期末论文：翻译理论与实践论文

研究生课程论文
学年学期：2011-2012学年第一学期
论文题目：隐喻及隐喻的英汉翻译
课程：《翻译理论与实践》
任课教师：
姓名：
班级：翻译硕士英语笔译
学号：
Discussion on Metaphor and Related English-Chinese Translation Abstract: According to the translation theory of Newmark, an English translator, metaphor can be divided into five types-“dead”, “cliché”, “stock”, “recent” and “origina1”, which will be subject to the analysis in this text in terms of their features. Meanwhile, on the basis of the translation theories learned, there are many kinds of methods for translation of metaphor. And this text also deals with the following approaches to translation of metaphor-literal translation, free translation, domestication and alienation. In addition, metaphor also serves as a way of thinking of people in western world and there are some traps in the translation of metaphor. So, it is not an easy task to carry out the translation of metaphor properly.
Key words: metaphor; literal translation; free translation; domestication; alienation; trap
1. Preface
Metaphor is a common kind of rhetorical device in English. To bring the metaphor into the translation study can facilitate our interpretation of the original text and achieve the balance of various manners of recognition of the world and ourselves between two different kinds of languages and cultures so as to draw on others’ merits widely.
2. Classification of Metaphor
In his work Approaches to Translation, Newmark divides metaphor into five types, namely “dead”, “cliché”, “stock”, “recent” and “origina1”.
(1) Dead
The “dead” metaphor means the metaphor related with the ordinary words describing time, space, human body, natural environment and human activities with the vehicle almost not realized by people. In English, words like “space, field, top, bottom, arm, circle, drop, fall, rise” usually carry meanings of metaphor in order to ensure the explicit and clear expression of concepts and ideas. For instance, in the field of human knowledge, at the bottom of the mountain, the rise and fall off the Roman Empire, etc.
(2) Cliché
“Cliché” refers to many common metaphor methods that have lost their former influence. For example, one says the first one comparing woman as flower can be called genius and the second on who uses such comparison is called also-ran. This type of metaphor, cliché-some though, has its application value. For instance, “So, let us in the next five years, start a new
Long March together, not in lockstep, but on different roads leading to the same goa1”.
(3) Stock
“Stock” refers to a kind of metaphor that has long been accepted, which has become an inherent part of language and will not lose its influence as a result of overuse. And the cultural metaphor represents an important part of the stock metaphor. For instance, “Judas’kiss (metaphor for insidious deeds –honey words and dastardly heart)” and “cat’s paw (metaphor for person serving as tool for others)”.
(4) Recent
“Recent” means the new terms that emerge recently. For instance, Levinski (metaphor for illicit love), Water gate scandal (metaphor for political scandal) and “9·I1”(metaphor for terrorist incidents)etc.
(5) Original
“Original” means a kind of metaphor used first by the writer. This kind of metaphor is not always available but product of writers’ inspiration.比如有些”坐冷板凳”的词,在作者的笔下却闪烁出灵感的光芒,这就是独创隐喻的魅力所在.Therefore, whenever you come across a sentence with correct grammatical structure but without any meaning, you must check the factors leading to the superficial meaninglessness carefully to explore the probable meaning of metaphor.
3. Discussion on Translation Methods of Metaphor
In discussing the translation of metaphor, Newmark has raised seven methods:(1) Reproducing the same image in the TL); (2) Replace the image in the SL with a standard TL image; (3)The translation of metaphor by simile; (4) Translation of metaphor (or simile) by simile plus sense; (5) Conversion of metaphor to sense; (6) Deletion; (7) Same metaphor combined with sense. With reference to other methods and combining the conclusion of some of the above methods, this text will discuss the following four methods.
(1) Literal Translation
Literal translation is applicable to the metaphor with complete English-Chinese equivalence. It can retain the ethnic and cultural features of the metaphor in the original text and help
readers using the target language have more understanding of the cultural characteristics of the original language. As a matter of fact, many cases of metaphor in English have been absorbed by the Chinese language. For example, “crocodile’s tears”, “Pandora’S box”, and “cold war”, etc. And literal translation should be adopted for some idioms consisting of metaphor and with completely equivalent meanings. For instance, “castle in the air”, “walls have ears”, and “to add oil to the flames”, etc. Besides, for some sentences containing metaphor, this method can also be used. For example, “Time is money” and “The world is a stage” etc.
