文化与翻译

In western countries…
A: “Lovely weather, isn’t it?”
B: “Yes, isn’t it?”
Terms relating to “吃”：
饭桶
吃不开 吃不了兜着走 吃不消
good-fornothing
be unpopular
land oneself in serious trouble
将这几个字排列在一起几乎毫无意 义，也不能准确反映原书的意旨。 于是，我自作主张，选取了孔子的 一句名言作为书名（即“四海之内， 皆兄弟也”），该名无论在内涵还 是外延上均体现了这些绿林好汉的 侠义精神。
There is a saying in Chinese: 恨铁不成钢
to regret that it is iron but not steel to wish that iron could be turned into steel
the source language
the target language
Bicultural Translator
the meaning of the source text
the reader of the target text
2. What cultural factors make
tra2n.s3laStiynngodniyffmicyul同t? 义词
The main premise of translation is to grasp the sense of a cultural message, taking into consideration its uniqueness and its relation to the environment.
世间无不散之筵席。 筵席: a happy ending longest day: weariness; hard work
苦海总有边。
The two sayings are of just the opposite meaning.
Gild the lily
锦上添花。
people in the West: nature itself is beauty.
the term has no implications of high development.
这一定义显然排除了物质文明发展水平 的高低，而是指人类的精神文明或精神 成果的总和，包括艺术、传统、习惯、 社会风俗、道德伦理、法的观念和社会 关系等。
Language is not isolated.
或者What crap！
在译序中，赛氏解释了她将书名 《水浒传》译为All Men Are Brothers的原因：
当然，英文的书译名并非原著本来 的名字，因为原名根本无法翻译： “水”等于英文的“水” （water），“浒”意为“水边” （margins or borders），“传”
则相当于英文的“小说” （novel）；至少在我个人看来，
What do you think of Wu Song’s imperative remark?
汉语“放屁”作骂人话时，喻指 “说话没有根据或不合情理”， 而英语pass one’s wind只是一 种自然生理现象。
英语读者错以为中国人的气功了 得，对这一生理现象居然可以发 号施令！
可以用英语中语用 意义相当的shit！
“Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”
be unable to stand
Terms relating to “吃”：
吃老本
live off one’s past gains
吃软不吃硬
吃闲饭 吃香
be open to persuasion, but not to coercion
lead an idle life
(Nida, Language, Culture and Translating p.307-8)
A total way of life of a people
1. What is culture? -1
What is your understanding of culture?
One of the oldest and most quoted definitions of culture was formulated by the English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in 187wenku.baidu.com.
Translation & Culture
What is culture?
Culture is whatever people do monkeys don’t.
Quotations from Nida
Bilingual competence has almost been regarded as an essential requirement for translators.
be very popular
Wu Song killed a tiger in his drunken courage…
武行者心中要吃， 哪里听他分说， 一片声喝道， ‘放屁！放屁！’
Pearl S. Buck
Now Wu the priest longed much in his heart to eat, and so how could he be willing to listen to the explanation? He bellowed forth, “Pass your wind, pass your wind!”
翻译之所以不像许多人想象的那么容易，乃是因 为语言反映文化，并受着文化的制约。在不同的 文化里，相同的词语可以有不同的文化涵义，而 不同的词语也可以有相同的含义。
文化差异、词语空缺是非常棘手的问题。
中国对亲属的概念非常明确，对不同的直系亲属 和旁系亲属的人员都有确切的指称，而法国，特 别是当代法国则不同，亲属概念模糊，指称手段 欠缺，给翻译造成的障碍是显而易见的。如我们 在翻译普鲁斯特的《追忆似水年华》中，曾为理 解书中人物的亲属关系，寻找确切的指称大伤脑 筋。 -- 南京大学博导 许钧
Try to translate the following idioms:
Love me, love my dog. Birds of a feather flock together. Longest day must have an end. Gild the lily A peacock in a turkey’s pen
一丘之貉。 birds of a feather: people of similar interests or
personalities 兴趣爱好相同的人／同类人 物以类聚，人以群分。
in a context denoting bad persons 一路货，臭味相投者
Longest day must have an end.
Translating is a complex and fascinating task. In fact, I. A. Richards (1953) has claimed that it is probably the most complex type of event in the history of the cosmos. (Nida, Language, Culture and Translating p.304)
文化的经典定义，是1871年由英国人类学家泰勒 (Edward Tylor)在《原始文化》一书中提出的， 文化是包括知识、信仰、艺术、道德、法律、习 俗以及包括作为社会成员的个人获得的其他任何 能力、习惯在内的一种综合体。
现代文化人类学认为文化具有如下的四个本质特 征: (1)文化是经由社会习得的，而非遗传获得的， (2)文化是一个社团所共有的，而非某一个人所独 有的，(3)文化具有象征性，语言是文化中最重要 的象征系统，(4）文化是一个统一的整体。
including its tradition, habits, social customs, morals, laws, and social relations.
Sociologically, every society, on every level, has its culture;
gild: to do sth. artificial → not beautiful “add unnecessary decoration or
exaggeration”多此一举，弄巧成拙
A peacock on a turkey’s pen
鹤立鸡群
someone standing head and shoulders above others → outstanding status
In China, when people meet…
甲：“吃了吗？” 乙：“吃啦！”
吃了吗？ 吃啦！
How to translate?
A: “Have you had your meal?” B: “Yes, I have.”
“No, I haven’t.” (“Do you mean to invite me to dinner?”)
fail to bring out the connotative meaning that the speaker is disappointed that someone – usually a loved one – does not do as good as has been expected
文化中的每一方面都和其他方面相互关联。
The New World Encyclopedia
(U.S.1974):
Culture is the totality of the spiritual, intellectual, and artistic attitudes shared by a group,
For truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism, since words only have meanings in terms of the cultures in which they function.
Every language belongs to a certain culture.
It is difficult to separate language and cultural identity.
How different peoples express what they see is determined by how they perceive and interpret and react to reality.
Love me, love my dog.
爱屋及乌。 If you love someone, you must accept
everything about them, even their faults or weakness.
Birds of a feather flock together.
some one who feels wronged or thinks he should be treated in a better way 屈才，被埋没
To avoid unnecessary cultural shift, great care should be taken when one tries to use similar existing sayings in the target language.