中西方文化的差异与习语的不可互译性初稿Word格式文档下载.docx

中西方文化的差异与习语的不可互译性初稿Word格式文档下载.docx

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学号

090801027

By

AthesispresentedtotheDepartmentofHumanitiesof

Xi’anPhysicalEducationUniversity

inpartialfulfillmentoftherequirements

forthedegreeof

BachelorofArts

May18,2013

Grade:

Advisor:

Abstract

eachnationhasitspeculiarsocialbackground,culturalconnotationsandthinkingpatternssothattherearemanyculturaldifferencesbetweentwocountries.Withtheextensiveofinternationalcommunicationandcultureexchange,thetaskoftranslationbecomesmoreandmoreimportant.TheculturaldifferencesbetweenEnglishandChinesemaygiverisetomisunderstandingsoreventranslationblock.Culturaldifferenceshavebeenahottopicinthefieldoftranslation.Ithasasignificantimpactonthetranslation,andmayleadtotheculturaluntranslatability.Idiomsareuniqueandfixedexpressionswhichareformedinusingalanguage.Idiomsaretheessenceofalanguage,andalsothequintessenceofanation’scultureandwisdom.ThetranslationofEnglishandChineseidiomsoccupiesaprominentplaceinthewholetranslation.Sothispaperaimsatdiscussingtheuntranslatabilityofidiomandtheculturaldifferences.Itstartswiththeanalysisoffiveleadingculturaluntranslatabilityfactors.Thosearehistoricalculturaldifferences,geographical 

and 

regional 

environmentsdifferences,different 

modes 

of 

thinking,traditionalcustomsdifferenceandthereligiousdifferences.Theninterpretthetwoperformanceoftheuntranslatabilityofidioms.Finally,theessaymainlyintroduceshowtoadoptappropriatetranslationstrategiestodealwithculturaldifferencesofidiomstoreachthecorresponsiveeffectintranslationbetweenEnglishandChineseandrealizethefunctionofcross-culturecommunication.

Keywords:

Culture;

culturaldifferences;

untranslatability;

idioms

TableofContents

1.Introduction………………………………………………………………….……1

Language 

Culture………………………………………………….……2

TranslationandCulture…………………………………………….………2

2.CulturalDifference:

theCauseofCulturalUntranslatability……………….……3

Historical 

Cultural 

Difference………………………………………….……3

Geographical 

Regional 

EnvironmentsDifference………………………4

Modes 

Thinking 

Difference……………………………………………5

TraditionalCustomsDifference……………………………………………5

ReligiousDifferences………………………………………………………6

3.LinguisticUntranslatability……………………………………………………….7

TheUntranslatabilityofRhetoricMethod…………………………………7

TheUntranslatabilityofFiguresofSpeech…………………………..……8

UntranslatabilityofEnglishandChineseIdioms……………………..……9

4.SpecificStrategiesUsedinIdiomTranslation………………………………..…10

Literaltranslation 

…………………………………………………………9

LiberalTranslation………………………………………………...………10

LiteralplusLiberalTranslation…………………………………..………11

Substitution………………………………………………………………12

TranslationwithNotes……………………………………………………13

ParaphrasingTranslation…………………………………………………14

RhetoricalDevices………………………………………………...……15

Omission………………………………………………………..…..……15

5.Conclusion……………………………………………………………..………...16

WorksCited……………………………………………………………………..…...18

1．Introduction

“Culture”inEnglishisaloanwordfromLatinthatmainlymeans“cultivatingortillingtheland”.Thewordisoriginallyassociatedwithphysicalactivitiesandproductionoffood.Lateritsmeaningwasextendedtoincludemental,moral,aesthetic,educationalandintellectualactivities,so“Cultureorcivilizationtakeninitswideethnologicalsenseisthatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge,belief,art,moral,law,custom,andanyothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasamemberofsociety,”EdwardTyleroncegavethisclassicaldefinitiontoculture.

Andasweallknowthathuman’sknowledgeandexperiencearedescribedandstoredinlanguage.Theircustoms,habit,andbehavioralpatternscanbedescribedandanalyzedinlanguage.Sowecaninferthatalanguagenotonlyisacheexpressionsoffacts,ideas,orevent,whichrepresentsimilarworldknowledgebyitspeople,butalsoreflectspeople’sattitudes,beliefs,worldoutlooksetc.AsBassnettsaid,“Languageisthecarrierandcontainerofculturalinformation.”（Bassnett132）Thatistosay,languageexpressesculturalreality,so“languageandcultureareinextricablyintertwined”.Languageasanintegralpartofhumanbeingspermeateshisthinkingandwayofviewingtheworld.Languagebothexpressesandembodiesculturalreality.

