文化背景知识和翻译分析研究 英语学专业

文化背景知识和翻译/r/n[Abstract]Itisagreedthatlanguageisacomponentofcultureandreflectsit;translationisnotonlythelinguisticbutalsothecommunicationofcultures.Culturebackgroundknowledgeisconcernedwithgeographicchatacteristics,historical/r/n,tradition,socialcustoms,religionartsandotheraspectsofasociety.Alsoitconditionsthepsychologicalmake-upofindividuals.Therefore,targetlanguagereadersmayexperiencecultureshockfromtranslationsdonotproperlydealwiththefactors/r/nofculturesasaresultoftheirlackofculturalbackgroundknowledge,Thispaperdiscussestheinfluenceofknowledgeofculturesontranslation,andconcludesthattranslatorsshouldhaveavastandpreciseunderstandingofthetwoculturesconcerned./r/n

[/r/nKeyWords]culture;translation;culturalbackgroundknowledge/r/n

/r/n[/r/n摘/r/n/r/n要/r/n]/r/n语言不仅是文化的组成部分，也是文化的反映形式。翻译不仅仅是语言间的转换，而且是文化间的交流活动。文化背景知识涉及/r/n/r/n历史/r/n、地理特征、传统、社会风俗、宗教、/r/n/r/n艺术/r/n以及社会的各个方面。同时，文化背景知识也影响/r/n了社会成员的心理结构。因此，如果翻译者缺乏文化背景知识并因此不能恰当处理好原文中的文化因素，译文读者可能要面对激烈的文化冲击。本文将主要讨论译者文化背景知识/r/n对翻译的影响。最后得出结论：翻译者应该对相关的两种文化都有广泛而深入的认识。/r/n

[/r/n关键词/r/n]/r/n文化；翻译；文化背景知识/r/n

/r/n

1.Introduction/r/n

Accordingtothetraditiontheoryoftranslation,peopleconsideredtranslatingactivitiesas/r/naprocessoftransferbetweentwolanguages.Inthe1970s,thestudyoftranslationtendedtodevelopinseveraldirections.Itwasnolongerrestrictedtothetraditionaestheticandlinguisticstudyandbecomeculturalrethinking./r/n

Accordingtothetheor/r/niesofMarySnell-Hornby,BassnettandLefevere,wecanconcludethattranslationistopresentinanotherculturethemeaningandimplicationthatthetexthasinaspecificculturalcontext.Innature,translationisakindofcommunicationbetweencultu/r/nres.Duringtheprocessoftranslation,theinterpretationandexpressionoftheconnotationofcultureemergeasproblemstobesolvedatthefirstplace.Thatrequiresthetranslatorsnotonlyshouldhavebilingualabilitiesbutalsoshouldhavetheknow/r/nledgeoftwoculturesof,evenseveralcultures.In1993,Nidapointedoutthat,forthetrulysuccessfultranslation,theknowledgeoftwoculturesismoreimportantthanthebilingualability.[1]/r/n

E.B.Tylor,ananthropologist,thoughtcultureisacompli/r/ncatedgathering,includingknowledge,belief,arts,moralstandards,law,customsandall/r/ntheabilitiesandhabitsofindividualsasmembersofasociety.[2]Thescopeofcultureisextremelywide-ranging.Languageisthereflectionofculture.Anykindof/r/nlanguagebasesonthegroundofcertainculture.So,theculturalcharacteristicsoflanguageincludethewayofthinking,psychologicalmake-up,historical,tradition,socialcustoms,believesandgeographicfeaturesthatthelanguagereflects.Tounders/r/ntandthesourcelanguageandtheoriginaltext,translatorshavetoanalyzethoseculturalcharacteristicsofalanguage./r/n2.Cultureandlanguage/r/n

Cultureisacomplicatedsystemincludingandinfluencingalmostalltheaspectsoflifeinasociety.Thelan/r/nguagethatthesocietyusesisnoexception.However,languagealsoinfluencesculture.Languageandcultureinfluenceseachotherandreflectseachother./r/n2.1Cultureandlanguage/r/n

