硕士学位论文-从功能对等的角度看汉语旅游语篇的英译

学校代码：10254密级：论文编号：上海海事大学SHANGHAI MARITIME UNIVERSITY硕士学位论文MASTER DISSERTATION论文题目：从功能对等的角度看汉语旅游语篇的英译外国语言学及应用语言学作者姓名：单倩倩指导教师：罗林泉副教授完成日期：二零零九年六月On English Translation of Chinese Tourism Texts from the Perspective of FE TheoryBy Shan QianqianUnder the Supervision ofAssociate Professor Luo LinquanA Thesis Submitted to the College of Foreign Languages ofShanghai Maritime Universityin Partial Fulfillment ofthe Requirements for the MA DegreeShanghai Maritime UniversityJune, 2009AcknowledgmentsThis thesis has finally been brought into being after several months‟ painstaking efforts. Although it is impossible to thanks all who in one way or another have assisted the author in the completion of this thesis, many whose help has been invaluable are highly appreciated. The thesis could not have been done without them.First of all, I especially owe my tremendous gratitude and respect to my supervisor Associate Professor Luo Linquan, whose support and guidance have accompanied me during the past two years, especially during the whole period of writing this thesis, pointed me in the new direction and helped me avoid many a pitfall. She has scrupulously examined the first and the second manuscripts of my thesis and given his extremely valuable and inspiring comments.Furthermore, I am also grateful to Professor Han Zhonghua, Professor Wang Dawei, Professor Zheng Lixin, Professor Yuan Yongfang, as well as all the other teachers of the Foreign Languages College of Shanghai Maritime University. With their help I have benefited immensely during my postgraduate study. I am deeply inspired by their knowledge and personality, which I believe will benefit me all my life.My gratitude also goes to my beloved parents, who have been invaluable sources of unselfish love, support, kindness and encouragement not only in the writing of this thesis, but also along my whole life path.Finally, I am grateful to all my dear friends for their support and understanding to me which make two years of my postgraduate study such a sweet memory.摘要随着中国经济的迅速发展，越来越多的外国游客来中国观光旅游，旅游业日益受到重视和发展，相应的旅游宣传也日益增多。

