《围城》中文化负载词的英译

1、本科学生毕业论文围城中文化负载词的英译黑 龙 江 工 程 学 院the graduation thesis for bachelors degreeon the translation of culture-loaded words in fortress besiegedheilongjiang institute of technology摘 要随着国际化进展和跨文化交流的发展，将中国传统文化引向世界将变得越来越重要，这不仅会促进中国和世界上其他国家的相互理解，而且会进一步提高中国政治，经济和文化的地位。对于任何一种语言来说，词汇都是重要组成部分，并且随着语言的发展逐渐地被打上了文化的烙印

2、。由于各国不同的历史背景及风俗习惯等形成的文化负载词给翻译工作带来了相当大的困难。文化负载词虽然生动形象地反映了中国文化的个性特征，但却阻碍了各国之间的交流。翻译不仅是语言的转换，更是两种文化的交流与沟通，本文从奈达的五种文化类型分析了围城中负载生态文化，物质文化，宗教文化，社会文化以及语言文化的一些文化词的翻译，并指出了译者在翻译这些文化负载词过程中的得失。同时探讨了几种常用的翻译方法的具体运用，并得出翻译手段应顺应特定语境，符合文化色彩或形象的需要，顺应社会发展和读者的接受能力，懂得变通和灵活以达到跨文化翻译的最佳目标的结论。关键词：围城；文化负载词；钱钟书；分类；翻译；关系abstrac

3、twith the rapid development of globalization and cross-cultural communication, it is more and more important to introduce chinese traditional culture into other countries. it not only helps the mutual understanding between china and the rest of the countries in the world, but also improves positions

4、 of china in the world politically, economically and culturally. words are the most important components in a language, and with the development of language, they are marked by culture gradually. on account of diverse historical background and customs, a lot of culture-loaded words spring up, which

5、create a barrier to translation. though these culture-loaded words reflect unique features of chinese culture vividly, they hinder the cross-cultural communication.translation is not only the conversion of languages, but also the exchange and communication between two kinds of cultures. on the basis

6、 of nidas five types of cultures, the paper intends to analyze some translation of ecological, material, religion, social and linguistic culture-loaded words, and point out the pros and cons in the process of translating these culture-loaded words in fortress besieged. at the same time, the paper di

7、scusses several commonly used methods of translation in actual use, and draws the conclusion that translation methods should conform to a specific context, meet the needs of culture or images and conform to the social development and the readers ability to accept and be flexible in order to achieve

8、the best target for cross-cultural translation.key words: fortress besieged; culture-loaded word; chien chung-shu; classification; translation; relationshipcontents摘 要iabstractii. introduction1a. background of the study1b. purpose and significance of the thesis2. introduction to culture-loaded words

9、4a. the definition of culture-loaded words4b. the relationship between culture and language4c. the relationship between culture and translation5d. the definition and development of cultural translation6. classification of chinese culture-loaded words in fortress besieged7a. ecological culture-loaded

10、 words7b. religious culture-loaded words7c. social culture-loaded words8d. material culture-loaded words9e. linguistic culture-loaded words9. translation methods of chinese culture-loaded words in fortress besieged11a. transliteration plus notes11b. literal translation12c. free translation13d. subst

11、itution14e. amplification16conclusion18works cited20references21acknowledgements23. introductiona. background of the studythe chinese famous novelist chien chung-shu started the novel of fortress besieged in 1944 and finished it in 1946. the name of the novel was inspired by a french proverb: “marri

12、age is like a fortress besieged: those who are outside want to get in, and those who are inside want to get out.”chiens broad and profound erudition of both chinese classics and western knowledge makes the novel quite interesting and attractive. it is full of both eastern and western allusions.the p

13、ungent novel is a very classical satire work. it features scores of very colorful and quite recognizable characters of intellectualsthey are rich, put on western airs, put on chinese airs and they are people who come from the early period of the sino-japanese war.as a literature work which is global

14、ly-renowned, the novel fortress besieged by chinese chien chung-shu has been translated to many versions in other languages, including english, japanese, french, korean, russian, spanish, german and so forth. among all these translations, the language and spirit of this novel are interpreted in quit

15、e different ways. taking english versions for instance, we can find several quite different versions, and among them the most well-known one is published in 1979, with the joint efforts of two translators, jeanne kelly and nathan k. mao. the literary works which are full of nationality often contain

16、 a large number of culture-loaded words, and fortress besieged by mr. chien chung-shu is an example. this novel shows us the abnormal intellectuals produced in semi-colonial and semi-feudal china and exposes the social environment which causes the deterioration of these people. in as early as 1979,

17、indiana university press published its first english version, which is also the only complete english version until today. it reflects the exact style and content of the original one, which of course attributes to its various translation ways employed by its translators. as a very famous novel, fort