E.B.Tylor,ananthropologist,saidthatcultureisacomplicatedcombinat/r/nionincludingknowledge,belief,arts,ethics,laws,customsandtheabilityandhabitsofindividualsasmembersofasociety.Hereknowledgereferstoacademicsubjects,bothscientificandnotscientific,forexample,mathematicsandlinguistics.Belief/r/ncouldbedividedintotwosorts,politicalandreligious,whicharedifferentamongpeoplesandoftencoursedifferentcomprehensionandevenconflicts.Examplesare/r/nChristianityinthewestcountriesandIslamintheMuslincountries.Artscomprisepaint/r/ning,architecture,sculpture,literature,opera,dancing,musicetc.(Somepeoplemaintainthatfilmisalsoasortofthearts.)Ethicsisasetofprinciplesthatpeopleusetodecidewhatisrightandwhatiswrong./r/n

Thescopeofcultureisnotmeasurab/r/nle.Languageisapartofit.Alllanguagesgrowonthegroundofcertaincultures.[3]Differentlanguagesarenotjustused,butalsocreatedindifferentculturalsituations.Thuslanguagesbeartheircharacteristicsinaccordancewiththoseofspecific/r/ncultures.Tounderstandthelanguageappropriately,wehavetoanalyzetheculturalcharacteristicsofit./r/n

Languageisasystemofsounds,words,patterns,ectusedbyhuman’stocommunicatethoughtsandfeelings.Webeginourpreviewoflanguagebynoting/r/nthatitisimpossibletoseparateouruseoflanguagefromourculture.Initsmostbasicsense,languageisasetofsymbolsandtherulesforcombiningthosesymbolsthatareusedandunderstoodbyalargecommunityofpeople.Whenwestudyanotherlang/r/nuage,wesoondiscoverthatnotonlyarethesymbols(words)andsoundsforthosesymbolsdifferent,butalsoaretherules(phonology,grammar,syntaxandintonation)forusingthosesymbolsandsounds./r/n

Worddifferencesareobviousinvariouslanguages.I/r/nnEnglish,weliveinahouse.InSpanish,weliveinacasa.InTai,weliveinaban.Phonology/r/nalsovariesculturally.InEnglish,wehave21consonantsand5vowelsandcombinetoform38variousphonemes.Vietnamesehas34segmentalphonemesconsistin/r/ngofvowels,semi-vowelsandconsonants.TheFilipinolanguagehas21consonantsand13vowelsthatform26phonemes.Grammaticalstructuresareuniquetoeachlanguageaswell.InEnglish,wehavesingularandpluralnounsandpronouns,butinKorean,the/r/ndistinctionbetweensingularandpluralismadebythecontextofthesentence.InEnglish,verbtensesexpresscontrastbetweenpast,present,andfutureacts,butinVietnamese,thesameverbreflectsallthreeandthetimeoftheactionisinferredfro/r/nmthecontext.Syntax,orthewordorderandstructureinthesentence,alsovariesdependingonthelanguage.ThenormalwordorderforsimplesentencesinVietnameseisthereverseofthewordorderinEnglish.Thatis,thepredicateisfollowedbythes/r/nubject.Forexample,theEnglishsentence"Theteacherdied"wouldbe"Namatayangguro"or"Diedtheteacher"inFilipino.InEnglishthesubjectisfollowedbyaverbandthenanobject,butinJapanese,thesubjectisfollowedbytheobjectandthenthe/r/nverb.SoinEnglishwemightsay,"Johnsawthedog."butinJapanese,"Johnthedogsaw"wouldbecorrect.[4]/r/n

Theseexamplesindicatethatifwewanttocommunicateinanotherlanguage,itisimportantforustoknownotonlythesymbols(words)ofthat/r/nlanguage,butalsotherulesforusingthosesymbols.Asweknow,/r/nlanguageismuchmorethansymbolandrulesystemthatallowustocommunicatewithotherperson——languagealsoshapetheprocessbywhichpeoplebecomeintroducedtotheorderofthephysi/r/ncalandsocialenvironment./r/n2.2Relationshipbetweenlanguageandculture/r/n

Languageandcultureinfluenceeachother,reflecteachotherandco-existwitheachother.Differentculturesresultindifferentlanguage.Differentlanguagesinturncausediffe/r/nrentcommunicativepatternsandfinallydifferencesbetweencultures./r/n