英译旅游资料成为外国旅游者了解中国的重要手段，因而提高其翻译质量对于传播中国文化、从而促进国际交流具有重要意义。

目前汉语旅游资料的英译已取得了很大的进步，但是仍存在一些不足。

本文作者通过分析功能对等理论，认为该理论不仅对于指导旅游资料的汉英翻译，特别是文化信息的传递具有一定的指导作用，而且能够帮助译者提高旅游资料翻译的质量。

本论文由六个章节组成。

第一章导言部分简要介绍了论文的研究背景，研究目的及研究方法。

第二章文献综述介绍了尤金奈达的功能对等理论及国内学者对汉语旅游文本英译中理论方面的研究以及对功能对等理论的应用。

第三章介绍了旅游，旅游文本的概念，并进一步阐述了旅游文本的分类及功能。

第四章第五章是论文的主体部分，将功能对等理论从理论的角度与实践的角度同汉语旅游文本的英译相结合，以期达到目标语读者与源语读者相对等的反应。

通过对大量实例分析，作者从旅游景点名称和旅游文本两个角度提出了在不同情况下要采取不同的翻译方法，如直译法、音译法、增词法、对比法、改编法。

第六章是论文的结语部分，这一部分由两个小节组成。

作者首先总结了论文的主要内容，指出运用恰当翻译理论与翻译方法来处理旅游资料中的文化信息。

最后，作者指出当前国内对汉语旅游文本英译的研究仍存在不足之处,研究结果也不尽人意，这方面还需要更艰苦的努力和更深入的研究。

本论文初步探讨了汉语旅游文本英译这一领域, 作者衷心希望这篇论文能对汉语旅游文本英译工作做出一点贡献。

关键词：汉语旅游文本; 功能对等; 动态对等; 文化信息; 读者反应AbstractWith the rapid development of China‟s economy, more and more foreign tourists come to travel in China. As an effective medium to publicize China, English translation of Chinese tourism texts has become increasingly significant to promoting the Chinese tourism industry. To improve the quality of the translation of tourism materials may contribute to the spreading of Chinese culture, and thus enhance international communication.Although great improvement has been made in recent years, the translation work still leaves much to be desired. This thesis, as a tentative study of exploring effective ways for translating tourism materials, especially transmitting cultural messages in them, is intended to help improve the quality of the English translation of Chinese tourism materials from the perspective of functional equivalence theory.The whole thesis consists of the following chapters:Chapter 1 is the introduction of the research background of the thesis, as well as the aim and data collection and research methodologyChapter 2 deals with translation theory. The author first generalizes Nida‟s functional equivalence theory, and then introduces the theory of English Translation of Chinese tourism texts by Chinese scholars for years.Chapter 3 gives the definition of tourism and tourism texts, the classification and functions of the tourism texts.Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 are the main body of the thesis, which analyzes the translation of Chinese tourism texts in the perspective of both theory and practice to get equivalent responses between the source-language readers and the target-language readers, thus, achieving the translation goal of spreading Chinese culture. The analysis of a large amount of examples of tourism texts provides the methods of Chinese tourism texts translation: literal translation, transliteration amplification, analogy and adaptation.Chapter 6 is a conclusion made up of a summary and limitations and further suggestions. The author points out that it is essential to apply the appropriatetranslation method to achieve the functional equivalence between the SL readers and TL readers, and that the researches on translation of Chinese tourism texts are still quite inadequate and are far from satisfactory. This area requires greater strenuous efforts and more profound studies.In the course of writing this thesis, the author has come to realize that great efforts shall be made in this field in China. Having made a tentative probe into this field, the author sincerely hopes that her thesis will make a little contribution to the translation study of English translation of Chinese tourism texts.Key words: Chinese tourism texts; functional equivalence; dynamic equivalence; cultural messages; reader‟s responseContents Acknowledgements (Ⅰ)摘要 (Ⅱ)Abstract (Ⅲ)Contents (Ⅴ)Chapter1 Introduction (1)1.1 Research Background of the Thesis (1)1.2 Aim of the Research (2)1.3 Data Collection and Research Methodology (2)Chapter 2 Literature Review.................................................................. .3 2.1 Introduction to the development of FE Theory (3)2.1.1 Dynamic Equivalence Theory (4)2.1.2 Functional Equivalence Theory (5)2.2 Theories on the Translation of Chinese Tourism Texts (9)Chapter 3 Introduction to Tourism Texts (12)3.1 Definition of Tourism (12)3.2 Tourism Texts (13)3.2.1 Classification of Tourism Texts (13)3.2.2 Basic Functions of Tourism Texts (14)3.3 Criteria for Translations of Chinese Tourism Texts (16)Chapter 4 The Development of the FE Theory in the Chinese Tourism Texts (17)4.1 Three Principles (17)4.1.1 Natural Language (17)4.1.2 Priority of Meaning over Form (17)4.1.3 Arousing Equivalent Responses (18)4.2 Consideration of the Decoding Ability of TL readers (19)4.3 Roles of Translators (22)4.3.1 Translator as a Reader (22)4.3.2 Translator as a Communicator (23)Chapter5 Application of the FE Theory to the Chinese Tourism Texts (27)5.1 Translation of Names of Tourist Sites (27)5.1.2 Literal Translation (28)5.1.3 Transliteration+ Literal Translation (29)5. 