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韶学院〔2005〕38号 韶 关 学 院 毕 业 论 文 题 目： 商务英语翻译中的文化陷阱及其策略研究 学生姓名： 高静虹 学 号： 071106168158 院 系： 外语学院 专 业： 商务英语 班 级： 07(8) 指导教师： 宁济沅 起止时间： 2010年12月—2011年1月 （教务处制表） A Study on the Cultural Traps and Their Strategic Treatments in the Business English Translation by Gao Jinghong A Thesis Submitted to the School of Foreign Languages in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts Shaoguan University 诚 信 声 明 我，高静虹，郑重宣布：除了参考文献所标明引用的资料和内容之外，本中不包含有任何已经被其他高等教育机构所接受的学位或学历论文资料，也不包含有其他任何人已经正式出版的资料内容。本人完全意识到本声明的法律后果由本人承担。 签字：高静虹 日期：2011年1月 日 Declaration of Academic Integrity I, Gao Jinghong, the undersigned, hereby declare that this dissertation does not contain any material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any institutions of higher learning and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, this dissertation does not contain any material previously published or written by another person, except when due reference is made in the text of the dissertation. I am fully aware of the legal consequences of this statement. Signed: Gao Jinghong Date: January 1,2011 商务英语翻译中的文化陷阱及其策略研究 摘 要 摘 要：随着我国加入WTO以及经济全球化的趋势，国际贸易活动日益频繁，各种类型的商务英语翻译显示出了它的重要性。不同的民族有着不同的历史背景、风俗习惯、风土人情、文化传统。文化差异很容易导致误译。译者对本国文化和异国文化不了解，就很容易陷进文化陷阱里。因此，从事商务翻译的人员必须了解、掌握本国与异国的文化差异，在进行商务英语翻译时找出外国文化和本国文化的一个切合点，并使用适当的翻译技巧对译文做出适当的调整，使源语言和译入语相得益彰。本文作者将重点学习文化陷阱以及寻找策略避免商务英语中的文化陷阱。 关键词：文化陷阱；商务英语；翻译 A Study on the Cultural Traps and Their Strategic Treatments in the Business English Translation Abstract Abstract: With development of globalization and China’s entry into WTO, there are more and more international business English activities. Business English translation is becoming more and more important. Different countries has different culture in history, custom, topograph and tradition. These differences in culture results in mistranslation. With the lack of knowledge and understanding of two different cultures, a translator is easily trapped in cultural traps. Therefore, a translator in business English is required to master the knowledge of different cultures and to be aware of the cultural differences. In order to improve the translation and reach a higher level, a translator should also master translation skills. In this paper, authour will research on the cultural traps to find out the factors that contribute to the traps and find out strategic treatments to avoid the cultural traps in business English. Key words: cultural traps; business English; translation 目 录 TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 摘 要 i Abstract ii 1 Introduction 1 2.1 Language, Culture and Translation 3 2.2 Researches on Business English 3 2.3 Theoretical Framework 4 3.1 The defining of them 6 3.2 Cultural Factors contributing to Cultural Traps 6 3.2.1 Objective Living Environment 6 3.2.2 Customs and Habits 7 3.2.3 Thought Patterns and Value 7 3.2.4 Religion 8 3.2.5 National Culture 9 3.3 Cultual Traps Related to Business English 9 3.3.1 Brand Name 9 3.3.2 Colors 10 3.3.3 Advertisement 11 3.3.4 Ignoring Custom 11 4 The Strategic Treatments of Cultural Traps 12 4.1 The Implication of the Translation 12 4.1.1 Accurately Connecting between Two Different Cultures 12 4.1.2 Avoiding Negative Association 12 4.1.3 Considering the Cultural Psychology of Target Market 12 4.2 Qualification on the Part of Translator 13 4.2.1 Bilingual and Bicultural Competence 13 4.2.2 Sensitivity to & Awareness of Cultural Traps 14 4.3 The Translation Skills Applied in De-trapping Cultural Traps 15 4.3.1 Foreignization 15 4.3.2 Domestication 15 4.3.3 Transliteration 16 5 Conclusion 17 References 18 Acknowledgements 19 A Study on the Cultural Traps and Their Strategic Treatments in the Business English Translation Author：Gao Jinghong Major：Business English Grade：07 Advisor：Ning Jiyuan Teaching Assistance 1 Introduction With the development of globalization and China’s entry into WTO, international business exchange has been in a much more frequent trend. The English involved in various fields in commercial activities, such as technology transfer, foreign trade, the introduction of foreign investment, international financing, transnational tourism, international transportation, is as a whole called business English. English has become an indispensible linguistic communication means in the world economic field. And it is reported in statistics that nearly 90% of those who use English as their first language or second language approach daily with business English(Liao Ying & Mo Zaishu: 2005,18). With the communicative obstacles between two different languages of English and Chinese, translation of business English is becoming more and more important because it has been playing a very important role both in the economic world and in people’s life. Business letters, contracts, telexes and telegraphs, e-mails, different kinds of documents like policies, letters of credit, arbitrary documents, advertisement all belong to this category. Most of the time, both