LanguageanditsculturalinfluenceareexemplifiedinthetheoreticalformulationsoftheSapir-Whorfhypothesis,whichstatesthatSapirandWhorfbelievethatlanguagefilterspeople’/r/nsperceptionandthewaytheycategorizeexperiences.Thishypothesisimpliesthatproclaimedthatthestructureofthelanguagepeoplehabituallyuseinfluencesthewaystheythinkandbehave.Thatistosay,differentlanguagesofferpeopledifferentway/r/nsofexpressingtheworldaround,theythinkandspeakdifferently[5].Sapirwrote:Humanbeingsdonotliveintheobjectiveworldalone,norintheworldofsocialactivityasordinarilyunderstood,butareverymuchatthemercyoftheparticularlangu/r/nagewhichhasbecomethemediumoftheexpressionoftheirsociety...Therealworldistoalargeextentunconsciouslybuiltonthelanguagehabitsofthegroup.Notwolanguagesareeversufficientlysimilartobeconsideredas/r/nrepresentingthesamesoci/r/nalreality.Theworldsinwhichdifferentsocietieslivearedistinctworlds,notmerelythesameworldwithdifferentlabelsattached./r/n

AgoodillustrationofthispointisthewordsnowinEskimoandEnglish.TheEskimoshavecountlesswordsforsnow.Fo/r/nrthemsnowisextremelyimportantandsocrucialtolifethateachofitsvariousformsandconditionsisnamed.InEnglish-speakingcultures,snowisfarlessimportantandthesimplewordsnowusuallysufficestheneeds.Whensomeneedsbecomemorespec/r/nific,however,longerphrasescanbemadeuptomeettheseneeds:"cornsnow","finepowdersnow",and"driftingsnow".Onceagainthisprovesthatthereisaconnectionbetweenthewordsacultureselectsandtheideasandthingsofthatculture.Inshor/r/nt,eachculturepresentstoitsmembers,eitherconsciouslyorsubconsciouslythroughwords,theideasandconceptsthatculturetransmitsfromgenerationtogeneration[6]./r/n

AnotherinstanceofhowlanguagedefinesexperiencecanbeseenintheNavajolang/r/nuage,whichemphasisthenatureandthedirectionofmovement.Ratherthansaying,"Onedresses,"theNavajowouldsay,onemoveintoclothing."Insteadofsaying,"Oneisyoung,"theNavajowouldsay,"Onemovesaboutnewly."Languageisoneaspectofthe/r/nNavajonaturethatcoincideswiththenotionofuniverseinmotion./r/n

AlthoughcompleteacceptanceoftheSapir-Whorfhypothesismaybe/r/ncontroversial,itsapplicationofcultureandlanguageisclear:languageisthereflectionofculture,andcultureisa/r/nshapeoflanguage.Wehaveseenthatcultureinfluenceslanguagebywayofsymbolsandrulesaswellasourperceptionoftheuniverse.Equallyimportantisthefactthatmeaningshiftsfromculturetoculture./r/n2.3Differentlanguageandcultureleadtodi/r/nfferentcommunicativepattern/r/n

ChinesecommunicationpatternanduseoflanguagearesimilartothoseofJapaneseandKoreans.TheChinesetendtobesituation-orientedandtovieweventsinrelationtothetotality.FortheChinese,thistotalview,anis-/r/nor-is-notpolarityisavoided.InEnglish,peopleandthingareplacedinacontinuum—bigandsmall,goodandbad,blackandwhite.FortheChinese,middlevaluesarearticulatedandareciprocalrelationshipbetweenthetwoextremesisemphasized.Forexa/r/nmple,theChinesemayrefertoloveandhateasdeferenceandpoliteness,theywouldliketosay:”/r/n我对她有点意思/r/n!”insteadof“/r/n我爱她/r/n!”,and”/r/n我懒得理他/r/n!”insteadof“/r/n我讨厌他/r/n!”.ThisfocusonthequalityofthecontinuumisareflectionoftheChinesebeliefintheprincipleo/r/nfnature,yin(passive)andyang(active).Thispoliteprinciplecombinestoproduceeverythingthatcomestobe.Itmakespeoplemoreconcordantandavoidsthecommunicationconflict./r/n

