20201026 trans

Cao Runxin 曹润鑫

The Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Chinese-English Communication

As we all know, translation plays an important role in intercultural communication. A good translator can help to promote the communication between two different cultures. With the process of globalization, intercultural communication is becoming more and more frequent. However, there exist plenty of cultural differences between different cultures, especially between the East and the West. Cultural differences make it hard for translators to translate well. Culture-loaded words belong to one of the differences between different cultures. Therefore, it is of great significance to be aware of the appropriate translation of culture-loaded words. This is because it can help translators translate better and thus make two different cultures communicate better.

Chang Huiyue 常慧月

1 The Definition of Culture-loaded Words

Before discussing what are culture-loaded words, we should know what is culture first. “Culture, in a broad sense, means the total way of life of a people, including the patterns of belief, customs, objects, institutions, techniques, and language that characterizes the life of the human community. As culture is so inclusive, it permeates virtually every aspect of human life and influences predominantly people’s behavior, including linguistic behavior.

Chen Han 陈涵

In a narrow sense, culture may refer to local or specific practice, beliefs or customs, which can mostly be found in folk culture, enterprise culture or food culture etc.” (Dai Weidong 2002:127) Culture is learned by human beings. A child is born without any certain kind of culture. A child gets its culture through learning. For example, a Chinese kid will speak, act and think like a Chinese if it grows up in China. An American kid will speak, act and think like an American if it is raised in the United States. Meanwhile, if a Chinese kid is raised by an American family in the USA, he will think, act and speak like American people do and vice versa.

Chen Hui 陈惠

Culture is owned by all the social members. The special behavior and habit of a single person is not culture because it is not owned by every member of the society. Culture can be transmitted from generation to generation. During the transmission, culture will also develop. “Generally speaking, there are two types of culture: material and spiritual. While material culture, as the term itself suggests, is concrete, substantial and observable. Most of spiritual culture, the products of mind (ideologies, beliefs, values and concepts of time and space, for example), is abstract, ambiguous, and hidden.

Chen Jiangning 陈江宁

In contrast with nature in the sense of what is born and grows, culture refers to what has been grown and brought up with, in other words, what can be nurtured. Culture, especially material culture, is reproduced and preserved through the maintaining of beliefs, traditions, education and other institutional mechanisms, meanwhile, it changes slowly with the development of the society.” (Dai Weidong 2002:127-128)

Chen Jiaxin 陈佳欣

“Language is one of the most fundamental systems of culture, with the function of storing, describing, expressing and disseminating culture. As the basic unit of language, word is of course the most direct reflection of culture. Culture-loaded words refer to the words, phrases, and idioms only contained in a culture. These words reflect the uniqueness of certain nations. This kind of uniqueness develops from the long historical process.” (Liao Qiyi 2002:232) Culture-loaded words can make a distinction between two different cultures.

Chen Jingjing 陈静静

Culture-loaded words can also reflect a country’s social background, financial base and culture in a certain period of time. During different historical periods, different culture-loaded words occur. Different countries differ from each other because every country has its uniqueness that makes it special. Ordinarily speaking, a literary work, which shows a lot of national characteristics, contains plenty of culture-loaded words. Culture-loaded words make it difficult for translators to translate.

Chen Sha 陈莎

2 Difficulties in the Translation of Culture-loaded Words

Every country has its own cultural origin. And “every nation has its own cultural focus. So its vocabulary always develops according to the cultural focus and becomes more and more detailed and complex.” (Liao Qiyi 2002:232)As we all know, Chinese culture and western culture have different origins. Chinese culture came from the Chinese mainland. There exist two big rivers, the Yellow River and the Huanghe River, across China. So Chinese people fed themselves by fishing, hunting and farming. The vast territory provided Chinese people enough resources to support themselves.

Chen Sunfu 谌孙福

The lofty mountains and high ranges, on the one hand, protected ancient China from the invasion of other countries, while on the other hand, also prevented China from communicating with other countries. Therefore, Chinese people is more conservative and emphasize harmony.

