Culture

Culture as a headword is one of the most complex and fuzzy terms to define. This Encyclopedic entry for Translation researchers is designed to explain how ‘the culture factor’ impinges on translation theory and practice. The first part of the article contains a short overview of how the term has amplified its meaning over time. The main part of the article is a close examination of 3 levels of the ‘cultural iceberg’ (taken from Hall 1959/1990): technical, formal, informal, and of the 4th level, which acts on the ‘iceberg itself. The technical level is that of culturemes, the ‘classic’ culture-bound problem of finding an equivalent term in a second language. The next level, formal, is that of style, genre and the sets of practices which a particular culture privileges as ‘good’. Submerged is the informal level, out-of-awareness, which relates to what cultural orientations, culture-bound values and beliefs. The 4th level is socio-political, and refers to the powers in society that covertly encourage, or otherwise, translators, translation and in particular relate to the forces of capitalism and post-colonialism. Hall, E.T. (1959/1990) The Silent Language, New York, Random House.