Wehavealludedtothefactthattheuseofdirectandindirectlanguag/r/neis/r/namajorlinguisticdifferencebetweenNorthAmericansandmanyAsiancultures,suchastheChinese.MostNorthAmericanslearntosayyesandnoasameansofexpressingtheirindividualviews.Beingacollectiveculture,theChineseusuallyuseyesa/r/nndnotoexpresstherespectforthefeelingoftheothers.Inotherwords,tosayyesfornoornoforyesislargelyareflectionoftheindirectapproachtocommunication.Forexample,ChineseandEnglishhaveadifferentanswerfor“youarenotastude/r/nnt,areyou?”FortheChinesestudents,hewillanswer:“/r/n不，我是学生。/r/n”FortheEnglishstudent,hewillanswer:"yes,Iam"Thatisbecausethewesternpeoplechose"question-oriented",andtheChinesechosefact-orientedthroughwhichundesirableinterpersona/r/nlcommunicationcanbeavoided.Thiscontrary-to-face-valueaspectofAsianverballanguagebehaviorcanbeconfusingtoNorthAmericans./r/n

Theindirectuseoflanguageisevidentinwaysotherthantheuseofyesandno.Forexample,anAmericanhostorhos/r/ntess,whencomplimentedonhisofhercooking,islikelytorespond,"Oh,Iamsogladyoulikeit.Icookeditespeciallyforyou."Incontrast,theChinesehostandhostesswillinsteadapologizeprofuselyforgivingyounothingevenslightlyedibleand/r/nfornotshowingyouenoughhonorfornotprovidingenoughdishes./r/n

AnotherexampleofChineseindirectlanguageisevidentintheirpracticeofpolitelyrefusinganofferthreetimesbeforetheyaccept.Ithasalsoleft/r/nmanyChinesehungryatanAmericanta/r/nble.AnAmericanhostesscommentedonthissituation:/r/n

Onceyouhavelearntthesignalandhowtorespond,lifebecomesinfinitelyeasier.WhenChineseguestcomes,IknowIshouldimmediatelyaskifthey'dlikeacupoftea.Theywillrespond,"Pleasedon'/r/ntbother,”whichismysignaltofetchtea./r/n

ThelanguageofEnglishisuseddifferentlyaswemoveamongmanyEnglish-speakingcountries.InGreatBritain,thelanguageisinterspersedwitheuphemismsthatenablethespeakerstoavoidexpressingstrongfee/r/nlings.Forinstance,whenEnglishpersonswishtodisagreewithsomeone,theyareliabletoprefacearequest,asin"I'dbeawfullygratefulif•••"of"Thankyouverymuchindeed.ThisrestraintisalsoveryevidentinthedifferencesbetweenAmericanan/r/ndBritishwordchoice".ComparethefollowingsignsintheUnitedStatesandinEngland:/r/n

U.S.:"Nodogsallowed."/r/n

England:"Weregretthatintheinterestofhygiene,dogsarenotallowedinthe/r/n

premises."/r/n

U.S.:"Videocontrolled."/r/n

England:"Notice:Inthe/r/ninterestofourregularcustomers,thesepremisesare/r/n

nowequippedwithcentralsecurity-circuittelevision."/r/n

/r/nU.S.:"Pleasekeephandsoffdoor.”/r/n

England:"Obstructingthedoorcausesdelayandcanbedangerous.”/r/n

Fromtheabovediscussion,wemayconclud/r/nethathowtheBritishusesEnglishreflectstheirpursuingofpolitenessandfriendliness,whiletheAmericansstressaccuracyandsimplicity.Comparatively,theChineseprefersmiddlevalueandtrytoavoidpolarity./r/n

Ourgoalinthissectionhasbeento/r/nconveythefactthat,differentlanguageandcultureleadtodifferentcommunicativepattern,languageandcultureisinseparablefromeachotherincommunicativepattern.Cultureinfluenceslanguagesymbolsandrulesforusingthosesymbols.Aswehaveal/r/nsoseen,meaningisculturallydetermined.Atthesametimelanguageisthecarrierofculture.Languageincommunicativepatternalsoisoneoftheelementsinculture-nativizedoftranslation.Infact,translationjustsettheinfluenceonreadersbylan/r/nguage./r/n3.Cultureandtranslation/r/n

