Translation strategies of slogans for external communication

An Introduction

Today’s China is playing an increasingly important role on the international stage, but Western countries have many prejudices and misunderstandings about China’s rise. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen external communication. awareness, strengthening external communication work, "letting the world understand China, and letting China understand the world" is an important task currently facing our country. However, whether external communication can achieve its purpose and whether it is effective depends to a large extent on the subjectivity of the translator and the choice of translation strategy. Mistranslations and mistranslations in external communication not only damage China's image, but may also deepen the West's prejudice against China. Ding Hengqi summarized and analyzed more than a dozen common error types in the article "The Quality of English in External Publicity Needs to be Improved Urgently". Dou Weilin and Zhu Ping conducted an empirical study on the effectiveness of the translation of political slogans in my country by conducting questionnaire surveys and follow-up interviews with foreign readers whose native language is English. They found that ideological differences, social cultural differences and language expression differences are factors that affect foreign readers' understanding. The main reason for political slogans in our country. Li Dechao and Wang Kefei conducted research and analysis on two types of slogans, style-driven and non-style-driven, in an attempt to construct a more sophisticated slogan translation strategy model. This article will start by analyzing the linguistic characteristics of slogans and slogans in external communication, aiming at the tasks and characteristics of external communication in the new era, and taking reader acceptability as the premise, and proposes some corresponding translation strategies from a micro perspective, hoping to help improve The effect of external communication.

2. Sentence characteristics of slogans and slogans

According to the definition of "Modern Chinese Dictionary", a slogan is "a short sentence with a programmatic and agitative effect for oral shouting." A slogan is "a propaganda and agitation slogan with concise writing and clear meaning. It is a propaganda and agitation slogan written in short words." Slogans and slogans come in various forms, they can be phrases or sentences of different lengths. Such as "governing the country according to law", "advancing with the times", "only one good person can be born", "adhering to scientific development, harmonious development and peaceful development", "carrying forward the main theme and promoting diversity", etc.

The guiding ideology of three slogans and slogan translation

When discussing my country’s external publicity work in the new era, Yang Xuefeng pointed out that external publicity work is carried out to meet the needs of my country’s opening up to the outside world and is based on overseas A mass communication activity that targets the audience and promotes and introduces China to the world. Since slogans and slogans have specific purposes and special audiences in external communication, they have their own rules and characteristics in terms of translation principles and methods. A qualified translator should not only have bilingual knowledge and be familiar with the conversion between languages, but also need to keep abreast of my country's policies and policies, grasp the degree of translation, establish the concept of "international communication", focus on themes that the audience cares about, and emphasize objectivity. Filter slogans and slogans that are only suitable for domestic promotion, or translated slogans and slogans that are not suitable for external use. Translating slogans and slogans that are not understood and accepted by foreign audiences will not only cause misunderstandings, but even damage our country's international image, so they should be filtered and not translated. "Our current external publicity (including external publicity translation) lacks the awareness of internal and external distinctions, and does not take into account factors such as the thinking orientation, psychological habits, information needs and language expressions of foreign audiences, resulting in a lack of recognition by the audience, thus resulting in propaganda failure.” Therefore, in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of external communication, the readability and reader acceptability of the translated text have become the key to the success or failure of the translation of slogans and slogans.

Translation strategies of four slogans and slogans

In the new era, external communication has shifted from propaganda and agitation in the past to the main function of transmitting knowledge and information, with the purpose of enhancing understanding and eliminating barriers and misunderstandings. , so it is audience-centered communication, which should be implemented in the translation process, and the result is reflected in the readability of the translated text. According to the translation dictionary edited by Fang Mengzhi, readability specifically includes: grammatical; consistent with idiomatic; clear meaning; adaptable to style; and organized.

1. Correctly interpret the original text and eliminate the barriers to understanding for the interpreter.

The language of slogans and slogans is concise and comprehensive, rich in connotation, the word formation is exquisite, the sentence color is flexible, concise and clear. Because the language is highly condensed, it can often produce fast and effective communication effects, but at the same time, because it is too general and empty, it is difficult for foreign readers to accurately understand its inherent meaning simply by translating the literal meaning.

For example, the Beijing 2008 Olympics slogan "Green Olympics, Technology Olympics, Humanity Olympics", if translated literally as "Green Olympics, Technology Olympics, Humanism Olympics", foreign readers can still understand "green", but may not understand "humanism" If "technology Olympics" is vague, you may have doubts: Are the subjects participating in the Olympics people or technology? Therefore, the translator must correctly understand the connotation of the slogan in order to convey it correctly. "Green Olympics" refers to efforts to promote environmental awareness, pay great attention to protecting and improving the ecological environment, significantly improve the environmental quality of the capital, and build an ecological city; "Technological Olympics" refers to promoting the industrialization of high-tech achievements and their application in the Olympic Games Widely used, the Beijing Olympics has become a window to showcase high-tech achievements and innovative strength; and the "Humanistic Olympics" refers to "people-oriented", popularizing the Olympic spirit, promoting the excellent culture of the Chinese nation, and deepening understanding and trust between athletes and people from various countries. and friendship. Therefore, the translation "Environment-friendly Olympics, Technology-empowered Olympics and Culture-enriched Olympics" can express the meaning of the original text more completely than the literal translation alone. Therefore, accurately understanding the inner meaning of slogans and making general language concrete and clear is one of the strategies to enhance the readability of the translation.

