Abstract:Proverbs are the essence and crystallization of a nation’s language and culture. Covering the widest possible range of areas from the deepest universal significance to the commonest daily activities of every household, proverbs reflect almost every aspect of a society. Owing to the fact that Britain and China have different national cultures, there are big differences on expressions and contents which show their own cultural features in English and Chinese proverbs. Therefore, cultural differences need to be taken into account in the translation of proverbs. This paper makes a comparison of differences between English and Chinese proverbs from the perspective of culture, and discusses the strategies of domestication and foreignization and their application in the translation of proverbs. The author holds that the translators should handle the strategies of domestication and foreignization flexibly and apply the strategies to deal with the cultural differences between the source language and the target language in the translation of proverbs.

Key words: proverb; cultural difference; translation strategy; domestication; foreignization

摘要:谚语是一个民族生产及生活智慧的沉淀与结晶，是一个民族语言与文化的精华。谚语内涵丰富、广博深邃，几乎反映社会的方方面面。由于英汉民族有着不同的民族文化，英汉谚语在表达形式和内容上存在着很大的差异，表现出各自的文化特征。因此，英汉谚语的互译必须考虑这些文化差异。本文从文化的角度研究英汉谚语的差异，并探讨了异化和归化两种翻译策略以及它们在谚语翻译中的运用。笔者认为，在英汉谚语翻译中，应灵活运用归化和异化两种翻译策略，去处理谚语翻译过程中源语与目标语的文化差异。

关键词：谚语；文化差异；翻译策略；归化法；异化法