Cross-culturalcommunicationiscommunicationbetweenpeoplefromdifferentcultures.Withthestudyoftranslationgoingfurther,theideathattranslationisforcross-culturalcommunicationwasputforthbylinguistsan/r/ndtranslators.Newmarkhastwostatements:"translationisthemosteconomicalmethodofexplainingoneculture'swaytoanother"and"translationmediatescultures".Snell-Hornbystates“translationisnot‘interlingualtransfer’but‘cross-culturaltrans/r/nfer’"(Snell-Hornby,/r/n1988:39)[7].LameHewsonandJackyMartin(1993:25)alsostatethattranslationistheexplorationofanunbridgeablegapandofatensionbetweencultures,anditsfunctionistodevelopcross-culturalconstructionwhileatthesame/r/ntimebridgingandunderlyingthedifferences.Asasignificantmediumforculturalexchange,translationaimstopromoteunderstandingamongdifferentcountriesandnations,hencetoimprovecommunicationcrosscultures./r/n

Translationfromlanguagetolangua/r/ngeisinfacttranslationfromculturetoculture.Bassnett(1991:13)[8]believesthattranslationmusttakeplaceinaframeworkofculture.Translation,ascross—culturalcommunicationmustbemadeonalingualbasisandonaculturalone,becauselangu/r/nageandculturearesointerdependentthattheoneimpliestheother.Culturefindsitsexpressioninthelanguageandthroughthelanguage.Culturalspecificsinfluencethewaythelanguageunitesareusedandunderstood.Thetranslatorrendersintoanoth/r/nerlanguagewhatthelanguagewiththeoriginalmessagemeansintheculture.Andtherefore,linguistictheoriesoftranslationmustincorporateculturalaspectsaswell./r/n

Translationascross-culturalcommunicationisassociatedwithtwoculturalcontexts/r/ninwhichtheirculturalcontentisconveyedintwodifferentlanguages,anditlaysemphasisonhowtoconveyinaprecisewaytheoriginalculturalconnotationandhowtointerpretitonthenativeculturalperspectivesoastoachieveeffectivecommunica/r/ntion,and/r/nrequiresthetranslatorsshouldtransfertheculturalmessageofthesourcelanguagetothetargetreaders,bothfaithfullyandvalidly.Andtherefore,translatorshouldnotonlyrespectthesourceculture,butalsothetargetculture,andhelpb/r/nringaboutcommunicationbetweenthemembersofdifferentlinguisticandculturalcommunities./r/n

Inordertoachievefaithfulandvalidcommunication,translatorsshouldtakeseriouslyintoconsiderationtheculturalpsychologicalfactorsconcerned.Cultural/r/npsychological,whichunderlinesthevarietyoflanguageusageandlanguagehabits,cometothemostimportantareaoftranslationstudies.Thewayofthinking,beliefs,attitude,andvaluesofdifferentculturesnotonlygiverisetofailureofmisunderst/r/nandingincross-culturecommunication,butalsoposeheadachestotranslatorsandtranslationtheoristswhoaretryingtobridgethegapsbetweensourcelanguagetextsandtargetlanguagetexts,andintentionofsourcelanguageauthorsandreceivingcapaci/r/ntyoftargetlanguagereaders./r/n

4.InfluenceofCulturalBackgroundOntranslation/r/n

Culturecanbedividedintoseveralparts,soforculturalbackgroundknowledge.Studythosepartsonebyoneisareasonablemethodofunderstandingaspecificculture./r/n4.1/r/nTheinfluenceofknowledgeofhistoryontranslation/r/n

Historyofacountrymaylastforthousandsofyears.Evennativesknownotallthepastevents,nottomentiontheforeigners.Tofulfillthe/r/nobligationoftranslationasacross-culturalcommunication,/r/ntranslatorsshouldhaveextensiveknowledgeofhistory,especiallythatofthesourceculture./r/n

Knowledgeofhistoryaffectstheaccuratetranslationofpoliticalterms.Forexample,/r/n香港回归/r/nhastwoofficialtranslationsbecauseofdifferentcognitionsofhist/r/nory.Proceedingfromtheirownpositiononthequestion,Britishgovernmentusedtheexpression"HongkongHandover".[9]Onthecontrary,theofficialtranslationofChinais"toresumetheexerciseofsovereigntyoverHongkong".ThatisbecauseHongkongh/r/nasbeenapartofChinainthelongprocessofhistory.Britainonlyseizedthe"sovereignty"ofHongkongfromthedeclininggovernmentoftheQingDynastybythemeansofwar./r/n