“There is a great difference of the physio geographic condition between China and the western countries, especially the relationship between sea and land. If we say that Chinese civilization came from the land, western civilization came from the sea.”(Huang Yongyuan and Zhang Jing 2011:237)

Chen Yongxiang 陈永相

Europe is surrounded by the sea on the west, south and north, and borders on Asia in the east. The whole Europe continent is close to the sea, and the maritime climate is very significant. As the cradle of Western culture, the ancient Greece, was more connected with the sea. Greece was transportation center of the eastern Mediterranean. It had many ports and mountains but had a barren land. This kind of condition forced the ancient Greeks to operate maritime trade very early to support themselves. Therefore, people from western countries are easy to accept foreign cultures.

Cheng Yusi 成于思

China’s national spirit is different from that of the western countries. For example, China’s definition of “dragon” is so far away from that of the western countries. “The dragon, in Chinese myths and legends, is a kind of god . It is a symbol of the Chinese nation. The Chinese all call themselves "the descendants of the dragon"; it is also a symbol of the ancient imperial power, and the emperors of all ages considered themselves to be the true dragon. Each feature of the dragon represents an advantage.

Deng Jinxia 邓锦霞

The wide forehead represents intelligence, the sword-like eyebrows represent courage, the tiger eyes represent majesty, the lion nose represents prosperity, the horse teeth represent diligence and kindness, the crocodile mouth represents swallowing, the shrimp mustache represents free water absorption , the cattle ears represent the leadership, the antlers represent health and longevity, the fish and clam represent defense, the camel head represents drought resisting, the eagle claws represent the ability to fly, and the snake neck represents the ability of accomplishing a task with ease.

Ding Daifeng 丁代凤

The Chinese dragon can be said to be a favorite to Chinese people. In the Western world, the dragon is called Drakon in Greek, Dragon in English, and Draco is in Latin. The dragon is a derogatory term in the West and a symbol of evil. In Western mythology, the dragon is the demon that makes people fear. The Bible illustrates dragon as a demon, and the devil Satan, who is opposite to God, is called the "great dragon"; the Old Dragon is the Devil, or Satan. In a biological perspective, dragon is a kind of particularly ferocious animal. In many cases, western literature describes the dragon as a monster to be eradicated by the hero.”(Huang Yongyuan and Zhangjing 2011:238)

Fang Jieling 方洁玲

Apart from the examples above, there are still many example containing different meanings in different countries because of cultural differences. For example, the color “red” represents happiness, auspiciousness and success. This is because the color red came from the sun. Ancient Chinese people worshiped the sun. Thus, when getting married, Chinese bride’s wedding dress is red. People will hang red lanterns and paste red couplets in Spring festival. However, in western countries, although they have words like, “red-letter day” and “the red carpet”, which contain positive meanings, the color “red” is a kind of taboo.

Gan Fengyu 甘奉玉

In English, the color “red” is the association of fire and blood. It represents the radical and violent revolutions. So many English phrases containing red have negative meaning, like red-headed, red-light district, red-handed, red ruin, red ink, in the red etc. Similarly, the color “white” contains different meanings in the East and the West. In western countries, white means innocence, honesty, kindness and so on. When getting married, the bride will white wedding dress.

Gao Mingzhu 高明珠

Although the color white contains the meaning of purity and innocence, like “白衣天使”(white angel) which represents doctors and nurses in Chinese, white is a kind of taboo color in China. The color white represents death and ill omen. When a family member died, they will hang white cloth inside and outside the house. We can also realize the different meanings of the same word in different countries. For instance, the word “狗”(dog) contains a negative meaning. However, in western countries, dog always contains a positive meaning, like a lucky dog.

Gong Yumian 龚钰冕

3 Approaches to Translate Culture-loaded Words

Under the great progress of globalization, different cultures have more accesses to communicate with each other. According to Eugene Nida, “Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style.” (Nida Eugene A and Charles Taber R 1969:13) “Ordinarily speaking, there are three approaches to translate culture-loaded words, namely foreignization, domestication and translation compensation.

