跨文化交际翻译系列讲座

You are quite wrong…in supposing that I have any call to wear the willow… never has been to me more than a bubble. R.Blackmore,Tommy Upmore 如果你认为我必须为失去自己心爱的人而 为失去自己心爱的人而 哀伤,那你就大错特错了.对我来说, 哀伤 从来就是无足轻重的.
Lexical Gaps---Cultural Margins/Default
A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold And pavement stars, as stars to thee appears Seen in the galaxy---that Milky Way, Thick, nightly,as a circling zone,… ----J.Milton Paradise Lost 一条广大富丽的路,尘土是黄金, 铺的是星星,像所见的, 天河中的繁星,就是你每夜所见的, 腰带般的银河 ---朱维之 译《失乐园》
差池上舟楫,窈窕入云汉. ----杜甫《白沙渡》 Passing an uneven pass I come aboard the boat Up into the Milky Way,… ----吴钧陶 译 银河:牛郎,织女 Milky Way: Hera's milk, a white road leading to Zeus' palace
Conflict of word meaning similar in literal meaning(denotation) but different in deeper meaning(connotation) 资产阶级自由化= Bourgeois liberalization aiming at capitalist restoration similar in diction but contrary in indication; 个人主义≠individualism 打落水狗≠beat a dog in water, 打落水狗 翘尾巴≠have one's tail up, 拖后腿≠pull one's leg 骨鲠在喉≠have a bone in one's throat 令人发指≠make one's hair stand on end 行尸走肉≠a walking skeleton
National psychology (民族心理)
Language is shaped and manipulated by the culture it stands for. Naturally, different nations with their respective cultures will generate different expression of beliefs, values, temperament, and emotions, which inevitably forms different national psychology. By psychology, we actually mean a kind of belief among people of the same culture which will guide or influence their behavior and make it distinct from that of another culture. Therefore, some "cultural terms" are translated within its context, and more often than not, pragmatically.
Were if left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. 我们是要一个没有言论自由的政府,还 是只要无需政府管理的言论自由,如果 让我决定,那我会毫不犹豫地选择后者.
Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces,I could see them hitting. They were coming toward where the flag was and I went along the fence. Luster was hunting in the grass by the flower tree. They took the flag out, and they were hitting. Then they put the flag back and they went to the table, and he hit and the other hit. Then they went on, and I went along the fence. Luster came away from the flower tree and we went along the fence and they stopped and we stopped and I looked through the fence while Luster was hunting in the grass. ----W.Faulkner The Sound and the Fury
跨文化交际翻译系列讲座 之三
文化缺省与翻译补偿
英文学院 2008.12.11.
Language and Culture ---Bilingualism vs Biculturalism
For truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism,since words have meanings in terms of the cultures in which they function. ----Eugene A.Nida
Cultural Default (文化缺省)
Cultural default is defined as the absence of relevant cultural background knowledge shared by the author and his/her intended readers. What is transparent to the source language reader may be opaque to the target reader.
Pragmatic implication
(语用涵义)
Within certain contents, the word meaning is determined by the situational implications, which vary from culture to culture. It is often the case that source language and target language don't use correlated words in expressing the similar idea.
Contextual Default(语境空缺)
"你们算了!"老师笑道,"算了!算 了!" "我们算了!我们算了,算出来了!" "你们算啦,我是说算了吧,白费这个力 气做什么?" "Just leave it! Forget it!" "But we've made it! Worked it out!" "You'd better give it up. What a waste of time!"
Semantic association (语义联想)
Words are associated with certain meanings but quite often they are not exactly the collocated in the way we assumed. It's highly culture-oriented. 大 雪 ≠ big snow , 红 茶 ≠ red tea , 红 糖 ≠ red sugar,浓茶≠thick tea,浓墨≠strong ink,浓 汤≠strong soup,浓烟≠strong smoke,喝汤 ≠drink soup,大风≠big wind,大雨=≠big rain, 大水≠great flood,etc.
浅花叫了一声奔着井沿跑去,她心里一 冷,差一点没有栽到地上死过去.她想, 死 竟来不及拉他一把 拉他一把,自己也跳到井里去 拉他一把 吧. Qianhua screamed and ran to the well. In a moment of horror she almost fainted and fell. She thought that since she had failed to save him, she might as well jump in and make an end of herself.
(赵辛楣)一肚皮的酒,几乎全化成酸 醋 ----钱钟书《围城》 The wine in Hsin-mei's stomach turned to sour vinegar in his jealousy. The wine in Hsin-mei's stomach turned him into a green devil.
Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces,I could see them hitting. They were coming toward where the flag was and I went along the fence. Luster was hunting in the grass by the flower tree. They took the flag out, and they were hitting. Then they put the flag back and they went to the table, and he hit and the other hit. Then they went on, and I went along the fence. Luster came away from the flower tree and we went along the fence and they stopped and we stopped and I looked through the fence while Luster was hunting in the grass. ----W.Faulkner The Sound and the Fury
Байду номын сангаас
Zero of Equivalent Words(词 义空缺)
Situational Default(情景空缺) A:你们家过年炸汤圆吗? B:炸!不炸就没气氛了 不炸就没气氛了. 不炸就没气氛了 ---Do you fry sweet dumplings for the new year? ---We sure do. For our southerner,it wouldn't be a new year without frying dumplings.