(2) Free Translation
Free translation, a concept opposite to literal translation, generally refers to that remove the form and reserve the content of the original text, which allows translators’ originality to some degree but with the basic information of the original text retained.
Eg1. His theory has thousands of little rooms and long, windy corridors.
Translation: 他的理论有过多的组成部分, 而且各部分间的关系也过于错综复杂.
Eg Because of his one man style of operation, Henry Kissinger had become a kind of bottleneck in his own National Security Council system.
Translation:由于亨利·基辛格惯于独断专行, 他已经成了国家安全事务委员会工作中的一块绊脚石.
(3) Domestication Translation
The domestication translation is targeted at the proper conformity of the translated text with the linguistic and cultural norms of the target language to properly satisfy the readers’ need for more localization.
Eg2. They were only crying crocodile tears at the old man’s funeral because nobody had really liked man.
Translation 1: 在老头的葬礼上, 他们只不过假惺惺的哭了几声, 因为在老人生前, 没人真的喜欢他.
Translation 2: 在老头的葬礼上, 他们只不过挤了几滴鳄鱼的眼泪, 因为在老人生前, 没人真的喜欢他.
Eg3. Many Canadians have never read a news paper though some newspapers are free, because they do not know their ABC.
Translation 1: 尽管有的报纸免费, 许多加拿大人从不看报, 因为他们目不识丁. Translation 2: 尽管有的报纸免费, 许多加拿大人从不看报, 因为他们不懂自己的ABC.
Domestication method is applied to Translation 1 for Eg 2, which provides all convenient conditions for readers. So, on the basis of the standard “it does not look the translation when read”, it can be rated as better translation.However, from the perspective of cultural exchange, it is obvious that Translation 2 has better effect. The reason is: although the term “crocodile tears” is borrowed, its meaning has been known for Chinese readers, and not only can literal translation be accepted by Chinese readers, but it can reflect the national features of the original text properly, which can also be reproduced. Additionally, the substitution of the expression means of the target language for that of the original language, though conveying related meanings, cannot reflect the way of thinking of the user of the original text and help readers have a comprehensive and thorough understanding of their culture to achieve the goal of translation in real terms. Nevertheless, despite the equivalence conversion of Translation 2 for Eg3, it has failed to achieve its communication goal.
(4) Alienation Translation
异化翻译策略是以源语文化为归宿而进行的语际间篇章意义的相互转换.近年来, 在翻译界主张重视异化翻译的学者日益增多.从文化交流的角度看, 它是尊重各国文化的内在要求, 有助于在平等的基础上真实地反映外国文化.随着文化交流的不断深入, 异化翻译逐渐显示出其特有的魅力.隐喻的异化翻译策略可以分为两种情形:
a. Direct Alienation
The meaning of some vases of metaphor can be reflected clearly through the context. So the direct alienation method can be adopted without the necessity to explore the corresponding expression in the translation painstakingly.
Eg4.Hitler was armed to the teeth when he launched the Second World War, but in a few years, he was completely defeated.
Translation: 希特勒在发动第二次世界大战时是武装到牙齿的, 可是不到几年, 就被彻底打败了.
Eg5.Some personnel executives complained that many college graduates they had interviewed here had two star abilities with five2star ambitions.
Translation: 一些人事经理抱怨, 在他们面试过的大学毕业生中, 不少人本事只有”二星级”, 心气儿倒有”五星级”.
b. Alienation Explanation
There are limited cases where the direct alienation method can be used in the translation of metaphor. On many occasions, brief elaboration must be made on the cultural information or cultural context contained in the text, only in which way can the goal of communication be attained.
Eg6.The Warren Report has left many ques2tions unanswered.
Translation: 沃伦报告(指美国肯尼迪总统被谋杀事件的调查报告) 留下许多未解之迷. Eg7.The man who waters his grass after a heavy rain is carrying coals to Newcastle. Translation:大雨后给草地浇水是多此一举.(注: 纽卡斯尔是英国的一个产煤中心.)
Eg8.He was in the seventh heaven last night.
