学位论文英语专业大众传播媒介.docx

1、学位论文英语专业大众传播媒介1. IntroductionThe development of new science and technology, especially the innovation of mass communication media, brings people of all nations closer. The appearance of the Internet and the extensive use of email shorten the distance between people. As M. McLuhan says, the whole ear

2、th is like a global village 1. People begin to realize more their needs to communicate with each other. But the shortening of space cannot automatically reduce cultural and psychological distances. Differences in cultural orientation, social standard, and ways of thinking will undoubtedly cause misu

3、nderstanding and cultural shocks. It is inevitable that people of different ethnic group have to re-understand themselves. They have to re-examine their own cultures by comparison with other cultures in order to be more adaptable in their intercultural communication. Even though, some cultural facto

4、rs, which rooted in the different countries and societies, affect the translating deeply. It makes that the source message unable to be translated into the target message completely. But if we find out some useful methods, we would like to transfer the untranslatability into translatability possibly

5、.2. Definition and Premise of the Cultures Translatability 2.1 The premise of the untranslatability If we want to talk about the translatability, we should know the reasons that make troubles to translators. On the other hand, I want to talk about the untraslatability first. The premise of the untra

6、nslatability lies in the culture region and it is just a relative concept. As we know, culture is a product of human and it is developing with the development of human being. However, human being originated in different places and didnt know there were other peoples living in other places. So human

7、being living in different places creates their culture in different ways. Different languages will carry out the core soul of the culture, which belonged to different palaces. On the other hand, language is the carrier of culture 2.The culture region is mainly expressed in the languages, which refle

8、cted the difference of culture. There are many factors decide the languages difference.2.1.1. Influence of Environment and Weather upon LanguageThe language is rooted in the natural and social environments deeply. Natural environments play a very important role in the formation of regional cultures

9、or national cultures. It was obviously expressed in the ancient times when economies were not developed. The relationship of culture then reflects that natural environments determine peoples ways of living, means of production and behavioral patterns or norms 3.As is known, Britain is a country buil

10、t up by many islands. Fish culture and seafaring are the mainstay industry in their traditional economy. However, Chinese are living in the main continent for thousands of years, and people cannot live without the soil. Due to the differences of the regional culture, there are many phrases about the

11、 sea and aquatics product in English. It is hard to find the exact equivalents in Chinese to those phrases, such as:Rest on ones oars（暂时歇一歇）Keep ones head above water（奋力图存）All at sea（不知所措）Have other fish to fly（另有其他要紧事要做）Drink like a fish（牛饮，狂喝）All is fish that comes to ones net（捕到网里都是鱼）Never offer

12、to teach fish to swim.（千万不要班门弄斧）Climate not only gives effect to the peoples living environment, but also to the way of humans thinking and language. China lies in the East Hemispheres semitropical region. The main Climate is the continental Climate. So Chinese tend to take east wind, as it is the s

13、ymbol of the spring. It will bring the hope and new life to the earth. However, the west wind is the symbol of winter and also brings the dreariness to the earth. So it is always used as the forces of coming down. If westerners do not understand the special meaning of the east and west wind, it is h

14、ard for them to understand Chairman Maos line “东风压倒西风”. However, Britain, which lies in the West Hemisphere and the North Temperate Zone, belonging to the oceanic Climate. So the west wind is the symbol of the spring. In spring, the west wind brings much water to the soil. The West Wind Eulogy, whic

15、h is written by the famous poet Byron, is just a sing to praise the spring. The similar example also exists in Chinas summer culture. In China, the summer is always related to the torridity. “赤日炎炎似火烧”，“骄阳似火” are often used by describing the summers hot days. But the Britains summer is a cool and com

16、fortable season. It brings the peoples imagination of loveliness, goodliness and blandness. So Shakespeare compared his lover to the summer:“Shall I compare thee to a summers day?Thou art lovelier and more temperate.” 2.1.2 Lifestyles DifferenceDifferent lifestyle was formed in different living envi

17、ronment, and the difference that exists in the lifestyle is represented in languages. For example, the different food of Eastern and Western brings great differences to the language. Britain lies in the North Temperate Zone, and their peoples main food is milk and bread, which often reflected in the

18、 various idiom and imagery. Such as:Half a loaf is better than none.（聊胜于无）Earn ones bread.（赚钱糊口）Know which side ones bread is buttered on.（明白自己的利益所在）Take the bread out of somebodys mouth.（抢别人的饭碗）Dont quarrel with your bread and butter.（你可不要砸自己的饭碗）Cry over spilt milk.（做无益的后悔）Butter to butter is no re

19、lish.（千篇一律的东西令人生厌）Fair words butter no problem.（花言巧语是不中用的）However, the rice cultivation takes the dominion station in China. The traditional food is rice but bread. No matter what they eat for dinner everyday, Chinese named the action “dinning”. However, different names have been defined to the dinn

