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Cultural intervention’s influence on the translation has attracted much attention in the current translation studies. Translation, as a kind of cross-cultural communication activity, whether it is a general translation or a narrow translation, occurs in a certain cultural context. The Ttranslation of Cultural History written by Wang Kefei, examines the translation on cultural meaning and influence on one hand, and studies the cultural constraints on translation on the other hand. Cultural context refers to a particular speech community in which the use of any language belongs to, as well as the long formation of history, culture, customs, things, value standard, way of thinking and so on in each speech community. Since different ethnic groups have differences of natural geography, humanity history and cultural environment, people of each ethnic group would produce the different impression and concept about a reflection of the outside world. Therefore, there are many languages that contain different cultural meanings, and accurate translation is bound to be influenced by cultural context.
Domestication and foreignization have replaced literal translation and free translation and become the focus of study and debate in the translation circle. Traditionally, “literal translation and free translation are mostly limited to the value orientation on the level of languages, while domestication and foreignization are based on the value orientation under the big context of culture” (Sun 33). Foreignization and domestication, as the two strategies of translation, are not a pair of contradictions, but in different orientations. It is very important that how to make an appropriate choice in the process of translation between them. With the development of the society, readers’ expectation to translation has changed. Most readers hope to fully appreciate the unique flavor of foreign literature, and taste an exotic touch in a foreign land. Domestic and foreign environment has created conditions for foreignization translation, and the advantages of alienation itself also meet the requirements of cultural exchange and cultural transmission.
II. The Cultural Context and the Understanding of Meaning
Cultural context, the study of language use and function, is one of the important categories of linguistics. Driven by the criticism new historicism in recent years, cultural context has been discussed in deep. Every speech community has its own history, culture, customs and habits, social convention, way of thinking, moral concept, and value orientation. The way and factor which reflect the characteristics of the particular speech community constitute the so called “cultural context”. In the process of communication, the meaning of the language is usually determined according to the context. Translation is a language communication activity, which depends on listeners’ or readers’ information obtained from the translation. Translation is generating activities of the target language style under the interaction of many factors. Translators not only accurately convey the original content, intention, style, and etc., but also meet the requirements of the readers of translation in the specific historical period under specific social and cultural background. The understanding of the original meaning is far from the matter of simple language comprehension, and it is influenced and restricted by the culture. The process of translation is the organic unity of understanding and expression. The correct understanding is an essential prerequisite for the accurate interpretation of the original content. The correct meaning of a word and a paragraph depends on its language environment. Since translation is a cross-cultural communicative activity, the influence of the target language cultural context on translation can not be ignored.