On the Conversion of Cultural Connotation in Chinese-English Translation:Zhang Peiji’s Version of “Under a Lilac Bush”

Abstract: This paper is a comparative study of the two different cultural connotations in Chinese and English texts and it expounds the importance for translators to grasp cultural connotations from three aspects of lexical meaning， language habits and so forth.

Key Words: Cultural Connotation; Language Habits

Introduction

In Fact， difficulties in translation stem from cultural discrepancies， which exert a great threat to the translator. For translating， biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism， since words only have meaning in terms of the cultures in which they function.

Lexical meaning with cultural background

The earliest language of human beings is almost composed of single words. With the development of man’s living environment and the improvement of their intelligence， the phrases， clauses and sentences have appeared gradually. And because of regional differences， the cultural information each word refers differ from each other. There are two examples that word expressed under different cultural backgrounds. Chinese: 當(dāng)時(shí)我渾身都是污泥和血跡，臉上也是紅一塊花一塊的，不像個(gè)人樣。English: I was then smeared all over with dirt and blood-stains and my face looked ghastly with lots of smudges.

In the Chinese sentence， the expression “不像人樣” does not have an adverbial to decorate the hero’s appearance， but it gives the readers an decadent and mess image. That because Chinese is a language that emphasizing abstract concept and integrity. Thus， if the translator wants to attain the maximum equivalence， he must find a word to illustrate the lexical meaning with the target language background.

Compared with Chinese， English contains much more complex sentences， which show western people pay much attention to do specific work without private feelings.

Conclusion

Thus， broadly speaking， success in translation is， to a great extent， success in translating lexical meanings， cultural customs or transferring these cultural connotations.

Reference

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