2 Methods of the Translation of Chinese Tourism Texts (36)5.2.1 Difficulties in the Translation of Chinese Tourism Texts (36)5.2 .2Methods in Translating the Chinese Tourism Texts (36)5.2.2.1 Amplification (36)5.2.2.2 Analogy (41)5.2.2.3 Adaptation (42)Chapter6 Conclusion (45)6.1 Significant Findings of the Thesis (45)6.2 Implications of the Thesis (47)6.3 Limitations of Present Study and Suggestions for Future Studies (48)Bibliography (50)Chapter OneIntroduction1.1 Research Background of the ThesisTourism has become an important industry undergoing rapid growth on a global scale, and China is of no exception. With the rapid development of China‟s economy and its opening-up effort, more and more foreigners begin to be interested in this mysterious eastern country, which is famous for its beautiful scenic spots as well as abundant cultural relics. To better understand China, the most popular and effective way they choose is to travel in China. It should be acknowledged that there are many well translated tourism texts, which contribute to the spread of Chinese culture; however, the quality of some English versions of tourism texts are still far from satisfactory.It should be pointed out here is that this kind of problem cannot be ignored, for mistakes in translated tourism texts, will affect publicity, or even spoil the image of our country.The problem is always caused by the translator‟s ignorance of the cultural differences between source-language (SL) readers and target-language (TL) readers. The translator should follow the principle that 1) the target text should be the closest natural equivalent to the source-language text. 2) The translation should produce the same effect on the TL reader as the original produces on the SL reader. A successful translation should have the effect that the receptors of the translated text can understand and appreciate the translated text in the same way the original receptors understand and appreciate the original text.In this thesis, Chinese tourism texts are defined as brochures and pamphlets for tourism attractions, guidebooks of cities or countries and tourist advertisements which supply basic and sufficient information on tourist destinations with an aim of publicizing and promoting the tourism products. More details are to be illustrated in Chapter 3.1.2 Aim of the ResearchThis thesis aims to provide a systematic analysis on the translation of Chinese tourism texts under the instruction of Nida‟s functional equivalence (FE) theory. By adopting FE theory to guide the translation of Chinese tourism texts, the author of the thesis tries to find a way to make the translation understandable, readable and enjoyable for TL readers, thus achieving the goal of spreading Chinese culture. The thesis also aims to help translators improve their translation competence, introducing some strategies and skills of translating Chinese tourism texts into English under the instrument of FE theory.1.3 Data Collection and Research MethodologyChinese tourism texts cover all the materials concerning Chinese tourism industry and tourism resources. The focus is brochures and pamphlets for tourism attractions, guidebooks of cities or countries and tourist advertisements introducing scenic spots or cultural relics in China. In addition, some data has been downloaded from the Internet. A great number of examples picked from these sources, successfully translated ones as well as unsuccessfully translated ones, are employed in the thesis. Guided by FE theory, several translation principles are proposed. The research methods used in this paper are mainly comparative analysis and theoretical analysis, for example, the contrastive analysis between TL readers and SL readers.Chapter TwoLiterature ReviewThis paper tries to discuss the translation of Chinese tourism texts in a perspective of “functional equivalence”. It is necessary to make a brief but clear introduction of Ni da‟s theory.Unlike traditional translation theories which focus on verbal comparison between the original text and its translation, Nida‟s concept of translating shifts from “the form of the message”to “the response to the receptor”(Nida,1982:1). In terms of functional equivalence theory, the theoretical basis of the thesis, it is necessary to have a brief introduction to Nida at first. Then it is a must to go through the development process of it in order to better understand FE theory.2.1 Introduction to the Development of FE TheoryEugene A. Nida, a distinguished American translation theorist as well as a linguist, was the most influential one among the contemporary theorists in the field of translation in the last century. He made great contribution to the translation studies in the western countries.Before his theory was introduced into China in the 1980s, people mainly focused attention on traditional Chinese translation principles, especially Yan Fu‟s three-character principle of translation, i.e. faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance. Since Nida‟s theory is grounded solidly on contemporary developments of linguistics, communication theory, information theory, semiotics and anthropology, Chinese translation scholars take great interest in his theory(马会娟, 2003:1).From 1945 to 1997, Nida wrote more than 190 articles and published 40 books. “Functional equivalence” is one of Nida‟s major contributions to translation study. It comes from the concept of “dynamic equivalence”which is postulated in Toward a Science of Translating