ArticleOpen Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.03.008
Rhetorical Transplantation and Cultural Transcoding in Advertising Text Translation—A Study of Creative Translation Strategies Based on Chinese and English Brand Advertisements
Qian Shen
Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, Shandong, China.
*Corresponding author: Qian Shen
Published: March 31,2026
Abstract
Advertising translation serves as a critical bond in cross-cultural brand communication. Its core mission lies not merely in literal conversion between the source and target languages, but also in achieving accurate information transmission, effective emotional resonance, and value adaptation while taking into account both commercial purposes and cross-cultural acceptance habits. Against the background of increasingly fierce global brand competition, differences in language, customs, values, and aesthetic preferences frequently lead to practical challenges in advertising translation, such as conflicts of cultural symbols, mismatched imagery, and the untranslatability of certain content. Taking Chinese and English bilingual brand advertisements as the research carrier, this paper adopts a comparative approach to systematically analyze the differences between the two types of advertisements in syntactic structure, rhetorical features, linguistic styles, and expressive logic. It focuses on the adaptation dilemmas of culture-specific items, folk symbols, and value metaphors in the translation process, and further demonstrates the practical value and feasibility of creative translation strategies in breaking down cultural barriers and balancing commercial demands with aesthetic acceptance. The findings indicate that creative translation is not a simple search for semantic equivalence. Instead, through semantic reconstruction, image replacement, cultural context re-creation, and rhetorical function transplantation, it flexibly adjusts textual forms and cultural connotations. This approach significantly reduces cultural misinterpretation and communication loss in cross-cultural transmission, strengthens the appeal and persuasiveness of advertisements, and ultimately improves the communication efficiency and market acceptance of brand advertisements in target markets.
Keywords
Advertising translation; creative translation strategy; rhetorical transplantation; cultural transcoding; cross-cultural communication
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How to cite this paper
Rhetorical Transplantation and Cultural Transcoding in Advertising Text Translation—A Study of Creative Translation Strategies Based on Chinese and English Brand Advertisements
How to cite this paper: Qian Shen. (2026) Rhetorical Transplantation and Cultural Transcoding in Advertising Text Translation—A Study of Creative Translation Strategies Based on Chinese and English Brand Advertisements. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, 10(3), 292-297.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.03.008