In a world characterized by advancing globalization, translation’s role as a medium for intercultural communication and promotion of ideas is gaining in significance. Translation in the globalizing context has been found to constantly introduce elements from other cultures and languages into target cultures. In Vietnam, although cultural issues in translation have received a great deal of attention, studies have been mostly focused on specific cases and have not been generalized or linked to contextual factors. This study aimed to first summarize current trends in strategies for translating cultural differences from English to Vietnamese, and then investigate the influences of globalization on these trends, if any. This was performed through a questionnaire surveying the domesticating and foreignizing tendencies of 171 translators of varying ages and levels of experience, followed by in-depth interviews with 4 translators to consolidate findings on these tendencies and identify factors behind them. Analysis of collected data presented findings that were in line with those of previous case studies. Generally speaking, foreignization was the most preferred technique in translation of proper names, while domestication was consistently adopted for grammar translation, and strategies for common expressions were more neutral and domesticated. Choices varied among specific cases, most frequently depending on the purpose of translation, translator’s professional strategies and publisher’s or client’s requirements. Globalization was found to be a factor causing changes in translation strategies, namely the increasing preference for foreign elements and foreignizing translations. Further related studies should thus focus on assessing the consequences of these changes with regard to the Vietnamese culture and language, or improving upon the theoretical framework and expanding the research scope for more reliable results.
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In a world characterized by advancing globalization, translation’s role as a medium for intercultural communication and promotion of ideas is gaining in significance. Translation in the globalizing context has been found to constantly introduce elements from other cultures and languages into target cultures. In Vietnam, although cultural issues in translation have received a great deal of attention, studies have been mostly focused on specific cases and have not been generalized or linked to contextual factors. This study aimed to first summarize current trends in strategies for translating cultural differences from English to Vietnamese, and then investigate the influences of globalization on these trends, if any. This was performed through a questionnaire surveying the domesticating and foreignizing tendencies of 171 translators of varying ages and levels of experience, followed by in-depth interviews with 4 translators to consolidate findings on these tendencies and identify factors behind them. Analysis of collected data presented findings that were in line with those of previous case studies. Generally speaking, foreignization was the most preferred technique in translation of proper names, while domestication was consistently adopted for grammar translation, and strategies for common expressions were more neutral and domesticated. Choices varied among specific cases, most frequently depending on the purpose of translation, translator’s professional strategies and publisher’s or client’s requirements. Globalization was found to be a factor causing changes in translation strategies, namely the increasing preference for foreign elements and foreignizing translations. Further related studies should thus focus on assessing the consequences of these changes with regard to the Vietnamese culture and language, or improving upon the theoretical framework and expanding the research scope for more reliable results.
Size : 589,23 kB
Format : Adobe PDF