version of Chinese and English are needed, and sometimes businessmen who don’t speak the language need translation. However, as a tool in cross-national commercial affairs exchange, business English has been encountering a conflict in translation. As is known to all, translation, especially good translation, is a complicated process. Since there are great discrepancies between two different languages, both in meaning and structure, translation must bristle with great difficulties. Moreover, once the cultural factors are involved, translation becomes more difficult. Being a translator, it is almost impossible to exhaust all the aspects of a language or a culture, even the language and the culture of his own people, not to speak those of another people. Besides, language and culture are not static. They are dynamic and keep changing with the development of that society. To keep pace with change is not as easy as you think it to be. Just as Nida puts it:”the most difficult task for the translator is to understand thoroughly the designative and associative meanings of the text to be translated. This involves not only knowing the meaning of the words and the syntactic relations, but also being sensitive to all the nuances of the stylistic devices.”(Nida, 2004:6) Since translation is the transfer of the meaning of a text which is the verbalized expression of an author from one culture to another readership in another culture, it is essential for the translator to consider the cultural factors involved in translation. Therefore, translation is not only a bilingual activity, but also a bicultural activity. It is not only a matter of language, but also an interaction between different cultures. In the book Language, Culture and Translation written by Eugene A. Nida, there exists such a remark,” The role of language within a culture and the influence on the meanings of words and idioms are so pervasive that scarcely any text can be adequately understood without careful consideration of its cultural background.”(Nida, 1993) Translation is not only a system for matching the features of source and target languages, but also an arm to overcome barriers in international communications. Business English is a kind of popular language in the field of foreign commerce and business. A translator in the field of Business English should pay attention on the specific vocabulary, language features and sentence patterns of business and economy. As mentioned above, translation is not only a bilingual activity, but also a bicultural activity. Since Business English translation is a kind of cross-cultural activity, as a cross-cultural translator in the field of Business English, one can not avoid the cultural differences and cultural traps. Throughout the research, the cultural traps exist in the international business activity. In order to smooth the international cooperation and to eliminate the misunderstanding of business activities, it is essential to discuss the cultural traps and find ways to avoid them. 2 Literature Review 2.1 Language, Culture and Translation Language and culture are not separated with each other. Susan Bassnett claims,” Language, then, the heart within the body of culture, and it is the interaction between the two that results in the continuation of life-energy. In the same way that the surgeon, operation on the heart, cannot neglect the body that surrounds it, so the translator treats the text in isolation from the culture as its peril.” That is to say, without language, it is impossible for culture to exist. To learn a language is not to separate from learning its culture. The understanding of specific words or phrases depends on culture to a great extent. “The larger cultural context is of utmost importance in understanding the meaning of any message; for words have meanings only in terms of the total cultural setting, and a discourse must be related to the wider sphere of human action or thought. Therefore, in determining of exegesis of a message we must look to the larger cultural context for important clues to interpreting the significance of the text.”(Nida, 1964:244) Therefore, when learning a foreign language, we should not only learn the mere imitation of the pronunciation, grammar, words and idioms, but also learn the ways in which the foreign language reflects the ideas, customs, and behavior of that society, learn to understand their “language of the mind”. That means we should learn well about the language’s culture in order to communicate in the target language properly and achieve not only the linguistic competence but also the communicative competence, which is of great significance in translating a foreign language. Therefore a language is both a part of culture and a medium through which the other parts of culture are expressed. Because of the differences among different cultures and languages, it is due to encounter communication obstacles when people from different cultures and speaking different languages come into contract. Only translation can get rid of these obstacles and promote culture exchange. Therefore, as a successful translator, it is not enough to be endowed with only bilingual ability, but also bicultural ability. 