本科专业学位论文
题 目： 从跨文化交际看旅游英语翻译
学 院： 语 言 文 学 学 院
专业班级： 2006级英语061班
姓 名： 方 艳
学 号： 106092022
指导教师： 夏 俊 锁
完成日期： 2010年 6 月
ON TRANSLATION OF TOURISM ENGLISH FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
BY
FANG YAN
REGISTERED NO. 106092022
SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE
ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY OF
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
JUNE, 2010
摘 要
本文首先阐述了跨文化交际的定义、起源和发展，随后探讨了文化意识和文化差异，对中西方文化在旅游方面的差异进行了对比，并指出将翻译技巧与跨文化意识相结合应是译者的一种基本技能。接着，作者通过案例分析，阐述了如何将跨文化理论应用于旅游英语的翻译实践中。最后，作者对旅游英语翻译的重要性以及在翻译中应该采取的策略进行了总结。
关键词：跨文化交际；差异；旅游英语；翻译
ABSTRACT
This paper firstly briefly deals with the definition of intercultural communication, the beginning and the development of intercultural communication. Then it analyzes cultural awareness and the cultural difference, the difference between the east and west, and puts forward the idea that translation of English for Tourism should be done in an intercultural perspective, and it should be done skillfully when translating. On the basis of the above study, the practical example of the translation of tourist materials comes out. It is emphasized that intercultural awareness should run through the whole process of translating tourist materials. In the conclusion, the author restates the importance of translating tourism English and sums up some strategies adopted in translation.
Key words：Intercultural communication; difference; tourism English; translation
Contents
1．Introduction 1
2. Intercultural Communication 3
2.1 Definition 3
2.2 Origin 4
2.3Development of Intercultural Communication’s Application in Tourism Translation 4
3. Intercultural Communication Difference in Tourism Translation 7
3.1 Difference in Vocabulary 7
3.2 Difference in Syntax Structure 8
3.3 Difference in Culture 9
3.3.1 Difference in Psychology 9
3.3.2 Difference in Conventions 10
3.3.3 Difference in Historical Culture 11
3.3.4 Difference in Thinking Modes 11
3.3.5 Difference in Aesthetic Taste 12
4. Intercultural Communication Awareness in Tourism Translation 13
4.1 Translation from Intercultural Perspective 13
4.2 Case Studies 14
5．Conclusion 16
Acknowledgements 16
References 16
1．Introduction
Nowadays, tourism has become one of the most important and growing industries in the rapidly changing world. The authoritative World Travel and Tourism Council declared that tourism is one of the world’s largest industries. The theme of the 27th Tourism Day is “Tourism Enriches”, which emphasizes the active role the tourism plays in boosting the world economy, cultural communication and social development. The development of travel industry has, in turn, exerted a tremendous influence on the economies and cultures of the world.
Tourism creates the need to communicate with people of various cultural backgrounds. The contacts between foreign visitors and us are an intercultural communication. Given the frequent cultural exchanges in tourism industry, a further study into translation of English for tourism in an intercultural perspective is a must. That means translators have to adopt intercultural awareness when rendering source language into target language so that the version in target language is more culturally acceptable, especially when rendering Chinese publicity materials into English.
As for tourism service, translation in an intercultural perspective aims at exploring efficient ways to relate to or communicate with foreign visitors who speak a different language and live in a different culture. Translation plays a very important role in tourism service. To be more accurate, translation can be construed as intercultural translation as well as inter-language translation. The purpose of translation is to provide foreign readers useful information, including culture-loaded information. Intercultural communication (cross-cultural communication) is communicative activities done by people of different cultural backgrounds. Therefore, translation done within an intercultural communication is of great practical significance.
Concerning tourism translation, Since the 1980s major tourism translation research can be roughly classified into three categories: culture, landscape descriptions and both culture and landscape descriptions. The researchers approaching tourism translation from the perspective of culture include Chen Gang, Hu Wenzhong, Pu Yuanming, Liu Huimei, Yang Shoukang, Yang Min and Ji Aimei. Jin Hailin argues that a good piece of tourism translation should reproduce the beauty of feeling, style and dynamic state. Like Jia Wenbo, Gao Jinling made his studies from the perspective of landscape descriptions. At broad, Newmark who has done a good research on translation leaves us great heritages. And Le
fevere Andre did some researches on translation, history and culture.
