On Translation of Animal Metaphor through a Study of Two English Versions of Hong Lou Meng20

1、通過(guò)紅樓夢(mèng)兩個(gè)英譯本探究動(dòng)物隱喻翻譯on translation of animal metaphor through a study of two english versions of hong lou mengtable of contents. introduction 1. literature review 2a. animal metaphor and culture influence2b. translation of animal metaphors in hong lou meng .3. analysis of animal metaphors in hong lou

2、meng and two english versions.5a. methodology .51. selection of data for further analysis.52. source text analysis on the functions of animal metaphors.6b. data analysis.8. translation strategies of animal metaphors in two english versions of hong lou meng in relation to different functions .11a. ca

3、tegorization of translation strategies.111. the animal image being kept completely.11 2. the animal image being kept with the meaning explained.133. the animal image being replaced with a corresponding image in target language .144. the animal image being abandoned and the meaning being rendered.14b

4、. primary reason that has caused different translation strategies in two versions15. conclusion.17appendix .19works cited.34摘要?jiǎng)游镫[喻在人類語(yǔ)言中起著很重要的作用，自古以來(lái)，人們?cè)谂c動(dòng)物的接觸中，觀察動(dòng)物的外表、行為和生活方式，發(fā)現(xiàn)動(dòng)物與人類本身和人類生活有很多相似之處，于是開始在語(yǔ)言中使用動(dòng)物形象作為隱喻來(lái)表達(dá)某種抽象的概念。但是，和其它類型的隱喻一樣，動(dòng)物隱喻也承載著一定的文化，每個(gè)民族的語(yǔ)言都有它不同的文化特色和不同的表達(dá)方式。紅樓夢(mèng)是中國(guó)古典文學(xué)中最優(yōu)秀的作品之

5、一，與整個(gè)中國(guó)民族文化緊緊聯(lián)系在一起。通過(guò)分析紅樓夢(mèng)中的動(dòng)物隱喻，本文作者將紅樓夢(mèng)中所使用的動(dòng)物隱喻大體分為修辭功能和認(rèn)知功能，修辭功能是為了使語(yǔ)言更加形象生動(dòng)、通俗易懂，而認(rèn)知功能更多的是約定俗成的表達(dá)方式，隱含著深厚的民族文化特色。紅樓夢(mèng)中動(dòng)物隱喻的翻譯需要譯者將文化因素考慮進(jìn)去，在翻譯動(dòng)物隱喻時(shí)，要充分體會(huì)動(dòng)物隱喻本身的隱含義，然后選擇正確的翻譯方法把動(dòng)物隱喻隱含的意思翻譯出來(lái)。對(duì)于有的動(dòng)物隱喻可以直接保留動(dòng)物形象，而對(duì)于其它的動(dòng)物隱喻則不能一味地保留動(dòng)物形象。本文通過(guò)對(duì)紅樓夢(mèng)的兩個(gè)英譯版本的分析和比較，將紅樓夢(mèng)中動(dòng)物隱喻的翻譯方法劃分為四類：（1）完全保留動(dòng)物形象；（2）保留動(dòng)物形象，

6、并解釋隱含義；（3）將原動(dòng)物形象轉(zhuǎn)換成目的語(yǔ)中對(duì)應(yīng)的形象；（4）舍棄動(dòng)物形象，僅翻譯隱含義。這四種翻譯方法并不是絕對(duì)的、固定的，具體翻譯方法的選擇不僅取決于動(dòng)物隱喻的功能，還取決于譯者的意圖更忠實(shí)于源語(yǔ)言文化或者更接近目標(biāo)語(yǔ)言文化。關(guān)鍵詞：動(dòng)物 隱喻 紅樓夢(mèng) 翻譯abstractanimal metaphor plays an important role in human language. for a long time, during the experience with animals, people observe the look, behavior and habit of t

7、hose animals and have found many similarities between animals and human life. animal images have then been used metaphorically to convey abstract ideas. however, just like other types of metaphors, animal metaphor is also a carrier of culture. people in different culture might have different cultura

8、l characteristics and different ways of expressions. it is very possible that people in different culture use the same animal images to convey different abstract ideas.hong lou meng is one of the masterpieces among all the chinese classics. it has close connection with chinese traditional culture. t

9、hrough analyzing the animal metaphors in hong lou meng, the author of this thesis has categorized the animal metaphors based on two functionsrhetorical function and cognitive function. animal metaphors with rhetorical function make the language more vivid and more colloquial, while those with cognit

10、ive function are more about a way of literal expression that has become a part of language. the translators should take cultural differences into consideration while translating animal metaphors in hong lou meng. translating animal metaphors should be based on the accurate understanding of the metap

11、hors and the choice of translation strategy. for some of those animal metaphors, the translators can keep the animal images in the source text, but for others, the animal images might be abandoned in order to make a precise translation. by analyzing the two english versions of hong lou meng, the tra

12、nslation strategies concerning animal metaphors can fall into four categorizations: (1) the animal image being kept completely; (2) the animal image being kept with the meaning explained; (3) the animal image being replaced with a corresponding image in target language；(4) the animal image being aba

13、ndoned and the meaning being rendered. the four translation strategies are not absolute and fixed rules. the choice of translation strategies not only depends on the function of the animal metaphor but also depends on the translators intentionwhether to be source language culture-oriented or target

14、language culture-oriented.key words: animal metaphor hong lou meng translationiii. introductionsome animals are peoples friends, and some are human enemies. but no matter they are friends or foes, animals are often personalized by people because they have some similarities with people or human life.

