as phrases with symmetrical form and structure, abbreviations of numbers, new expressions issued by the government, expressions with communication effect, repetition and so on.

Literary quotations mainly refer to ancient Chinese poetry and prose with rich cultural connotation. Literary quotations can describe something in a concise and vivid way, and they are rhythmic. The content is often a high degree of refinement and generalization of life, creating a beautiful artistic conception with rich imagination and association. The characters are vivid; the language rhythm is clear and harmonious. Four-character expressions and idioms have a certain structure form and contain connotations. They often appear as a whole in sentences, such as subject, object, attribute and so on. The vast majority of four-character expressions and idioms have been used since ancient times. The usage of these expressions is often different from modern Chinese. They contain rich allusions and are frequently quoted in the state leaders’ speeches. Idioms are simple, profound, philosophical and easy to understand. They are stereotyped sentences, often with exhortation or educational significance. As one of the essences of national language and culture, they have rich cultural connotations. In persuasive speeches, these expressions can prove or summarize opinions, and most of them are created by the people and widely spread. They are colloquial, popular.

Rhetoric expressions refer to the sentences which are involved with the use of language skills, rules, ways or methods, such as pun, metaphor, personification, metonymy, exaggeration, contrast, etc. In political works, the use of rhetorical devices makes the text of the works more beautiful, more persuasive.

The features of expressions with Chinese Characteristic are as following: first, these expressions contain full of social-cultural implication and have richer features of the times. Second, there are no direct translation or equivalent translation of such expressions in English, which means that they are uniquely Chinese. Third, these expressions are concise and popular, which raise great discussion and appreciation after publication. Fourth, the range of expressions with Chinese characteristics is large, covering sectors such as politics, economy, culture, history, society and people’s daily life.

Introduction of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Ⅲ

Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Ⅲ contains a complication of 92 of Xi Jinping’s spoken and written works from October 18, 2017 to January 13, 2020, along with 41 photographs. It is divided into 19 sections by topic, with the articles in each section arranged in chronological order. For ease of reading, notes are to be found at the end of relevant articles.

Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Ⅲ vividly recorded the process that since the 19th CPC National Congress, guided by the thought that is remaining true to the Party’s original aspiration and founding mission, the CPC Central committee, with Xi Jinping as its core, has fully considered the overall goal of national rejuvenation and the international situation in a context of change at a level unseen in a century, and has coordinated efforts on the great struggle, the great project, the great cause and the great dream. The third volume recorded the great practice which the CPC Central Committee, leads the whole party and whole country to make great progress in all fields of things, which shows the latest achievements of localization of Marxism in China. It has also contributed a Chinese perspective and Chinese ideas to promote the establishment of a global community of a shared future, and it is an authoritative book that reflects the Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.

The publication of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Ⅲ has helped officials and the public to understand and apply Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and to strengthen their commitment to the Four Consciousnesses, the Four-sphere Confidence and the Two Upholds, and to fight for the final victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and also to help the international community gain a full appreciation of the thought and the reasons for the success of the CPC, Marxism and Chinese Socialism.

As for the stylistic features of the English Version, the book contains a complication of 92 of Xi Jinping’s spoken and written works, which all belongs to the political writing.

First of all, the principles of the political writing are faithfulness, accuracy, clarity and completeness, which means that the political writing should have formal and standard use of language in terms of vocabulary. Political writings focus on the logical clarity and precise reasoning, and should avoid ambiguity and vague expressions.

Second, political writings mainly reflect the condition and development of our country, and are highly sensitive. When translating, they should not only be rigorous and faithful to the original text, but also represent the sovereignty and position of our country, and strive to convey the views and attitudes of our government completely and accurately.

Third, the English version should accurately explain the essence of the original text, and it should conform to the expression habits of the English language. The translated text should conform to the using habits of the target language English, which can make it easier for foreigners to understand.

Cult Turn EN 3

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