published in 1964 and considered as an important milestone in Nida‟s translation research.2.1.1 Dynamic Equivalence TheoryThe essential idea of “dynamic equivalence” was first mentioned by Nida in his article “Principles of Translation as Exemplified by Bible Translating” written in 1959. In his attempt to define translating, Nida writes:A definition of translation…could be stated as follows: “Translating consists in producing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent to the message of the source language, first in meaning and secondly in style.”In this definition, there are three essential terms: “closest”, “natural”and “equivalent”. Among the three terms, “equivalent”points to the source-language message, “natural”the receptor language, and “closest”binds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest degree of approximation.The concept of “dynamic equivalence”is postulated in Toward a Science of Translating.In Toward a Science of Translating Nida distinguishes two types of equivalence:“dynamic equivalence”and“formal equivalence”.In such a translation (dynamic equivalent translation) one is not so concerned with matching the receptor-language message with the source message, but with the dynamic relationship, that the relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the message. （Nida, 1964:161）Correspondingly, “Formal equivalence”is basically source-oriented. In such a translation, the translator attempts to “reproduces as literally and meaningfully as possible the form and content of the original”（Nida, 1964:165）,and the reader is permitted to “identify himself as fully as possible with a person in the source-language context, and to understand as much as he can of the customs, manners, thought, and means of express” (Nida,1964:159). In other words, a formal equivalent translation is a literal but meaningful translation, which usually requires footnotes in order to make the text fully comprehensible.Functional equivalence is not contradictory to the equivalence of style. The original style should be observed as much as possible unless it is unintelligible anddistorts the original message. Nida mentioned in his book From One Language to Another (Nida, 1986) that the style of the original text should be changed only in the following five cases : (1) Literal translation leads to misunderstanding in meaning; (2) There is a vacancy caused by foreign terms; (3)Equivalence of style is scarcely intelligible to the meaning;(4)Equivalence of style leads to ambiguous meaning which doesn‟t exist in the original text; (5)Equivalence of style violates grammar of source language and affects or distorts the harmony of the type of writing. Therefore, translated tourism texts should convey correctly their metaphorical meaning and give consideration to their images as well. Only in this way can a translator produce the same effect on his own readers as the SL author produced on the original readers.2.1.2 Functional EquivalenceIn his From One Language to Another (Nida, 1986), Nida changed the term to “functional equivalence”. But essentially there is not much difference between the two concepts. He adopts the term “functional equivalence”to stress the concept of function and to avoid misunderstanding of the term “dynamic” which is mistaken by some persons for something in the sense of impact (Nida, 1993:124). Nida holds that “the terms …function‟and …functional‟seem to provide a much sounder basis for talking about translation as a form of communication, since the focus is on what a translation does or performs.”He notes that a useful way to think and talk about functional equivalence is by means of isomorphs. A lack of functional equivalence can be described in terms of a failure to provide isomorphic limits. (Nida, 2001:125) In his book Language, Culture and Translation（Nida, 2000）, Nida wrote:Such a view of functional equivalence implies different degrees of adequacy from minimal to maximal effectiveness on the basis of both cognitive and experiential factors .A minimal, realistic definition of functional equivalence could be stated as “the readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it.” Anything less than this degree of equivalence should be unacceptable.A maximal, ideal definition could be stated as “The readers of a translated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as the originalreaders did.”The maximal definition implies a high degree of language-culture correspondence between the source and target languages and an unusually effective translation so as to produce in receptors the capacity for a response very close to what the original readers experienced. (Nida, 2000:118)The two definitions of equivalence reveal that the minimal level is realistic, whereas the maximal level is ideal. For Nida, good translations always lie somewhere between the two levels (Nida 1995: 224). Clearly, “functional equivalence”is a flexible concept with different degrees of adequacy.The minimal definition contains the following two aspects of meanings: 1) The target text should be the closest natural equivalent to the