On the Effects on Translation of the Difference between Chinese and Western Patterns of Thinking10.docx

On the Effects on Translation of the Difference between Chinese and Western Patterns of Thinking10.docx

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OntheEffectsonTranslationoftheDifferencebetweenChineseandWesternPatternsofThinking10

OntheEffectsonTranslationoftheDifferencebetweenChineseandWesternPatternsofThinking

I.Introduction

“Sofarasthedefinitionoftranslationisconcerned,itiseasyforustocopyonefromdictionary;translationisarenderingfromonelanguageintoanother,butthatseemstobetoosimple.”（Hornby65）Actually,translationconcernswithnotonlytherenderingbetweentheoriginalandtargetlanguages,butalsothecommunicationbetweenthetwocultures.Andthemostdifficultthingintranslatingisjustthetranslatingofthetwocultures.notesthatthemostessentialdifferencebetweenEasternandWesternculturesliesinthedifferent“patternsofthought”.Languageisthereflectionofthethought.andthoughtcontrolslanguage.Solanguageexpressionsresultfromtherelationbetweenlanguageandthought.Theprocessoftranslatingisnotonlythetransferoflanguageformsbutalsothetransferofthought.Makingthetransferofthoughtpatternswithpurposeinthecourseoftranslationwehavetohavetheknowledgeof“thedifferencesofthepatternsofthought”iscontributivetothenaturalandidiomatictranslation

PorterandSamovarpointoutthatthoughtistheprocesswhichusestheconceptions,judgmentandreasoningtoreflecttheobjectiveworld.Itisprovedbypsychologiststhatthoughtcanprocessallkindsofinformationwhichentersthehumanbrainandwhatwethinkcanreflectthematerialessencesandsolvetheproblems.Forpatternofthought,therehavebeenmanyotherexpressionstodenotethesamemeaning:

“modeofthinking”,“waysofthinking”,“thinkingstyle”.“Theformofreasoningprevalentinasocietymaybecalledthepatternofthoughtinthatsociety,whichhasbeenanaspectofculturethatinfluencessocialperception.”（Pribram121）KarlProgramnotesthatmutualunderstandingandpeacefulrelationsamongthepeoplesoftheearthhavebeenimpedednotonlybythemultiplicityoflanguages,buttoanevengreaterdegreebydifferencesinpatternsofthought—thatis,bydifferencesinthemethodsadoptedfordefiningthesourcesofknowledge,andfororganizingcoherentthinking.Themoststrikingdifferencesamongphilosophicaldoctrinesareattributabletodeep-seateddivergences…themethodsofformingfundamentalconceptsandofdefiningthefunctionsofReason—thatis,thecognitionpowerofthehumanmindandtheextentandvalidityofthatpower.

“TheresearchonChineseandWesternpatternsofthinking,especiallyonthecontrastivestudyofChineseandWesternpatternsofthinking,isnotonlyakindofoldsubjectbutalsoanewone.”（Deng63）Inthepast20years,ManypreviousrenownedscholarssuchasYamFuandLinYutanaswellasmanyhavebeendoneontheissueandsomehavebeenusedinstudiesfromthepaststudy.ContemporaryspecialistsandscholarsbothinChinaandabroadhavehadtheirincisiveideas,whichproducefar-reachinginfluenceinthisfieldofstudy.ThefollowingdiscussesmainlytheresearchescarriedoutbyChinesescholars.

“ThefirstpersonwhogaveafairlycompletecomparisonofChineseandWesternpatternsofthoughtinChinawasYamFu.Hisstudycoveredthefollowingthreeaspects."（qtd.inZhang23）:

Firstly,Chineseworldoutlookwasabackwardoneinthatitregardedthingsasgoingroundandroundagain,whileWesternworldoutlookwasanadvancedoneinthatitregardedthingsasgoingforwardcontinuously.

Secondly,Chinesepeoplewereusedtoassumptionsbeforemakingadecision,whileWesternpeopleestimatedthingsbyexperiments.

Thirdly,ChinesewerestagnantbecausetheydidnotfindalogicalsystemlikethatofWesterners.Theyonlystayedonthebasisoftheexperiencesaccumulatedinearliertimes.YamFu’spointsofviewhaveaprofoundandlastinginfluenceonlatergenerations.ItwasafterYamFuthatChinesepeoplebegantopayattentiontothelackoflogicinChinesepatternsofthoughtinthecontrastivestudyofChineseandWesternpatternsofthought.

Duringtheperiodof“May4Movement”,thenewculturalmovementaskedfor“democracyandscience”.ItspurposewastorevealtheshortcomingsoftraditionalChinesepatternofthoughtasdisplayedinfeudalsociety.Therefore,thecontrastivestudyofChineseandWesternpatternsofthoughtwentdeeperandfurther.

