a study on the cultural translation本科学位论文.docx

1、a study on the cultural translation本科学位论文英语毕业论文：AStudyontheCulturalTranslationAbstractTheAnalects,asthemostimportantConfucianclassicrecording,whosetranslationhaslongbeenofimmenseimportancetoculturalexchangebetweentheEastandtheWest.Soitismeaningfultostudyonwhichkindofmethodusedintheprocessofculturalt

2、ranslationismuchbetterintransmittingChineseculturetowesternsociety,toletforeignerslearnandunderstandtheinnervalueofConfucianism.KeyWordsculturaltranslation;communicativetranslation;semantictranslation;TheAnalects1.BriefIntroductiontoTheAnalectsLunYu,themostinfluentialandenduringChineseclassic,isalso

3、knownasTheAnalects,theAnalectsofConfucius,ortheConfucianAnalects,whichshowsitssplendorasearlyas2,400yearsagobetweentheSpringandAutumnandtheWarringStatesperiods.Coveringawidescopeofsubjectsfrompolitics,philosophy,literature,andarttoeducationandmoralcultivation,TheAnalectsistheearliestandmostreliables

4、ourceonthelifeandteachingsofthesage,TheAnalects,isregardedbytheChineseasthebasicscriptureofConfucianism.Compiledbyhisdisciples,TheAnalectsrecordedthesayinganddeedsofthegreatsageandhisdisciples.2.AboutCommunicativeandSemanticTranslationTheoryInordertonarrowthedisparitybetweenliteraltranslationandfree

5、translation,PeterNewmarkputforwardtwomodesoftranslation,whichwerenamedascommunicativetranslationandsemantictranslation.Theformercombinestheadvantagesofadaptation,freetranslation,andidiomatictranslation,whilethelattercontainsthemeritsofwordforwordtranslation,literarytranslation,andfaithfultranslation

6、.Accordingtocommunicativetranslationtheory,translationisaprocessofcommunication,whichrequiresthetranslatordohisbesttotransferthesourcelanguagecultureintotargetlanguageculture.Whentransplantingapassageonanotherculturalbackground,greateffortshouldbemadetogetthetargetreaderunderstandandsharethesamethin

7、kingworldoftheoriginalauthor.Generally,acommunicativetranslationislikelytobesmoother,simpler,clearer,moredirect,moreconventional,conformingtoaparticularregisteroflanguage,tendingtoundertranslate,i.e.tousemoregeneric,hold-alltermsindifficultpassages.However,forsemantictranslation,itattemptstorender,a

8、scloselyasthesemanticandsyntacticstructuresofthesecondlanguageallowtheexactcontextualmeaningoftheoriginal.Asemantictranslationtendstobemorecomplex,moreawkward,moredetailed,moreconcentrated,andpursuesthethought-processesratherthantheintentionofthetransmitter.Ittendstoovertranslate,tobemorespecifictha

9、ntheoriginal,toincludemoremeaningsinitssearchforonenuanceofmeaning.3.AnalysisoftheTranslationofCulture-loadedTermsinTheAnalectsTranslationisnotonlyakindoflinguisticactivitybutalsoakindofculturalinteraction,andthusculturaldifferencesexertgreatinfluenceontranslation,EugineNida(2001:82)said,“themastero

10、fthetwoculturesismuchmoreimportantthanthatofthelanguages.”Almosteverypartoflifereflectsthecultureofanationbecauseeverycountryhasitsownhistoryinthedevelopmentofsocialinstitutioncultures,religionbriefandcustoms.Thuseveryculturehasitsvocabularyandthatistheculture-loadedvocabulary.TheAnalectsofConfucius

11、isnotonlyaphilosophicalwork,butalsoaliteraryworkthatreflectsthesocialandhistoricalfactsofConfuciustimesandthustheaudiencesareraineduponwithmanyspecificthings.3.1TranslationofProperNamePropernamesrefertopersons,livingcreatures,places,institutions,objectsorprocessesthatarepeculiartoasingleculturalcomm

12、unity.Inmostcasestheyhavesingularreferences.(Newmark)InthispartthestudyontheculturaltranslationofnamesappearsintheanalectsofConfuciuswillbedealtwithintwodifferentways:namesofpersonandnamesofphilosophicalmeaning.3.1.1NameofConfuciusBecauseTheAnalectsisintheformofconversation,itisofgreatimportancetocl

13、arifydifferentpeoplesnametomakeoutwhichsentenceissaidbywhichperson.Throughoutthewholepassage,theideaspresentedbyConfuciusconsistsmostofthework.Therefore,thepropertranslationofthemostfrequentexpressioninTheAnalects,thatis,子曰takestheprioritytoothernames.Aglimpseatthevariousrendingof子曰willrevealhowdiff

14、erenttranslationmethodsinfluencethetargettext.Eg1:子曰：“学而时习之，不亦悦乎？”Version1：Confuciussaid:“Isntitapleasureforonetolearnandthenconstantlyreviewandpracticewhathehasalreadylearned?”Version2:TheMastersaid:“Isitnotpleasanttolearnwithaconstantperseveranceandapplication?”InancientChina,peoplecalledthemalest