Gu Dongfang 顾东方

The translation of culture-loaded words belongs to the micro aspect of cultural translation. In the context of globalization, the fundamental standpoint of exploring the translation approach is to preserve the unique cultural significance carried by culture-loaded words, which determines that we should use foreignization and translation compensation as the main translation approaches to translation culture-loaded words”.(Wang Xiang 2017:75)

Guan Qinqing 管钦清

3.1 Foreignization

Venuti(1995: 20) considers the foreignizing method to be ‘an ethnodeviant pressure on target language cultural values to register the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad’. It is ‘highly desirable’, he says, in an effort ‘to restrain the ethnocentric violence of translation’. In other words, the foreignizing method can restrain the ‘violently’ domesticating cultural values of the English-language world.

Gui Yizhi 桂一枝

The foreignizing method of translating, a strategy Venuti also terms ‘resistancy’ (1995: 305-6), is a non-fluent or estranging translation style designed to make visible the presence of the translator by highlighting the foreign identity of the ST and protecting it from the ideological dominance of the target culture. Foreignization can preserve the uniqueness of the source language’s culture because respecting the source language culture is starting point. Compared with domestication approach, foreignization considers more about the source language’s cultural background and is more faithful to the source language’s culture.

Guo Lu 郭露

It can keep the exotic flavor of the source language text. However, foreignization is not a perfect translation approach. If the translation doesn’t pay enough attention, the foreignization approach will be abused easily. If the translator misuse the foreignization approach, the target text will be awkward and hard to understand.

Han Haiyang 韩海洋

The food culture contains great national characteristics. It shows the creative spirit and unique style of the Chinese nation. The words related to the food culture are rich in Chinese culture. Many examples of using foreignization approach can be found in the translation of traditional Chinese food. Firstly, the translation of traditional Chinese food can be related to Chinese allusions. Let’s take the translation of Yuanxiao or Tang-yuan(glue pudding) as an example.

Han Wanzhen 韩宛真

“It’s said that a lady-in-waiting called Yuanxiao during the Han dynasty missed her parents so much that she cried with tears in her face every single day. In order to help her, a minister named Dongfang Shuo lied to Emperor of the Han dynasty that the god of fire with the order of the Jade Emperor would burn Changan(the Capital of China in Han dynasty) on the 15th of the first lunar month. The solution to avoid this disaster was to ask the lady-in-waiting named Yuanxiao to make Tang-yuan, the favorite food of the god of fire, and to ask all the people in Changan to hang lanterns.

He Changqi 何长琦

Emperor Wu approved this plan. Finally, the girl named Yuanxiao met her parents. Thus, the tradition of Lantern Festival ( pronounced Yuanxiao Jie in Chinese, “jie” in Chinese means festival) appeared.” ( Xu Xianling and Li Xiangzhaung 2005:230) Therefore, if we translate the Chinese food “元宵” into Yuanxiao by the foreignization approach instead of translating into the glue pudding, the special Chinese culture in the food can be preserved well.

Hu Baihui 胡百辉

Secondly, the translation of Chinese food can be related to Chinese customs. Chinese people eat special traditional food in special Chinese festivals. For instance, people will eat double-ninth cake on the Double Ninth Festival. The Double Ninth Festival is on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month. The translation of double-ninth cake can keep the traditional Chinese culture well. Thirdly，the translation of traditional Chinese food can be related with Chinese people’s appreciation of beauty.

Hu Huifang 胡慧芳

For example, “the Chinese cuisine ‘鸟语花香’, can be translated into ‘Singing Birds and Fragrant Flowers(Steamed mandarin fish and bird-shaped shrimps)’’ and ‘青龙过海’ can be translated into ‘Green Dragons Crossing the Sea(Soup with green onion)’”. (Zhang Jiachen 2014:106) By using the foreignization approach, this kind of translation can preserve the beautiful image of these cuisines and the explanatory note can also prevent foreigners from being confused. What’s more, the translation of some Chinese cuisine can be related to the traditional Chinese medical science.