2. Clarify the meaning of the translation and promote effective communication

The general and abstract characteristics of Chinese increase the difficulty of semantic understanding. Compared with Chinese, English vocabulary has specific meanings and is less dependent on context. For example, "The bus is coming." The "car" in this sentence can refer to any kind of transportation. If it is to be translated into English, it cannot be represented by a general vehicle. We must deal with it according to the specific situation: "the bus" /car/taxi…is coming”. Therefore, when translating, abstract words with vague semantics should be converted into concrete and clear words. Similarly, if “a national, scientific and people’s socialist culture” is translated as “a national, scientific and people’s socialist culture”, the impression given to foreign readers may be empty and ambiguous. A competent translator is not a "checker" who converts words and sentences, but a "Tower Bridger" who communicates ideas. The "national, scientific and popular" in the above sentence refers to the socialist culture "with Chinese characteristics, advocating science and taking the people as the main body". Therefore, in the translation process, the "implicit information" should be based on the target language. The language characteristics should be externalized or manifested instead of sticking to the correspondence of literal meanings, so as to help the target language readers better understand China's national conditions and achieve the true purpose of translation." The translation of "a socialist culture that is distinctly Chinese, pro-science and people-oriented" based on correct understanding, clear logic and connotation not only conforms to the English writing style, but also allows overseas readers to understand its connotation at a glance, thus Achieve effective communication functions. Such examples abound in slogans and slogans. For example, in "Strengthening the construction of rural grassroots political power", the English corresponding to "grassroots" include grass root, basic/primary level, etc., but in the specific term "rural grassroots political power" In this context, these words cannot accurately convey the meaning of the original text. Because my country's rural "grassroots political power" often refers to the government at the township level, the corresponding translation is "Enhance government function at township level."

3. Increase cohesion and coherence, and enhance the readability of the translation

Chinese is a language that focuses on meaning and logical relationships are often implicit, but English emphasizes form and combination. The grammatical structure of the sentence is complete and the logic is clear. Connecting words (including prepositions, relative words, non-predicate forms of verbs, etc.) are often used to reflect the logical relationship between each part of the sentence. Therefore, in the translation process, the internal logical relationship of Chinese sentences should be analyzed and expressed clearly in the translation.

For example, the translation of "make progress while maintaining stability" can be made clear by adding a simple conjunction while. Another characteristic of meaning conjunction is that it is subject-driven, so there are a large number of subjectless sentences in Chinese; form conjunction is subject-driven, and the subject is a necessary condition for forming an English sentence. During translation, the target sentence can be completed by adding logical subjects, further realizing the transformation from meaning combination to form combination. For example, "We will continue to draw on world experience and persist in Chinese characteristics" is translated as "We will continue to draw on for Eign experience while maintaining Chinese characteristics"; "Expand domestic demand and maintain growth" is translated as "We must boost domestic demand to sustain" economic growth".

4. Taking into account the style of the original text and striving to be objective and rational

Chinese political slogans and slogans have the traditional expression style of Chinese and contain a large number of culturally loaded words, which are "informational" and "informational". "Expressive" dual text functions (such as "Adhere to scientific development, harmonious development, peaceful development"); some often use rhetorical means such as repetition, parallelism, and contrast to enhance the effect, and have "expressive" and "imperative" text functions. (For example, "hand in hand to complete the census, and build a beautiful China heart to heart"); some expressions contain general and abstract clichés (such as "focus on reassuring the people and lay a solid foundation for reconstruction"); others use a large number of Intentional or redundant modifications (such as "promoting military diplomacy in an all-round, multi-level and wide-ranging manner"). Since English advocates plain style, specific wording, and emphasis on providing information, considering that in order for external communication to be accepted by overseas audiences, the content and expression must conform to the communication habits and acceptance psychology of overseas audiences. Therefore, in the process of Chinese-English conversion, it should be targeted Different types of text are treated differently. The core of slogans and slogans that are mainly "informational" is the authenticity of information transmission, that is, objective information is the focus of translation and conversion, and attention should be paid to the true transmission of information and objective facts. Since the language form of this type of text is in a subordinate and secondary position relative to the content expressed, the principles of semantic translation should be followed, such as:

"Serve the people wholeheartedly, establish the party for the public, and govern "Serve the people" is translated as: "Serve the people heart and soul, work for the public and assumes power for the people." "Adhere to the party's basic theory, basic line, basic program, and basic experience" is translated as: "Adhere to the Party's basic th Translation strategies of slogans and slogans in external communication Translation strategies of slogans and slogans in external communication Translation strategies of slogans and slogans in external communication

eory, line, program and experience." "Adhere to scientific development, "Harmonious development, peaceful development" is translated as: "Pursue scientific, harmonious and peaceful development."

For texts that are mainly "imperative", what is important is the effect of information transmission and the emotional response of readers. That is the reader effect. Therefore, while conveying information, taking into account the correspondence and conversion of language forms can leave a more vivid impression on readers. For example, in the treatment of "promote the main theme and promote diversity", first of all, a complete message should be conveyed, that is, what is the "main theme"? What does "diversity" mean? Secondly, the original text should be concise and powerful, with neat contrasts, and the translation should be as close as possible The stylistic form and style of the original text. Taking these two points into consideration, the translation "Promote mainstream values ??and uphold cultural diversity" is consistent with the original text in form and content.

Five Conclusions

To achieve the effect of external communication, we must first improve the quality of translation.

External communication is a mass communication activity targeting overseas audiences to promote and introduce China to the world. Therefore, translators must be reader-conscious and reader-centered. When choosing a translation strategy, enhancing the readability of the translation and achieving effective communication are key. External communication often focuses on themes that the audience cares about, emphasizing objectivity. When selecting translation materials, some should be translated and some should not be translated, so as to distinguish between internal and external, strive to be objective and rational, and avoid the rejection mentality of overseas readers. Of course, translators should also keep abreast of my country's policies, policies, current affairs and other information in order to correctly understand and convey it accurately. At the same time, translators also need to have a high degree of political sensitivity to avoid information distortion and misleading, so as to effectively achieve external communication. The purpose of communication is to influence the world more effectively