Tourism translation, as a theme, covers a variety of aspects. However, this paper will put emphasis on C-E translation, and offer some suggestions from the perspective of inter-cultural communication on the basis of case studies.
2. Intercultural Communication
Since tourism translation has to be done in an intercultural communication perspective, intercultural communication factors are the primary elements to be considered. Translation is regarded as a channel of intercultural communication so the tourism translation is tightly related to intercultural communication studies.
Before discussing the tourism translation, an analysis will be conducted of one of the most important factors that influence translation. Since translation is an activity which deals with not only two different languages, but also all other factors that are related to these languages, therefore a qualified translator should not only be competent in two involved languages but also be familiar with the involved cultures, which can be expressed by Nida’s words “for truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism, since words only have meaning in terms of the cultures in which they function” [1]110
2.1 Definition
Samovar said in Communication between Cultures that: communication between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol systems are distinct enough to alter the communication event. [2]48
Intercultural communication, also known as cross-cultural communication, is communication between people with different cultural perceptions and symbol systems. It centers on significant differences regarding social relations and concept of universe from different perspectives such as language, food, dress, attitude toward time, work habits, social behaviour that can cause frustration in communications and contacts. As newly-established discipline, intercultural communication makes multi-disciplinary study of politeness across cultural in great details. It helps people to bridge the gap between both cultural and linguistic differences. [3]95
As the world is becoming a “global village”, its significance in intercultural communication in various aspects and language learning is becoming more and more self-evident. [3]97
2.2 Origin
As an object, intercultural communication originated from America, based on Edward Hall’s research. Intercultural communication aims at the language and culture.
Intercultural communication occurs whenever two or more people from different cultures or Micro-cultures come together and exchange verbal and nonverbal symbols. The world is changing, and the times are changing. All the changes have transformed the earth into the global village forecast by Marshall McLuhan. With the improvements in transportation technology, developments in communication technology, economic globalization, and changes in immigration patterns of communication and interaction, intercultural communication becomes more and more important in today’s society.
Then, intercultural communication begins to develop in all the other countries, and various kinds of researches have been found.
2.3 Development of Intercultural Communication’s Application in Tourism Translation
The history of intercultural communication studies in China is a relatively short one compared with western world, which began in the early eighties of 20th century. Before that period China was engulfed in the Cultural Revolution which cut off any contact with the western world. The first few years of the eighties witnessed the initial opening of China to the western world when developments in sociolinguistics, pragmatics, intercultural communication and language teaching methodology were introduced to Chinese academics through some university scholar exchange programs. Later, the teaching and research of intercultural communication started in Chinese Universities. Despite its short history, there has been widespread interest in it. Several hundred articles appeared in academic journals in the past two decades and more than a dozen books have been published. A national intercultural communication association has been founded and several international conferences held.
Professor Hu Wenzhong divides its short history into the following tree periods:
1)1978-1987 is the period marked by a heavy emphasis on foreign language teaching in his first article written on the subject of culture related to the teaching of English vocabulary and translation. He points out in his article that some Chinese and English words may seem to be equivalent while they in fact carry different culture loads. Other articles discuss culture in connection with the communicative approach in language teaching. Many point out that the teaching of language alone does not enable the learner to communicate effectively and that know
ledge of the culture of the target language is essential for all learners.
