3.1 Replacement
The translation term replacement refers to the use of expressions accustomed tothe target language readers to convey the content of the source language text. Sincehuman history and cognition have certain similarities, there are also some similaritiesin culture. Although the characters are different, the content or imagery they representis similar or just the same. At this time, in order to facilitate the readers of the targetlanguage, the translator can adopt replacement and use the target language to expressthe content or effect similar to the source language. However, the disadvantage ofreplacement is also obvious. This translation compensation skill will cause the foreigncultural characteristics of the source text to lose, and it cannot stimulate the targetlanguage readers to explore the fun of different national cultures,which is notconducive to the spread and exchange of culture. The author will take sometranslation cases from the Ashoka the Great as examples. The author mainly adoptsreplacement to deal with the socio-cultural default.
Example 1：ST ： The Maharajah prepares for a swift journey to the hermitage of the Brahmin,Santanu, who had been Sayana’s best pupil when Ashoka lived in the forest hermitage.TT：国王准备即刻前往婆罗门桑塔努的隐居之处。阿育王还住在森林静修院时，桑塔努便已是萨亚纳的得意门生。
In this sentence, Maharajah refers to an Indian prince, especially one who ruledover one of the states of India in the past. In fact, in ancient India, especially beforeAshoka came into power, India was not a unified country, but a nation of nations. Oneperson who ruled several states or several cities was called Maharajah. Although Ashoka almost unified the entire Indian Subcontinent, but he still used this title. Asfor the target language readers, they do not know what the Maharajah is because ofthe cultural default. The author thinks twice and translates maharajah into 国王. 国王 is explained in Chinese dictionary as: the ruler of some ancient country; themonarch of a country. It is relatively in line with Ashoka’s status as the king of thecountry; readers of the target language can obtain accurate information as soon as theyread it.
Conclusion
After translating Ashoka the Great (excerpts), the author realizes that culturaldefault is a common phenomenon regardless of the type of text. Without translationcompensation, it is impossible to achieve textual information equivalence. At present,the research on cultural default and translation compensation is still immature and notstandardized. In the process of translating Ashoka the Great (excerpts), the authorclassified cultural default phenomena according to Nida’s cultural classification, andadopted different translation compensation methods to highlight the hiddeninformation and provided relevant cultural background knowledge for the targetlanguage readers, so that they can have a deeper understanding of the text content.However in some cases, translation loss can not be compensated even if it iscompensated.
However, the author still has many questions about the translation compensation.The first question is: what are the standards and principles of translationcompensation? How can one avoid excessive compensation or insufficientcompensation? Excessive compensation will interrupt the coherence of reading andcause target language readers to feel fear of reading. On the contrary, insufficientcompensation will lead to the lack of information, which will lead tomisunderstanding of the target language readers. In order to avoid the abuse oftranslation compensation, the standards and principles of translation compensationshould be established as soon as possible. In the author's opinion, translationcompensation should be moderate and accurate, which should not only providereaders with space and fun to explore different cultures, but also ensure the accuratetransmission of information. The second question is how to tell cultural default fromculture vacancy. To some extent, for target language readers, c
