1.Introduction
Intercultural communication is the negotiation between native speakers and non-native speakers, which includes not only the collision of language and culture between different regions but also the difference in religious beliefs and living habits. However, in the field of intercultural communication, there is a lack of relevant analysis and examples of Chinese-English intertranslation based on the background of intercultural communication. This paper focuses on the current situation of translation in the context of intercultural communication, the difference between Chinese and English, the development of intercultural communication awareness and ability, and the analysis of movie titles and classic lines in the context of intercultural communication. Using the literature analysis method, this paper summarizes the concept, development background and influence of intercultural communication, etc. Through the case study method, Chinese and English movies are selected for study, and the movie titles and lines are explored in depth, and the differences between Chinese and English and the specific differences between Chinese and Western movie and TV themes are analyzed through the comparative analysis method. This paper has reference significance on how to effectively resolve conflicts in intercultural communication and successfully prevent intercultural communication conflicts, and how to further improve the accuracy of Chinese-English intertranslation and other related topics.
2.The Current Situation of Translation in the Context of Intercultural Communication
With the accelerating pace of economic globalization and the increasing political and economic and cultural exchanges between countries, judging whether a person has good English communication skills, apart from good communication skills, also requires good intercultural communication skills.
2.1.The Rise and Development of Cross-Cultural Communication
As intercultural communication within the global village grows with each passing day, research on intercultural teaching and learning becomes more and more advanced, and language scholars become more and more clearly aware that this is indispensable for developing communicative competence. After the United States, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and other countries took action, in 1972 UNESCO published the article Learning to Survive, suggesting that countries should pay attention to the learning and communication of different cultures. China was early to realize the importance of culture and began to explore education in communicative English culture in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Guozhang, Xu, Wenzhong, Hu, Yanchang, Deng, Runqing, Liu and others all explored language and culture in depth, greatly promoting the study of Chinese language and culture and drawing widespread attention to the development of intercultural communicative awareness and competence [1].
2.2.Translation in the Context of Cross-Cultural Communication
At present, most English learners are still based in China, learning English only to master a tool for information acquisition. The acquisition and communication of information mainly depend on the text and the Internet, with few opportunities for direct communication with foreigners. Many learners overlook the difficulty of intercultural communication, not realizing that it is an extension and development of English communication skills. Intercultural communication requires learners to have not only strong language application skills but also competencies on several levels. For example, misinterpretation of morphemes is a major problem in the current translation. In English intercultural communication, the correct application of morphemes can express personal ideas and describe what happened more clearly. However, since the meanings of words in the English language are quite different from those in Chinese, the same words are used in different ways in different environments have different meanings. Secondly, in daily translation, ignoring the expression habits of different languages is also a common mistake made by most translators. Since the psychological environment of the masses, the decision-making system of the regime and the mainstream cultural thought are different between China and Western countries, most learners and applicants of English language do not really recognize the relevant differences, so they have misunderstandings in the understanding of English expressions, which also reflects from the side that some learners still have the problem of disconnect between theory and practice. This also reflects that some learners still have the problem of disconnect between theory and practice [2-3].
2.3.Analysis of the Differences Between Chinese and English
Chinese characters are pictographs, which contain both phonetic and semantic perceptual elements and reflect interpersonal relationships; Chinese people have a strong sense of the whole. Chinese people are good at integrated thinking, and are accustomed to thinking from the whole to the part, with an emphasis on meaning; Chinese culture is past-oriented, accustomed to "learning from history", respecting the elderly and elders in social life, revering heroes and authority; Chinese society does not have universal religious beliefs. English is an alphabetic phonetic script, and has developed linear logical thinking, used to perceive the world in a rational and analytical way, focusing on persuasion and influencing others; Westerners are accustomed to growing from part to whole, seeking "differences" in the "same", and focusing on conformity; Western culture is a future-oriented culture, "preferring to look ahead". They oppose conformity and advocate improvisation, and the British and American countries generally believe in Christianity [4-5]. For example, in the process of greeting, most people will take greetings such as Hi or Hello, but there are more specific greetings, such as "How are you? Thank you, and you?". In fact, the meaning of "fine" in American English is "to make do, barely". So when Americans first arrive in China, they will feel particularly surprised and uncomfortable when the Chinese say, "I am fine. The importance of the term in diplomatic situations cannot be overstated, and its main role is to introduce people. This is a good reflection of how a simple habit can be a different metaphor in different countries [3-6].