Thecertainwordsinacertainagearedifficulttotranslator.Forexample,in/r/ntheperiodof“therevolutionofculture”ofChina,peopleusuallyliketosaythesentence:“/r/n我们不搞实用主义/r/n”.Wecan’ttranslate“wedonotadvocatepragmatism.”Inwesterncountries,“pragmatismispraised”amethodofphilosophyinwhichthetruthofaprop/r/nositionismeasuredbyitscorrespondencewithexperimentalresultsandbyitspracticaloutcome”(thenewColombiaencyclopedia.3rded)/r/n实用主义/r/nisaderogatoryterminchina,butinwesterncountries,ithastheextendedmeaninginphilosophyasfollow;“anex/r/ncellentplanwhichcangetexpediency.”(/r/n有利可图的权宜之计/r/n)So,wecantranslatethesentence:/r/nWeneverbaseourpoliciesonexpediency.ThissentencenotonlyshowsthewordexactuseinChinesebutalsogivethecorrectmeaningtotheforeignerwhodonotknowthe/r/ncertainmeaninginchinaatthatcertainages.[10]

/r/n4.2Theinfluenceofknowledgeofgeographiccharacteristicsontranslation/r/n

Geographiccharacteristicsnotonlyinfluencethemateriallifeofacountry,theyalsoinfluencethelanguageandtheculture/r/n./r/n

Differencesbetweengeographiccharacteristicscausedifferencesbetweenlanguages.Englandisanislandsurroundedbywaters.Becauseoftherichfishresources,fishingisanimportanteconomicactivityandmanyEnglishexpressionsareassociatedwith/r/nfish.Forexample,afishoutoffish,bigfishinapound,drinklikeafish,allisfishthatcomestoone'snet,feedthefishetc.Itiseasytoseegeographiccharacteristicshaveainfluenceonlanguage.Itreflectsonthepronunciation,vocabulary,/r/ngrammarandsoon.Ithasaimportancefunctiononplayingupthenation’slanguageandculturewhenwewanttotranslatethesenseofrealityinthosegeographiccharacteristics./r/n

Chinaisrichinmountainandforestandbambooisverycommonthere.InCh/r/ninesepeoplesay/r/n雨后春笋/r/n(springuplikebambooshootafteraspringrain),whileinEnglish,peopleuse"springuplikemushrooms"toexpressthesamemeaning.ThatisbecausetheBritisharemuchfamiliar/r/nwithmushroominsteadofbamboo.Andthatisbecause/r/nitoftenrainsinEnglandandthewetconditionisverysuitableforthegrowthofmushrooms.[11]/r/n

Climatedifferencesalsoresultinculturaldifferencesbetweenlanguages.TheChinesepoet,YangJuyuan,wrotein«/r/n城东早春/r/n»:"/r/n诗家清景在新春，绿柳才黄半未均。若待上林话似锦，出门俱是看花人/r/n。/r/n"ThefollowingisthetranslationofHerbertA.Giles,aBritishsinologist:/r/n

ThelandscapewhichthepoetlovesisthatofearlyMay,/r/n

Whenbuddinggreennesshalfconcealedenwrapseachwillowspray,/r/n

Thebeautifulembroiderythedaysofsummeryield,/r/n

Appe/r/nalstoeverybumpkinwhomaytakehiswalkafield./r/n

"EarlyMay"isnotthepropertranslationof/r/n早春/r/n(earlyspring).BecauseitisalreadylatespringinearlyMayinChina.Althoughthetranslatorusedittoachieverhyminganddidsucceed,thetranslationt/r/nookwithitthewronginformation.ItmaycoursethewesternreaderstomisunderstandthatinChinatheearlyspringcomesinearlyMay./r/n

Geographiccharacteristicscausespecificnaturalphenomenonthatexistsonlyinaspecificarea.Readersinadifferen/r/ntculturalcontextmayneverunderstanditifthetranslatorsdon'tmakenecessaryexplanation.BecauseofthespecialgeographicconditionofChongqing,/r/n棒棒军/r/nexistsassomethingdistinctiveinthecity.Itistranslatedinsomeforeignjournalsas"porters/r/n".OnChinaDaily,thetranslationis"shoulder-polecorpsportersinChongqingarecalledtheshoulder-polecorps.”Theformerdidn'texpresstheregionalcharacteristicsoftheword.Itisinlackofhumorandvividnessthatarefoundinthetranslat/r/niononChinaDaily."Should-pole"catchestheexactimageof/r/n棒棒军/r/n,and"corps"reflectstheboldanduninhibitedcharacterofpeopleinthemountaincity.[12]/r/n4.3Theinfluenceofknowledgeoftraditionontranslation/r/n

