翻译学论文.docx

翻译学论文.docx

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翻译学论文

1Introduction

Withtheintegrationoftheglobaleconomy,polityandtechnology,theexchangeandcommunicationbetweencountrieshasbecamemoreandmorefrequently.Meanwhile,asanimportantwayofmutual-exchangeandmutual-connection,Translationplaysanimportantroleintheinternationalassociationandspringingupvigorously.Formanyyears,appliedresearchershavebecameincreasinginterestedintranslationandmanyfamoustranslatorsproposedtheirtranslationtheoriesandideasonEnglish-Chinesetranslation,forexample,YanFuheldthecoteriesoftranslationare“faithfulness”,“expressiveness”and“elegance”;AnotherfamoustranslatorZhangJinsaidthattranslationshouldbe“true”,“kindness”and“beauty”.However,Translationisconsideredtobeacross-culturalcommunicationevent,whichconcernsnotonlythetransferbetweenlanguages,butalsothetransferbetweencultures,soitremainsadifficulttasktomakegreatachievementontranslation,totranslateproperlyandprecisely.Becausetherearelotsoffactorsthathavegreatinfluenceontranslation,especiallytheculturalfactors.

Accordingly,CulturalstudieshavecurrentlybeenprevailingintheWest.TheyhavealsobecomeafashioninthecircleofChinesecultureandacademiasince1980s,especiallyinthefieldofliterarytheory,forinstinct,AndreLefevereandSusanBassnettarerepresentativesofCulturology,oneoftheWesterntranslationtheories.Theydiscovered,bytheirstudyonthehistoryoftranslation,thattranslationstudiesandculturalstudieswerestudiedanddevelopedrespectivelyintwodifferentfields.Thatistosay,translationisaprocessofculturalinteraction,translationtechniquesaretheresultofculturalinteraction.Similarity,Inthe18century,AlexanderFranserTytlerstatedthereprinciplesoftranslation,asfollowing:

（a）thatthetranslationshouldgiveacompletetranscriptoftheideasoftheoriginalwork.（b）thatthestyleandmannerofwritingshouldbeofthesamecharacterwiththatoftheoriginal.（c）thatthetranslationshouldhavealltheeaseoforiginalcomposition.1Theyallexplainedthattranslationcannotseparatefromculture,becausethetwodifficultlanguageshavealotofdistinctionsintheformofculture,whichhasmuchinfluenceontranslation.Therefore,inthepresentpaper,wereportonapreliminarystudyofEnglish-Chinesetranslationfromtheculturalperspective.

2Language,CultureandTranslation

Differentcountrieshavedifferentcultures.Differentculturesareloadedbydifferentlanguages.Then,translation,asadynamicprocedureofrenderinglanguages,takesupthetaskofconveyingculturalconnotationsembeddedinlanguages.That’swhyquiteanumberofscholarsbothathomeandabroadhavepaidmoreandmoreattentiontotheculturalelementsintranslationinrecentyears.

2.1Definitionsoflanguage,cultureandtranslation

Whatislanguage?

Howevernaïvethequestionmaysound,itisverydifficulttoanswer.Infact,manydifferentdefinitionshaveformulatedbylinguistsandtheotherscholarswhoareinterestedinlanguage.Themostgenerallyaccepteddefinitionislanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Thatismeanslanguageisuniquelyhuman,usedforcommunication,describe,andunderstandtheworld.Eachnationhasitsspecificlanguageformedintheprocessofitselfdevelopment.

Asforculture,whichisanextremelycomplexconceptandanenormoussubjectScholarshomeorabroadhaveallrackedtheirbrainsforaproperdefinitionof“culture”,buttillnownoconsensushasbeenreacheduponagenerallysatisfieddefinition.AmericantranslatorEugeneANidadividedthepropertiesofcultureintofiveclassifications,suchas,ecologicalculture,materialculture,socialculture,religiouscultureandlinguisticculture.Obviously,thatistosay,cultureisconsistingofmaterialcivilizationandspiritualcivilization.2AnotherfamousEnglishscholarAlexanderFranserTytlergaveaclassicaldefinition,cultureorcivilization,itisthecompletelytotalityofknowledge,belief,arts,morals,laws,socialcustomsandalltheabilities,habitsthatgotbyallthesocialmembers.Ascultureissoinclusive,itpermeatesvirtuallyeveryaspectofhumanlifeandinfluencespredominantlypeople’sbehavior.

Thelastistranslation,AmericantheoristandscholarNidaproposedhisideas,“Translationconsistsinthereceptorlanguagetheclosetnaturalequivalentofthesourcelanguagemessage,firstintermsofmeaningandsecondaryintermsofstyle.”3

2.2Cultureandtranslation

Itisuniversallyacknowledgedthatlanguageisboundupwithcultureinonewayoranother.Languageisaproductofsocialandculturaldevelopmentandthusnolanguagecanbeseparatedfromitssocialandculturalenvironment.

