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Abstract： Nowadays， with the intensification of globalization， commercial activities in every country are becoming internationalized. Advertising， being a means of mass communication， plays an indispensable role in helping the customers know the quality and performance of the products and in helping the companies promote their products. In cross-border trades， advertising translation is very important to get the products accepted by customers in a foreign country. Culture is involved in advertising creation and translation. No matter how creative an advertisement is，no matter how accurate its translation， if “cultural appropriateness” is absent， it may bring harm to the brand or the image of the company. This paper discusses advertising translation from a cross-cultural perspective. It compares the cultural differences between China and English-speaking countries and brings forward advertising translation strategies from a cross-cultural perspective.
Key Words： advertising translation， cross-cultural interaction， translation strategies
1.Introduction
Since its opening up and entering WTO， China’s business transactions with foreign countries have been increasing at a rapid speed. Now， with globalization， its imports and exports are even more booming. Many foreign brands enter China searching for a larger and more promising market. At the same time， Chinese brands go out and join the global competition with many famous international brands. In order to succeed in a foreign country， companies should pay great attention to promotion and advertising. Many companies have created successful advertisements in its native language， however， due to culture and language diversity， it is no easy job to reappear the beauty of the advertisements when they are translated into another language. That is why many companies fail to make a success in a foreign market despite their good products and services. In fact， the translators should take cultural aspects into consideration and use appropriate strategies in order to work out a good advertising translation.
2.Cultural Differences Involved in Advertising Translation
2.1.Cultural Psychology
Due to geographical and historical reasons， different cultures have different psychologies that root deeply in people’s heart. These psychological characteristics influence people’s traditions and customs. Therefore， we must take local people’s psychology into account if we want the advertising translation to be successful. When Mitsubisbi was promoting its cars in America， it translated its slogan into “Not all cars are created equal”. It was borrowed from “All men are created equal” from the Declaration of Independence which is known to almost all Americans. The slogan brought the cars closer to American people. While in China， the slogan was translated into “古有千里马，今有三菱车”. The slogan compares the car to “千里马” which is known to Chinese for its fast speed and endurance. It is no doubt that the translation is a huge success both in China and the USA.
2.2.Values
Chinese and Western people have different values， which may also cause difficulties in advertising translation. In the book Communication Between Cultures， Samovar pointed out that the main difference between the values of easterners and westerners is that westerners favour individualism while easterners put more emphasis on collectivism. That is why in western advertisements， the theme is often about independence or uniqueness.
2.3.Aesthetic Standards
Different aesthetic standards also play an important role in advertising translation. Different nations have different concepts about beauty. One thing may be regarded as very beautiful in one nation but extremely ugly in another. The translated advertisements should fit in the aesthetic standards of the customers in the target market. Here is an example：
3.Proposed Strategies in Advertising Translation from Cross-cultural Perspective
3.1.Literal Translation
“A literal translation is a kind of translation that follows closely the form of the source language which is understood as including the related notion of word-for-word translation.”（Shuttleworth&Cowie，1997：95）.
Literal translation is often applied to deal with advertisements with simple sentences and understandable semantic meanings. In other words， the target text can express not only the superficial meaning but also the essence of the source text.
3.2.Free Translation
“Free translation reproduces the matter without the manner， or the content without the form of the original. Usually it is paraphrase much longer than the original， a so-called ‘intralingual translation’， often prolix and not translation at all. “
If we say literal translation is a word-for-word translation， then free translation is a sense-for-sense translation. The aim of translation is to express the original meaning of the text. In free translation， the translators usually abandon the linguistic form of the original text in order to preserve its meaning. 3.3.Creative Translation
Creative translation is a translation with so much creation in it that it can hardly fall under the category of translation. In order to meet the requirements of the purchasers and increasing economic efficiency， the translators should sometimes use their creativity to make the translation adapt to the culture and language of the target text.
3.4.Structure Borrowing
Structure borrowing means using some famous structures（idioms， phrases， poems，etc） in the target country to translate in order to spread the implication of the original advertisement. In this way， less misunderstanding will be made between the advertisements and their customers， thus a favorable result will be attained and the ultimate business purpose of advertisements will be achieved.
4.Conclusion
Advertising translation is an international， interpersonal and intercultural interaction. Advertising translation has its specific commercial functions and features， which is why the target culture should be an extremely important aspect to consider during translation processes. The standard of judging a good advertising translation is whether it can serve the purpose of the advertisement， that is， to promote sales in the target market with a different culture. Therefore， translators should consider not only the literal meaning but also the cultural connotation when doing the translation work.
References：
[1] 洪炜. 从跨文化交际角度分析广告翻译[D].武汉： 中南民族大学外国语学院， 2012.
[2] 李克兴. 广告翻译理论与实践[M].北京： 北京大学出版社， 2010.334-360.
[3] 刘季春. 实用翻译教程（修订版）[M].广州： 中山大学出版社， 2007.237-256.