2) During the period 1988-1994, intercultural communication course had been offered gradually in the English Departments of Beijing Foreign Studies University, Shanghai International Studies University, Harbin Institute of Technology and some other universities. Samovar and Porter’s anthology Intercultural Communication: a Reader was published in Chinese translation in 1988. In the same year, Shanghai Translation Publishing House published a collection of paper under the title of Intercultural Communication: What It Mean to Chinese Learners of English. The article is written by both Chinese and English proverbs to nonverbal communication. Language and Culture written by Frank Tang and Liu Runqing published in 1989 deals with many aspects of cultural differences in the use of language—from euphemisms, taboos and conversation topics to the style of writing.[4]25
3)In 1995 the 5th International Conference on Cross-cultural Communication: East and West, sponsored by Harbin Institute of Technology of China and Trinity College of the United States, was held with a total of 230 Chinese and 40 overseas attending. Topics of the presented papers include among others: “The Changing Patterns of Chinese Interpersonal Communication” “Cultural Input in Second Language Teaching” “A Cross-cultural Study of Politeness between China and the U.S.A.” During the conference, the China Association for Intercultural Communication was established. In August of 1996, Beijing University and Kent State University jointly sponsored another conference whose theme is “Communication and Culture—China and the World Entering the 21st Century”.[5]177
Nowadays, more and more people try to apply the study of intercultural communication to investigating some specific aspects of other subjects, including translation studies. There are numerous articles of this kind to show the charm of this very subject. For example, there are researches like “Intercultural Communication and International Advertising Translation”, “Intercultural Communication and Idiom Translation”, “Intercultural Communication and Animal Words Connotative Meaning Differences between English and Chinese” , “Intercultural Communication and News Text Translation”, etc.
3. Intercultural Communication Difference in Tourism Translation
As people from different cultural backgrounds enhance their exchanges in recent days, communication and culture become gradually interrelated to each other. To live in societies and to maintain their distinctive cultures people have to communicate. Communication is “the process by which people exchange information or express their thoughts and feeling.” According to the studies of Samovar, Porter and Stefani, there are several characteristics for communication, of which the most important one is “communication is a dynamic process of encoding and decoding, during which message source, encoding, message, channel, receiver, decoding, response and feedback are the eight major communicative elements; successful communication only happens when the material is filled with culture-specific elements.[2]23-27 Therefore, they argued that cultural differences are the main obstacles in intercultural communication. Besides, they emphasized that in the course of intercultural communication, a participant should not only be familiar with his/her own language and culture, but the language and culture of his/her counterpart, especially the differences between the two involved cultures. Only when the participant or the translator keeps these cultural factors in mind can he or she avoid a failure of communication.
3.1 Difference in Vocabulary
Some words carry the meaning of cultural traits which is particular to a certain communities and therefore they have no corresponding equivalents words in other communities. That’s to say, not all words in other language can find their counterparts in another language. Some words or phrases are unique and unshared. For example, “衙门”, “叩头”, “皇粮”, “庙会”, “重阳节”, “冰糖葫芦”, in Chinese can not be replaced with the equivalent words in English, because they have never appeared in the West. So far as the language which deals with natural phenomena and related concepts is concerned, many or Chinese “节气”do not have equivalents in English. “雨水”,for example, is translated as Rain Water(2nd Solar Terms).Even the phrase “solar terms” is not understood by most Westerners. Such names mean little or nothing without some sort of additional explanation. When an expression in the materials manifests a unique element in that particular culture, and such an element does not exist in the other country, a problem of
vacant correspondence arises. For example , “阴”and “阳” have no equivalent words in English and are explained as “two forces through whose essences, according to Taoist cosmology, the universe was produced and cosmic harmony is maintained. Yin is dark, female and negative, and yang is light, male and positive”.[6]11Yin and yang were seen as the underlying principle by traditional Chinese medical doctors who find it difficult for them to explain to Westerners. They have to describe the symptoms to them. Such examples are far too many to be mentioned here. As for tourist publicity materials, foreign tourists can’t understand these culture-specific expressions without any explanations.