18、ress besieged is full of culture-loaded words, which vividly reflects chinese culture and has become one of the most prominent characteristics of the work. however, there are many problems while translating fortress besieged. one of the biggest barriers is the translation of culture-loaded words whi

19、ch are full of unique features of culture. as opposed to the “universal” conception, they include not only factors of linguistic difference but also cultural difference.jeanne kelly and nathan k. maos version fully represents all the elements and characteristics in that novel, be it proper nouns or

20、expressions, and it could be acknowledged as an eligibly fully-translated version. for conveying the chinese used in such chinese novels and a host of proper nouns covering various cultural background, every translator must contribute tremendous efforts to sorting out the source of every word and ac

21、quire good command of the precise meaning of them. among them, jeanne kelly and nathan k. maos is the only one to keep almost all features of that novel.cultural differences have concerned scholars. to solve this barrier, they have conducted relevant researches and put forward a large number of appr

22、oaches and strategies accordingly. guo jianzhong explores the translation of culture-loaded words and expressions in literary works. he arrives at the conclusion and says “domestication and foreignization can play their respective role in transition. he also points out that strategies that translato

23、rs choose are connected to the purpose of translation, the type of texts, the intention of the author and the readership.” guo jianzhong. translation of popular science fiction: theory techniques & practice m. shanghai: shanghai foreign language education press, 2000: 257.due to the huge differences

24、 between chinese and western culture, it is very difficult to find the equivalent expressions for some of the culture-loaded words while translating the novel into english. whether can we disseminate the chinese culture-loaded information and achieve the purpose to promote the cross-culture communic

25、ation is the key to the success of translation.b. purpose and significance of the thesisthe translation of culture-loaded words is an important part while translating and needs more attention and further study. a better knowledge of the importance of culture-loaded words in translation can be obtain

26、ed by studying and discussing about the translation of culture-loaded words by those famous scholars and translators. there is no doubt that it will help translators get a better master of the meaning and translation.with the immense difference between chinese and english language, translation of th

27、is book seems to be a really challenging job for every translator, but the translators did make tremendous hard efforts in translation, thus the western world, and the world as a whole can enjoy this fascinating chinese work.for the cultural factors embedded in language structure we encountered whil

28、e translating, the famous american translation theorist nida once classified them into five types: “ecological culture, material culture, social culture, religious culture and linguistic culture.” nida, eugene a. language and culture: context in translating m. shanghai: shanghai foreign language edu

29、cation press, 2001: 78. this article tries to discuss the five types of culture-loaded words and find out the most effective way for translating the culture-loaded words and offering the western readers the same feeling as what chinese readers have while reading this novel. introduction to culture-l

30、oaded wordsin order to study the translation of culture-loaded words well in fortress besieged, it is necessary to first state the definition of culture and the relationship between language, culture and translation.a. the definition of culture-loaded wordsgenerally speaking, any language includes f

31、our main structures: vocabulary, sound, syntax and discourse. words, which are the smallest unit of a language, are definitely close-related to culture. cultural difference is the most outstanding and widespread at lexical levels.according to geoffrey leech, a very famous english linguist, “a word c

32、onsisted of two meanings: the denotative meaning and the connotative meaning. a denotative meaning is the referent or the thing to which a symbol refers, while the connotative meaning refers to the attitudes and beliefs resulting from the words in discourse.” 郭建忠. 文化与翻译 m. 北京: 中国对外翻译出版公司, 2000: 279.

33、culture-loaded words carry some connotative meanings of culture. hu wenzhong put forward the definition of culture-loaded words: “in a language system, culture-loaded words are the vocabulary which can best embody the cultural information that a language carries and they also reflect the human socia

34、l life.” leech, geoffrey. semantics: the study of meaning m. harmondsworth: penguin, 1981:25.b. the relationship between culture and language1. cultureculture is a concept with quite broad connotation. it can be regarded as the accumulation of the social knowledge of mankind, and the mode of thinkin

35、g and narrating things.2. languagelanguage is a very special social phenomenon, and it is also the most important tool for the communication and thinking of human beings. it is not totally isolated but concerns various aspects. despite the fact that the language is not purely material, it is truly i

36、nseparable to us for its important functions. similarly, it gives representation of the non-material factors although it is not sheer spiritual.3. the relation between culture and languageboth the features of the material world and the status of the spiritual one could be well illustrated by languag

37、es, thus it naturally becomes a part of culture.contrarily, languages are often influenced by the culture where they are involved. customs, historical backgrounds and habits are all playing an influential role in the form of one language. thus we could find the trace of a certain culture in the use

38、of words, phrases, and even ways of organizing paragraphs in every language.c. the relationship between culture and translationedward taylor defined culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a m

39、ember of society.” taylor, edward b. primitive culture m. london: cambridge university press, 1958: 130. with the deep influence of their unique religion, tradition, habitant, beliefs, customs and value, cultural differences have been formed between chinese and western audience in the long history.

