Abstract:Under the guidance of Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital, and take for example the cultural translations in Beijing public places, this thesis attempts to analyze the translations which, in today’s globalized world, are part of the city’s cultural capital, and the process of which is actually the approach to transforming a city’s cultural resources into cultural capital. At present, the quality of those translations is not in line with Beijing’s status as a cosmopolitan city and an Olympic host. There are 3 kinds of translation problems and 2 kinds of management problems. These shoddy translations are a blot on the image of Beijing the capital and will impede the progress of city branding by hindering Beijing’s cultural resources from transforming into cultural capital and by making it impossible for Beijing’s cultural capital to “confer power AND status”. Many problems in the translations imply the translators’ want of language proficiency and sense of responsibility. Also, it is clear as daylight that many translations are done by people with a scanty knowledge of English, which shows the lack of concern on the management level. To address this issue, this thesis puts forward several suggestions for improving the translations, including restructuring, double check by way of dictionary, cross-examination and specific strategies for translating signs and menus, as well as tips for rectifying management problems. The thesis may serve as a reference material for the Beijing municipal government and could also be applied to other cities of China and the translations into other languages.
Key words: cultural capital translation errors suggestions for translations in public places
中文摘要:本论文以文化资本理论为纲，以北京市公共场所文化翻译为例，将翻译作为国际化都市文化资源向文化资本转化的重要手段，而译文本身也是文化资本的一部分及全球化背景下城市品牌建设的关键。如今北京市公共场所翻译质量参差不齐，除低级错误、不规范的表达方式，甚至不知所云等“硬伤”外，还有前后不一致等“软伤”。翻译作为将文化资源转为文化资本的手段未尽其职，文化资本的积累受到阻碍，在给外国游客带来不便的同时，也影响了首都北京的形象，成为其后奥运时代品牌建设的拦路虎。本论文通过分析实地采集的一些翻译中的错误，提出重组、双向查字典、交叉检查等翻译建议，并且专门针对公示语和菜单提出翻译策略，以增加北京文化资本积累，促进城市品牌建设。
关键词： 文化资本 翻译错误 翻译策略