3.2 Difference in Syntax Structure
Cultural differences in the semantic associations evoked by seemingly common concepts, it is generally accepted nowadays. [7]103
For instance: Chinese usually transmits with distinctive stylistic features. Its ‘ambiguity’, together with its wide use of “four-character Expressions”, even the relative flowery (superfluous) modification method manifest Chinese people’s thought patterns and aesthetic values (culture). It has been claimed that the Chinese thought pattern is spiral and the topic is usually developed in an inductive way, falling into the high-context category; while English thought pattern is straightforward and the topic is usually developed in a deductive method, thus falling into the low-context category.[8]28 A Chinese learner or user of English, unaware of these cultural differences related to language between Chinese and English, may produce a description in English that sounds unnatural or absurd to native speakers. But salient features associated with idealism in tourism Chinese are not all readily accessible. More often than not, its connotation can be transmitted by doing certain adjustments in reading. Taking the couplet depicting the highlight of a park along the west lake as the example:
山山水水处处明明秀秀，晴晴雨雨时时好好奇奇
With waters and hills, each place looks bright and beautiful;
Rain or shine, every moment appears pleasant and wonderful. [9]104
Although the clear and plain-styled English version has certain cultural aspects of the original one lost, the English version with analogical stylistic flavour communicates a picturesque context impressively. Since certain connotative meaning in one language is embedded in the mind of the language-users and not easy to be expressed in other language, it seems to be inevitable to lose certain cultural factors in translation. Because once language itself becomes associated with perception, it becomes associated with particular meaning and values. Once this association is made, language itself “filters” perception in some way. [10]15For Chinese, semantic meaning is salient, for which cohesion can be sacrificed to some extent. For English, logic is more significant, for only with it can the sentence make sense. So it is evident from this illustration, if it is valid, that language plays a major role in representing the totality of culture. Language is important in that language functions as both a reflection of unique experience and the culture within. When this is applied to tourism intercultural communication, which is responsible for spreading the distinctive Chinese culture to the other parts of the world, language conversion should take the aspect of culture and thought into consideration and maximally reduce the loss of Chinese cultural element.
3.3 Difference in Culture
For a better understanding of tourism translation, it is imperative that a translator adopt an intercultural perspective to investigate the differences between the original and target cultures. The intercultural perspective is fundamental for the translator in the translation which is not only inter-lingual but intercultural. The intercultural perspective in tourism translation does not refer to translating culture itself but the cultural significance embedded in translation. As Samovar puts it in Communication between Culture, in the process of translating, the intercultural perspective can serve as a guide for a translator, who builds bridges not only between languages but also between the differences of two cultures. To incorporate this perspective into translation, the translator should make some cultural comparison. In translating, the translator should make some cultural comparisons between China and Western countries. [2]131
3.3.1 Difference in Psychology
The different motivations for the tourists at home and abroad to travel reflect the different cultural psychological demands. As most Chinese are familiar with the cultural backgrounds of the destinations, their aim to travel is to enjoy the natural scenery and relax themselves. But for foreign tourists, one of the important motivations is connected with their curiosity about exotic cultures, which
can be seen from the desire to know about other places or countries and to have all kinds of experiences in traveling. This motivation will largely determine the destinations to be chosen and the activities to participate in. They come to China not just for the natural scenery, but for the mysterious oriental culture. They are curious about the Chinese culture, for example, the customs, the life styles, history of the area etc. We should be aware of the psychological differences. That is to say, we should have different emphasis or focus on translation to satisfy the need of different tourists. The translator, therefore, should keep those differences in his mind when translating the materials and employ effective methods to satisfy the demands of tourists from different cultural backgrounds.
3.3.2 Difference in Conventions
Conventional customs and habits are generally accepted among members of a certain social group. They are established by one social group and passed on from generation to generation. Most tourists are curious about Chinese-specific objects often confusing them. For example, in China, foods are given particular meaning, so that a type of food can only be eaten by some specific individuals on certain occasion, or must be eaten on specific occasion. Fish plays a large role in festive celebrations. The Chinese word for fish “yu” sounds like the homophobic words both for wish and abundance. As a result, on Spring Festival Eve it is customary to serve a fish for dinner, symbolizing the wish for accumulations of prosperity in wealth in the coming year. But it is unlikely for Westerners to have the same association as Chinese people when they eat fish.
Chinese festivals with special connotations are also hard for Westerners to understand. Taking Qingming Festival as an example, it is one of the 24 solar terms in China, falling on April 4-6 each year.[11]192The Qingming Festival is not only a solar term to guide farming; it is more a festival of commemoration. Both the Han and minority ethnic groups offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs. In order to help foreigners better understand the cultural connotation behind these customs and conventions, explanations should be added.
