Feng Cui

The Development of Cultural Literacy in Translators through Translation Training: Based on the Translation Context of Singapore

Feng CUI, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Abstract: Singapore is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country. In 1979, Singapore government launched The Speak Mandarin Campaign to encourage Singaporean Chinese to replace various dialects with Mandarin as the main medium of communication. In 1983, the Ministry of Education stipulated that English would be used as the first language in teaching and Chinese elective courses were also introduced to junior colleges. In 1992, the Speak Mandarin Campaign began to encourage Chinese Singaporeans, especially those who were English-educated, to speak Mandarin in their daily lives. Although the promotion of bilingualism and the implementation of the Speak Mandarin Campaign have been going on for more than three decades, translation errors are still prominent in the official media outlets of Singapore. Translation mistakes in the Singapore Travel Guide published by the Singapore Tourism Board in 2000 gave rise to an extensive social impact. It has brought about waves of discussions till today over the topics of „Why will such errors still occur under our long-term implementation of a bilingual education in Singapore?” and “How should Singapore train its qualified translators?” Using the Singapore Travel Guide as a case study and with reference to the Function Theory, this paper will examine how to instil the following concepts through translator training and undergraduate translation teaching: Translation is not only a mean of converting language codes, but also a communicative activity which accentuates the transfer of cultural values and regeneration of cultural significance; and the translation process will involve many factors such as the political connotations, ethical values and cultural traditions. The paper will also further investigate how to train translators to transform unfamiliar cultural concepts and details into information that readers can comprehend and accept.

Key words: bilingualism, cultural significance, translator training, translation teaching

Feng CUI, a Lecturer from the Chinese Programme cum Coordinator for Minor in Translation programme, and guest lecturer for Master of Arts in Translation and Interpretation at Nanyang Technological University. His area of research is Translation Studies, focusing on the history of translation, translation theories, and criticism of translation skills. His publications include “A Cultural Probe into Lu Xun’s ‘Hard Translation’” in Chinese Modern Literature, “The Founding Process of Yi Wen in Mainland China in the Early 1950s” in Comparative Literature in China, “Zhdanovism and Chinese Literature in the First Half of the 1950s: Using Yi Wen as an Example (Vol. 7, 1953—Vol.3, 1956)” in History of Translation Studies, “‘The ‘Intermediate’ Consciousness of Lu Xun: A Case Study of the Changes of the Translation Methods in Lu Xun’s Early Translation Career” in Chinese Translator, etc. His translation of Martin H. Manser’s Midwives, Marathons and Mumbo Jumbo: a Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins was published in 2015 and Plotinus’s The Six Enneads was published in 2017.