品牌名称翻译中的文化顺应：跨文化交际观

湘潭大学硕士学位论文品牌名称翻译中的文化顺应：跨文化交际观姓名：赵耀申请学位级别：硕士专业：英语语言文学指导教师：唐德根20060501AbstractinChineseiAbstractinChinese199419942005((JefVerschueren,2000:13);;;AbstractinEnglishiiAbstractinEnglishThepresentstudylargelyderivesfromafeelingofincreasinguneaseaboutthestatusquoofChinesebrandnametranslation.China’sentryintotheWTOandthetrendofglobalizationwilldramaticallyincreasecompetitionfortheChinesebusinesses.Weareconvincedthatitisnowamatterofurgencytounderstandhowweshouldconducttheproblematicbrandnametranslation.Despiteitsimportance,brandnametranslationfailedtodrawanyattentionfromtheChinesetranslatorsuntilaround1994,whenreallysignificantstudiesonthistopicbegan.Thetwentyessaysrelatingtobrandnametranslationpublishedinthethreeleadingtranslationjournals---ChineseTranslators’Journal,ChineseScienceandTechnologyTranslators’Journal,ShanghaiScienceandTechnologyTranslators’Journal(ShanghaiTranslator’sJournal)from1994to2005fallintofivecategoriesintermsoftheirfocuses.Admittedly,thoughthepreviousstudieshaveservedasastartingpointandthushavemadeenormouscontributiontothestudyofbrandnametranslationinChina,theyarefarfrombeingsatisfactory,mostofthestudiesarebasedonameredescriptiveanalysisofexamplesratherthanonatheoreticalfoundation,andalthoughculturehasbeendiscussedrepeatedly,recentlinguisticandinterculturalcommunicationtheorieshavescarcelybeenappliedtothediscussion.Theoriginalityofthepresentresearchembodiesatthreepoints:Firstofall,itinquiresintobrandnametranslationinthelightoftheTheoryofAdaptation(Verschueren,2000:13).Sincebrandnametranslationisapurposefulaction,Skopostheoryisalsoappliedintotheresearch;secondly,translationisanactofinterculturalcommunication,thepresentstudyexplorestheculturaladaptationinbrandnametranslationfromaninterculturalcommunicationperspective,pointingoutculturaladaptationisthepre-requisiteofsuccessfulinterculturalcommunicationandsalespromotioninthetargetculture;thirdly,thispaperdiscussestheconcreteoperatingmechanismofculturaladaptationinbrandnametranslationfromaholisticmanner,say,itscondition,itscontent,itsmodelanditsfunction,AbstractinEnglishiiiwhichhaveneverdiscussedbefore.Throughtheaboveanalysis,thepapercomestotheconclusionthatculturaladaptation,whichisadynamicprocess,iscruciallyimportantinbrandnametranslation.Ignoringthiswillbringfataldisastertothecompanythatwantstomakeprofitsinaforeignmarket.Accordingly,ifspecialattentionispaidtoculturaladaptationinbrandnametranslation,thebrandwillbewelcomedbytargetconsumers,thushelptoachievesuccessfulinterculturalcommunicationandremarkablesalespromotioninthetargetculture.Inotherwords,toadaptornottoadaptisthekeytothedevelopmentofanybrandthatwantstowidenbusinessesinforeignmarkets.Thisresearchaimsatachievingabetterunderstandingoftheimportanceofculturaladaptationinbrandnametranslationprocessandcanhelptoovercometheculturalbarrierstoachievesuccessfultranslationsofbrandnames.KeyWords:culturaladaptation;brandname;translation;interculturalcommunicationChapterOneIntroduction1ChapterOneIntroductionWithChina’sentryintotheWTOandthetrendofglobalization,Chinesebusinesseshavebeenundergoingever-frequentexchangeswiththeoutsideworld.Well-translatedbrandnamescontributetothegoodreputationofthecompaniesandtheirproducts,whilepoortranslationsofbrandnamesoftenresultincostlyfailures,andevendamagetheimageofthecompanies.Carryingonstudiesonthistopiccanleadtopeople’sseriousconsiderationofgoodtranslationofChinesebrandnamesandthushelptoimprovethecompetenceofChinesecompaniesintheglobalmarket.1.1LiteraturereviewAlthoughbrandnametranslationplaysavitalroleinestablishingtheinternationalbrandimageofacompany,itfailedtodrawtranslators’attentioninChinauntilaround1994,whenreallysignificantstudiesbegantobeconductedinthisfield.Relatingtobrandnametranslation,twentyessayshavebeengatheredwhicharepublishedinthepastelevenyearsinthethreeleadingtranslationjournalsinChina---ChineseTranslators’Journal,ChineseScienceandTechnologyTranslators’Journal,ShanghaiScienceandTechnologyTranslators’Journal(ShanghaiTranslators’Journal),thoughthepreviousstudieshaveservedasastartingpointandthushavemadeenormouscontributiontothestudyofbrandnametranslationinChina,theyarestillfarfrombeingadequateforthepresentsituationofChina’sdevelopment.Themajorityofthepreviousstudies,countingto47%ofthetotalhavebeendealingwiththeprinciplesandmethodsofbrandnametranslation.Nearlyallthestudiesinthisgroup,suchasstudiesdonebyscholarslikeLouChenzhao(1994:2),YangLiu(1995:2),ChengQuanming(1996:1),WeiCaixia(1997:3)andChenZhendong(2005:2)haveelaboratedonthecategorizationoftranslationskills,andtheprinciplesandskillsaremoreorlessthesame.GuoShangxing(1995:4)pointsoutproblemsexistinginthepresentbrandnametranslationpracticebygivingexamplesofpoortranslations.Intermsoftranslationprinciples,LiGuisheng(1996:2),andPanHong(1996:6)proposethreekindsofChapterOneIntroduction2“faithfulness”,namely,faithfulnesstopronunciation,faithfulnesstomeaningaswellasfaithfulnesstomarketingstrategies.Apartfromtheabove-mentionedstudies,LiuFagong(2003:6)seesbrandnametranslationasacomplicatedworkwhichdemandsaco