杨宪益版红楼梦中颜色词的翻译分析.docx

杨宪益版红楼梦中颜色词的翻译分析.docx

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杨宪益版红楼梦中颜色词的翻译分析

杨宪益版红楼梦中颜色词的翻译分析

TheAnalysisoftheTranslationofColorTermsinYangs’ADreamofRedMansions

Abstract:

HongloumengisoneofthegreatestChineseclassicalnovels.ItnotonlyoccupiesanhonoredplaceinChineseliterature,butalsoenjoysagoodreputationintheworldliterature.By1980s,thetranslationversionofHonloumeng—ADreamofRedMansionshasbeenaccomplishedbyYangHsien-yiandGladysYang.Itmeansalotforthetranslationfield,especiallyforthetranslationofChineseancientnovels.AndquicklytherefollowedlotsofresearchesandcommentsonthetranslationversionofHongloumengfromeveryaspect.Forexample,somepeoplefocusonthetranslationofadages,somearemuchinterestedinthetranslationofdialogues,andsomemaypaymuchattentiontothetranslationofpoems.While,thispapermainlyfocusonthetranslationofcolortermsappearedinthenovel.Therearesomanycolortermswhichareofdifferentsignificance，differentusageandculturalvaluesinthenovel.Theyreflectpeople’shistory,aestheticstandardandnationalinnerworld.Andtheyhaverichculturalconnotationswhichcouldhelpalotinliterature.

Keywords:

colorterms;translation;ADreamofRedMansions

摘　要：

《红楼梦》是一本中国古典小说，它不仅仅是中国文学史上的一个伟大成就，更在世界文学史上享有盛誉。

十九世纪八十年代，杨宪益和他的妻子完成了《红楼梦》的翻译。

这对于翻译界意义非凡，尤其是对于中国古典小说的翻译。

很快，文学界出现了不少对于《红楼梦》译本的评论与研究，例如，对于体态语的翻译，对于对话的翻译，对于诗歌的翻译。

而本文着重于研究杨宪益的红楼梦译本中对于颜色词的翻译。

颜色词对于文学有着非凡的意义。

它有着丰富的隐语意义，从很大程度上反映着不同的文化。

关键词：

颜色词；翻译；红楼梦

Content

Ⅰ.Introduction…………………………………………………………1

Ⅱ.TheIntroductionofTranslationVersionsofHongloumeng……...1

Ⅲ.TheIntroductionofColorterms…………………………………...2

A.ThedifferentconnotationsofcolortermsinChineseandEnglishculture

…………………………………………………………………….2

1.Red………………………………………………………………...2

2.Yellow……………………………………………………………...3

3.Blue……………………………………………………………......3

B.Theclassificationofcolorterms………………………………………4

1.Basiccolorterms……………………………………………………4

2.Entitycolorterms…………………………………………………...4

3.Compoundcolorterms………………………………………………4

Ⅳ.TheImportanceoftheTranslationofColorTermsinADreamof

RedMansions………………………………………………………5

A.Colortermshelpwiththedescriptionoffacialexpressions……………5

B.Colortermsimplypeople’ssocialstatus………………………….…..6

C.Colortermscanhelptoportrayacharacter’spersonality…………….8

Ⅴ.TheMainTranslationStrategiesofColorTermsinYangs’ADreamofRedMansions……………………………………………..8

A.Consideraboutthecenterwordandjudgefromthewhole…………....8

B.Respectthelanguagehabits…………………………………………9

C.Payattentiontothemetaphors………………………………………9

D.Usethecompoundwords..…………………………………………10

Ⅵ.Conclusion………………………………………………………….10

WorksCited…………………………………………………………….11

Ⅰ.Introduction

Languageisakindofsocialphenomenonandisthecarrierofculture.Atthesametime，itisanimportantpartofculture．Culturalconceptsunderlinethevarietyoflanguageusageandhabits.Thewaysofthinking,beliefs,andattitudes.However,itisvocabularythatcarriestheculturalinformationmostandreflectsthehumanbeings’socialandculturallifemostobviously.Vocabularyencapsulatesthedifferentcultures，meanwhile，culturaldifferencesresultinconnotativedivergenceofvocabulary.Almosteverylanguagehascolorterms．However，thewordstodescribethesamecolordifferfromonelanguagetoanotherforcertainreasonssuchassurroundings,religiousbeliefsandcustomsofdifferentnations.Differentnationsbecauseofdifferentlocations，histories，religions，psychologiesandsocialcustoms，havedifferentmeanstoexpressthesameconceptandattachdifferentassociatemeaningstoitinfluencedbytheiruniqueculture.Thesedifferentassociatemeaningsaredifferentculturalmeaningsorconnotativemeaningsthewordshave（Li279）.Withthedevelopmentofsocietyandculture，colortermsarebrandedwithnationalculture，reflectnationalfeaturesanddisplaydifferentnation’svaluesandaestheticstandards，especiallyinmanyliteratureworks，colortermsarefrequentlyusedandhaveprofoundmeanings.

Ⅱ.TheIntroductionofTranslationVersionsofHongloumeng

AsoneofthemostclassicliteratureworksinChinesehistory,Hongloumengattractedplentyofreaderstoappreciateandscholarstomakeresearcheson,withitsuniquecultureandlong-lastingcharm.Sofar,ithasalreadybeentranslatedto16kindsoflanguages.JustfortheEnglishversionoftranslation,ithasbeenthroughalongandhardtime.From1830to1986,nineEnglishversionsofHongloumengcameout.Amongthemtwoversionsattractmostattention:

oneisbyDavidHawkesandJohnMinford（shortforHawkeslater）;theotherbyYangXianyiandGladysYang（shortfortheYangslater）.InHawkes’version,everysinglecharacteristranslatedcarefully,whichshowshisresponsibilityandfidelitytotheoriginaltext.AsfortheYangs’version,similarintensionanddeterminationaredisplayedintheinstructionandthetranslatedtext.