source-language text. 2) The translation should produce the same effect on the TL reader as the original produces on the SL reader.The “closest natural equivalent”, the functional equivalence, is explained by Nida as follows:a) Equivalent, which points toward the source language message.b) Natural, which points toward the receptor language.c) Closest, which binds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest degree of approximation. (Nida,1964:166)It is the method where the translator‟s purpose is not to give a literal, word-for-word rendition but to transfer the meaning of the text which would be best expressed in the receptor‟s language. Nida explains that it is essential that functional equivalence be stated primarily in terms of a comparison of the way in which the original receptors understand and appreciate the text and the way in which receptors of the translated text understand and appreciate the translated text (2004:116). He cites his examples from Bible translation, where the phrase “Lamb of God” would be rendered into “Seal of God”for the Eskimos because the lamb doesn‟t symbolize innocence in their culture. In this case, a formal equivalence doesn‟t mean anything in a different culture, so the functional equivalence is necessary. One can easily see that Nida regards that both SL readers and TL readers are of great importance.According to Nida‟s functional equivalence principle, translation consists inreproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning, and secondly in terms of style. (Nida,1969:12)Here equivalent cannot be understood in its mathematical meaning of identity, but only in terms of proximity on the basis of degrees of closeness to functional identity. Equivalence translation requires equivalence of the original text and the translation in language function instead of language form.What‟s more, functional equivalence gives more freedom and flexibility to the translator. Many translators used to follow strict formal equivalence in order to be “faithful”to the source texts. Their focus is on the form of source texts; therefore, their translation is source texts oriented. As a result, the readers may find the target texts obscure and even unintelligible.Functional equivalence, on the other hand, is the equivalence not tied down to the source texts form, but is much wider. It is much more interested in the message of the text. The translator doesn‟t have to stick to the form of the source text, as long as the meaning is conveyed to the target reader, his translation is successful.In order to achieve the closest natural equivalence, the following principles for producing “functional equivalence”had better be followed seriously by every translator or researcher.1) If a close, formal translation is likely to result in a misunderstanding of the designative meaning, (a) certain changes must be introduced into the text of the translation or (b) the literal translation may be retained and a footnote explaining the likely misunderstanding must be added.2) If a close, formal translation makes no sense, i.e. is totally obscure in designative meaning, certain changes may be introduced into the text unless the source text is purposely obscure, in which case the obscurity may be retained, and a footnote explaining the nature of obscurity may be very useful and in most instances fully justified.3) If a close, formal translation is so semantically and syntactically difficult that the average person for whom the translation is being made is very likely to give up trying to understand it, certain changes are warranted, although it may be useful toindicate the nature of such changes in an introduction or in footnotes4) If a close, formal translation is likely to result in serious misunderstanding of the associative meaning of the source text or in a significant loss in a proper appreciation for the stylistic values of the source text, it is important to make such adjustments as are necessary to reflect the associative values of the source text.5) The manner in which a translation is to be used has a significant influence upon the extent to which adjustments are to be made.6) The fact that a source text must be translated in such a way as to occur with accompanying codes usually requires a number of adjustments on all levels: phonology, lexicon, syntax, and discourse. ( Nida. 2000:125)Nida in his book Language, Culture and Translating(Nida, 2000)that the six principles for the production of functional equivalent translations have a number of very practical implications, which may be of great significance to the complicated tourism texts translation.Some of the implications are copied as follows:1) The greater the differences in the source and target languages, the greater the need for adjustments.2) The greater the differences between the source and target languages, the greater the need for adjustments. In general, however, the differences in culture give rise to more important adjustments than the differences in language.3) The more distinctive (whether idiosyncratic or elevated) the style of the source text, the greater the