15、 it is not surprising to know that despite cultural differences, animal terms do not only contain their “l(fā)iteral meanings”(goatly 15) but also have “metaphorical meanings”(goatly 15) that are formed by people. animal terms are very frequently used as symbols and metaphors in different languages. met

16、aphorical meanings are given to animal terms in terms of the animals image, characteristic and living habit. although animal metaphors in english and chinese are similar to a certain extent, many aspects of them are culture-specific. there are semantic overlaps in metaphorical meaning of some animal

17、 terms in chinese and english because it is very possible that people have the same cognition towards a certain image , but also there are semantic discrepancies between these two languages due to different cultural contexts. hong lou meng is a masterpiece in chinese literature which has enormous si

18、gnificance in understanding chinese traditional culture. the life that has been depicted in hong lou meng is typical chinese traditional lifestyle. characters in hong lou meng are varied in social status and personalities, thus the language used in hong lou meng combines colloquialism and elegance,

19、which is worth studying and analyzing. animal metaphors, as a way of expression and language enrichment, are used in a large amount in hong lou meng. by comparing hong lou meng with its two translated versions, one translated by yang hsien-yi and gladys yang and the other translated by david hawkes

20、and john minford, we will have a better understanding of the language differences in animal metaphors and thus adopt translating strategies concerning these differences. there are many existing published papers discussing metaphor translation in hong lou meng, but rarely any of them has specifically

21、 touched upon strategies of translating animal metaphors. in this thesis, sentences that contain animal metaphors with specific animal images in the original text of hong lou meng as well as the corresponding translations of these sentences in two english versions have been selected. these animal me

22、taphors in the source text are counted in order to give readers a general idea of animal metaphor and its functions in language. then, translations of those animal metaphors are analyzed in detail and translation strategies are categorized based on how the translators deal with the animal images in

23、their translations. . literature reviewa. animal metaphor and culture influencemetaphor is pervasive and indispensable in human language. it is an instrument of perceiving and conceptualizing the world. according to lakoff and johnson, “the essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one k

24、ind of thing in terms of another”(lakoff and johnson 5). the theory of conceptual metaphor put forward by lakoff and johnson involves a mapping from a source domain to a target domain. the source domains are often familiar physical world. the target domains are abstract conceptual domains, frequentl

25、y of the internal mental and emotional world or unseen and unknown domains of the physical world (lakoff and johnson 117). since the source domain is directly connected with the concrete concepts, a metaphor is often related to how people perceive a certain object or image. animal images, like other

26、 source domains, also project target domains. it is not hard to understand that since human beings always have inseparable relations with animals, for a long period of time, people have come to observe those animals, about how they look, how they live and how they behave. they have found similaritie

27、s between the animals and other abstract concepts in their life. thereupon, people have begun using animal images metaphorically in their languages to refer to something abstract in their mind. according to speaking of animalsa dictionary of animal metaphors, an animal metaphor is “a word, phrase, o

28、r sentence that expresses a resemblance or similarity between someone or something and a particular animal or animal class.” (robert 11). for example, when someone says “that person is a wolf”, the speaker doesnt mean that the person is a wolf instead of being a human. here, “wolf” is being used met

29、aphorically, referring to the similarities that this person might have with a wolf, such as ferocity. however, the statement “wolf is a kind of animal” is not a metaphorical expression but a literally true statement. the way that human beings interact with the physical environment is not random, but

30、 influenced by the cultural background they have. the cultural differences in metaphors also apply to animal metaphors. since language and thought cognition are connected, human beings sometimes develop the common cognition of an animal image. it is true that people with different cultural backgroun

31、d might adopt different target domains regarding the same animal images. this is consistent with what zoltán kövecses calls “universality in metaphorical conceptualization” (kövecses 35). but he also points out that metaphor has “cross-cultural variation” (kövecses 67).the kind o

32、f conceptual system we have is a product of the kind of beings we are and the way we interact with our physical and cultural environments (lakoff and johnson 119). therefore, the connotations of animal metaphors in one language do not necessarily coincide with those in another. the mappings across c

33、onceptual domains are grounded in the cognition of animals and in the experience of a certain culture. some experiences seem to be universal, others are culture-specific. animal metaphors are widely used in both english and chinese. some animal metaphors are similar in both languages, but others qui

34、te different; some are directly opposite, while others have no equivalence.b. translation of animal metaphors in hong lou mengsince specific culture has its influence on animal metaphors in different languages, translators should be very careful with their choice of translation strategies towards an

