Who can tell me how to write the title of this paper "Cultural Background Differences and Translation"?

I translation and culture

Translation is a cross-cultural information exchange and exchange activity, and it is a comprehensive and complete information dissemination. It is an accurate re-expression and information transmission of another language. As Yuri Altman said, "there is no language that is not rooted in a specific culture, and there is no culture that is not centered on the structure of natural language." Since translation is the transformation of two languages, cultural transformation is inevitable in language transformation. Therefore, translation should not only translate the original text smoothly, but also convey the unique cultural image of the original text as completely and accurately as possible. In other words, translation "should strive to convey the heterogeneous factors of the original text, the foreign cultural characteristics of the source language and the foreign language forms of the source language". It requires minimizing information distortion. Therefore, in translation, we should fully understand the cultural differences between the East and the West and find out the true meaning of words from a cross-cultural perspective. We should try our best to introduce the connotation of the original text into the target language, otherwise it will inevitably cause some information loss. The content of translation is not the language symbol itself, but the culture carried by the language symbol. Therefore, it requires us to have profound bilingual cultural literacy and comprehensive knowledge. Fully absorb and digest the language and cultural information of the original text. On the other hand, even if we master more translation principles, theories and skills, we can't translate good works without good knowledge of language and culture. Cultural differences cause obstacles to translation, but this does not mean that translation is impossible. However, this process from untranslatable to translatable requires us to have a deep understanding of the translation obstacles caused by cultural differences. Only in this way can we seek effective translation methods from the needs of cultural exchange, reduce and eliminate the difficulties and obstacles caused by cultural differences in translation activities and avoid information loss.

Second, cultural differences and information loss

(A) cultural differences between English and Chinese idioms and information loss in translation

Language is the carrier of culture, and idioms are the essence of language, including idioms, proverbs, slang, proverbs and figurative phrases. They are not only complete in meaning, fixed in structure and unique in grammar, but also contain extremely rich cultural information. This kind of information is either national or folk-custom, and more is implication and suggestion. There are occasional partial correspondences between English and Chinese idioms, but there are few complete correspondences. Therefore, idioms can better reflect the cultural characteristics of a language than other language components. As both English and Chinese idioms are fixed phrases or sentences formed in long-term language use, their meanings and structures will generally remain unchanged. Therefore, corresponding measures must be taken in translation in order to accurately express the meaning of the original text and its national and cultural characteristics, otherwise there may be problems in translation into another language, resulting in information loss. For example, "pulling your own leg" means "fooling people" instead of "dragging your feet". "Walking dead" has nothing to do with "walking dead", but refers to a person who is haggard and skinny, just like walking dead. English says "fishing in the air" and Chinese says "fishing for the moon underwater". Similarly, the English idiom "pot calling the kettle black" literally means "old crows hate pig black", meaning "two people make the same mistakes or have the same shortcomings" or "blame others and have the same mistakes themselves". China has an idiom "pot calling the kettle black". However, although their meanings are similar, they are not always translatable. China's idiom "pot calling the kettle black" means "both of them are at fault, but one is lighter than the other", and this part of meaning can't be found in the English idiom "pot calling the kettle black". There is a popular proverb in China that "one monk carries water to eat, two monks carry water to eat, and three monks have no water to eat". If westerners' understanding of the cultural connotation of this proverb is not taken into account before translation, it will be directly translated into that a monk brings a bucket of water to drink, and two monks carry a bucket of water together, but three monks are together and there is no water at all. Then foreigners will be confused after reading this translation: why can't three monks carry buckets of water together? The reason is that the translation does not convey the deep cultural connotation of this proverb. Therefore, it is difficult for us to retain all the elements contained in idioms in one translation, from superficial meaning to deep connotation and cultural characteristics. Cultural diversity limits the translatability of idioms. Some idioms are only similar in literal images, so the idioms in the original text should be properly adjusted according to the context when translating, otherwise the translated information will be lost.