AccordingtoGoHanging,thefamousscholar,“theEuropeanpeopleshouldlearnfromusChinesepeopleattheaspectofwayofthinking.”（qtdinLian57）Infavorofthispointofview,DengSummingtriedtoprovethattraditionalChineseculturewassuperiortodemocraticWesterncultureinphilosophyinhisbookOrientalandWesternCulturesandTheirPhilosophies.InHunShi’sopinion,hedisapprovedofDeng’spointofview.“HebelievedthatthereweregreatdifferencesbetweenChineseandWesterncultures.Henotedthatthefunctionsofhuman’smentalitywereroughlythesame,soschoolsofthoughtwereonthewholethesamewithonlyslightdifferences.”（Wang75）DifferencesinChineseandWesternpatternsofthoughtwereduetothefactthattheirsocialsurroundingsinwhichtheycameintoexistenceweredifferent.IfthesocialsurroundingsofChinawerethesamewiththatoftheWest,ChinawouldhavehadthesameculturewithWesternculture.ItisobviousthatthecomparativestudydonebyLiangSummingandHunShiwentonestepfurtherthanbefore.TheydemonstratedthesimilaritiesanddifferencesinChineseandWesternpatternsofthought,andproposedthequestionof“Howtounitethetwotogethersoastoformanewpatternofthought”.Theiranswerstothequestionwerenotthesame,though.LiangSummingwasinfavorof“goingeastward”,whileHunShiinfavorof“goingwestward”.

Howthepatternsofthoughtareformedisstillnotknown.Forthepsychologists,thepatternsofthoughtrestrictedandinfluencedbyphysiologicalbasesespeciallythebrainstructuresaremainlytheproductsofcultures,particularlyinfluencedsyntheticallybythemodesofproduction,historicaltradition,geographicconditions,andphilosophy.

Ⅱ.ComparisonbetweenChineseandWesternParentofThinking

Onthebasisofresearchesdonebyearlierscholars,themajorfeaturesofChineseandWesternpatternsofthinkingaresummarizedinthischapter.Mutualunderstandingandpeacefulrelationsamongthepeopleswithdifferentcultureshavebeenimpedednotonlybythemultiplicityoflanguagesbutalsotoanevengreaterdegreebydifferencesinpatternsofthinking.

A.TheIntegralPatternofThinkingvsWesternPatternofThinking

AsmentionedinChapterOne,therelativestabilityofagriculturalsocietymadeChinesepeopleinharmonywithnature.Chinesepeoplewereclearthateverythingcamefromnatureandthattheirexistencewasdependentuponthebestowalofnature.Theintegralpatternofthinkinghasbeendevelopedgradually.Chinesepeopleconsideredittobeanindivisibleandinteractivewholebetweenmanandnature,humanorderanduniverseorder,individualandsociety,betweenspiritandsubstance,thoughtandexistence,subjectandobject.IntheopinionofShaanxi,thegreatancientChinesethinker,lifewoulddisappearoncethereweresomeclearclassificationsinit.ThisisalsoaChinesenationalcharacter.Theyareafraidofestablishingaclear-cutdefinitionoftheworld.Rather,theywouldliketogetageneralcomprehensionofthematter,whichresultedinambiguitysometimes.

IntheWest,Platofirstproposedthethoughtof“separationbetweensubjectandobject”.Sincethelatterhalfofthe15thcentury,thenaturalsciencehasadoptedtheinductiononthebasisofobservingandexperiments,andthusmetaphysicthoughttookthedominantpart.ThelogicofWesternpatternofthoughtputsemphasisontheresearchonappearanceonthebasisofnature,whichresultedfromanalyzingthewholethings.TheanalyticalpatternofthoughtisprevailingintheWest.TheWesternsystematicworldandanalyticalpatternofthoughtoftenleadstoclarity.Fromtheabove,itcanbeconcludedthatoneofthemajordifferencesbetweenChineseandWesternpatternofthoughtisthat:

Chinesepeoplecarryoutapatternofthinkinginwhichmanandnatureareregardedasanintegralwhole.Theidealoflifeistounitemanwithnature,sincetheyareoriginallyawholeunit.Thispatternofthinkingisappliedinanalyzingnature,societyandhumanbeings.“WhiletheWesternpeopleimplementapatternofthoughtinwhichmanandnatureareseparate,theworldiscomposedof‘ego’and‘non-ego’.”（Baugh83）

Suchadifferencecomesfromthedifferentsystems—feudalsocietyandcapitalisticsociety,naturaleconomyandcommodityeconomy.Innaturaleconomy,natureisanobjectformantoworshipandobserve.Thehigheststandardisthe“Nature-ManOneness”.IncommodityeconomyintheWest,natureandsocietyareonlytheobjectsformantomakeuseof.Therelationshipbetweenmanandnatureis:

a）Manisabovenatureandoutsidenature,grantedwiththerighttogovernnature;b）Manandnatureareopposites,natureistheobjectformantowinover,analyze,andrealize;c）Mancanonlyexistinthestrugglesforconqueringnature.Asaresult,differentattitudestowardnatureleadtothebasicdifferencesinChineseandWesternpatternsofthought.Thesedifferenceshaveproducedtwodifferentcultures—collectivisticcultureandindividualisticculture.InthecollectivisticcultureofChina,theindividualwillconnecthimorhertoalargegroup.SoChinesepatternsofthinkingtendtoconsideritmoreimportanttocomplywithdirectrequestsfromothers,tomaintainself-controlinfrontoftheothers,andtosharecreditforthesuccessesandblameforthefailuresoftheothers.WhilemembersofIndi