However,“eachnationhasbeenlivinginitsuniquegeographicalandframeworkinwhichauniqueculturehasbeenestablishedanditsdevelopment.Andnotwolanguagesintheworldareidenticalineveryway;

eachcultureisunique”.（Lefevere46）Sotherearegreatdifferencesbetweenthesourcelanguageandthetargetlanguage.Thatiswhyweoftenmeetuntranslatability.Whenwerefertountranslatability,wedonotmeanthatsomethingisabsolutelyuntranslatable.Infact,wemeanthatduringtheprocessoftranslation,wecannotfindaone-to-onecorrespondencetofulfillitsfunctionbothinformandmeaninginthetargetlanguage.Whatwecandoistofindoutsimilarexpressionorwordtotransmittheinformation,andmostofthetimeweuseindirectlytranslationorthesourcematerialandtheoriginalfeaturewillcertainlyloseduringthetranslation.

1.1Language 

Culture

Languageisthecarrierofcultureandpartoftheculture.BecauselanguagescanreflectaNation’sculture,languagesymbolsprovidesarichexpressionmeansforanation.Languagehasbeenkeepingsynchronousdevelopmentwithculturethroughoutthewholeprocessofhumanculturescomingintobeingandtheirsubsequentdevelopment.“Somescientistsconsideritthekeystoneofculture.Withoutlanguagetheymaintain,culturewouldbeimpossible.”（Jakobson78）

Languages,in 

every 

nation, 

can 

embody 

reflect 

people’s 

differentmodesofthinking, 

values, 

social 

awareness, 

religious 

beliefs, 

habits 

customs.“Languageistheprimary 

means 

by 

which 

a 

culture 

transmits 

its 

norms.Itgivespeopleameansofinteractingwithothermembersofthecultureandameansofthinking.”（Hu）Itisexplictthatcultureandlanguageareinseparablefromeachother,andinfact,cultureincludeslanguageasasubsystem,asawidersystem.Itcanbesummarizedthatlanguagecarriesculture,mirrors,spreadscultureandhelpsdevelopculture.

Ontheotherside, 

language 

is 

deeply 

influenced 

shaped 

culture,steamingfromculture.Language,asasymbol 

system, 

expresses 

traces 

particularsocietyandreflectsuniqueculturalheritage.JonesLyons,anEnglishlinguist,pointedthat,“languageisapartof 

culture. 

Differences 

on 

the 

usage 

will 

exposethefeaturesofsocialculture 

in 

terms 

substances, 

customs 

other 

activities.”Therefore,it 

be 

said 

that 

process 

learning 

target 

oflearningaboutthetargetculture.（Lyons86）

1.2TranslationandCulture

Cultureisanorderlysystem,whichincludesallkindsofmeanings.Toknowacertainculture,onemustbewellawareofitsmeaning.Differentcultureshavenearlythesamemeaning,whichisthebasisofcross-culturalcommunicationwhiledifferentculturesystemsrepresenttotallydifferentpatterns,whichconstitutesthebarrierintheculturalcommunication.Thatistheculturaldifference.

Translationmeansinterculturalcommunicationbymeansofwhichoneculturecanbetransmittedintoanother,sotheculturalspecialcharacteristicsunavoidablyinfluencetranslation.Theequivalencelimitednessofthetranslationbetweenoriginallanguageandthetargetlanguageisalmostcausedbythedifferencesbetweenthetwoculturesandhowtoconveytheculturalmeaningisoftenthedifficultyofatranslation.

Differentlanguagesareboundtoadoptdifferentmeaningfuldevicestoshowtheirculturesinordertoreflecttheirnationalconsciousnessandculturaltradition.Theresearchoftheculturalfeaturesembodiesrichcontents.Accordingtotheresearchofsomescholars,theculturalfeaturesoflanguageinclude:

A.ecology

B.materialculture

C.socialculture

D.religiousculture

E.linguisticculture

2.CulturalDifference:

theCauseofCulturalUntranslatability

Thetranslatingactivityprovesthattheformingofpeople’sattitudetowardthenatureaswellastheirwaysofthinkingrestrictedbytheculture.Theexchangeoftwolanguageswithoutconsideringtheculturalfactorscannotbesuccessful.Infact,thetranslatingactivitydoneinthebackgroundoftwodifferentculturesalwayssuffersfromtheuntranslatabilityphenomenon.Thiskindofuntranslatabilityiswhatwecalledculturaluntranslatability.Therearefouraspectsofthecauseofculturaluntranslatability.

2.1 

Historical 

Difference

Thehistoricalculturaldifferencereferstothecultureformedbythespecialhistorydevelopmentprocessandthecultureaccumulatedbythesocialheritage.Everynationandcountrydevelopsdifferently,sothehistoricalculturedepositedfromthelonghistorydefinitelydiffersfromeachother.InbothChineseandEnglishlanguageshaveformedbythehistoricalliteraryidioms.Theseidioms,althoughsimpleinstructure,carryonfar-reachingsignificance,whicharehardtounderstandandtranslateonlyfromtheliteralmeaning.Suchas“东施效颦”。

TheChineseiseasytounderstandtheculturalconnotationofthisidioms.Butifonetranslatestheseidiomsinto"

TungShihimitatestheXiShih"

theWesternerswhoareunfamiliarwit