20、ing based on the different times in Britain. In China, the words that extended from food are plenty. For instance,饭碗 is equal to the job; 夹生饭 is equal to the half-cooked rice; 鱼米之乡 stands for the rich places; 生米做成熟饭is compared to the things which have been done; 巧妇难为无米之炊 is similar to the problem wh

21、ich a capable person cannot deal with without the essential ingredients, etc. 2.1.3. Set Phrases Originated from Mythology, Legendary, Fables and AllusionsSuch phrases could reflect the features of the traditional culture. Aesops Fables, Greece mythology and Homers epic poetry left a large number of

22、 idioms, such as: a Herculean task(艰巨的任务), Achilles heel(致命的弱点), Samsons hair(致命点), a sward of Damocles(达莫克勒斯之剑), the Gordian (s) knot(难解之结), between Scylla and Charybdis(腹背受敌), sour grapes(酸葡萄), cry wolf(狼来了), Pandoras box(潘多拉的盒子；灾难之源), the cats paw(猫爪子；被别人利用作为工具的人), etc. The Greek culture affected

23、 the English culture very greatly, such as “Golden apple”（红颜祸水）. In the Trojan War, Greece holding spies in the Trojan horse（木马计）, caused the destruction of the Trojan. So it creates the Greeces gift (能害人的礼品). The Trojans lesson is painful and the Greeces gift is harmful. The western often say: “Its

24、 Greece to me!”（我真是一窍不通） when they met something difficult to understand. It may be also substituted by “It is all Chinese to me!” The Chinese words may be too difficult to be understood by the westerners in some way. However, the Chinese idiom is rich and colorful. Such as “牛郎织女”、“楚河汉界”、 “守株待兔”、“请君

25、入瓮”、“画龙点睛”、“愚公移山”、“杞人忧天”、“黄粱美梦”、“南柯一梦”、“叶公好龙”、“嫦娥奔月”，etc. 2.1.4. Man and GodThe western people believe in God and the creation of the world. The Holy Bible has great effect to the whole western culture. So it is easy to understand why there are too many idioms originated from the Bible and the Chris

26、tianity. Such as : to bow down in the house of Rimmon（向异教徒屈膝投降）, a covenant of salt（不可背弃的盟约）, grid up one s lions（准备行动）, Judas kiss（死亡之吻）, the last supper（最后的晚餐）, the forbidden fruit（禁果）, no coming to heaven with dry eyes（眼无泪水，难进天国）, the way to heaven is by the weeping cross（忏悔受难，得升天堂）, as poor as a

27、 church mouse(家徒四壁),bear ones cross(背负十字架). But Chinese have their ancient mythologies, such as: “夸父追日”、“洪水灭世”、“女娲补天”、“精卫填海”、“神农尝百草”、“大禹治水”。The Buddhism and the Taoism is also important consistent in the Chinese culture. Just like the Christianity, the stories bring uncountable idioms to Chinese, su

28、ch as: “苦海无边，回头是岸”、“佛法无边”，“不看僧面，看佛面”、“阎王要你三更死，哪得留你到五更”、“八仙过海，各显神通”、 “放下屠刀，立地成佛”、“灵丹妙药”，“点石成金”、“狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心”,etc. 2.1.5. History China has been a vast agricultural country for thousands of years. A.D. Lindsay, Master of Balliol at Oxford in the late forties, discussed in his lectures on democracy the

29、 difficulties of large size. As a matter of fact, it requires a Herculean effort just to hold such a country together. Disunity or fragmentation usually led to long years of war and destruction, bringing untold suffering to the people. So, the phrases that originated from the war have been used in e

30、very aspect of life. Such as: “知己知彼，百战不殆”、“围魏救赵”、“暗渡陈仓”、 “进退维谷”、“背水一战”、“投笔从戎”、“投鞭断流”、“步步为营”、“坚壁清野”、“运筹帷幄”、“破釜沉舟”、 “临阵磨枪”，etc. The idiom “to meet one s Waterloo” is originated from the Waterloo war of Napoleon, which has the similar meaning of “一败涂地”. In the Britains history, war also constantly happ

31、ened. So the quality of idioms related to the war also big. Such as: mark time(踌躇不决), mask ones batteries(掩盖敌意), stick to ones guns(坚持立场), and have been in wars （在生活中吃过苦头）and the story of horse for a kingdom(一匹马换一个国王).The popes and kings rule the Britain for a long time; the phrases that reflect the

32、 anger and hatred are plenty. Such as:The king and the pope, the lion and the wolf (国王教皇，狮子豺狼).Kings go mad, and the people suffer form it（军王发疯，百姓遭殃）.Kings have a long hand.（勿与帝王争）More royalist than the king.（比极端分子更极端）Pope s nose（煮熟的鸡屁股）.The pleasures of the mighty are the tears of the poor.（富豪纵欲，穷人流泪）The king sends his carriage.（囚车来了）And the proverb “kings and bears often worry their keepers” is similar to the “伴君如伴虎”. The Chinese have been tyrannized by the landlord for thousands of years, and exploited by the malfeasant and dealers. So lots of phrases