The cultural turn

The Cultural Turn

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金晓童An analysis of the causes and enlightenments of "cultural turn" in translation history from the perspective of globalization

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Abstract

The Culture Turn theorie of translation studies was initially put forword by Bassnett Susan and Andre Lefevre in 1990 in the book Translation, History and Culture: A Source book in which they affirmed that translation is not the simple transform between two languages, it goses in special cultural environment. Since then, the history of translation as a simple tool for the conversion of languages is fading away and gradually transformed into a carrier of culture. There is no doubt that there are differences among different cultures. As a “bridge”, translation plays an intermediary role in the communication between different cultures. However, in the context of globalization becoming the mainstream, the most important problem for translation in the face of cultural differences is how to deal with different cultures. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the causes of cultural turn, seek the positive and negative effects of cultural turn, and further elaborate on the enlightenment of cultural turn to all countries, especially to China, from the perspective of globalization.

Key Words

Culture Turn, causes, positives and negative effects, enlightenment

摘要

翻译研究的文化转向理论最早是由苏姗·巴斯奈特和安德烈·勒菲弗尔于1990年在《翻译、历史与文化论集》一书中提出的，他们认为翻译不是简单的两种语言之间的转换，而是在特殊的文化环境中进行的。自此，翻译单纯作为语言之间的转换工具的历史正在消逝，逐渐转变成为一种文化的载体。毋庸置疑，不同民族的文化之间具有差异性，翻译作为一座“桥梁”，起着不同文化交流的中介作用。而在全球化成为主流的大环境下，翻译在面对不同文化的差异时，最需要解决的问题就是如何对待不同的文化。因此本文旨在探究文化转向的原因，以寻求文化转向产生的积极影响和消极影响，并进一步阐述在全球化视角下文化转向给各国特别是中国所带来的启示。

关键词

文化转向，原因，积极和消极影响，启示

Title

An analysis of the causes and enlightenments of "cultural turn" in translation history from the perspective of globalization

Introduction

As a messenger of culture communication, translation plays an irreplaceable role in the process of spreading a country's culture. In human history, translation is an activity of exchange and interaction between different cultures, and culture is closely related to translation. Since the second half of the 20th century, contemporary western translation theory has undergone two turns, namely linguistic turn and cultural turn. Cultural turn makes translation studies no longer regard translation as an isolated fragment between language transformations, but examine translation in a grand cultural context. "Fidelity" is no longer the only goal translators pursue in translation, and the cultural differences between source language and target language are the focus of translators' attention. In recent years, Cultural Turn in translation studies has gradually become the focus of attention of translation researchers and cultural researchers, and more and more people pay more attention to the role of culture in translation. In the context of globalization, international exchanges are becoming more frequent and cultural exchanges among countries are gradually increasing. Cultural factors are also playing an increasingly important role in the development of translation studies. "Cultural Turn" adds a new dimension to translation studies and provides a research horizon. But at the same time, we should fully recognize the challenges posed by its limitations to the development of translation studies in the future. This paper is divided into three chapters: The first chapter briefly introduces what the "Cultural Turn" theory is; The second chapter primarily analyzes the internal and external causes of "Cultural Turn" in translation history from the internal necessity of translation itself and the external thrust of social influence. The third chapter mainly explores the positive and negative influences of the theory of cultural turn, and expounds the enlightenment brought by these influences under the background of globalization, that is, we should dialectically treat the Cultural Turn in translation, not lose the native culture in the mutual learning of cultures, and actively spread the native culture to promote the common progress of culture.