2.2 Researches on Business English According to Applied Linguistics, business English is one important branch of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and is a variety of English on social function being used in specified business environment. Business English is an organic combination between international business and English language. It seems that we can say that “English” is the media，and “business” is the content in business English communication. The business English specialist Nick Brieger put forward his theory of “the category of business English” in 1997 and thought that business English includes: language knowledge, communication skills, professional content, management skills and cultural awareness etc.. (Xiang Yanhong, 2000:21) In Nick’s viewpoint, a researcher on business English should at least have a good command of the above-mentioned knowledge and skills. The concept of modern”business” includes such series of negotiation as enquiries and offer, counteroffer, bid and counter-counteroffer, acceptance and order etc.; such series of import and export business as issuing L/C, packing and shipment, payment and delivery, insurance, inspection, and arbitration etc.; and it is even related to international finance, foreign insurance, international tourism, international transport, overseas investment, international cooperation etc.. It is true that some researches have been done on the Business English translation. For example, much work has been done on the mistranslation of Business English focusing on the vocabulary, grammatical structures and syntax. There are much work done on the cultural differences of the Business English analyzing the causes and finding translating principles and a few strategic treatments. But as far as I know, the work is far from systematic. Moreover, “cultural traps” is a new word and it is a great potential to study on it. 2.3 Theoretical Framework According to Nida, cultural translation is “a translation in which the content of the message is changed to conform to the receptor culture in some way, and /or in which information is introduced which is not linguistically implicit in the original”. He also pointed out that “For truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism, since words only have meanings in terms of the cultures in which they function.” His famous Dynamics-Equivalence theory is one of the most widely cited approach in translation. The goal of translation is to establish a relationship of equivalence between the source and the target texts, while taking into account the various constraints placed on the translator. Nida proposes that translation must make sense, convey the spirit and manner of the original have a natural and easy form of expressions, produce a similar response. The great American scholar Lawrence Venuti evolved the terminology of domestication and foreignization and their relative theory, the frequently applied strategies in cultural translation. “Either the translator leaves the author in peace, as much as possible, and moves the reader towards him; or he leaves the reader in peace, as much as possible, and moves the author towards him.” 3 The Cultural Traps in Business English 3.1 The defining of them Translation is a complicated process. Since there are great discrepancies between English and Chinese, both in meaning and structure, translation must bristle with great difficulties. Moreover, once the cultural factors are involved, translation becomes more difficult. Business English translation is not only a bilingual activity but also a bicultural activity. So it is unavoidable that a translator must face the difficulties of cultural differences and mistranslation between two different languages. Cultural differences including language, customs, traditions, religion, value, behavior etc. often constitute challenges and even traps for people engaged in international business. Cultural traps are the result of the combination of cultural differences and mistranslation. As a cross-cultural translator, it is often easily confused by the cultural traps. Lack of sufficient knowledge of two different cultures and the translation skills, it is easily trapped in the cultural differences resulting in the mistranslation. 3.2 Cultural Factors contributing to Cultural Traps Since a culture consists of many different patterns, cultural factors we should take into consideration in the process of translation. 