Abstract: In a world of rapid economic development, the fields of economic cooperation between countries are expanding. Commodity and trade exchanges have become more frequent. In order to obtain a seat in the international market, many manufacturers come to realize the importance of brand name translation. A popular brand name is not only a title, but also the conveyance of the corporate culture, and it is a must for the product promotion. On one hand, brand name translation contains the commercial factors and cultural factors. If a company wants to enter a foreign market, it needs to overcome cultural barriers, and things like language differences, views of consumption, religious differences. On the other hand, the translation of brand names is also a special communication. Consumers get to know a product by its translated brand names. Therefore, the translator cannot regard brand name translation as merely a kind of commercial activity but seizes the nature of the source language to build a cultural value of the target language. The thesis discusses the connection between Memetics and brand name translation and points out the brand name itself is a Meme. What’s more, it supposes that the process of a successful brand name translation is also a process in building up a strong brand name Meme. To build up a strong brand name Meme depends on a strong phenotype of Meme and a strong genotype of Meme. Finally, the thesis discusses the following strategy of brand name translation from the perspective of Memetics: firstly, grasping the differences of cultures and try to think of the cultural values of the target language and consumers’ psychology, so as to realize the source language brand name Meme introduced, accepted and transmitted by the new host, namely the foreign customers. Secondly, combining the Genotype of Meme and adopting literal translation, literal translation is to keep the original content and form in translation but it must be under the permissive conditions of the translation language. Using the literal translation to translate a brand name, we can vividly express the effectiveness of the product. However, we must elaborately choose words and language and then accurately reflect the product qualities. These are beneficial to be remembered by customers. Thirdly, considering phenotype of Meme and adopting free translation and transliteration, free translation is a way that using the expressions in accordance with the target language to make transfer, in order to translate the source language accurately in the process of translation, and it has to disturb the language forms of the source language and transliteration means that the pronunciation of well-translated brand name will correspond to that of the original language. |