3.The Application and Analysis of Cross-Cultural Communication in the Translation of Chinese and Western Films and Television Works
Intercultural communication and translation activities are closely connected; translation is intercultural communication that uses language. The emergence of intercultural communication gives rise to translation activities, and translation activities promote the development of intercultural communication. One of the important social functions of translation for intercultural communication is to introduce the characteristics of foreign cultures, spread the values of foreign cultures, demonstrate the characteristics and diversity of cultural values, customs and traditions, and promote mutual understanding, mutual respect, mutual enrichment and common development of various cultures [4].
3.1.Comparison and Analysis of the Theme of Chinese and Western Films and Television Works
The theme of films and television works comes from life, which can directly reflect the cultural characteristics of a region. For example, the unique themes of China's films and television works, such as fighting for the empress dowager and saving the country by a man, are deeply imprinted with China culture, which is obviously different from western films and television cultures, such as the film and television War and Beauty and Empresses in the Palace. According to records, since ancient Roman times, many western countries have stipulated strict monogamy, and even monarchs in feudal western society must abide by monogamy, so the theme of harem struggle is rare in western movies and TV shows. Compared with China, there are a lot of movies and TV works with religious themes in the west, which are very popular. Such as the well-known The A Vinci Code and The Nativity Story. Secondly, China often shows Chinese martial arts and other characteristic cultures in film and television production, such as The Shaolin Temple and The Holy Robe of Shaolin Temple. And during the industrial revolution, because western society took the lead in entering the industrial age, it constantly broke through and innovated in science and technology, which laid a solid foundation for the second industrial revolution and information revolution and also greatly widened the gap between Chinese and western scientific and technological strength. Comparatively speaking, after a long history of farming civilization, China's industrial civilization is not as advanced as that of the West, and its scientific and technological innovation lags behind that of the West. However, with the economic development and the pursuit and efforts for high technology, science fiction movies with China characteristics have only begun to appear in China in recent years [7]. For example, Chinese people think that owls are ominous birds, while westerners think that owls are the embodiment of justice, courage and wisdom. The representative image of Ravenclaw College in the movie Harry Potter is the eagle. In the wizarding world, owls are not only the delivery of mail and parcels but also the "information tool" for communication between wizards [8].
3.2.Comparison of Translation of Chinese and Western Film Titles and Specific Lines
For the translation of movie titles, cultural differences affect the expression or connotation of words. It requires that the translation of movie titles should have local characteristics and take care of different audiences in China and the West. Therefore, in the process of translation, it is necessary to consider the bad influence brought by improper translation and different cultural differences, so as to seek common ground while reserving differences in culture and make movie titles better integrate into the target language society. For example, in the historical background of“霸王别姬”, Xiang Yu, as a specific historical figure, it is difficult for foreign audiences to understand the cultural connotation behind the name if translated literally. When translated into Farewell to My Concubine, the audience can watch and understand the story with appreciation without deliberately understanding China culture [9]. As one of the carriers of cultural exchange, the subtitle translation of film and television works is of great significance. Subtitle translation is not only a process of transforming one language into another but also a process of communication and transmission between two different cultures. For example, a line in the movie "The Return of the Great Sage" is obviously derived from the saying “井水不犯河水” in China, which is translated into "Go our separate ways", which is not only relevant to the film context but also can be understood by foreign audiences [7].
In various texts, the degree of comprehension of a sentence depends on the degree of understanding of each word. Sometimes, unfamiliar words to listeners may become obstacles to their understanding of the whole sentence. In fact, not only in English, but even in Chinese, a word can be used in a variety of contexts, which determines its different meanings in different contexts. Therefore, it is very important to choose an appropriate word in a particular context. In the subtitles of the movie My Country and I, it can see that the translation of some superlatives is very accurate, and the superlatives make people read the words in a catchy way, such as "before and after", "not slow", "not submissive "etc. If these superlatives are translated into English, it is often difficult to achieve the effect of rhyme, and they do not have special meanings, and also produce the negative effect of being cumbersome. Thus, when making translations, you can combine them with specific contexts to save translations. For example, in Chinese, the superposition "dum mum mum mum" means to talk to oneself continuously in a low voice, and it is difficult to retain the rhythm and form of the superposition "dum mum mum mum" when translating it into English, so it can be omitted and translated as The word "mumble" in English can be interpreted as "mumbling, mumbling". However, different audiences understand and imagine the scene depicted by the word very differently, and the charm of the translation is expressed in different contexts. Therefore, the translator adopts an omitted way to deal with these ambiguous superlatives and translates them as "Several beams of morning light like thin threads". For example, the Chinese word "tiptoe" means to walk lightly, and is often used to describe walking very lightly or to describe a sneaky appearance. The most common meaning is to walk lightly and cautiously. When translating, the translator can adopt the way of omitting the ambiguous word to translate it as "with exaggerated carefulness" [10].
