Culture Comparisons in Translation英语论文Word下载.docx
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Culture Comparisons in Translation英语论文Word下载.docx
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II.Cultureandmistranslation
A.Culturerelatedtothesocialsystem
Courtesyexpressionsimmediatelyreflectthesocio-behavioralpatternsofaculture.Thenotionofcourtesyseemstobesomethinguniversal,butpeoplefromdifferentculturesmighthavedifferentideasastowhatarecourtesyexpressionsandwhatarenot.Traditionally,e.g.aChinesemaygreetafriendoracquaintancebyasking“Haveyouhadyourmeal?
”or“Whereareyougoing?
”Awesterneronthesameoccasionwould,however,saysomethinglike“Hello!
”,“Goodmorning!
”,“Niceday,isn’tit?
”,etc.Whenmeetingafriendwhohasjustarrivedafteralongjourney,theChinesewouldusuallysay,“Youmusthavehadatiringjourney.”TheWesternerwouldaskinstead,“Didyouhaveanicetrip?
”or“Didyouenjoyyourtrip?
”ThefactthatinChinese,manyconversationsstartwith“Howoldareyou?
”“Areyoumarried?
”“What’syourjob?
”“Howmuchdoyouearn?
”maydisconcertaWesternreader,andmanycausetemporaryculturalshock.
B.Culturerelatedtothelinguisticsystem
Culturemaysometimesbetracedtothelinguistic,especiallysemanticstructuresofalanguage.Themosttypicalcaseisonewhereincomparablewordsindifferentlanguagesmaycarrystrikinglydifferentassociations.InChinese,forinstance,“vinegar”isoftenanothernameforjealousy,e.g.“吃醋”(“eatvinegar”—tobejealous).InEnglish,however,thewordisconnotativeofill-temperedspeech,character,etc.Onemaysaythatsomeone’sremarksare“madewithastrongnoteofvinegar”.“sour”or“vinegary”meansinEnglish“bad-tempered”,(“asourmood”),butinChinesesournessorbeingsourisconnectedwithpedantry,soapedanticscholarisoftensaidtobea“sour”one.2
C.Culturerelatedtothespecificexpressions
Indeed,somewordsandexpressionsprofoundlyimbuedwithuniqueculturalelementsdocausetranslationproblems.Forinstance,theChineselanguagepossessesagreatnumberofself-depreciatingexpressions:
“鄙人”(myhumbleself),“寒舍”(myhumblehome),“拙文”(myawkwardarticle),“贱内”(myhumblewife),“老朽”(myoldanduselessself),etc.Thesetermscomefromalongfeudaltraditionofkeepingalowprofileandrefrainingfromshowiness.Contrarytothisunderstatementofone’sownvalue,theChineseshowprofuserespect,perhapstoobombastictothewesternmind,forothers:
“拜读大作”(readyourgreatarticleinawe),大札
10
(yourgreatletter),etc.3ThisisduetotheChinesetendencytoobeyPolitenessPrinciplesratherthanPrinciplesofCo-operation.Insuchcases,translatorscanhardlyexpectEnglishreaderstorespondwitheaseandcomforttoaword-for-wordtranslationoftheChineseterms.
III.Form-changingforfaithfulnessintranslation,aculturalperspective
A.Mentalcultureandlanguageculture
Cultureisanextremelycomplexconceptandanenormoussubject.Italmostembraceseverythingintheworld,whethermaterialorspiritual.Howevercomplexitis,itcanberoughlyclassifiedintothreecategoriesinscope:
materialculturewhichreferstoalltheproductsofmanufacture,institutionalculturewhichreferstosocialsystem,religioussystem,educationalsystemetc.andmentalculturewhichreferstopeople’smentalitiesandbehaviors,theirbeliefs,conceptofvalue,thoughtpatternetc.
Theacceptanceofcultureispossible,becausehumanbeingsallliveonthesameplanet,theearth,andtheysharemoreorlesssimilaraspectsofculture;
yettheacceptanceofcultureisusuallyincomplete,becauseitislimitedbythedifferenceinthreecategoriesofcultureandparticularlybythedifferenceinlanguage-cultureandmentalculture.Thetransferofculturecanberesortedtovariouscodes,butlanguageisofcoursethemostimportantcodeofallforthetransferofculture.Beinganintrinsicpartofculture,languagecarriesculture,mirrorsculture,spreadscultureandhelpsdevelopculture.Itisnoexaggerationtosaythatlanguageisthelife-bloodofcultureandcultureisthetrackalongwhichlanguageformsanddevelops.
