Culture and Translation 文化与翻译

1、文化与翻译culture and translationabstracttranslation is not simply a matter of seeking other words with similar meaning but of finding appropriate ways of saying things in another language. different languages, then, may use different linguistic forms. translation is also the social and psychological act

2、ivities. one should be familiar with ones own culture and be aware of the source-language culture before attempting to build any bridge between them. as translators, we are faced with an alien culture that requires that its message be conveyed in anything but an alien way. that culture expresses its

3、 idiosyncrasies in a way that is culture-bound: cultural words, proverbs and of course idiomatic expressions, whose origin and use are intrinsically and uniquely bound to the culture concerned. so we are called upon to do a cross-cultural translation whose success will depend on our understanding of

4、 the culture we are working with. key words: culture; translation。摘 要翻译并不仅仅是找到意思相近的其它词，而是要找到合适的用另一种语言表达的方式。 不同的语言使用不同的语言形式。 翻译也是一种社会和心理的活动。 在试图在他们之间建立任何桥梁之前，一个人应该熟悉自己民族的文化并且要意识到源语言文化的特征。 作为翻译者，我们所面对的是一种外国文化，那么这就要求信息的传递也要以一种不同的方式进行。 那文化在表达自己的特点时明显带有地域色彩：例如方言，谚语及惯用语等，它们的起源和使用与对应的文化息息相关。 因此，我们翻译成败的关键将取

5、决于我们对异域文化的理解程度。 关键词：文化； 翻译。contents1.0 the introduction -12.0 - literature review -22.1 nidas view on translation and culture -22.2 susan bassnetts view on culture translation -33.0differencesbetweenchineseandwesternculturesreflectedinthelanguage-34.0 several methods of chinese idiom translation -54

6、.1 metaphrase -64.2literaltranslation-74.3replacement -74.4paraphrase-10 441 negation -104.4.2 substitution -115.0 - additional remarks & note-115.1 additional remark-12 5.2 note-10 5.3 omission - 136.0 conclusion-15references-16 acknowledgements-17languageandculture1.0 the introductionlanguageisthe

7、carrierofcultureandpartoftheculture.becauselanguagescanreflectanationsculture,languagesymbolsprovidesarichexpressionmeansforanation.languagehasbeenkeepingsynchronousdevelopmentwithculturethroughoutthewholeprocessofhumanculturescomingintobeingandtheirsubsequentdevelopment.“somescientistsconsideritthe

8、keystoneofculture.withoutlanguage,theymaintain,culturewouldbeimpossible.”(dengyanchangandliurunqing,1989:3.) languages,ineverynation,canembodyandreflectpeoplesdifferentmodesofthinking,values,socialawareness,religiousbeliefs,habitsandcustoms.“languageistheprimarymeansbywhichaculturetransmitsitsbelief

9、s,values,andnorms.itgivespeopleameansofinteractingwithothermembersofthecultureandameansofthinking.”(daiweidong,1989:158)itisexplicitthatcultureandlanguageareinseparablefromeachother,andinfact,cultureincludeslanguageasasubsystem,asawidersystem.itcanbesummarizedthatlanguagecariesculture,mirrorsculture

10、,spreadscultureandhelpsdevelopculture. ontheotherside,languageisdeeplyinfluencedandshapedbyculture,steamingfromculture.language,asasymbolsystem,expressestracesofaparticularsocietyandreflectsuniqueculturalheritage.johnlyons,anenglishlinguist,pointedthat,“languageisapartofculture.differencesonthelangu

11、ageusagewillexposethefeaturesofthesocialcultureintermsofthesubstances,customsandotheractivities.”(lyons,1977:30).therefore,itcanbesaidthattheprocessoflearningatargetlanguageisaprocessoflearningaboutthetargetculture.2.0 literature review2.1 nidas view on translation and culturelanguage is part of a c

12、ulture, so translating from one language into another cannot be done satisfactorily without adequate knowledge of the two cultures involved. in the research of translation, nida has become aware of the great importance of cultural factors in translating. he believes that the cultural factors in tran

13、slating are more significant than the purely linguistic differences; the most serious mistakes in translating are usually not born of verbal inadequacy, but of wrong cultural assumptions. for example, sl idioms are often found to be lively in the sl culture, but hardly understandable, if translated

14、literally, because tl readers cultural background, which differs by varying degrees from that of sl readers, often becomes a misleading factor. therefore, “for truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism, since words only have meanings in terms of the culture

15、s in which they function.”(nida,2001:82) the translators or interpreters cannot understand the sl text enough to provide its exact meaning without careful consideration of its cultural background. thats why most programs for the training of interpreters and translators require that students spend at

16、 least half a year in the countries where the acquired languages are spoken. “only by being in the countries in which a foreign language is spoken can one acquire the necessary sensitivity to the many special meanings of words and phrases.” 2.2 susan bassnetts view on culture translationas a disting

17、uished scholar in translation theory, susan bassnett also accents cultural functional equivalence. she maintains that when two cultures have some overlaps and there is no difficulty in understanding the directly transferred cultural images, literal translation is preferable, for it helps cultural co

