On Translation Of Clothing Trademarks From Cultural Perspective

With the speeding up of economic globalization,translation of trademarks between Chinese and English is of growing significance,because the successful rendering of trademarks into the target language,together with the impressive trademarks in the source language,can stimulate the consumption of goods and be conductive in opening up the overseas market for goods produced by domestic manufacturers.The globalization of the clothing industry requires that the clothing trademarks be translated in due course,and translation of clothing trademarks is an important factor deciding whether or not sales of clothes are successful in the global market.Currently,some scholars have conducted some research in clothing trademark translation.However,little has been talked about from the cultural perspective in this regard.The present study,based on three hundred sample clothing trademarks collected from the Internet,attempts to overcome the shortcomings of previous studies and illustrates the importance of clothing trademark translation in the globalised clothing industry.Through detailed analysis,the author of this paper discovers that the cultural differences implied in the clothing trademarks is manifested as follows:concepts of values,customs and habits,consumer psychology and morals and aesthetic attitudes. This paper adopts Eugene Nida's theory of Functional Equivalence as the theoretical framework to expound the translation of clothing trademarks.It is discovered that five methods can be applied to the translation of clothing of trademarks,namely, transliteration,literal translation,free translation,mixed translation and creative translation.The research methodology adopted is qualitative and quantitative in nature.The author categorizes the three hundred sample clothing trademarks into different groups and then probes into the different translation strategies accordingly.It is concluded that the translation of clothing trademarks is an art as well as a science.This particular type of translation between Chinese and English is restrained by the target language norms on the one hand,and the cultural and aesthetic psychology of consumers in the target market on the other.The implication of the present study,by way of case studies of translating the sample clothing trademarks,is to provide some guidance to the translation of clothing trademarks at large,improve translation quality thereof and furthermore,contribute to intercultural communication in business settings.