2.1 Misplacement of Cultural Images
Since the geographical and humanistic environment of each nation is different, it leads to form the unique languages, customs and value orientation as well as creating the unique meaning of national culture system. Due to cultural differences, people may have different views and opinions towards the same thing. Language is the carrier of culture, different languages contain different cultural meanings. Thus in the international business English translation, dislocation of cultural images may happen if translators only pursue the literal equivalence of two languages.
There are no fixed rules and requirements for the cultural image translation, translators can properly select words according to culture background which focus on not only cultural connotation but also value orientation. In the following are some specific examples.
Red is a color that Chinese think highly of. It stands for good luck and happiness. We say red bag which means lucky money actually. However, red is a quite negative word in western culture. It’s a symbol of danger and violence, such as“red alert” or“red revenge”.
“Red tape” means “the brand of red color” for the receptor, who may have no adequate knowledge of western culture. However, as translating the sentences, the translator should first take a stand on the receptor’s point and then decode the source language. In Britain, lawyers and officials used to tie up legal documents with red
tape. And then people consider the “red tape” as symbol of unnecessary and overly complex formalities. Therefore, “red tape” should be translated as“繁文缛节”. If the translators only focus on their own standpoint, the translation is doomed to be a failure.
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