3.3.3 Difference in Historical Culture
Every country owns its special historical culture in the process of development. China, a country with a history of more than five thousand years, accumulates many cultural treasures which attract foreigners. For example, the Mausoleum of the First Emperor Qin and Terracotta Warriors and Horses, Forbidden City, etc, are valuable historic heritages. But the introductions to them in tourist publicity materials without any explanation obstruct readers’ understanding of them.
3.3.4 Difference in Thinking Modes
The barrier to the translation for tourism also lies in the fact that there are many differences between Chinese and Western thinking modes.
The Chinese culture lays emphasis on the harmony and the unity between man and nature. That is why, in their description of the outside world, Chinese like using graceful, gorgeous, and implicit words to express their inner thoughts and emotions. In other words, when the outside world arouses their interest and stimulates their imagination, they choose words on the basis of their subjective emotions. The romantic charm and artistic conception achieved through fuzzy thinking shed light on the veiled descriptions of beautiful things. Scholars classify this thinking mode to be intuitive. “Integration of Human with Heaven” can also find its voice in the inductive thinking mode. Chinese discourse structure is also an example of this thinking mode, which shows a circular line of development for a Chinese paragraph to follow.
However, the aesthetic taste of Western nations is quite different. Westerners lay more emphasis on analysis and logic, striving to imitate and reproduce the objective world. They try to describe the nature as it is, and this, in writing, is manifested in form, reality and reason. The sentences in writing are usually neat, clear and well structured, the ideas are meticulously expressed and the expressions used are always concise, natural, descriptive and direct,52The unique thought pattern of the Chinese “beating around the bush” gives rise to the difference in Chinese paragraph from that of English. English styles are usually clear and distinct while Chinese styles are ambiguous and less distinctive. Very ofte
n there is a continuous flow of formal words into informal styles and of informal words into formal styles. [14]63
3.3.5 Difference in Aesthetic Taste
The factors of natural environment, social context, politics, economy, and religion will influence the aesthetic values of a person greatly. [15]3What is greatly appealing to Chinese may not be so appealing to Westerners. For example, the famous ancient town, a manager of a scenic spot just wants to attract more Westerners. For the Chinese, what he has described is quite desirable, quiet and beautiful. However, for the Westerners they have different response. In their eyes, it is a quite noisy place. They do not like it at all. Only when we are aware of the aesthetic difference between the different readers can we make the English version more attractive and effective.
4. Intercultural Communication Awareness in Tourism Translation
Among the problems in translation of English for Tourism practice, linguistic incompetence is relatively easier to get rid of as long as men has a correct and resolute attitude toward improving. Linguistic competence can be acquired or accumulated by following some set linguistic rules that are available everywhere. It is actually a matter of time and patience to improve it. Given the fact that linguistic competence is the most fundamental skill a qualified translator must bear, without which all other discussions on translation are impossible and meaningless, the discussion on linguistic incompetence is not deemed as a primary concern and shall be left out in this thesis.
4.1 Translation from Intercultural Perspective
As we have discussed above, translation is by no means a mere technical work of converting language but a demanding work that requires the cooperation of language and cultures. A comparison of two different cultures should be made for a better version in target language which is more culturally acceptable; besides, the successful intercultural understanding is based on recognizing the ways in which the two cultures resemble one another as well as the ways in which they differ. Of course, a combination of translation with intercultural knowledge is a tough job, because the cultural differences between source language and target language are so subtle and even intangible.
Therefore, a study into translation from intercultural perspective is of great practical significance. It can help a translator acquire cultural information and learn more about the history and civilization in both communities, thus improving the translator’s cultural insight. Being a cultural carrier, translation plays a key role in intercultural communication, deeply rooted in language; translation makes intercultural communication more colorful. [16]53Today, living in multicultural societies of a global village with a large number of international tourists, we all face intercommunication every day and now realize the importance of issues of intercultural understanding.
For a better command of translation, it is imperative that a translator adopt intercultural awareness. The intercultural awareness is one of the basic requirements for a translator when he participates in translation which is both inter-lingual communication and intercultural communication. Intercultural awareness is a particular way of thinking, a criterion for judgment or an acute sensitivity to cultural elements consciously or unconsciously cultivated by the translator. The way of thinking and the judgment criterion embodied in the intercultural awareness are often considered to be the yardsticks to evaluate a translator’s work. To gain this awareness and to put it into full use in translation will bring a great success to the translator because intercultural awareness stresses cultural interaction and cultural comparison. The emphasis on cultural interaction and cultural comparison does not mean that translation from intercultural perspective neglects knowledge about specific culture. On the contrary, it is considered a prerequisite for the translator to have expert knowledge of at least his own culture which is an often-neglected skill.