[4] 权循莲. 从跨文化交际的角度看广告语的翻译[J].安徽理工大学学报， 2005， （7） ：53-54.
[5] 许建忠. 工商企业翻译实务[M].北京： 中国对外翻译出版公司， 2001.120.
[6] 王晶. 从跨文化交际角度看广告翻译[D].太原： 太原理工大学外国语学院，2008.
Key Words： advertising translation， cross-cultural interaction， translation strategies
1.Introduction
Since its opening up and entering WTO， China’s business transactions with foreign countries have been increasing at a rapid speed. Now， with globalization， its imports and exports are even more booming. Many foreign brands enter China searching for a larger and more promising market. At the same time， Chinese brands go out and join the global competition with many famous international brands. In order to succeed in a foreign country， companies should pay great attention to promotion and advertising. Many companies have created successful advertisements in its native language， however， due to culture and language diversity， it is no easy job to reappear the beauty of the advertisements when they are translated into another language. That is why many companies fail to make a success in a foreign market despite their good products and services. In fact， the translators should take cultural aspects into consideration and use appropriate strategies in order to work out a good advertising translation.
2.Cultural Differences Involved in Advertising Translation
2.1.Cultural Psychology
Due to geographical and historical reasons， different cultures have different psychologies that root deeply in people’s heart. These psychological characteristics influence people’s traditions and customs. Therefore， we must take local people’s psychology into account if we want the advertising translation to be successful. When Mitsubisbi was promoting its cars in America， it translated its slogan into “Not all cars are created equal”. It was borrowed from “All men are created equal” from the Declaration of Independence which is known to almost all Americans. The slogan brought the cars closer to American people. While in China， the slogan was translated into “古有千里马，今有三菱车”. The slogan compares the car to “千里马” which is known to Chinese for its fast speed and endurance. It is no doubt that the translation is a huge success both in China and the USA.
2.2.Values
Chinese and Western people have different values， which may also cause difficulties in advertising translation. In the book Communication Between Cultures， Samovar pointed out that the main difference between the values of easterners and westerners is that westerners favour individualism while easterners put more emphasis on collectivism. That is why in western advertisements， the theme is often about independence or uniqueness.
2.3.Aesthetic Standards
Different aesthetic standards also play an important role in advertising translation. Different nations have different concepts about beauty. One thing may be regarded as very beautiful in one nation but extremely ugly in another. The translated advertisements should fit in the aesthetic standards of the customers in the target market. Here is an example：
3.Proposed Strategies in Advertising Translation from Cross-cultural Perspective
3.1.Literal Translation
“A literal translation is a kind of translation that follows closely the form of the source language which is understood as including the related notion of word-for-word translation.”（Shuttleworth&Cowie，1997：95）.
Literal translation is often applied to deal with advertisements with simple sentences and understandable semantic meanings. In other words， the target text can express not only the superficial meaning but also the essence of the source text.
3.2.Free Translation
“Free translation reproduces the matter without the manner， or the content without the form of the original. Usually it is paraphrase much longer than the original， a so-called ‘intralingual translation’， often prolix and not translation at all. “
If we say literal translation is a word-for-word translation， then free translation is a sense-for-sense translation. The aim of translation is to express the original meaning of the text. In free translation， the translators usually abandon the linguistic form of the original text in order to preserve its meaning. 3.3.Creative Translation
Creative translation is a translation with so much creation in it that it can hardly fall under the category of translation. In order to meet the requirements of the purchasers and increasing economic efficiency， the translators should sometimes use their creativity to make the translation adapt to the culture and language of the target text.
3.4.Structure Borrowing
Structure borrowing means using some famous structures（idioms， phrases， poems，etc） in the target country to translate in order to spread the implication of the original advertisement. In this way， less misunderstanding will be made between the advertisements and their customers， thus a favorable result will be attained and the ultimate business purpose of advertisements will be achieved.
4.Conclusion
Advertising translation is an international， interpersonal and intercultural interaction. Advertising translation has its specific commercial functions and features， which is why the target culture should be an extremely important aspect to consider during translation processes. The standard of judging a good advertising translation is whether it can serve the purpose of the advertisement， that is， to promote sales in the target market with a different culture. Therefore， translators should consider not only the literal meaning but also the cultural connotation when doing the translation work.
References：
[1] 洪炜. 从跨文化交际角度分析广告翻译[D].武汉： 中南民族大学外国语学院， 2012.
[2] 李克兴. 广告翻译理论与实践[M].北京： 北京大学出版社， 2010.334-360.
[3] 刘季春. 实用翻译教程（修订版）[M].广州： 中山大学出版社， 2007.237-256.
[4] 权循莲. 从跨文化交际的角度看广告语的翻译[J].安徽理工大学学报， 2005， （7） ：53-54.
[5] 许建忠. 工商企业翻译实务[M].北京： 中国对外翻译出版公司， 2001.120.
[6] 王晶. 从跨文化交际角度看广告翻译[D].太原： 太原理工大学外国语学院，2008.