翻译原则

Translation Methods

Teaching Plan

Teaching Contents:

1. Translation principles

2. Definition of translation methods

2. Explanation of word-for-word translation, literal translation, free translation

3. Exercises for different translation method

Teaching Plan

Teaching Aims:

1. To make students get the knowledge of different translation methods

2. To know when and how to apply different translation methods in different situations through doing exercises.

Teaching Focus:

Translation methods and their differences

Teaching Methods:

Discussion (group work, then class work) and teacher-oriented lecturing

Teaching Procedures:

Step 1

Questions for discussion

1. What translation principles have you ever heard of? What are they?

2. What translation methods have you ever known? What are they?

3. What is word-for-word translation?

4. What is literal translation? What is the difference between word-for-word translation and literal translation?

Step 2

Translation principles

I. Definition of Principle

Principles / criteria refers to established standards or principles on which an action or judgment is based.

the principle of translation：the one as a goal set for translators to strive after the criterion of translation：the one as a standard / yardstick for measuring the professional level of translation

II. Some influential principles

1. Yan Fu’s Three-character Principle (Requirement / Criteria) (1898):

The so-call principles and criteria of translation are actually the two sides of the same thing. The former lays emphasis on the translator, who should follow them while translating; while the latter on the reader or critic, who may use the criteria to evaluate translation works. Whenever principles or criteria of translation are under discussion in China, Yan Fu’s “three-character guide”, which was first proposed in 1898, would evoke controversy, namely the principle of “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance”.

2. Fu Lei’s “Similarity in Spirit” (1957) & Qian Zhongshu’s “Sublimation” (1963)

As far as the effect is concerned, translation should be like coping a painting. What is desired is not being alike in appearance but being alike in spirit. The transmigration of souls, “Although the body changes, the soul of gesture remains its old self.”

严复“信、达、雅”

林语堂“忠、顺、美”

梁实秋、赵景琛“宁错务顺”

鲁迅“宁信不顺”

瞿秋白“信顺统一”

傅雷“形似神似”

钱钟书“入化境界”

Step 3

Translation Methods

I. Word for Word Translation

•C-E

•人山人海－－people mountain people sea

－－huge crowd of people/ a sea of faces

•红颜知己－－red face know me

•好久不见－－Long time no see.

－－I haven’t see you for ages.

•马马虎虎－－Horse, horse; tiger, tiger

－－Just so so. Not too bad.

II. Literal Translation

Superficially speaking, literal translation means “not to alter the original words and sentences”; strictly speaking, it strives “to keep the sentiments and style of the original” It takes sentences as its basic units and takes the whole text into consideration at the same time in the course of translation. Furthermore, it strives to reproduce both the ideological content and the style of the original works and retains as much as possible the figures of speech. There are quite a lot of examples of successful literal translation that have been adopted as idiomatic Chinese expressions. Examples:

crocodile’s tears 鳄鱼的眼泪

armed to the teeth 武装到牙齿

chain reaction 连锁反应

gentlemen’s agreement君子协定

纸老虎paper tiger

一国两制one country, two systems

Exercises:

1. to keep the room clean and tidy---保持房间清洁

2. to enrich cultural life---丰富文化生活

3. under such circumstances---在这种情况下

4. to fish in troubled water---浑水摸鱼

5. to add fuel to the fire---火上加油

6. 打破纪录--- to break the record