number of adjustments.4) The greater the differences in social and educational level of the source and audiences, the greater the number of adjustments.5) The more a translated text is dependent on an accompanying code, the greater the number and variety of adjustments.The principles of adjustment and their practical implications are not matters of plus-minus categories for easy pigeonholing of examples of formal and semantic adjustments. In each case a translator is faced with a continuum and where on such a continuum the adjustment is justified depends upon a host of factors.Taking these five implications into consideration, we can adjust more reasonably when doing translation of Chinese tourism translations. That is to say, we must make the TLT and the SLT equivalent functionally to the greatest degree either from the angle of meaning or style or from the angle of both in order to carry the interpersonal and informative functions of the SLT without losing its clarity, conciseness, correctness, consistency and completeness.In a word, functional equivalence is a progress of achieving the closest natural equivalence by choosing the most appropriate translation method. Such choice is based on the consideration of the whole factors in functional identity and is able to have the same effect on the target receptors as the original text does upon the original reader. On the analogy of this, functional equivalence in the translation of tourism text, in fact, refers to the closest functional equivalence of the original tourism text in the target language by selecting the most suitable rendering way.2.2 Researches on the Translation of Chinese Tourism TextsIn order to promote the local tourism , government at all levels in China has been producing an increasing amount of English tourist texts，most of which are translated from Chinese. However，owing to great cultural differences between the East and the West，the translation quality is far from satisfactory. How to solve the problems attracts much attention from the translation world.In the 1980s，Chinese scholars unexplored how to translate tourist texts from different angles. Lai Yu (1986:23-25) mainly emphasizes the translator's responsibility. According to him，the translator should first fully understand the source text ; secondly，the translator should make the English version easy for western readers to understand; thirdly，the translator should be able enough to provide perfect translations. Chen Gang (1987:26-29) deems that the tour guide，as well as the translator should have a good command of cultural background about scenic spots and psychological factors of the tourists. To some extent, in the 1980s, the faithfulness to the original was given high priority.In the 1990s，some scholars began to study tourist text translation fromcultural perspectives. Min Dayong (1992:32-35) provides some strategies for the translation of names of scenic spots. Liu Huimei and Yang Shoukang (1996:10-14) stress cultural differences in psychology，customs，religions，etc. Translation scholars during this period mainly discussed strategies employed in the tourist text translation. Some of them touch upon reader's acceptance.From the year 2000, Su Liqin (苏丽勤,2000) adopts the functional approach of Peter Newmark to guide the translation of tourist writings. She holds that tourist writing has a vocative function and focuses on readers. Therefore, its English translation must have the same effect. In the process of translation, certain techniques like explanation, supplement, analogy, deletion and adjustment, etc. can be adopted in order to achieve the functional equivalence between the original text and the corresponding English version.Peng Jin(彭谨,2004) tries to study and explore the translation of tourist brochure by applying the theory of relevance. The central concepts derived from the relevance theory, such as cognitive environment, cognitive efforts, contextual effect, and, most of all, relevance, are introduced to account for the translation phenomena in translating tourist brochures. She holds that the translator plays the central role of addressing the cognitive environment of the writer and the TL reader and the cognitive ability of the TL reader in the inter-lingual communication. She also suggests that owing to different cognitive environment, the standard of a successful communication is not …equivalence‟or …faithfulness‟but transference of optimal relevance, which means that the TL reader may obtain the similar context effect without gratuitous efforts. All kinds of translation orientations and strategies may reconcile to serve different translation purposes so long as they are consistent with the relevance standard.Zhang Renxia (张仁霞,2004) adopts sociosemiotic theory to guide the study of C-E translation of Chinese Tourist Literature, which is a challenging attempt. The criterion of correspondence in meaning and similarity in function is established according to the sociosemiotics theory. She explains how to achieve correspondence in meaning and similarity in functions in the translation of Chinese tourist literature。