Hu Jin 胡瑾

For example, “‘八珍食品’ can be translated into ‘Eight Delicacies (Stimulate your baby’s appetite and better his or her growth) and ‘当归生姜羊肉汤’ can be translated into ‘ Angelica Ginger Lamb Soup(Replenish your blood and warm your spleen and stomach)’”. (Zhang Jiachen 2014:106) Translating in this way can pass the traditional Chinese medical culture to readers.

Ji Tiantian 纪甜甜

Although the foreignization approach can be of great help to pass the source language’s culture to the target readers, it requires the translator’s great knowledge between the two cultures. Therefore, translators have to do a good preparation before translating.

3.2 Translation compensation

George Steiner divides the process of translation into four parts and “By ensuring the translation is possible, compensation is the last step in the whole procedure”.(2001: 176) It should be acknowledged that translation compensation occurs and accompanies translation activity as early as cultural difference exists. It possesses a history as long as translation activity does.

Jiang Fengyi 蒋凤仪

Scholar Mona Baker holds the view that compensation is a translation skill, which can be applied when “target language is impossible to directly make up for the losses in meaning, language style or emotional force”.(1992: 33) Due to the translation difficulties caused by cultural default and cultural differences, translators have to employ different compensation strategies to make sure their translation outcome can be totally understood by the TL readers. Hervey and Higgins divided translation compensation mainly into four kinds, namely compensation in kind, compensation by splitting, compensation by merging and compensation in place.

Jiang Hao 姜好

The translation compensation approach can be often used to translate the name of Chinese teas. China is the birthplace of tea culture. The record about tea appeared in the era of Shennong about 4700 years ago. Since ancient times, the tradition of providing to guests has been preserved. There are various kinds of teas in China like Longjing tea from Hangzhou , Oolong tea from Fujian etc. Chinese tea culture are also involved in Chinese Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and so on. Chinese tea culture is a treasure in traditional Chinese culture.

Jiang Qiwei 蒋淇玮

Chinese and English belong to different language systems. There are great differences between the two languages. Due to the different social environment , life style and vocabulary, sometimes it is impossible for translators to achieve complete equivalence. Chinese people’s ways to name teas are various. Sometimes, the Chinese character “茶” (tea in English) doesn’t even exit in the name of a tea. For example, some teas exhibited in the China Tea Museum in Hangzhou, like “羊岩勾青”(Yangyan Gouqing), “庐山云雾”(Lushan Yunwu), the names of these teas don’t contain the character of tea.

Kang Haoyu 康浩宇

If translators show the English names of these teas to the target readers without explanation, readers may feel confused. Sometimes, the names of some teas are the same as the names of other stuff. For example, “ ‘茉莉花茶’ is translated into Jasmine Tea. This kind of translation mixes the tea name with the flower name. Actually, ‘茉莉花茶’ is a kind of green tea which has the aroma of jasmine. Some kind of ‘茉莉花茶’ contains jasmine flower, some don’t. Similarly, ‘竹叶青’ is translated into Bamboo Leaf Green and ‘玉露’ is translated into Jade Dew.

Kang Lingfeng 康灵凤

Although the translation of these names of teas used the literal translation approach and realized the verbal equivalence, translators neglected the features of the teas. This kind of translation will mislead the target reader to think of ‘竹叶青’ as the tea made of bamboo leaves and ‘玉露’ as the tea made of jade and dew, which is totally impossible”. (Cui Shan 2019:125) The translation of tea names is also a part of intercultural communication. It can directly influence the transmission of Chinese culture in the world and can also influence the business result.

