中西方文化的差异与习语的不可互译性初稿.docx

中西方文化的差异与习语的不可互译性初稿.docx

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中西方文化的差异与习语的不可互译性初稿

西安体育学院本科毕业论文

（2010届）

论文题目

CulturalDifferencesandUntranslatabilityofEnglishandChineseIdioms

中西方文化的差异与不可互译性

作者

平洁

指导教师

指导教师教研室

学生所属系

体育传媒系

毕业专业

英语

学号

090801027

CulturalDifferencesandUntranslatabilityofEnglishandChineseIdioms

By

AthesispresentedtotheDepartmentofHumanitiesof

Xi’anPhysicalEducationUniversity

inpartialfulfillmentoftherequirements

forthedegreeof

BachelorofArts

May18,2013

Grade:

Advisor:

CulturalDifferencesandUntranslatabilityofEnglishandChineseIdioms

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 and Culture………………………………………………….……2

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

2.CulturalDifference:

theCauseofCulturalUntranslatability……………….……3

Historical Cultural Difference………………………………………….……3

Geographical and Regional EnvironmentsDifference………………………4

 Modes of 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 and Culture

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

Languages,in every nation, can embody and reflect people’s differentmodesofthinking, values, social awareness, religious beliefs, habits and customs.“Languageistheprimary means by which a culture transmits its beliefs, values, and norms.Itgivespeopleameansofinteractingwithothermembersofthecultureandameansofthinking.”（Hu）Itisexplictthatcultureandlanguageareinseparablefromeachother,andinfact,cultureincludeslanguageasasubsystem,asawidersystem.Itcanbesummarizedthatlanguagecarriesculture,mirrors,spreadscultureandhelpsdevelopculture.

Ontheotherside, language is deeply influenced and shaped by culture,steamingfromculture.Language,asasymbol system, expresses traces of a particularsocietyandreflectsuniqueculturalheritage.JonesLyons,anEnglishlinguist,pointedthat,“languageisapartof culture. Differences on the language usage will exposethefeaturesofsocialculture in terms of the substances, customs and other activities.”Therefore,it can be said that the process of learning a target language is a process 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 Cultural Difference

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

TheChineseiseasytounderstandtheculturalconnotationofthisidioms.Butifonetranslatestheseidiomsinto"TungShihimitatestheXiShih"theWesternerswhoareunfamiliarwit