Atthesametime,moreandmorescholarsandtranslatorsbothathomeandabroadcametorealizetheimportantroleofcultureintranslation.In1990,AndreLefevereandSusanBassnett“werethefirsttosuggestthattranslationstudiestakethe‘culturalturn’andlooktowardworkofculturalstudiesscholars.4Intranslationfieldhavegreatlybeeninspiredandbegantochangetheirstudyperspectivesfromculture.AccordingtoEugeneANida,“Translationistheexchangebetweentwodifferentcultures,anditismoreimportanttoknowthetwodifferentkindsofculturethanthetwodifferentlanguagesforasuccessfultranslator.”

Similarly,ChinesefamoustranslatorGuoJianzhongrevealshisopinionof“culturalconsciousness“inComparisonofCultureinTranslation,“thetranslatorshouldmasterthetwodifferentkindsoflanguages,butnobodycanreallymasterlanguageifhenotknowthesocialcultureoflanguages.”Andhebelievesthatwhatthetranslatordealswithareindividualwords,butwhathefacingaretwodifferentculture,soeverytranslationshouldtobe“amanofculture”inrealmeaning.Eventhoughtheirexpressionsaredifferent,theymakeacommonunderstandingamongthem,thatis,thetranslatorshouldconsideroftheinfluenceofculturewheninthepracticeoftranslation.

Itisatruthuniversallyacknowledgedintranstologythattranslationisacategoryofhumanbehaviorstarryandhumansocialcommunication,andtranslationisrestrictedbylanguageenvironmentwhichrootedinculturalcustoms.Sothejoboftranslationmustbeinfluencedbythereceptor’scultureandtheoriginalculture.Tosomeextent,thelanguagetransformationisjustthesurfaceoftranslation,whilethedeliveryofculturalinformationistheessenceoftranslation.Inordertoprobeintotheinnerrelationshipandobjectiveprinciplesbetweencultureandtranslation,thetranslatorhastoinspecttranslationundertheculturalcontext,thatismeans,tostudythegeneralandspecificcharacterofeverycultureandtostudythesurfacestructureanddeepstructureofthetwolanguages.

Fromtheabove,wecanseeclearlythattherelationshipbetweencultureandtranslation.Translationisnotjustaprogressofchangingfromalanguageintoanotherlanguage.Whendoingtranslation,thetranslatorshouldbeabletoclearlyreappearthemeaningandstyleconveyedintheoriginalwork.Allthatrequiresthetranslatorshouldpayattentiontoculturaldifferenceandknowthemethodstodealwiththem.

3DiscrepanciesbetweenEnglishandChineseCulture

Asweallknow,everynationhasitsownspecificcultureduetoitsdevelopmentofhistory.Itisnotavoidablethattherearediscrepanciesbetweenthewesterncultureandtheorientalculture,thusitisnecessarytoknowandacquaintwiththedifferencesforaEnglish-Chinesetranslator.Meanwhile,knowingthedifferencesbetweenthetwoculturescanmakegreatacontributiontotranslationwork.Therearemanydifferentaspectsbetweenthetwocultures,asfollow:

3.1Geographicalconditions

ThedifferentgeographicalpositionbetweenChinaandBritishresultsthedifferentclimatebetweenthem.ItisknownthatChinaislocatedinAsianContinent.Beingofcontinentalclimate,themainlandofChinahasfourdistinctseasons,whileBritishiswellknownforitsmaritimeclimateandchangeableweather.ThisisbasedonthefactthatinBritaintheweatherischangeablebutthereareonlysmalldifferencesbetweentheseasons.Anotherclearlydistinctionmadebygeographicalconditionisthewind.InChina,therearemoremountainsinthewestandseasintheeast,sotheeastwindcanbringpeoplewithfeelingsofwarmandcoolwhilethewestwindcomesfromtheSiberiaanditisverycold;onthecontrary,Britishislocatedonthewesthemisphere,theeastwindcomesfromthenorthoftheEuropeanContinent,soitisverycold,however,thewesterlywindbeltcomesfromtheAtlanticOcean,anditisalwaysmildandmoist.

Aboveall,thesedifferencesbetweentheclimatehavegreatimpactontheirpeople’scultureandideas,forinstant,theChinesepeopleliketheeastwindanditisveryeasytofindmanyfamouspoemsandarticlesaboutdescriptionoftheeastwind.Nevertheless,theBritishpeoplewouldliketopraisethewestwind,justtakethefamoussentenceforexample,“O,wind,ifwintercomes,canspringbefarbehind?

”inOdetotheWestWindwrittenbyShelly.Therefore,thetranslatorshouldpayattentiontothedifferentgeographicalconditionsbetweenthetwonationstoimprovethequalityoftranslation.

3.2Livingcustoms

Everycountryhasitsowndevelopmenthistory,whichisdifferentfromeachother.Intheprogressofdevelopment,differentnationgeneratesdifferentcustomsandevendifferentattitudetowardsthesamething.Socialcustomsvarygreatlyfromcountrytocountry,withoutexception,whichcontainsmanyconnotativelyculturalcolorsthatcaninfluencepeople’s