15、heyrespectedas“子”,whichusuallyfollowedthefamilyname,suchas“孔子”.Chinesepeopleknowsthat“子”hereis“孔子”,butitsinterpretationsarestillvarious:“Confucius”and“theMaster”.Tocall“孔子”as“Confucius”accordswiththeWesterntraditionwherepeoplearecalledbytheirnameswithoutanytitle.Thefirstversionfollowscommunicativetr

16、anslationtheory,rendering“孔子”intoConfuciusobviouslyforthesakeofWesternreaders.Onthecontrary,Chinesedonotcall“孔子”directly,butjustuseoneword“子”inordertoshowrespecttohim.ThisisalsoakindofChineseculture.Thesecondversionfollowedsemantictranslationrule,rendering“子”intotheMasterinordertoexpresstherelations

17、hipbetween“孔子”andhisstudentstoshowChineseculturetothetargetreaders.Althoughthiskindofsemantictranslationisunfamiliartowesternreaders,itcouldhelpthemtohaveabetterunderstandingofthecontent,style,andintentionoftheoriginalauthor.3.1.2NamesofConfuciusdisciplesItissaidthatConfuciustaughtwhiletravelingandh

18、admorethan3000disciplesindifferentstates.Ofthesome3000disciplesthereareseventy-twodisciplesrecordedtobefamousones.Theywereofdifferentbirth,haddifferentpositionsandmoreimportantly,wereofdifferentvirtues.Eachofthemhadauniquename,soitishelpfuliftheaudiencescanunderstandthem.Thosewhowerementionedmanytim

19、esinTheAnalectscouldbeveryimportantforConfucianschoolindifferentways.Inthiscase,differenttranslatorsusevariousmethodstotranslatetheirnames.Eg2:子曰：“吾与回言终日，不违，如愚”曾子曰:“吾日三省吾身。”有子曰:“礼之用，和为贵。”ThreeofConfuciusfavoritedisciples-“回”(hui),“曾子”(zengzi),and“有子”(youzi)appearedintheseexamples.Onemethodusedforren

20、deringConfuciusdisciplesnamesistotransliterateinPinyinaccordingtotheirpronunciation.Forexample,“子夏”as“Zixia”.Here“回”refersto“颜回”,styled子渊，soitcanberenderedas“YenHui”or“Hui”.Thiskindofcommunicativetranslationconfirmsthetraditionofwesternpeople,tocallothersnamedirectly,withoutconsiderationoftheirstatu

21、s.Towesternreader,itiseasierforthemtorememberandunderstand.Thedisciplesrankedwith“子”aretranslatedasMasterYu/You“有子”,andMasterTseng/Zeng“曾子”,inrespectwhowereConfuciusprominentdisciplesandlaterbecamesignificantteachersintheConfucianschoolafterConfuciusdeath.Thissemantictranslation,whichwasadoptedbyman

22、ytranslators,isregardedasthemostsuitableone.Whileinsomeotherversion,“有子”and“曾子”aretranslatedas“ThephilosopherYou”and“ThephilosopherZeng”.ThesetwomethodsmoreaccordwithChinesetradition,usingsemanticstrategytoreproducethepoliteimageofChinesepeople.3.2TranslationofCulturalImagesCulturalimageisanintegrat

23、ivepartofculture.Alltheimagesconnectedwithsocialandreligiousculturesuchasaspecialthing,anallusion,ananimaletcwillchallengetranslators.AculturalclassicsuchasTheAnalectsisabundantwithculturalimages,sohowtotransferthemortransfertheirmeaningsisavitalproblem.Andnow,wewilldiscussfromtheimageofreligiouscul

24、ture.3.2.1ReligiousCulturalImagesEg5:子入太庙，每事问。Version1:TheMaster,whenheenteredgrandtemple,askedabouteverything.Version2:WhenConfuciusfirstattendedtheserviceattheStateCathedral(AncestralTempleofthereigningprince),heenquiredastowhatheshoulddoateverystageoftheservice.Version1abidedbysemantictranslation

25、thatrendered“taimiao”(太庙)into“grandtemple”,whichretainedliteralmeaningaswellasextendedsomeculturalmessagetothetargetaudience.Whileversion2turnedtocommunicativetranslationthatemployed“GreatCathedral”withstrongcolorofWesternreligion,inwhichWesternreligiontooktheplaceofancientChinesetradition.“GreatCat

26、hedral”istotallydifferentfrom“taimiao”,which,inancientChina,isthestatetempleforthefirstreigningemperor.ThisimageimpliestheancestorofourChinesepeople.Thisisoneofthemostobviousandcontroversialcharacteristicsofversion2,thatis,itregardsConfucianismasareligion,Kusaid,“Confucianism,withoutbeingareligionca

27、ntaketheplaceofreligion.Therefore,theremustbesomethinginConfucianismwhichcangivetothemassofmankindthesamesenseofsecurityandpermanencewhichreligionaffordsthem.”(KuHunming,1998:23)Inhisopinion,ConfucianismisofthesamevalueasWesternreligioussayingsbutnotthesamenature.Inasense,thegrandtempleandtheStateCathedral,althoughbothrefertoreligiousplaces3.2.2SocialCulturalImagesEg6:孟懿子问孝。子曰：“无违。”Version1:MengYiaskedwhatfilialpietywas.TheMastersaid,“Itisnotbeingdisobedient.”Version2:MengYiaskedaboutthetreatmentofparents.TheMastersaid,“Neverdisobey!”Version1obeyedsemantictranslationtheory,trans