Kong Xianghui 孔祥慧

If a translator doesn’t pay enough attention to the cultural differences, it may lead to bad consequences. For example, a Chinese tea called “龙虎斗” was translated into “The Fighting Between Dragon and Tiger ”.Although the translation kept the verbal meaning of the tea, it violated the western taboo. This is because dragon is referred as a kind of evil and fierce beast. A reader without the knowledge of Chinese culture will have the image of two fierce beasts fighting and killing each other when reading the translation of the tea.

Kong Yanan 孔亚楠

The target reader will feel uncomfortable to read the name of the tea, let alone buy and drink it. “珠茶” is a kind of special tea from Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. It is round and bullet-shaped. So it was translated into “gun power”. This kind of translation can easily make people think about the violent images of war. Therefore, when being sold to India, Indian purchasers strongly asked the seller to change the translation of the tea name.

Lei Fangyuan 雷方圆

Due to cultural differences, sometimes literal translation cannot express the true meaning of the tea name well. During this circumstance, translator should compensate the important information under the verbal meaning of the tea name. This kind of purpose can be achieved through the explanation of connotation under the tea name. Let’s take the tea names we have mentioned in the last paragraph as an example.

Lei Kuangxi 雷旷溪

According to the background information of the tea “玉露”, “ the shape of the tea is round and its color is white like jade. So it’s better to translate ‘玉露’ into ‘Jade-green Tea’ instead of ‘Jade Dew’”. (Cui Shan 2019:126) This kind of translation can show the color and type of the tea. It is more acceptable and less confusing for the target readers.

Li Haiquan 李海泉

Similarly, “‘茉莉花茶’ can be translated into ‘Jasmine Scented Tea’ instead of ‘Jasmine Tea’ and ‘竹叶青’ can be translated into ‘Bamboo-Leaf-Shaped Green Tea’ instead of ‘Bamboo Leaf ’”. (Cui Shan, 2019:126) “Jasmine Scented Tea” can show the true features of the tea and distinguish the tea from jasmine flower. And “Bamboo-Leaf-Shaped Green Tea” can tell the target readers the type and features of the tea and stop misleading readers to think of it as the tea made of bamboo leaves.

Li Lili 李丽丽

4 Untranslatability of Culture-loaded Words

Catford thought that untranslatability is caused by the target language’s lack of lexical or syntactical substitute. Different languages differ from each other in the phonetic, grammatical, semantic, pragmatic aspect etc. When translating culture-loaded words, it is hard for translator to translate the culture behind these words in a perfect way. For example, “纸老虎” is translated into “Paper Tiger” in English.

Li Lingyue 李凌月

But if people don’t have a knowledge of Chinese culture, when they read the phrase “paper tiger”, they will think of it as a kind of artistic work. Similarly, “八股文” is translated into “Eight-part Essay”. When people read this kind of translation, they will only think of it as a kind of article containing eight parts. They cannot understand the moral imprisonment this kind of writing style brought to Chinese people.

Li Liqin 李丽琴

When the famous sinologist David Hawkes was translating the famous Chinese novel A Dream of Red Mansions, he translated a servant girl in the novel called “紫鹃” into “Nightingale” instead of “cuckoo”. This is because the word “cuckoo” in western countries can be used to refer the woman who cheated in a relationship. In the novel, “紫鹃” is a quite innocent girl.

Li Luyi 李璐伊

So the word “cuckoo”, although is literally equivalent to “紫鹃”, it was still not chosen by David Hawkes to be the girl’s name. In English, “nightingale” refers to a small brown bird, the male of which has a beautiful song. It can also refer people who can sing beautifully. Although the translator avoided cultural conflict by translating “紫鹃” into “Nightingale”, “nightingale” still cannot show the innocence of that girl.

Li Meng 李梦

Sometimes, translators will borrow words from other cultures to help themselves translate better. For example, translators translate “a beauty in ancient China named Xi Shi into ‘Chinese Cleopatra’. However, Cleopatra is more like the first and the only female emperor in Chinese history Wu Zetian in Chinese people’s mind to western people.