3.2.1 Objective Living Environment People are always influenced by the living environment where they live in or they are familiar with. The climate and topography are the factors contributing to the formation of various cultures. So every country has different culture with its own features due to the different living environment. It is essential to take objective living environment into consideration in the Business English translation. British is island country with Atlantic Ocean in the west, the Continent in the east. For English people, west wind is warm, mild and wet that is a symbol of life. However, for Chinese people, west wind is cold, dry and ruined while east wind is warm driving the cold air away. So, English choose “Zephyr” as a trademark of cars while Chinese use “东风” instead. While promoting the “东风”car to the western countries, it would better change “East Wind” into “Areoles”(风神). Shakespeare wrote a famous sonnet “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day”. In this sense, summer is the best comfortable season in British while in China it is not. Because of the traditional self-sufficient economy, there are many phrases related to “牛” and “羊”. While we translate these phrases, we should take care of the lack of knowledge about traditional economy of western people. For example, “力大如牛”, as strong as a horse; “多如牛毛”, plentiful as blackberries; “对牛弹琴”, cast pearls before swine. “五羊”, is a famous brand of bicycles made in Guangzhou, China. While exporting “五羊” to western countries, which English name is the best? “Five rams”? No, ram means crashing and something rude. “Five Goats”? No, goat sometimes means lady-killer. All in all, we translate “五羊” into “We-Young” which conveys the energy and joyfulness to the customers. 3.2.2 Customs and Habits Customs and habits are known as established and habitual practices that are deeply rooted in a particular society. They influence imperceptibly people’s aspects of daily life, such as dress and adornments, diet, residence, weddings and funerals. Foreigners always understand them in vain. Customs and habits, as reflections of a society, are unavoidably embodied in Business English activities. Without any excess explanations about them, the cultural traps and misunderstanding will be occurred. In western countries, 13 is considered as an unlucky number and will cause disasters while Chinese have not such idea. For Chinese, dogs are related to something bad, such as “狐朋狗友” “狼心狗肺”. To the contrary, English regard dogs as their loyal friends. For example, “You are a lucky dog”, “Every dog has his day”, and “Old dog will not learn new tricks”. In China, the color of white refers to death, while white refers to purity and innocence in western countries. In business English translation, we must take these details seriously or it may destroy businesses. In China, when Chinese see guests to the door, they always say, “慢走”. The literal translation would be “Please walk slowly”. However, the correct translation will be “Please take care of yourself”. The same to “您先请”, “After you!”. 3.2.3 Thought Patterns and Value Every culture possesses its peculiar ethical values and thought patterns which play the function of regulating people’s behavior and forming their moral standard. Ethical values and thought patterns vary from society to society. Different ethical values and thought patterns decide different modes of behaving, thinking and communicating. Undoubtedly, these factors influence the translation in Business English activities. Because of different living environments and habits, thought patterns between English and Chinese are quite different. Therefore, it is quite different thinking from different perspectives. Chinese get used to seek uniformity in difference. The thought patterns of Chinese are integrative, dialectical, of concretization, subjective and vague. On the other hand, western people get used to seek difference in uniformity. The thought patterns of them are concrete, analytic, abstract, objective and accurate. English call “红茶” “black tea” due to the different perspective. For example, Chinese get used to focus on what happened while western people focus on the future. 前事不忘，后事之师。 Lessons learned from the past can serve as a guide one in the future. Different value system has different assessment. In China, dragon is a symbol of power and emperor, such as “真龙天子” “龙腾虎跃” “龙飞凤舞”. However, dragon is a symbol of evil. So, we translate “四小龙” into “four tigers”. “International attention to the so-called “four tigers” has many people asking who will be the fifth rising economic star after Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea.” 3.2.4 Religion Religious belief is a worldwide cultural phenomenon. It comprises a sacred and inviolable part of mankind’s culture. English culture and Chinese culture are no exceptions. Buddhism and Taoism are two predominant religions in China while Christianity the predominant one of the western society. They furnish life and vigor to their respective language and culture. At the same time they pervade people’s life in almost every aspect, including ideas and beliefs. Many religious stories are well-known. If translators have no ideas of these religious stories, cultural traps can not be avoidable. “John can be relied on