An acute sensitivity to cultural differences will help the translator to overcome the restraints of cultural elements. If the translator masters cultures as well as source language and target language, he will learn to see the words as native speakers see it, and he will also learn the ways in which their language reflects the idea, customs, and behaviour of their society, As a result, he can convey the cultural information and the cultural connotation at the same time, That’s how intercultural awareness is acquired. For the foreign tourists who know little Chinese culture, a good version translated from intercultural perspective can immeasurably contribute to mutual understanding and cultural exchanges.
4.2 Case Studies
Tourism translation is, generally speaking, an intercultural activity with cross-lingual, cro
ss-society, cross-temporal-spatial, cross-cultural and psychological features. Translators have to tackle many difficulties. [7]59
Case 1:
Interculturalism looks for commonalities among different cultures. It aims to mix and harmonize the differences by an eclectic way. Take the following as the example:
海拔256.9的南高峰由石灰岩形成，位于西湖西南，从烟霞洞里一条小路可达南高峰山顶。聘望亭卓立山顶，人立亭中，山、谷、湖、江、城、乡的景色尽收眼底。下山途中，有古老的烟霞洞、有趣的水乐洞、宽敞的石屋洞，庞大的千人洞可供寻幽探胜。
The 256.9-meter Southern Peak, formed of limestone, is located southwest of the West Lake. A foot path leads to its top from the Haze at Sunset Cave. The Cheng Wang Pavilion stands at the top of the hill, from which you may entertain your eyes on the hills and vales, lakes and rivers, the city and the country. On your way downhill, you can find enjoyment in exploring such caves as the ancient Haze at Sunset Cave, the delightful Water Music Cave, the spacious Stone-house Cave, and the enormous 1000-man Cave.[9]26
The Chinese version is gorgeous and elegant in style, but the beauty of the original text is not easy to be adequately expressed in English. Assuming that it is hard for target readers to perceive the refined style of source text, the translator creates a new style in English: translating the Chinese text orally instead of in written form; using the second person “you” as accustomed by foreigners to replace the third person. In addition, the translator treats the Chinese four-character collocations adaptively and converts phrases like “尽收眼底” and“寻幽探胜”to “entertain your eyes” and “find enjoyment” which are easier to be understood by foreign tourists but somewhat different from the foci of the original one. Comparatively speaking, “find enjoyment” for “寻幽探胜” is more suitable for the source text. The text is translated orally instead of in written form and the Chinese four-character collocations are rendered freely. Besides, the English version is not logically connected for it still conforms to the source language in sentence structure. Obviously, it is not effective in plot development in hypotactic English. To improve it, we may adopt interculturalism.
The 256.9-meter Southern Peak is formed of limestone. It is located southwest of the West Lake and can be accessible by a foot path connected to the Haze at Sunset Cave. The Cheng Wang Pavilion stands high there, from which you may have panoramic view of the hills and vales, lakes and rivers, the city and the country. On your way downhill, you can either retreat in serenity or find enjoyment in exploring such caves as the ancient Haze at Sunset Cave, the delightful Water Music Cave, the spacious Stone-house Cave, and the enormous 1000-man Cave.[9]27
Firstly, in retranslating the passage, the similarity of thinking modes underlying in human minds is pursued. The thematic progression included in the Chinese text is thus transferred into the English text, producing a sound pattern above. As for the first sentence, it gives salience to the subject in question by adjusting the sentence structure. As to the second, it brings out the emphasis of the original by replacing “standing at the top of the hill” with “stand high”. Second, phrases like “尽收眼底” and “寻幽探胜” are rendered in an eclectic way, compromising on the commonalities between Chinese and Western cultures. In this case, the translator (especially the former phrase) will frustrate foreigners for they share quite different cultural background from ours, whereas free translation can not transmit the authentic scenery into highlights. So interculturalism is applied into the second text for we should stand at the foreigners’ point to consider the questions. Interculturalism is a feasible alternative to make the beauty and fun hidden in the original text. It makes communication more smoothly and efficiently.