40、while translating the chinese literary works, translators need to have some knowledge of the difference between two different cultures, especially in the translation of words which embody some cultural implication. words that reflect the unique ways of a certain nation, which are accumulated in the

41、long history of human beings and different from those of other nations, are defined as culture-loaded words, including words, phrases and idioms.mr. zhu guangqian pointed out that to handle the associative meaning of foreign literature in translation is the most difficult, for its literary context h

42、as its special and unique meaning, which is very important in literature, for it requires us to have a knowledge of a countrys customs and cultural and historical background, or do not translate when there will be start of feeling.”the reason is not so easy to be translated, but because the language

43、 reflects culture, carrying the rich cultural connotations are subject to cultural constraints. once into the language of communication, there is the understanding of culture and expressions of the problem. it requires not only the translators should be bilingual, but also bicultural as well as mast

44、er diverse cultures, two languages, the formation of culture, customs, history and traditions, religion and a series of inter-change factors are a certain understanding.d. the definition and development of cultural translationfrom the cultural perspective, the study of translation has begun since a

45、quite long time ago. after the appearance of an anthologytranslation, history and culture by andre lefevere and susan bassnett, the translators and scholars started the translation studies from the cultural perspective.the translators and scholars interested in the relation between culture and trans

46、lation: “what kind of role does the translation plays in text, what condition determines the translation methods employed by the translators. the cultural translation has become more and more popular not only domestically but also internationally nowadays.” 李艳. 从文化翻译视角论围城中文化负载词的翻译策略 d. 赣南师范学院, 2011:

47、 12.broadly speaking, cultural translation is a kind of translation in which the context is translated according to the receptor culture way to some extent. its purpose is to change the cultural connotation of a language into another but in different forms of culture.culture translation is often reg

48、arded as a relatively new field in the study of translation. the famous scholar susan bassnett has made quite great contributions to the cultural translation. she believes that “cultural translation has great concern about culture and of course, it is not a pure language activity. the translation of

49、 culture-loaded words is deeply rooted in the culture of a certain language. it concentrates on environment and how culture influences and constrains translation from the perspectives of convention, history and cultural background.” susan, bassnett & andre, lefevere. constructing culture essays on l

50、iterary translation. shanghai: shanghai foreign language education press, 2001:37. therefore, the translation of culture-loaded words can be regarded as the cross-cultural communication.in china, however, the scholars didnt start the translation studies from cultural perspective. they realize the im

51、portance of welltranslated culture-loaded words. the translators realize that to make the traditional chinese culture known to foreigners, they should have some cultural consciousness. classification of chinese culture-loaded words in fortress besiegedas we all know, translation is not only the conv

52、ersion of languages, but also the exchange and communication between two kinds of cultures. on the basis of ninas five types of cultures, the paper tries to analyze some translation of ecological, material, religion, social and linguistic culture-loaded words, and analyze the pros and cons in the pr

53、ocess of translating these culture-loaded words in fortress besieged.a. ecological culture-loaded wordsculture is formed and developed in a specific ecological environment, different regions have different cultures. ecological culture includes a regions geographical environment, climatic characteris

54、tics, place, name and so on. due to the different geographical and ecological environments, chinese and western countries have formed their own cultures. one nations ecological culture may be very difficult for the people of another nation to perceive and master. china is a country with long history

55、 and a broad size. many ecological culture-loaded words become the inseparable elements in chinese language and culture. in traditional chinese culture, people think highly of “松”(pine), “竹” (bamboo) and “梅” (plum blossom), which are often regarded as “岁寒三友” (companions of winter). there are a large

56、 number of ecological culture-loaded words in fortress besieged, such as “怀春”, “满面春风”, “寻花问柳”, “艳若桃李”, “冷若冰霜”, “捕风捉影”, etc.translators have to know the differences between chinese and english geographical features so that these words can be translated with distinctive chinese ecological culture. thi

57、s is very important and necessary for mutual understanding and communication.b. religious culture-loaded wordsreligious culture-loaded words are often defined as the reflections of religious belief and some traditional cultures of some certain language community. it is rather difficult for english r

58、eaders to understand chinese religious culture-loaded words as a result of the different religious beliefs between chinese and western people such as buddhism, taoism and confucianism, all of which have an influence on chinese people. for chinese people worship “佛” (buddha), “天” and “菩萨” (bodhisattva), all of which reflects in chinese language, for example, “时不烧香, 临时抱佛脚”, “借花献佛”, “得了和尚, 跑不了庙”, “三纲五常” etc. and of course in fortress besieged many religious culture-l