18、nstruction in another culture. if it is not the case, some other skills are to be employed so as to aptly transfer the function of the original version into the target language from the perspective of readers response, so that functional equivalence can be procured. besides, she thinks that translat

19、ion should be done with culture as its unit. translation is not a simple process of decoding and recoding, but an act of communication, or that of cultural constructing. the different principles and criteria of translation in different periods of time are to satisfy the requirements of culture and o

20、f the different groups of people in a certain culture. she formally puts forward the concept of cultural translation for the first time, which marks that translation study has come into anew phase. 3.0differencesbetweenchineseandwesternculturesreflectedinthelanguagethehistoricalculturaldifferenceref

21、erstothecultureformedbytspecialhistory developmentprocessandthecultureaccumulatedbythesocialheritage.everynationandcountrydevelopsdifferently,sothehistoricalculturedepositedfromthelonghistorydefinitelydiffersfromeachother.inbothchineseandenglishlanguageshaveformedbythehistoricalliteraryidioms.thesei

22、dioms,althoughsimpleinstructure,carryonfar-reachingsignificance,whicharehardtounderstandandtranslateonlyfromtheliteralmeaning. everylanguagehascolorfulproverbs,idioms,theyareaccumulationsbythepeopleofallethnicgroupsinthelong-termuseoflanguage,possessingstrongindividualityandlocalcolor;itisalsothemos

23、tdifficultpartofthetranslation.intranslatingidiomsandproverbs,itisamusttounderstandtheirimplicationsandconnotations.itneedstranslatorstobeflexibletocombinetheliteraltranslationandfreetranslationskills.duetoregionalsegregationanddifferentlivingenvironment,differentnationalitieshavetheirownpeculiarcul

24、turesunderdifferentnaturalenvironment.theculturalconnotationofwordsandthingsdiffersfromoneculturetoanother.thedifferencesinlivingenvironmentfindtheirexpressionsinusingtheidiomsaswell.idiomshavecloserelationwithpeopleslifeclosely.britainisanislandcountryenclosedbythesea.theenglishpeoplemainlyengagedi

25、ncommercialactivitiesveryearlyontheoceanandtheenglishpeopleusuallyconnectedwhattheysawandthoughtwiththeirexperiencesontheoceanandthusplentyoftheirproverbsandsayingsrelatedtothesea, where as china is a country with large land areas and the chinese people involved mainly in agricultural activities fro

26、m early times. when two languages refer to the same concept, they employ different expressions. the english describes that some one “spends money too recklessly” by “spend money like water” whereas the chinese will say “挥金如土”. there is proverb in chinese“前车之鉴 后事之师”，but in english, it is “let another

27、s shipwreck by your seamark.”; the chinese people use a proverb“未雨绸缪”(turn up the soil and fix the window before it rains) to express the meaning “making preparation beforehand in normal times”, while its english version is “while it is fine weather mend your sail”. from the above examples, it can b

28、e concluded that although the chinese sayings and the english ones share the same figurative meanings, they arouse different associations in the two different cultures. due to the different geographical environment, two people of different nationalities observe things; reflect the objective world no

29、t consistently. so it requires translators not to translate word for word by the dictionary explanation or translation.with regard to modes of thinking, western culture tends to dissect things into parts and analyze their relationships. on the other hand, chinese people are likely to synthesize part

30、s and examine the whole. language inevitably reflects the mode of thinking of certain people.as for the core value, western linearity is embodied in the priority given to developing individual potentialities, realizing individual objectives, and seeking individual interests; chinese circularity is e

31、mbodied in the importance attached to harmonizing community relationships, actualizing community objectives, and safeguarding community interests. the english words like “individualism”, “ambition” and “idealism” are commendatory terms while the chinese ones like“个人主义”，“野心” “理想主义”a derogatory terms.

32、4.0several methods of chinese idiom translation4.1 metaphrasemetaphrase is a method that the image and the forms of the original text are preserved, which can be translated literally. the readers also can catch the implied meaning by the wording translation. some chinese idioms have similar images,

33、which the foreign readers can associate to the equivalent english idioms. in idiom translation, there is a tendency to find english equivalent idioms, equivalent in referential meaning rather than in the images. the reason is that the target text must be idiomatically english. therefore, literal tra

34、nslation of chinese idioms is often considered non-idiomatic. as long as the translation conveys a vivid image and the referential meaning is not distorted, literal translation can introduce chinese culture to the world. literal translation is a way by which the rhetoric, national and regional chara

35、cteristics are kept in the target language. in this way the meaning and the form of the source language are unchanged. some chinese idioms can be translated literally with the same vivid figurative result of the original ones, which can make the foreign readers associate to the equivalent english id

36、ioms.for example:对牛弹琴 to play the lute to a cow. the readers can associate it to the equivalent english idiom “to cast pearls before swine”.竭泽而渔 to drain a pond to catch all the fish (the equivalent idiom: to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.)易如反掌 to be as easy as turning over ones hand (the