4.Conclusion
This paper mainly discusses the translation between Chinese and English in the context of intercultural communication, and further deepens the analysis by comparing the translation of movie titles and specific lines of Chinese and Western movies, and concludes that the accelerated process of intercultural communication has a great impact on the translation between Chinese and Western, and the problems to be paid attention to in the process of translation are also diversified. In the process of writing this paper, the Chinese and Western films and television works involved are not new and comprehensive enough and need to be accumulated continuously. In future research, researchers can continue to compare Chinese and Western cultural works and everyday language to summarize the similarities and differences, so that the Chinese and English intertranslations can be better improved in the context of cross-cultural communication.
References
[1]. Ying, Zheng. An analysis of the effectiveness of English language communication in cross-cultural communication. Journal of Heilongjiang institute of teacher development, May 2022.
[2]. Xin,Qi. Cross-cultural Communication —— Present Situation and Thinking[A].
[3]. Dandan,Peng. The Application of Pragmatics in English Cross-cultural Communication[A]. Overseas English, Issue 10 (May 2022).
[4]. Dongjiang,Zhu 1, Qin,Wang 2 and Ling,Jin3 Chinese-English translation from the perspective of cross-cultural communication.Journal of Xiang Yang Polytechnic, Jun 2022 Vol.21 No.3.
[5]. Jing, Zhang 1, Shengxue,Zhao2. A study of English translation strategies in cross-cultural communication. Journal of HEILONGJIANG UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, Vol,22,No,6, Jun,2022 .
[6]. Yongjun,Dang. Pragmatic failures of English and Chinese polite expressions from the perspective of cross-cultural communication and their countermeasures[A].
[7]. Cong,Chen and Minhua,Dong.Comparison of Cultural Differences and Translation of Chinese and Western Film and Television Works in the Cross-Cultural Communication Perspective.Translation Research.
[8]. Xiaolei,Song. Exploring the intercultural communication meaning of English films[A]. Journal of Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy. August 2022.
[9]. Ying,Xiao. A Comparative Study of Chinese and English Film Titles[A].
[10]. Shuichi,Tan. A study of the English translation of the movie My Country and I in the context of intercultural communication[A]. JOURNAL OF HUAIHUA UNIVERSITY Vol.40 No.6 Dec.2021.
Cite this article
Li,R. (2023). Analysis and Research on Chinese-English Intertranslation in the Context of Cross-Cultural Communication. Communications in Humanities Research,5,117-121.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
Disclaimer/Publisher's Note
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
About volume
Volume title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Social Psychology and Humanity Studies
© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who
publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this
series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published
version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial
publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and
during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See
Open access policy for details).
References
[1]. Ying, Zheng. An analysis of the effectiveness of English language communication in cross-cultural communication. Journal of Heilongjiang institute of teacher development, May 2022.
[2]. Xin,Qi. Cross-cultural Communication —— Present Situation and Thinking[A].
[3]. Dandan,Peng. The Application of Pragmatics in English Cross-cultural Communication[A]. Overseas English, Issue 10 (May 2022).
[4]. Dongjiang,Zhu 1, Qin,Wang 2 and Ling,Jin3 Chinese-English translation from the perspective of cross-cultural communication.Journal of Xiang Yang Polytechnic, Jun 2022 Vol.21 No.3.
[5]. Jing, Zhang 1, Shengxue,Zhao2. A study of English translation strategies in cross-cultural communication. Journal of HEILONGJIANG UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, Vol,22,No,6, Jun,2022 .
[6]. Yongjun,Dang. Pragmatic failures of English and Chinese polite expressions from the perspective of cross-cultural communication and their countermeasures[A].
[7]. Cong,Chen and Minhua,Dong.Comparison of Cultural Differences and Translation of Chinese and Western Film and Television Works in the Cross-Cultural Communication Perspective.Translation Research.
[8]. Xiaolei,Song. Exploring the intercultural communication meaning of English films[A]. Journal of Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy. August 2022.
[9]. Ying,Xiao. A Comparative Study of Chinese and English Film Titles[A].
[10]. Shuichi,Tan. A study of the English translation of the movie My Country and I in the context of intercultural communication[A]. JOURNAL OF HUAIHUA UNIVERSITY Vol.40 No.6 Dec.2021.