(B) Cultural differences in customs and information conflicts in translation

The different life experiences and customs of English and Chinese people will inevitably lead to great differences in the angles, ways and methods of observing and understanding problems. The same thing, different cultural backgrounds, different views. In Han culture, "dragon" is a miraculous animal in ancient myths and legends of China, and also a symbol of ancient emperors in China, such as "dragon robe" and "dragon face". Now, as a cultural accumulation, it has become a symbol of the Chinese nation. Whenever we talk about the Chinese nation as "descendants of dragons" and "Oriental dragons", we are always proud. There are also many idioms in Chinese that express joy and desire, and bring great momentum to dragons: while dancing while the dragon flies, Yue Long leaps while the tiger jumps, jumping around, crouching tiger, hiding dragon, climbing the dragon and attaching phoenix, and dreaming of success. In the Bible, San Tan, the enemy of God, is called the Dragon. In English culture, dragons always represent evil, which makes people feel terrible. Therefore, in English, "dragon" is a horrible monster, which is often used as a metaphor for evil forces. People in China often use "I hope my children are dragons" to express their expectations for their children, but if this is directly translated into "I hope my children are dragons", foreigners will be surprised, because no one wants their children to become demons. Therefore, the image of "dragon" in Chinese is not suitable to be preserved when translated into English, but translated into "everyone wants their children to shine" to achieve similar effects as Chinese. Take the owl as an example. In China culture, owls are usually associated with death, death, badness, bad luck and funeral, which is usually a symbol of bad luck. Because it is related to precursor superstition, owls often move at night and cry bleakly, so there is a saying that "a crow in the forest will kill them at home". However, in English culture, owls represent wisdom: as smart as owls; Ollie, Ollie is smart and serious. Therefore, when cultural conflicts occur in the process of translation, we must be especially cautious. We can solve them by free translation or free translation plus explanation, and we must not translate them word for word, otherwise it will cause misunderstanding.

(C) Cultural differences between religious beliefs and historical allusions affect translation information

1. Chinese and western cultures have different historical origins and different religious beliefs. Most people in China believe in Buddhism, which has been introduced to China for thousands of years. Buddhists believe that "Buddha" can influence everything in the world, and there are many idioms such as "offering flowers to Buddha" and "not burning incense in leisure, cramming for Buddha's feet temporarily", while in many western countries, people believe in Christianity and there are many related idioms. For example, God helps those who help themselves, and there are curses like going to hell. In addition, in China culture, "heaven" and "earth" both symbolize the supreme God, and the newlyweds' "worship of heaven and earth" can be translated as kowtowing to heaven and earth.

2. Allusions and proverbs are an important part of every national culture and language. People often unconsciously use allusions and proverbs of cultural heritage of various ethnic groups. People in China often say that "learning from the East is effective", "Ye Gong loves dragons", "Yu Gong moves mountains" and "dogs bite Lv Dongbin, but they are not considerate". Westerners will say "that's all Greek to me", "He's a Shylock" and "Pandora's Box" (Pandora's Box: Zeus gave her the box when she came down to earth, and she opened it privately, so all disasters and evils were scattered in the world, and only hope remained in it, so later generations used this idiom. In China culture, the idiom "teach someone an axe" is almost a household name, but no one in English-speaking countries knows about Lu Ban, which constitutes a cultural vacancy. If it is literally translated as "showing off the profitability of on-e with an axe in front of Luban", I am afraid that British and American readers don't know what it means, so they can consider adding notes to the translation. Explain the origin of this idiom, or it can be translated into "showing off in front of experts" with a concise and vivid free translation. Another example is "Two heads are better than one". Zhuge Liang is a famous figure in the history of China, and almost all women and children in China know him. But British and American readers may not know who he is and what he has to do with the shoemaker. If literal translation is adopted, it is difficult to convey the rich historical and cultural information contained in the sentence. Therefore, only by combining literal translation with augmented translation can the cultural information in the original text be fully reproduced. Of course, in the daily life of British and American people, idioms and allusions from the Bible abound, such as Noah's Ark, Babel, scape-goat and Binet.Alfred Yade of Naboth. I believe everyone is very familiar with Trojan horses. "These are Greek gifts for you" is a classic proverb about Trojan horses. This sentence comes from the famous epic Odyssey. When the Greeks left a big wooden horse outside Troy, the priest laocoon suggested not to accept what the Greeks left behind. He said, "I'm afraid of the Greeks, even when they bring gifts." Unfortunately, the Trojan didn't listen to his advice and dragged the Trojan horse into the city as a trophy. Trojan horses carried the elite soldiers of Greece, which brought the disaster of national subjugation to Troy. Therefore, the Greek gift is equivalent to the English proverb "When the fox preaches, be careful of your goose." It has the same meaning as the China idiom "It's unkind for a weasel to pay a New Year call to a chicken".

