Translation Strategies of Commercial Advertisements from the Cross-cultural Perspective
With the development of socialist market economy, people's awareness of commodities is increasing day by day, and the role of advertising is gradually emerging in China. This paper discusses the application of various translation techniques to embody the deep cultural connotation and translation strategies of commercial advertisements from a cross-cultural perspective.
Firstly, the social background of commercial advertisement translation is analyzed from a cross-cultural perspective.
With the deepening of China's reform and opening up and the rapid economic development, advertising has penetrated into every corner of social life. In the context of economic globalization, advertising translation is of great and far-reaching significance for promoting China enterprises to explore the international market. With the international integration of economic activities, from a certain perspective, advertising is a concentrated, comprehensive, commercial and popular art.
Second, the cultural differences involved in the process of advertising translation
Advertising in cross-cultural communication not only spreads and promotes culture, but also is restricted by culture. Advertising originates from different cultural environments, and its goal also lives and grows in the same or different cultural environments. In the process of selling goods, advertisements must consider cultural factors, and the cultural connotation of advertising language must cater to consumers' psychology without violating national orthodox culture or laws and regulations. Therefore, in order to analyze advertising translation in cross-cultural communication, it is necessary for us to analyze the cultural differences reflected in Chinese and English advertisements.
1, historical background differences and aesthetic differences
Every language has its profound historical background and cultural connotation. Therefore, different social backgrounds are reflected in advertisement translation. The advertisement of Japanese Toyota Company in China market is "In the end, there will be a road and a Toyota." This is to paraphrase a proverb of China. In the United States, they changed it to "not all cars are created equal", because anyone who knows American history knows that the first sentence of the American Declaration of Independence is "all people are created equal", which is used by Toyota to show that the quality of Toyota cars is better than other cars. Using some proverbs and common sayings familiar to the people of the target country can achieve twice the result with half the effort.
2. Differences in national beliefs and customs.
All ethnic groups in the world have their own enviable things, and the regulations on weddings and funerals are also different. Therefore, in the process of translation, we must fully respect the beliefs of local consumers and never violate their taboos. Knowing the national beliefs of countries in different regions can avoid words or images with cultural taboos in advertisements. Different countries and nations have their own unique customs and habits. Customs and habits are unique to a nation and deeply affect people's cognitive behavior and lifestyle. Advertising translation should respect national psychology, grasp the associative meaning of advertisements, and truly do as the Romans do.
3. Different ways of thinking
People in English-speaking countries think linearly, and the central idea is usually expressed directly at the beginning of an article, while in Chinese, the development of the article is mostly spiral, and the theme is often explained in a roundabout way, rather than coming straight to the point. English speakers will go straight to the point at the beginning, and then advance step by step to present their arguments in a reasoning way. Chinese speakers will give a lot of evidence first, then gradually get closer to the argument, and finally express their views with strong motives. Therefore, when translating advertisements, we should pay attention to the differences between Chinese and Western thinking and switch the logical order appropriately, so as not to make China people feel too sudden and westerners feel impatient. Advertising should adapt to local values, choose appropriate expressions according to its mode, and improve the acceptability of goods. Four. In the perspective of cultural communication, advertising translation should not only fully consider different customs, values, aesthetics and other factors, but also ensure that the implied meaning of the original text is accurately and vividly expressed, taking into account both the image meaning and the literal meaning without causing cultural conflicts, and adopt different translation methods according to specific contexts. The minimum functional equivalence is that the target readers should be able to reach such a level of understanding that they can imagine how the original readers understand and appreciate the original text. Try to choose the right words and sentences, accurately express the original intention and achieve equivalent translation.
1, literal translation
The so-called literal translation means to make the expression form and syntactic structure of the translation as consistent as possible with the original when conveying the meaning of the original. If it can be completely equivalent, it should be completely equivalent; if it can't be completely equivalent, it should be roughly equivalent. Its goal is to pay equal attention to "spirit" and "form". It is mainly used in the cultural aspects between the source language and the target language, which can make people have the same association. Literal translation is not word-for-word translation. Literal translation is not only faithful to the deep structure (content), but also consistent with the style of the surface structure (form) In other words, literal translation can effectively express the meaning of the original text and reflect the style of the original text.
2. Free translation method
Free translation refers to "breaking and reorganizing the surface structure of the original text by understanding and digesting the deep meaning of the original text, and then transforming it into a natural and smooth surface structure of the translation;" In other words, it is necessary to break through the shell of language and dig out its true meaning. "Due to cultural and language differences, sometimes the translated version can't be completely consistent with the original in form, so free translation often uses vivid and euphemistic language that is more in line with the image of local consumers to attract readers. Free translation is an indispensable translation method in advertising translation, but it is not used as frequently as literal translation. Free translation is necessary due to cultural and linguistic differences.
Third, the conclusion
Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the study of commercial advertisement translation strategies from a cross-cultural perspective. Translation should not be limited to the content and form of translation, but should focus on translation and