37、 equivalent one: as easy as falling off a log.)口蜜腹剑 to be honey-mouthed and dagger-hearted(the equivalent one: a judas kiss)though there are not equivalent english idioms, some chinese idioms with the literal meanings can also be translated literally with the accurate images. such as:井底之蛙 to be like

38、 a frog at the bottom of a well史无前例 to be without precedent in history七嘴八舌 with seven mouths and eight tongues4.2literaltranslation in idiom translation, there is a tendency to find english equivalent idioms, equivalent in referential meaning rather than in the images. the reason is that the target

39、text must be idiomatically english. therefore, literal translation of chinese idioms is often considered non-idiomatic. as long as the translation conveys a vivid image and the referential meaning is not distorted, literal translation can introduce chinese culture to the world. literal translation i

40、s a way by which the rhetoric, national and regional characteristics are kept in the target language. in this way the meaning and the form of the source language are unchanged. some chinese idioms can be translated literally with the same vivid figurative result of the original ones, which can make

41、the foreign readers associate to the equivalent english idioms.for example:对牛弹琴 to play the lute to a cow. the readers can associate it to the equivalent english idiom “to cast pearls before swine”.竭泽而渔 to drain a pond to catch all the fish (the equivalent idiom: to kill the goose that lays the gold

42、en eggs.)易如反掌 to be as easy as turning over ones hand (the equivalent one: as easy as falling off a log.)口蜜腹剑 to be honey-mouthed and dagger-hearted(the equivalent one: a judas kiss)though there are not equivalent english idioms, some chinese idioms with the literal meanings can also be translated l

43、iterally with the accurate images. such as:井底之蛙 to be like a frog at the bottom of a well史无前例 to be without precedent in history七嘴八舌 with seven mouths and eight tongues4.3 replacement regarding chinese idioms translation, what many translation books discussed mainly was the replacement technique. so

44、metimes, equivalent translations can be found, but mostly only similar ones. usually the replacement technique is necessary in the following situations. () chinese idioms have same meanings and culture messages as those in the target language.there are many chinese and english idioms, which have the

45、 same images as well as the expression forms.in chinese, “浑水摸鱼” means “释义浑水：浑浊的水。指在浑浊的水中摸鱼。用法比喻趁混乱的时机捞取不正当的利益，也作混水摸鱼。but the english idiom “to fish in troubled water” means “take advantage of troubled or uncertain condition for personal profit”. these two idioms are similar in both expression form a

46、nd intrinsic meaning.the similar idioms are as follows: 赴汤蹈火 go through fire and water随波逐流 to go with the tide 知识就是力量 knowledge is power.眼不见，心不烦 out of sight, out of mind. 谋事在人，成事在天 man proposes, god disposes空中楼阁 castles in the air 充耳不闻 turn a deaf ear to () chinese idioms share similar meanings but

47、 different culture messages and images with the target language.the chinese idioms, which have same or similar vivid analogy with the english idioms, should be exchanged into the same or corresponding english idioms directly. different languages have different images.for example: if translators tran

48、slate the chinese idiom “胸有成竹” directly into “have a bamboo in one s stomach” according to the wording meaning. the foreign readers not only have difficulties in getting the meaning that this idiom contained, but also have the wrong association easily. therefore, the translators must discard the ima

49、ges in this idiom and change them into the images that the foreign readers are familiar with. so it may be translated as “have a card in ones sleeve”the chinese say “噤若寒蝉”(as mute as a winter cicada)”, yet the native english say , “as mute as a fish”. fish and cicada have similar function in the abo

50、ve examples though they are not similar at all. as far as “silence” is concerned, fish is a familiar image to english speakers, yet the chinese tend to associate the sense with winter cicada. the chinese idiom “瓮中之鳖（the turtle in the jar）”means “释义瓮：大坛子；鳖：甲鱼。大坛子中的甲鱼。用法形容已在掌握之中，逃脱不了。”but the english

51、idiom “likes a rat in a hole”, whose image is a mouse, which is stranded in a hole. it is in an extremely difficult situation. these two scenes agree without prior consultation but happen to hold the same view. though the translators replaced the image, the foreign readers have no difficulty to unde

52、rstand its meaning. the similar chinese idioms included:胆小如鼠 as timid as a rabbit 挥金如土 spend money like water东张西望 look right and left 缘木求鱼 seek a hare in hens nest抛砖引玉 to throw a sprat to catch a herring so, familiar images of the target language are often used to replace those of the source languag

53、e. it is very regret that the foreign readers cannot understand the exotic atmosphere of chinese culture.() chinese idioms share similar images but different culture messages and connotation with the target language.some chinese idioms and english idioms are almost the same in the expression form, b

54、ut the commendatory or derogatory meaning, which the idioms contained, is different. so they cannot be mutually translated.“习俗文化指的是贯穿于日常 社会 生活和交际活动中由民族的风俗习惯形成的文化。（ the custom culture refers to the activities, which formed by nationalitys manners and customs in the social daily life）as a result of the custom culture differences, the translators must pay attention to the animal words in