英汉互译中的文化因素The Cultural Factors in
Translation Between
Chinese and English
Contents
Abstract： (1)
Key words: (1)
英汉互译在线翻译I Introduction (1)
II What is Culture? (2)
III What is the Content of Culture? (3)
IV Historical Culture (4)
V Regional Culture (5)
VI Values (5)
6.1 Appellation and Relatives (6)
6.2 Religion (6)
6.3 Ways of Thinking and Writing (6)
VII Customs (8)
7.1 F ood (8)
7.2Colors (8)
7.3 Addressing (9)
7.4 Family (9)
VIII The Factors That can be Translated and Those That can’t be Translated (9)
IX Translation Strategies (10)
9.1 Substitution (10)
9.2 Adaptation (11)
9.3 Footnotes (12)
X Conclusion (12)
References (13)
The Cultural Factors in Translation
Between Chinese and English
摘要：文化差异是翻译中的障碍和难题，要在两种语言之间进行翻译，除了通晓两种语言文字外，还必须了解两种文化，并能深刻理解两种文化的差异。本文将从什么是文化，以及
从历史文化、地域文化、生活习惯、价值观（包括伦理道德，意识形态，宗教信仰，以
及与此相关的称谓语和亲属关系）、思维方式和行文特点等几个方面，论述中西方文化
的差异，并分析文化中的不可译性和文化翻译的策略。
关键词：文化文化因素文化翻译文化差异英汉互译翻译策略
Abstract：Culture difference is a difficult problem and obstacle in translation. If we want to translate between Chinese and English, we should make acquainted with the
two languages and we have to understand the two cultures, and we must
profoundly comprehend the culture differences. Firstly this paper will talk
about what is culture, and then discuss culture differences from the aspects of
historical culture, regional culture, custom, values (including ethical criteria,
ideology, religion, and the relevant terms of addressing and relations of kinship)
and ways of thinking and writing. Finally I will analyze the factors that can’t be
translated and cultural translation Strategies.
Key words: culture; cultural factors; cultural translation; culture differences; C-E translation; translation Strategies
I Introduction
China’s rapid economic growth has put the country in the globe spotlight, and has
made overseas greatly interested in China, and a large number of books have been
introduced to China. China as one of the oldest countries in the world attracts attention of
the world people, but limited knowledge and language barriers have been the major
hurdles for foreigners to know China better.
So translation is the main way to solve this problem. The reason for translation as the
main method is that it has many practical functions, and it is a vital channel of cultural
exchange between different nations, as well as an indispensable mode of human social communication. And now translation between Chinese and English has covered every
aspect of society in order to meet the needs of social development. The functions of it
under different culture background or different era are not always the same. As a translator,
he or she should be able to answer such questions: “What t o translate? When to
translate？How to translate and for whom?” In order to answer these questions, we must understand the function of translation and the social background that are related to.
Translation is an important constituent of the human language activity, also is used by
different nationalities, the nationals intercommunication. Translation itself by Nida
(1976:75) is viewed as “essentially an aspect of a larger domain, namely, that of
Steiner (1975:47) pointed out that after Babel takes an even wider view communication”．
of translation “inside or between language s; human communication equals translation”,
hence, translation is discussed within the wider context of communication, extending ideas
put forward by a variety of translation. Therefore the activity of translation includes a
series of language conversion; it is also the social and psychological activities in essence. Newmark’s (1995) two statements are “translation is the most economical method of
explaining one culture’s way to another” and “translation mediates culture”. Tr a decision-making process in a certain social culture frame. The translator's decision not
merely depends on the language he/she learns, but also on the cultural environment of a
specific era to a great extent. (Culture and Translation)
Translation process can no longer be envisaged as being between two languages but
-cultural transfer” (Snall
-Hornby, 1998). During the
between two cultures involving “cross
translation process, translators will have to deal with problems such as culture differences,
linguistic differences, and so on. How can these factors affect translation? The culture is
the most important factor in translation, when we read the books, sometimes we know the
words of a phrases or sentences, but our comprehension is wrong. Why? That is because
there are cultural differences, and our ignorance of the source language cultures. What does “culture” means?
II What is Culture?
There are more than one thousand of definitions of culture. One of the oldest and mostly quoted definitions of culture was formulated by the English anthropologist Edward Burbert Taylor in 1871:
“Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,
society.”customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of The other definition was defined by American anthropologist Alfred Louis Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn (1961:181) who had compiled a list of 164 definitions; their lengthy (165th) contribution was as follows:
“Culture consists of patterns, explici t and implicit of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiment in artifacts: the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e., historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values. Culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other hand, as conditioning elements of future action.”
(Translating Cultures: An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters, and Mediators, 2004:16)
，“but no mater how it is There are so many different definitions about “culture”
defined, culture is the total sum of the material wealth and the intellectual wealth which have been created in the whole process of human social and historical development, or to the way of life or life- style, possessing the time, the spatial significance, which are the most basic characteristics. (Wang Kefei, 1997:2).
III What is the Content of Culture?
Ke Ping (1994) mentioned that lots of cultural scientists have divided culture into four parts. Firstly, the technical system; this includes production and science skills. Secondly, the social system includes politics, customs, history, law, social classes and education. Thirdly, ideology; this consists of religion, art, and way of thinking. The fourth
is the linguistic system, which includes grammar and semantic. This shows that culture covers almost every aspect of society. Similarly, David has also stressed about the same idea, where culture can be divided into: 1). Microcosm culture, which includes ideas,

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