ItislikeabridgeofcultureinteractionbetweenChinaandEnglishspeakingcountries.Andofcourse,italsomeansalotforthetranslationfield,especiallyforthetranslationofChineseancientnovels.AndquicklytherefollowedlotsofresearchesandcommentsonthesetwotranslationversionsofHongloumengineveryaspect.Forexample,somepeoplefocusonthetranslationofadages,somearemuchinterestedinthedialogues,andsomemaypaymuchattentiontothebodylanguageest.While,thisessaymainlyfocusonthestudyofcolortermsappearedinthenovel.Therearesomanycolorterms，whichareofdifferentsignificance，differentusageandculturalvalues.Theyreflectpeople’shistory,aestheticstandardandnationalinnerworld.Andtheydoplayanimportantpartinliterature.Theyalsohaverichculturalconnotationswhichcouldhelpalotinexpression.

Ⅲ.TheIntroductionofColorTerms

Themeaningsofthecolortermscanbegreatlyinfluencedbyacountry’slanguageandculture.TranslatorHuWenzhongoncesaid,“Therealcommunicationbetweentwocountriesisbasedonthecombinationoflanguageandculture.”Thatistosay,exceptfromabasicknowledgeofacolorterm’smeaning,wealsohavetohaveagoodunderstandingoftheculturebehinditifwewanttotranslateitinarightway（Zhang155）.TherearemanycolortermsinEnglishlike“red”,“yellow”,“blue”,“black”and“white”.Theyallhavesomeextendedmeaningsduetothedifferentculturalbackgrounds.Anditisbecausethatpeoplealwaysaddgoodmeaningsorbadmeaningstocolortermswhentheyareunderacertainculturalbackgroundandbeinginvolvedintheirpersonalfeelingofcognitionandexperiencetowardstheworld.Therefore,whentranslatingthecolorterms,weshouldnotonlyconsidertheirbasicmeanings,buttheirextendedmeaningsduetothecertainculturalbackground（Li85）.

A.ThedifferentconnotationsofcolortermsinChineseandEnglishculture.

1.Red

ItisapopularcolorinChineseculture,associatedwithwarmth,lifeandtheFireElement,denotedgoodfortuneandhappiness.Itemergesasasacredandvitalizingcolorusedonfestiveoccasions.InChina,thecolorrednotonlyservestoexpressjoy,butalsotowardoffevilinfluences.Sincetheancienttimes,therehasbeennationalpsychologyofworshippingred.LiuBang,thefirstemperorintheHanDynasty,calledhimself“ThesonofRedEmperor”（赤帝之子）.Thehigh-rankingofficialslivedintheresidencewitharedgate,sittingintheredsedan,wearingtheredclothes.TheChineseregardredasthe“luckycolor”,asisshownintheexpressions“红双喜”，“开门红”.OnChineseNewYear,childreninChinesefamiliesaregivenlittleredpacketsorenvelopspackedwithmoneyortreatsastokensofgoodwishes.ThecolorredisalsofeaturedprominentlyintheclothingandotherritualobjectspertainingtobethetraditionalChinesewedding.Chinesebrideswearreddressesandweddinginvitationsareprintedonredpaper（Wang14）.

While,inwesterncountries,manyofthered-relatedEnglishtermshaveapejorativeorunpleasantmeaning,suchas“seered”（发怒）,“redneck”（乡巴佬）,“redflag”（危险的信号）.

2.Yellow

InancientChina,yellowisaroyalcolorusedbyemperors,representingpowerandauthority.ItisassociatedwiththeEarthElement,whichsymbolizesgrowth.TheChinesewordforyellow,huang（黄），soundslikethewordfor“royal,（皇）”andthuswaschosenthousandsofyearsagoastheexclusivecolorfortheimperialhousehold.Underthepenaltyofdeath,noChinesepersonotherthantheemperorwaspermittedtobeclothedinanyshadeofyelloworgold.

Inthewest,yellowarousestwofoldassociations.Beingthecolorofgoldandsun,itsymbolizesperfection,wealth,creditandpower.Butitalsohassomenegativemeanings.InMiddleEurope,brightyellowdenotesenvyandjealousy.That’swhy“yellowwithenvy”issometimesusedtoreplace“greenwithenvy”.Inthemediaevaltimes,paleyellowwasthecoloroftreacherousaggression.AndinmodernEnglish,yellowisoftenrelatedtocowardice,forexample“beyellow”（胆小的）,“haveayellowstreak”（胆小），“yellowdog”（胆小鬼）（Wang15）.Y

3.Blue

Blue,thecolorofskyandwater,inthewestistheemblemofcalm,reflection,modestyandintellect;it’salsoregardedastheholycolor,associatedwithsacredness,truthandloyalty.InEnglish“blueblood”meansbornofanoblefamilyordescendantofaroyal,noblefamily.Similarly,“bluebook”（蓝皮书，英国议会报告）,“blue-brickuniversity”（名牌大学）,“blueribbon”（蓝绶带，最高荣誉的标记）,“bluestocking”（女学者）,allhavingsomethingtodowithhighsocialstatusandauthority.Meanwhileithasitsnegativeimplication,suchasgloom,unhappiness,sorrow,evenobscenity,filth,suchas“feelblue”,“intheblues”,“singtheblues”（沮丧，悲伤）,“bluefilm”（色情电影）,“bluejokes”（黄笑话）.While,inChin