英汉习语翻译策略

Cultural Default Reflected in Proverb T ranslation between English and Chineseand the Compensation StrategiesAbsrtact:Proverbs are the accumulation of human’s experience and wisdom. Different proverbs transmit different cultural information. If those cultural elements are not taken into consideration in the process of translation, cultural misunderstanding or cultural loss would arise. To deal with the cultural default in Chinese and English proverb translation, the author puts forward some compensation strategies.Key Words: Proverb Translation; Cultural Default; Compensation StrategyI. IntroductionProverbs are the crystals of human intelligence and experience. They do not only reflect human civilization but also enrich human life and make language more colorful. They are culturally influenced, thus bringing up difficulties in translation. As different nations have different cultures, whose uniqueness inevitably bring certain communication barriers between different countries and regions. Those differences may sometimes be culturally-specific, which means that what belongs to one culture may be vacant in another culture. This usually results in cultural vacuum, or in other words, cultural default. The translation between Chinese and English proverbs is affected greatly by the cultural elements of Chinese and English-speaking countries. Therefore, it is of great importance to find some compensation strategies to deal with the cultural default during the process of translation. Cultural default, if well handled, can improve the effectiveness of translation and enhance the communication.II. Cultural Default in Proverb Translation1. Definition and Current Studies of Cultural DefaultCultural default is a common phenomenon in communication, either in written texts or in colloquial form, and it has been attracting the attention of many scholars in recent years. Wang Dongfeng (2000: 234) defines it as “absence of relevant cultural background knowledge shared by the author and his intendedreader”. Wang Dalai (2004: 69) defines default specifically into three categories: Situational Default; Contextual Default and Cultural Default. He also puts forward his theories on cultural default and its compensational strategies. In his view, the principle for compensating cultural default in translation is to make the readers enjoy their process of probing cultures. Cultural default in proverbs is obvious or already-known to the language users, but it can always create a sense of vacuum for the outsiders because of the pote ntial discontinuity in translators’ interpretation. Li Jiachun and Cui Changliang (2007) express their views on cultural defaults and the strategies of cultural compensation in intercultural communication, in which they propose three strategies on compensating cultural defaults: domestication strategy, foreignization strategy and combined use of these two strategies.2. Classification of Cultural DefaultCultural default is a culture-specific phenomenon in communication. What is easy and obvious to the source language (abbreviated as SL) reader in the form of cultural default is often inconspicuous and opaque to the target language (abbreviated as TL) reader. The unavoidable existence of cultural default embedded in the source text and its function will force us to face the fact that the source proverbs can not reflect the translated language’s flavor. So,in the process of translation, cultural default poses a big problem to the translator. In order to deepen the study of cultural default, it is necessary for us to divide it into different categories or types. In the thesis the author makes a general classification of cultural default reflected in proverbs as follows:2.1 LegendsLegends of ancient Greek and Rome have been exerting enormous influence on western culture, and people who come from western culture are quite familiar with most of those legends. However, those stories from legends are often treated as default elements because other readers are not familiar with them. Likewise, people from other cultures may be at a loss when they first come across Chinese proverbs. Take the Chinesefamous legendary proverb“狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心”for example. Y ang Xianyi(2003) translates it as “Y ou ungrateful thing! Like dog that bit Lu Dongbin----you bite the hand that feeds you.” If it is translated as “A dog that bites on Lv Dongbin can not distinguish a good person’s heart from a bad person’s heart”,the foreign readers will be confused for it fails to carry the underlying meaning to readers but adds bewilderment to foreign readers. Such proverbs are cultural proverbs; they were born and grow with a particular legendary story. Native readers would understand them without any difficulties, but target readers may not know them. So translating this kind of proverbs usually needs to add the background story to the translated text.2. 2 Historical EventsThere are such different genres of story that were inherited from ancient times, such as myths, fables, folklores, legends, etc. Ancient stories that happened in history are also another group. Culture abounds with colorful stories. They have been passed down from generation to generation and have nourished the culture to which they belong for centuries. The English proverb “somebody meets his Waterloo’s battle”is quite familiar to westerners, which can be translated into Chinese as“遭遇滑铁卢，遭受致命的失败”. However, many Chinese don’t know much about what happened in Waterloo, so it is necessary to introduce the background knowledge of this proverb. Napoleon, the great French revolutionary general and also a dictator, was heavily defeated by Anglo-Prussian alliances at waterloo in Belgium on June 18th, 1815, which marked the start of his decline and collapse. Since then he was unable to restore his army from failure. Ever since this event, people use“meet one’s waterloo” to mean one encounters failures or gets defeated by others. A Chinese reader can not understand this phrase as it is so closely connected with the historic events that happened in French history. In this sense, the proverb “meet one’s waterloo” is an example of cultural default resulting from historic events.2.3 Religious StoriesReligious culture is an important part of a nation's culture, which includes the nation's religious beliefand ideology. Buddhism and Taoism have great influence on Chinese people while Christianity has a great effect on the western world. When people from Chinese culture get into trouble, they will talk to Buddha and ask him for help and utter “Gracious Buddha”.In English-speaking countries, Christ is worshipped by millions of people and the basic concepts of Christianity are criteria for an individual's behaviors.To some extent, Bible can be called the guide book for westerners. Westerners will exclaim “God bless you” or “God bless my soul” when they express their regards or pray.As for proverbs that have distinct Chinese color, they are often influenced by Buddhism and Taoism. Therefore, there are a lot of expressions related to Buddhism and Taoism in Chinese proverbs, which are usually treated as culturaldefault elements. Take the Chinese proverb“闲时不烧香，临时抱佛脚”(Zheng Xunlie,1985:214）for example. We translate it literally as “clasp the feet of Buddha”. The proverb means that when someone gets stuck into a difficult situation caused by lack of preparation, he looks for help at the last critical moment. In ancient China, when Buhhdism was very popular in the Nan Dynasty, it is said any criminal who was to embrace Buddha's feet and prayed for help would be pardoned.“抱佛脚”if translated literally, does not make sense to the TL reader. Thus as translators, whoever translates this proverb should adopt a skillful translation approach, and should point out the default meaning and let the TL readers understand the specific Chinese cultural meaning in it.2.4 Literary WorksMany proverbs in literary works, when translated, reflect cultural default. There is a proverb taken from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre: “Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.” Guo Jianzhong (2000:244) translates it into Chinese as “惯例不是道德, 自作正经不是宗教。