Literature review

Background of Cultural Turn

As a concept, culture first appeared in the Middle Ages of Europe and it becomes an eternal theme in the development of human beings, because culture involves all aspects of human life. However, as a discipline to study and form a systematic "cultural study" began in the 1950s. In fact, the rise and development of post-colonialism, feminism and the emergence and rapid spread of the Internet have made cultural studies necessary. In 1957, Hoggart published The Uses of Literacy, and Williams published Culture and Society 1780 － 1950 in 1958.Moreover, in 1964 The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) was founded at the University of Birmingham. All these marked the beginning of cultural studies. Since the early 1980s, "cultural studies" has been developed rapidly in many countries, and its research scope has also been expanded, showing a multi-disciplinary development trend. The study of Western culture has gone through more than half a century，Easthope classified the study of Western culture into three stages: (1)in the 1960s，we were devoted to expanding the concept of culture and making it cover mass culture, which was called the "Culturalist Phase"; (2)in the 1970s，we paid attention to the exploration of textualism and hegemonism, which was called the "Structuralist Phase"; (3) the "post-structuralist Phase" was characterized by the establishment of cultural pluralism. It can be seen that "cultural studies" is a kind of interdisciplinary and cross-field research with a very broad content. Therefore, the "cultural turn" proposed by Basnett appeared in the 1990s. In fact, with the rise of "cultural studies", translation as a cultural activity is inevitable and has been combined with cultural studies, the real "cultural turn" in translation studies began much earlier than the 1990s. With the development of translation studies in China, culture has gradually received attention. There are some translation theories and opinions scattered in Chinese Buddhist scriptures during the Han and Tang dynasties. Later, Lin Yutang, although Yan Fu and Zhao Yuanren have not made a systematic exposition of cultural translation, their views on translation studies are also consistent with cultural translation theory. In the contemporary time, Liu Shan is the first person to study the relationship between translation and culture as the subject. He pointed out that the accuracy and fidelity of translation depends on the reproduction of thoughts and culture reflected in another language, and stated the fact that the society at that time required translators to expand their cultural horizon. Moreover, Wang Zuoliang also realized the mutual influence between translation and culture, he emphasized that translators must understand both their own national culture and foreign culture. In the 1990s, the Cultural Turn theorie was introduced into China, and more domestic scholars stepped into the wave of cultural research. For example, Wang Bingqin's Cultural Translation studies is regarded as the beginning of China's cultural translation research, and this book laid an important foundation for the subsequent research. Liu Miqing's work of the same period, Outline of Cultural Translation, also exerted a profound influence on later studies. Yang Shizhang (2001) demonstrated in detail the interactive relationship between translation and culture from two aspects of the role of translation in cultural development and the promotion and restriction of culture on translation. Xu Jun (2002) pointed out that there were problems in Chinese translation studies, such as stressing technology over meaning, language over culture, etc. So he proposed to promote the establishment of cultural translation view. These scholars' active discussion on the relationship between translation and culture and its extension undoubtedly laid a solid foundation for the subsequent translation studies from the cultural perspective. In recent years, although it has been widely acknowledged that the western cultural turn is of great significance to translation studies, the theory of cultural turn tends to be far away from ontological studies, so that some scholars call for translation studies to return to ontology. The debate on cultural turn in translation studies has aroused the constant thinking and exploration of domestic scholars. Throughout the western and Chinese translation studies, it can be found that the theories and practices related to cultural translation in foreign countries have a long history, starting from the 1960s to the early 1970s. Until the 1980s, the relevant research theory content gradually enriched. In the 1990s, because of the “Cultural Turn” theorie, western researchers paid more attention to cultural and social contexts in translation studies. Cultural consciousness in western translation studies has been more complete. The research on cultural translation in China began in the 1980s. Although it was a little later than that in western world, it caught up with the pace very fast, so that cultural translation has rapidly become an important part of the field of translation studies in China. Since the 1990s, some researchers did systematical research on cultural translation studies. However, although the theory is not that well developed, the achievements of domestic cultural translation studies are still improving.

李爱璇Cultural Turn in Film and Television Subtitle Translation：a Case Study of Empresses in the Palace

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Abstract

The Culture Turn is a term in the field of translation studies which means that translation studies should not only focus on language, but also carry out their own discussion in a broader historical and cultural perspective. Film and television have always played an important role in the communication and exchange of national cultures. The audiovisual subtitle translation even plays a more critical role. In the previous studies, there are not a few studies on subtitle translation strategies, but few scholars explore Empresses in the Palace, a classic Chinese TV drama, from the perspective of Cultural Turn. In this thesis, the author aims to do some research on the translation strategies in audiovisual subtitle translation based on “Cultural Turn”, in order to explore how cultural turn affects audiovisual subtitle translation, and provide a new perspective for later scholars or subtitle translators.

李文璇 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

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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：Culture 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

黄锦云The “Culture Turn”of the Chinese Traditional Translation Theory

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Key Words

Culture Turn, Chinese Translation Theory

李姗 Study of the Culture Turn Phenomena in the translation of A Dream in Red Mansions

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黄逸妍A Study on Chinese Translation of Snack Brand Names from the Perspective of Cultural Turn Theory

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References

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