Translation: 昨晚他欣喜若狂.(in the seventh heaven: ( not formal) in a state of great happiness or contentment, 意思是: 人能和上帝同居最高层,自然是非常愉快的.) Domestication and alienation are two kinds of translation strategies applied by the translator targeted at the differences in the two languages and corresponding cultures according to varied aspects such as aim of translation, type of text, intention of writers and readers of the target language to facilitate the guidance of the selection and application of specific translation methods and techniques. The two methods, sometimes, should be selected with reference to the regulations of the social culture as well as political and ideological aspects. Whichever strategy is used, it is required to focus on the need of readers and the society.
Eg9. The students had been trained to compete continually against each other, so that the lesson turned into a kind of noisy grey dog race.
Translation 1: 学生们练就了持续相互竞争的本事,所以这堂课变成了一场嘈杂的拍卖会场.
Translation 2: 学生们练就了持续相互竞争的本事,所以这堂课变成了一场嘈杂的灰狗比赛.
In the above sentence, the term “grey hound race” created in the original language-English, is analogous to the scene of disorder and chaos in class like the scene of grey dog race. And
domestication and alienation methods are used respectively in the two sentences. But it is quite difficult for Chinese readers to understand the alienation method for translation of metaphor due to lack of grey dog race in Chinese culture. By contrast, the Chinese readers can understand the scene of the auction, which can help readers catch the connotation of this metaphor. It follows that domestication and alienation cannot only be reflected on the level of language, but also in processing the cultural factors.
4. Way of Thinking in Metaphor and Traps in Translation
Metaphor is not only a type of rhetorical device but also represents a way of thinking. In other words, metaphor exists in languages and people’s thinking and behavior as well as all aspects of our daily life. And from some expressions of basic concepts of people in western countries, we can further understand that metaphor serves as their way of thinking. Way of thinking related with love: Love is a physical force; love is war.与时间有关的思维:Time is money; time is life. Besides, as a matter of fact, many proverbs in English contain the way of thinking featured by metaphor. For instance: Time and tide wait for no man(时光和潮流不等人). This is a proverb encouraging people to value time, in which the translation has failed to reflect the metaphor contained. And in this proverb, “and” does not only serve as a parallelism structure linking “time” and “tide”, but constitutes a kind of metaphor, 即将time比作tide: tide (caused by the lunar gravity) waits for no man, so does time. Another example is: Truth and roses have thorns about them(真理和玫瑰一样,都带刺); Kings and bears worry their keeper(伴君如伴虎).Only through understanding and precise translation of the metaphor implicated in these proverbs can we get hang of the way of thinking of people in western world in a more impressive and thorough way. On the other hand, some cases of metaphor seem in harmony but actually at variance. That’s what is called “trap” according to Newmark’s theory. For instance, here are some idioms containing metaphor: To heat about the bush≠打草惊蛇(而是to talk about something without coming to the point”旁敲侧击”); to lock the stable door after the horse has been stolen≠亡羊补牢(而是to take precautions too late to be effective”于事无补”); the last straw≠救命稻草(actually, “the last straw” originates from the English proverb “the last straw that breaks the camel’s back”“致命一击”). Thus, in
translating these idioms with traps of metaphor, one should avoid having superficial understanding and catching the meaning of words literally from the context, otherwise, it will lead to a miss as good as a mile.
5. Conclusion
In discussing the metaphor and its translation, we do not only take metaphor as a kind of rhetorical device but also a way of thinking and a way of recognizing the objective world. And as a way of recognition, metaphor is featured with clear national characteristics as well as rich cultural connotations. Therefore, we should take flexible translation methods according to the features of texts, different contexts as well as readers’ acceptability. And generally, when involving metaphor, translation should be focused on the vehicle of the original text with the meaning of metaphor reproduces to achieve the unity of form and spirit.
Reference
【1】Newmark,P．A Textbook of Translation IM]．上海:上海外语教育出版社,2001．【2】Newmark,P．Approaches to Translation【M】．上海:上海外语教育出版社,2001．【3】胡曙中．英汉修辞比较研究fM1．上海:上海外语教育出版社,1993．
【4】毛荣贵．新世纪大学英汉翻译教程fM1．上海:上海交通大学出版社,2002．。