Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

A Study of the English Translation Strategies of Chinese Culture-Loaded Words from the Perspective of the "Three-Dimensional Transformation" of Eco-translatology: A Case Study of Festive China

Zhujia Xu*
China Foreign Affairs University

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

As the strategy of Chinese culture "going out" continues to advance in depth, traditional festivals, which carry the national spirit and the connotations of folk customs, have become a key link in the international communication of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and the translation quality of the narration of their documentaries bears on whether the corresponding cultural connotations can be effectively communicated. However, the culture-loaded words in the narration of cultural documentaries are dense in number and deep in connotation, and they have become a major difficulty in English translation. Taking Hu Gengshen's "three-dimensional transformation" theory of Eco-Translatology as its theoretical framework and the narration of the cultural documentary series Festive China produced by China Daily as its object of study, this paper studies the English translation strategies for the culture-loaded words of traditional festivals from the three dimensions of the linguistic, the cultural and the communicative. The study finds that: in the linguistic dimension, the translator mostly uses a combination of literal translation and free translation, taking into account both the features of the cultural words and the expression habits of English; in the cultural dimension, the basic cultural connotations are effectively transmitted and the folk images are retained to the greatest extent; in the communicative dimension, attention is paid to the acceptability of the information in the translated text, and the communicative intention is often realized through explanatory translation, lowering the threshold of understanding for overseas audiences. This paper provides a reference model of strategies for the translation practice of culture-loaded words in texts for external communication, and has reference value for promoting the international communication of the culture of Chinese traditional festivals.

Keywords: culture-loaded words; Eco-Translatology; Festive China; English translation strategies; cultural external communication
Published: November 3, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.HT38504
Volume: CHR Vol.122
pp. 181-193
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