Case 2:
位于杭州湾北岸海盐县境内的南北湖风景区，总面积30平方公里，由湖塘、颖超顶、谭仙岭、滨海四个景区组成，融山、海、湖自然景观于一体，兼有丰富的人文景观，是浙江省省级风景名胜区。
Located in Haiyan Country, north of the Hangzhou Bay, the Nanbei Lake is one of the scenic resorts in Zhejiang Province characterized by its diverse scenic, cultural and historical highlights. With an area of 30 square kilometers, the resort comprises four sections: The Lake Area, Yingchaoding (eagle-nest top), Tanxian Hill and the Seashore. [17]37
The structure of the English version has been arranged mainly due to different thinking modes of Chinese and English. Chinese thinking pattern is spiral and the information center appears at the end of the paragraph, while English thinking pattern is in a linear order and the topic is usually developed in a deductive way. So the translator divides the whole sentence into two sentences and pu
t the information center at the beginning of the paragraph so as to cater to the reading habits of the foreign readers.
Case 3:
West Lake
西湖风景旅游区拥有60平方公里的地域，而西湖占有5.6平方公里，南北纵长3.3千米，东西横长2.8千米。周长15千米。三面环山，一面城镇商业中心。白堤和苏堤把西湖分成五大块。三潭印月，半山湖亭，西湖十大景观，而西湖十景更给西湖增添美景。
The West Lake Scenic Area covers an area of 60 square kilometers, out of which the West Lake occupies 5.6 square kilometers with 3.3 kilometers from north to south and 2.8 kilometers from west to east. The lake has a circumference of 15 kilometers. It is surrounded by hills on three sides and faces the downtown area on one side. The charming lake is a pearl that lay by the city. There are two brocade-ribbon-like causeways inside the lake, namely Bai Causeway and Su Causeway, and they divide the lake into five parts. Three man-made islands named Three Pools mirroring the moon, Mid-lake Pavilion stand elegantly in the outer lake. The “Ten West Lake views” and the “Ten new West Lake View” add much more beauty to the West Lake. [18]
The above introductions are informative and well-organized. And they give the potential tourists a basic stock of knowledge about the scenic resorts. The language, together with the photograph in the paragraph is neat and expressive, introducing the lake clearly. It is coming from an official websites. Official websites are another medium which provides high quality English version of tourism culture. Taking the culture into account, we aim at locating an effective and feasible orientation in translation, thus will hopefully enhance Hangzhou’s international popularity in the long run.
Case 4:
早在唐代，这里就以建有望湖亭而闻名。南宋和元代，望湖亭被道教庙宇和佛教寺院取代，后又改成龙王堂。到清康熙三十八年（1699），拆龙王堂改建成御书楼。
Early in the Tang Dynasty, there stood a building known as the Lake View Pavilion, which was replaced by a Taoist temple and Buddhist monastery during the Southern Song and Yuan Dynasties, and later turned into the Dragon King’s Temple. In the 38th year of the reign of Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1699) the temple was remodeled into the Imperial Book Pavilion. [9]16
Reading the short passage, foreigners may be lost in the maze of cultural terms. Besides the Qing Dynasty which was annotated with the Christian era, terms like “the Tang Dynasty, the Southern Song and Yuan Dynasties, Kangxi, Dragon King” are hard to be comprehended by the foreigners without consulting other resources. They may also feel confused about why such a monster (dragon) in a temple was enshrined near the enchanting moon-watching spot. Actually, as far as dynastic times in China, dragon stood for the king and there were few negative connotations. In Chinese people’s mind, dragon is an auspicious creature that supposedly brings good luck, but to Westerners, it is often a symbol of evil, a fierce monster that destroys and therefore must be destroyed. In addition, Dragon King in one of Chinese treasures literatures entitled Pilgrimage to the West is a deity who masters the rainfall of the earth, so his image is quite compatible to Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake. Without nourishing of water resource, the scenic spot would have been turned into a decadent place. Tough symbol of Chinese dragon has been made more and more popular with the pace of globalization; the tourist attraction may still lose its beauty because the foreigners remain unfamiliar with Chinese culture and will be totally frustrated.