Traditionsarethelong-establishedmeth/r/nodofpractice.MostChinesetraditionalmodesofthoughtinthefeudalsocietyoriginatefromConfucianism./r/n

Intheforthchapterof"TheTrueStoryofAhQ",Luxunwrote:"/r/n夫/r/n‘/r/n不孝有三无后为大/r/n’".ItisaconceptmostChinesearefamiliarwith.Theinfluenceofit/r/nissofar-reachingthattheideaofmenbeingsuperiortowoman,whichistheresultoftheabovesentence,isstillmaintainedbymanyChinese.ButareaderwhosenativelanguageisEnglishdoesn'tnecessarilyknowwhat"unfilialconducts"are.Tomaketh/r/neoriginaltextbeacceptedbytheEnglishreaders,YangHsien-yi&GladysYangandWilliamA.Lyellprovidedinformationrelatedinthefootnote:/r/n

"Therearethreeformsofunfilialconducts,ofwhichtheworstistohavenodescendants.”*Aquotationfrom/r/nMenciu(YangHsien-yi&GladysYang)[13]/r/n

"Ofthreethingswhichdounfilialbe/Theworstistolackposteritie"(WilliamA.Lyell)./r/n

Footnote:Theothertwoarefollowingparents'orderswhenoneknowsthatsuchacoursewillsinkthemintounrighteousn/r/nessandrefusingtobecomeanofficialwhenone'sparentsareoldandpoor.(Lyell)/r/n

YangHsien-yi&GladysYangpointedthesourceofthequotationinthefootnote.ReaderscangetmoreinformationfromMencius.Lyelldirectlyexplainedtheothertwo"filia/r/nlconducts"oftheChinesepeople.Translationisthetieofinternationalculturalexchange.Forliteraturetranslation,itservesforeignreaderswhodon'tspeakChineseandcan'tgetanyoriginalculturalforreference.Lyellhastakenintoconsideratio/r/nntheneedsofreadersandmadedetailedexplanationinthetranslation.Lyell’stranslationshowsouttheculturalbackgroundknowledgeinChinesetradition.Heshakesoffthelanguage’strammelsandexpressesthedeepmeaning./r/n

InthefeudalsocietyofCh/r/nina,therewerestrictrulesforthecontactsbetweenmaleandfemale.Itismentionedintheforthchapterin"TheTrueStoryofAhQ":“/r/n啊/r/nQ/r/n本来也是正人，我们虽然不知道他蒙什么明师指授，但他对于/r/n‘/r/n男女之大防/r/n’/r/n却也历来非常严。/r/n”Whatarethegreatbarriersbetweenmenandwomen?IfyouaskaChinese,h/r/ne/shemaysoonthinkof"amanandawomanshouldtouchhandswhengivingorreceivingthings.ButtothecommonEnglishreaders,itisamystery.BystudyingChineseculture,Lyellintroducedthetraditionalmodesofthoughttothereaders./r/n

Footnote:Now/r/nourAhQstartedoutasanuprightmantoo.Thoughwedon'tknowthiswasbecausehehadbeenshownthewaybysomeenlightenedteacher,wedoknowthatherigorouslyobservedthegreatbarriersthatshouldtakemoreattentiononit.(WilliamA.Lyell)

/r/n

Footnote:AccordingtothepuritanicalethicsoftraditionalConfucianmorality,anycontactbetweenanunrelatedmanandwomanwaspotentially,ifnotactually,immoral.Apopulousproverbdecreed"thatamanandwoman,unlessrelated,shouldnottouchh/r/nandswhengivingorreceivingthings"(/r/n男女授受不亲/r/n).(Lyell)/r/n

TheexplanationmadebyLyellishelpfulfortheunderstandingofwesternreaders.TheintroductionofthatbackgroundknowledgeofChineseculturesurelywillbefavorabletogetadeeperundersta/r/nnding.Whiletranslatingtextsinthenativelanguage,translatorsoftentakeforgrantedthatforeignreadersshouldhavethesamegeneralknowledge.Asaresultthenecessityfornotingisneglected./r/n

Lotsoftradit