35、imal metaphors. it is the translators decision regarding whether to keep the animal image or to abandon the image and precisely convey the implied meaning of animal metaphors. hong lou meng was published in the 18th century during the reign of emperor qian long of the qing dynasty (1644-1911). the n

36、ovel provides a great deal of insight into the chinese culture of the time in its descriptions of every aspect of chinese society. in hong lou meng, the author cao xueqin and gao e used a large amount of animal images with metaphorical meanings. we can say that animal metaphors that are used in hong

37、 lou meng are not only a language phenomenon but also a reflection of chinese culture. while translating the animal metaphors in hong lou meng, the translator should be conscious of the differences in idiomatic expression, connotation, emotion, and socio-cultural contrast between the source and targ

38、et languages. translation is communicating messages accurately, not matching similar words. it is the content that really matters and must be preserved at any cost (nida and taber 105). whether to keep or abandon the animal images depends on the metaphorical meaning of the animal terms, the function

39、 of the animal metaphors in the source text and the intention of the translatorwhether to be source language culture-oriented or target language culture-oriented. scholars who have studied the two english versions, one translated by yang hsien-yi and gladys yang and the other translated by david haw

40、kes and john minford, generally think that the yangs version is mainly source language culture-oriented while hawke-minford version is target language culture-oriented. guo jianzhong analyzed the translators intentions and concluded that the yangs endeavored to present chinese culture to the target

41、readers while hawkes and minford intended to arouse the interest of the target readers (guo jianzhong 41). although different intentions might cause different translation strategies adopted in the two versions, we can still find the similarities of translation strategies shared by the two versions c

42、oncerning the translation of animal metaphors in hong lou meng. by analyzing the translation of those animal metaphors, translation strategies that are used to translate animal metaphors can be divided into four categories according to whether to keep or abandon the animal images in the source text

43、and how to keep or abandon while the intended meanings of animal metaphors can still be kept. the four strategies are: (1) the animal image being kept completely; (2) the animal image being kept with the meaning explained; (3) the animal image being replaced with a corresponding image in target lang

44、uage；(4) the animal image being abandoned and the meaning being rendered.animal metaphor is a language expression directly connected with culture. the metaphorical meaning behind the animal images should be understood in order to make an accurate translation. keeping all the animal images in the tar

45、get text is certainly not possible for a successful translation. different translation strategies should be adopted by in target text to fulfill the same effects and functions of animal metaphors in source text. . analysis of animal metaphors in hong lou meng and two english versionsa. methodology1.

46、 selection of data for further analysisthe source text that is used for analysis in this thesis is hong lou meng written by cao xueqin and gao e, the edition published by huaxia press in 2002. among many english translated versions of hong lou meng, two of them that are unabridged and widely accepte

47、d are selected for analysis in this thesis. one version is translated by british scholar david hawkes and his student john minford in five volumes, which is entitled the story of the stone, published by penguin books ltd in 1982. this version has altogether five volumes. the first three volumes are

48、translated by david hawkes and the other two volumes by john minford. the other version is translated by yang hsien-yi and his wife gladys yang in three volumes, which is entitled a dream of red mansions, published by foreign languages press in 1980. in order to ensure that the data is standardized,

49、 the page-to-page selection of sentences that contain animal metaphors in hong lou meng is based on lakoff and johnsons definition of metaphor as well as the definition of animal metaphor in speaking of animalsa dictionary of animal metaphors, as both mentioned earlier in literature review. animal n

50、ames that appear in hong lou meng without metaphorical meaning are excluded in this data. no animal term only with literal meaning is included in this data collection. in addition, simile is clearly distinguished with metaphor. the translated versions of animal metaphors are correspondingly collecte

51、d in the story of the stone translated by david hawkes and john minford and in a dream of red mansions translated by yang hsien-yi and gladys yang. after all the animal metaphors have been selected in the data, these metaphors are categorized through two different methods. the first method is to cat

52、egorize according to different animal terms. for example, animal metaphors in the source text of hong lou meng that contain the animal term “dragon”(龍) fall into the same category and those that contain the animal term “phoenix”(鳳) fall into another. the other method of categorization is based on th

53、e different strategies that are used to translate those animal metaphors in the two english versions of hong lou meng. 2. source text analysis on the functions of animal metaphorsin order to translate the source text into the target text, the translator has to analyze the source text first to fully

54、understand the message that the author tries to convey. therefore, to begin with, we have to get a general idea of the animal metaphors used in hong lou meng in order to choose the right translation strategies.generally speaking, there are two functions of metaphors: rhetorical function and cognitiv

55、e function. traditionally, metaphor is considered as a figure of speech. it flourishes language, making language more vivid and strengthening the expressive power of language. however, lakoff and johnson point out that “metaphor is not only a device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flour

56、ish, but is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action” (lakoff and johnson 3). that is to say, human conceptual system is metaphorically structured and defined. besides the rhetoric function, metaphor also has cognitive function. peter newmark, in his book a textbook of translation, also goes with this classification. he states that,the purpose of metaphor is basically twofold: its referential purpose is to describe a mental process or state, a concept, a person, and object, a quality or an action more comprehensively and concisely than is possible in literal