Case 5:
At last let us see a short itinerary which is made out by myself, because of some detailed research, I really realize the cultural elements are so important in translating the materials so that foreigners can understand them more easily. This itinerary is prepared for some Indian tourists, for we all know that there are so many differences between Chinese and Indian cultures, so there must be a big gap when Indians visit China. In order to make the communication and tourism service better, I try to translate them from intercultural perspective.
旅游路线
第一天 北京
早餐后，直奔北京中心，紫禁城，拥有9000多间房间，接着乘车去颐和园。中饭过后，参观天坛，而毗连天坛的是大祈殿，自始自终没用一个钉子的128英尺的宏伟建筑物。
Tour Itinerary
Day 1 Beijing
After breakfast we travel to central Beijing for a guided tour through the famous Forbidden City. This extravagant palace of Chinese emperor has over 9000 rooms. From the Imperial City we take a bus across Beijing for a tour of the lovely Summer Palace. After lunch we visit the Temple of Heaven, where emperors were said to have direct access to God. Adjoining the temple stands the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, a 128 foot perfectly round edifice, constructed without the use of a single nail.
We can see from the up example that English version is in a concise style with factual and exact description. From in
tercultural perspective, it is written in first-or-second-person point of view with an effort to achieve intimacy between the translator and the readers. Moreover, it generally tends to use common adjectives and adverbs to create an informal style. I use simpler words in rendering without any exaggeration. The pronoun “we” is employed, adapting the version to the foreigners’ taste. The plain style meets foreigners’ convention and will possibly arouse their desire to visit this resort.
5．Conclusion
From “the age of discovery” to this millennium, globalization has been underway and it has dramatically altered the relations and connections between peoples from different cultural backgrounds. Social changes, cultural differences, identity, uncertainty, diversity and world order in the process of global communication demand fresh perspectives and new systems of explanation. In such rapidly changing world, communication plays a much more important role in tourism today than ever before.
Full attention must be paid to cultural factors during the translating process. Translating is an interaction process that normally happens between people with different cultural backgrounds.
The author analyzes some cultural factors concerning tourist translation, finding out that the differences are far more than similarities mainly due to different psychology, conventions, historical culture, thought patterns and aesthetic taste. Since the purpose of translating is to inform the target readers of the famous scenic spots, long history and Chinese brilliant culture, the translation should be tourist-oriented and cater to the taste of Western readers who prefer to read concise and fact-based articles. Then it has pointed out that the translator should be a cultural communicator rather than a mechanical transmitter of the original. Guided by the intercultural communication theory, the translator should be bilingual and bicultural, and he should be observant of not only the superficial meaning of the tourist English but the cultural meaning that lies between the lines, so that acceptable, understandable and culture-transmitting translation can be achieved.
To sum up, in translating tourism English, cultural significances should be addressed. With increasing cultural exchanges between China and other countries, the translation as a publicity tool calls for more attention. Many efforts remain to be made. We are working hard to promote our translating skills, and more desirably, to have a deeper understanding upon the nature of intercultural communication.
Acknowledgements
My initial thanks go to my supervisor Xia Junsuo, who patiently supervised my dissertation and was at times very willing to offer me illuminating advice or suggestions. Without his help, I could not have finished this dissertation.
I am also indebted to other teachers and my classmates who have not only offered me their warm encouragements but also shared with me their ideas and books. They are Chen Hong, Zhao Manhong, Ma Xianqing, and many others.
My greatest personal debt is to my grandparents and parents, who have cultivated a soul of sensitivity, hospitality, and honesty out of me, and offered a harbor of happiness and sweetness for me.
The remaining weakness and possible errors of the dissertation are entirely my own.
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诚 信 承 诺
我谨在此承诺：本人所写的毕业论文《从跨文化交际看旅游英语翻译》均系本人独立完成，没有抄袭行为，凡涉及其他作者的观点和
材料，均作了注释，若有不实，后果由本人承担。
承诺人（签名）：方艳
2010 年6月3日