Language-cultureisstronglyinfluencedbymentalculture.Thisisbecausetheformationoflanguageiscloselyrelatedtopeople’sthoughtpatterns.Theuseoflanguagehasagreatdealtowithlanguage-users’brainandmind.Forexample,inChinesementalculture,“喜鹊”isregardedasamessengerofgoodnews,becausethefirstcharacterofitsnamemeans“happiness,joy”.Thereforethechatteringofamagpiehastheconnotativemeaningof“goodnewstocome”inChinese.ButinEnglishmentalculturemoreattentionispaidtothephysiologicalcharacteristicsofthisblack-and-whitebird,thatis,noisesitmakes.ThentheconnotativemeaningofamagpieinEnglishis“achatterbox”.TheChinesediscoursestructurefeaturedbythefourstepsofbeginning,following-up,transitionandconclusion.ThetypicalChinesethoughtpatternislike“beatingaroundthebush.”ThataccountsforacircularlineofdevelopmentaChineseparagraphtendstofollow.Onthecontrary,anEnglishparagraphnormallyfollowsastraightlineofdevelopment.Itusuallybeginswiththestatementofthecentralideaexpressedbyatopicsentence,followedbyaseriesofsubdivisionsofthecentralidea.Thesesubdivisionsdevelopthecentralideaandpreparefortheadditionofotherideasinlaterparagraphs.TheChinesethoughtpatternisinductivewhereastheEnglishthoughtpatternisdeductive.Thedifferenceinthoughtpatterngivesrisetothedifferenceofparagraphdevelopment.
B.Changeofimage
ThechangeofimagesinChinese-EnglishtranslationsisalmostinevitablebecauseChineseisimaginablewhereasEnglishisfunctional.Thisdiversitybetweentwolanguage-culturescomesfromthediversitybetweentwomentalcultures:
theChineseemphasizeintuitionandimageswhiletheEnglishmenemphasizereasonandlogic.
Chineseiswrittenwithcharacters,which,intheirearliestforms,werepicturesofthingsorideas.AlthoughChinesecharactersintheirpresent,highlydevelopedformsarenotasystemofpicturewriting,theyareacomplexmeanstoconveyideasvividlywithimages.Forexample,“人”
(man)isexactlytheimageofamanstandingwithlegsseparated,“伞”(umbrella)isshaped
likeanopenumbrella.“日”(sun)and“月”(moon)arelikethesunandthemooninthesky.
“日”(sun)and“月”(moon)combinetogive“明”(brightness).“从”(tofollow)veryvividlydescribeshowamanfollowstheother.
ThemeaningofsomeChinesewordscanbeunderstooddirectlybyaudio-videomeans,forexample,“硬币”(coin),“纸币”(note;
bill),“高跟鞋”(high-heelshoes),“短袜”(socks),“连衣裙”(overallskirt)isapieceofclothingthatcombinesaskirtandablouse.ManyChinesewordsareveryvividwithimages,shapesandqualitiesclearlypresentedwhereasmostoftheirEnglishtranslationsonlyconveythemeaningandfunctionofthesourcetextwithoutpreservingtheimages.
ThechangeofimageoftenoccurswhenconcreteimagesareemployedinChineseasmetaphortostandforabstractideas.Forinstance,“手忙脚乱”vividlydescribestherushapersonisinwhenheorshedoessomething.Theidiomgivesanoverallflurrysituationwithoutspecificreferenceto“手”and“脚”.Inthetranslationofthisidiomtheconnotativemeaningiscompletelypreservedbuttheimagesof“手”and“脚”arelost.“如日中天”isthedescriptionofonewhoisthepeakofhispowerorcareerjustlikethesunathighnoon.SinceboththeChineseandEnglishmensharethisculturalphenomenon,literaltranslation“likethesunathighnoon”andfreetranslation“atthepeakofone’spower,career,etc.”areallgoodtranslations.4
“势如破竹”comparestosplittingbamboothevictorieswononeafteranotherwithoutanydifficulty.Itcopiesthescenewhentheupperpartofabambooissplit,thelowerpartwillnaturallybecomeseparated.ItsEnglishtranslationcanbe:
“likesplittingbamboo,”whicharousestheassociationofsplittingbambooonthepartofthereadersbypreservingtheimagecompletely;
“withirresistibleforce”,whichonlyconveystheconnotativemeaningwiththeimagelost;
“likeahotknifecuttingthroughthebutter”,whichborrowstheimagefromthewesternculturewiththesimilarconnotation.Althoughthesethreeversionsareallfaithful,theirappropriatenessisdeterminedbythecontextastowhousesthisidiomatwhattimeinwhatplace.Appropriatenessherereferstotheappropriatetransferofmentalculture,namely,whetherthementalculturemirroredinthesourcetextisproperlytransferredtothetargettext.
Thechangeofimagemakestranslatorsregretfulwhentheytranslatemeasurewords.Forexample,“一枝笔”(apen),“一张报纸”(anewspaper),“一朵花”(aflower),“一把椅子”(a
chair),“一面镜子”(amirror),“一根棍子”(astick),“一匹马”(ahorse),“一盏灯”(alamp),“一
棵树”(atree),“一块蛋糕”(acake)aresovividwithimages.TheirEnglishtranslationsareveryaccurateindeedtoconveytheconcernedmeaningandthequantityoftheobjects
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