(D) Cultural connotations of color words and information distortion in translation

Culture restricts the meaning evolution of color words, and the cultural meaning of color words reflects rich cultural connotations. Due to the differences in cultural content, cultural tradition and cultural psychology, the cultural connotations of many English and Chinese color words are quite different, which easily leads to mistakes in understanding and expression. In fact, in different contexts, it is not the superficial meaning of a color word that matters, but its deep cultural factors that lead people to associate with a certain color. Once a color word obtains its connotation or cultural significance, it no longer refers to an objective and concrete thing, but an established way of thinking, which can reflect very important social and cultural significance. In the long history of mankind, colors have different associations and symbolic meanings, and English and Chinese have formed different views on colors because of their different cultural environments. For example, in the traditional concept of Han nationality, yellow is the color of the emperor, so there is a saying in history that "yellow robe adds to the body", and yellow also means "immoral" and "indecent". In English, yellow doesn't mean that, but means "cowardice", such as yellow-belly-coward.

In addition, the pragmatic meaning of "Bai" in English and Chinese is also different. The white dress of western brides represents auspiciousness and joy, while the personality of China culture regards the dead as "white happiness". Similarly, in China culture, "red" means joy and happiness, and most of them are commendatory terms, such as "good luck", "prosperity" and "red singer". When people see red, China people will associate it with beautiful things, such as traditional Chinese weddings, while Westerners are more likely to associate it with blood, violence or crime. Red also symbolizes danger, so there is a "catch people red-

Go ashore-catch someone red-handed, paint the town red-carnival, nonsense, red tape-bureaucracy, red light district and so on. As can be seen from the above examples, the same color can express different cultural psychology, cause different cultural associations and have different cultural connotations. In the translation of color words, we must understand their cultural meanings, strive to ensure the accurate transmission of the implied meaning of the original text, and correctly translate the positive and negative meanings of the original text according to the specific context. Otherwise, translation cannot achieve complete information transmission, and it will also bring incomprehensible information distortion. Therefore, in the practice of English-Chinese translation, only by correctly understanding its meaning and carefully trying to figure it out can the cultural connotation contained in the color in the source language be presented.

Thirdly, translation teaching in cross-cultural context.

Translation activity is a creative and complicated mental activity, so it is necessary to carry out appropriate teaching activities to cultivate and improve students' translation ability. The ultimate goal of translation teaching is to cultivate students' ability to analyze and transmit information. Therefore, the purpose of translation teaching is to help students understand and master the regularity and specificity of translation, acquire the ability to spread cross-cultural information in a specific language, enable students to form correct translation thinking habits, master the inherent laws of translation research, skillfully use the basic skills of translation, and make the communication go smoothly.

Translation is a cross-cultural communication activity, and its content involves the knowledge of various disciplines. Therefore, the cultivation of cross-cultural awareness plays a very important role in translation teaching. Language is the condensation of all the cultural information of a nation. Accurately grasping semantics and flexibly using expressions require a comprehensive and profound understanding of foreign cultures. These understandings come from learning the language knowledge of foreign languages, learning the historical and cultural knowledge of other nationalities, and understanding their cultural habits and lifestyles. In the process of translation teaching, special attention should be paid to following cultural principles. In addition, translation itself has cross-cultural characteristics, and cultural differences become obstacles to cross-cultural translation. Communicative approach translation theory is undoubtedly a breakthrough in translation teaching. It no longer limits translation to two texts, but extends to two cultures. It not only takes care of the transmission of meaning, but also considers the correspondence of functions, and solves the insoluble contradiction from the language itself.

In short, in the actual teaching process, teachers are not only disseminators of knowledge, but also designers, organizers and participants of classroom activities. Teachers should be competent for this pluralistic role, combine the characteristics of translation teaching and adopt various teaching forms to truly achieve the purpose of translation teaching.