新編跨文化交際英語教程cases參考答案

Inthiscase,thereseemedtobeproblemsincommunicatingwithpeopleofdifferentculturesinspiteoftheeffortsmadetoachieveunderstanding.WeshouldknowthatinEgyptasinmanycultures,thehumanrelationshipisvaluedsohighlythatitisnotexpressedinanobjectiveandimpersonalway.WhileAmericanscertainlyvaluehumanrelationships,theyaremorelikelytospeakoftheminlesspersonal,moreobjectiveterms.Inthiscase,Richard‘smistakemightbethathechosetopraisethefooditselfratherthanthetotalevening,forwhichthefoodwassimplythesettingorexcuse.Forhishostandhostessitwasasifhehadattendedanartexhibitandcomplimentedtheartistbysaying, ―Whatbeautifulframesyourpicturesarein.InJapanthesituationmaybemorecomplicated. Japanesepeoplevalueorderandharmonyamongpersonsinagroup,andthattheorganizationitself－beitafamilyoravastcorporation －ismorevaluedthanthecharacteristicsofanyparticularmember.Incontrast,Americansstressindividualityasavalueandareapttoassertindividualdifferenceswhentheyseemjustifiably inconflictwiththegoalsorvaluesofthegroup.Inthiscase:Richard‘smistakewasinmakinggreateffortstodefendhimself.Lettheothersassumethattheerrorswerenotintentional,butitisnotrighttodefendyourself,evenwhenyourunstatedintentistoassistthegroupbywarningothersofsimilarmistakes.Asimpleapologyandacceptanceoftheblamewouldhavebeenappropriate.ButforpoorRichardtohavemerelyapologizedwouldhaveseemedtohimtobesubservient,unmanly.WhenitcomestoEngland,weexpectfewerproblemsbetweenAmericansandEnglishmenthanbetweenAmericansandalmostanyothergroup.Inthiscasewemightlookbeyondthegestureoftakingsugarorcreamtothevaluesexpressedinthisgesture:forAmericans,―Helpyourself;fortheEnglishcounterpart,—Bemyguest.AmericanandEnglishpeopleequallyenjoyentertaining andbeingentertainedbuttheydiffersomewhatinthevalueofthedistinction.Typically,theidealguestatanAmericanpartyisonewho ―makeshimselfathome,eventothepointofansweringthedoororfixinghisowndrink.Forpersonsinmanyothersocieties,CaseCasepersonbyotherJapanese.InJapan,acompanyisoftenverymuchlikeabigfamily,inwhichthemanger(s)willtakegoodcareoftheemployeesandtheemployeesareexpectedtodevotethemselvestothedevelopmentofthecompanyand,ifitisnecessary,tosacrificetheirownindividualinterestsfortheinterestsofthecompany,fromwhich,inthelongrun,theemployeeswillbenefitgreatly.ButfortheFrench,acompanyisjustaloosely-knitsocialorganizationwhereinindividualsaresupposedtotakecareofthemselvesandtheirfamilies.Moreover,thewaytheFrenchmakedecisionsinthefamilymightalsobedifferentfromthetypicalJapaneseone,whichmaynotofteninvolvefemalesandthepowertodecideusuallylieswiththedominatingmale.AstherearesuchculturaldifferencesbetweentheJapaneseandtheFrench,Mr.Legrand‘sdecisionmadeMr.Tanakafeeldumbfounded.Incidentssuchasthesecanpointtopossibleculturaldifferencesinso-called—politeIIbehavior,andatthesametimehighlightthetendencyforpeopletoreactemotionallytounexpectedbehavior.Peopleinmostcultureswouldprobablyagreethatanapologyisneededwhenanoffenceorviolationofsocialnormshastakenplace.However,theremaybedifferingopinionsastowhenweshouldapologize(whatsituationscallforanapology)andhowweshouldapologize.TomanyWesterners,JapaneseapologizemorefrequentlyandanapologyinJapanesedoesnotnecessarilymeanthatthepersonisacknowledgingafault.TomanyJapanese,WesternersmayseemtoberudejustbecausetheydonotapologizeasoftenastheJapanesewoulddo.Inthiscase,forinstance,theattitudeoftheAustralianstudent‘sparentsisshockingtotheJapanesebutwillbeacceptableinanEnglish-speakingsociety,forthestudentisalreadyanadultandcanberesponsibleforherowndeeds.Inthiscase,itseemsthattheChineseexpectationswerenotfulfilled.First,havingtwopeoplesharinghostresponsibilitiescouldbesomewhatconfusingtothehierarchicallymindedChinese.Second,becauseageisoftenviewedasanindicationofseniority,theChinesemighthaveconsideredtheyouthoftheirCanadianhostsasslighttotheirownstatus.Third,inChina,itistraditionalforthehosttoofferawelcometoastatthebeginningofthemeal,whichisthereciprocatedbytheguests;bynotdoingso,theCanadianmightbethoughtrude.TheabruptdepartureoftheChinesefollowingthebanquetwasprobablyanindicationthattheywerenotpleasedwiththewaytheyweretreated.TheCanadians‘lackofunderstandingoftheChinesecultureandtheChinesewaysofcommunicationclearlycostthemintheirbusinessdealingswiththevisitingdelegation.Thisexamplevividlyillustratesthatfailuresininterculturaltranslationmayprobablyleadtoveryseriousconsequence,orevendisasterstohumanbeings.Definitely,translationisnotsuchasimpleprocessasrenderingaword,asentenceoratextliterally,butratherafarmorecomplexonethanmostpeopleassumed.Forexample,onceaChinesecosmeticmanufacturerwantedtopromotetheirproductsintotheinternationalmarket.Thesloganoftheadvertisementwas: ―sweetasJadeII,sinceinChinese —jadeIIwasalwaysemployedtocomplimentwoma‘nsbeauty;butunfortunately,itwasnotanappropriatewordtodescribethebeautyofaladyinWesterncultures.InEnglish, —jadeIIinitsuseofreferringawomanhadtheconnotationssuchasvulgar,rude,immoral,orskittish.Undoubtedly,thesalesinEuropeancountrieswerenotsatisfying.Theseemingequivalentsbetweenlanguagesmayhaveverydifferentconnotationsindifferentcultures,thusthetranslatorshouldbecautiousintheprocessofdoingthetranslationsoastoavoidmisunderstandings.一楊IIreferstoYangKaihuiwhowasMaoZedong'sdeceasedwifeand—柳IIreferstoLiuzhixunwhowasLishuyi'sdeceasedhusband.Theycanbetranslatedindifferentways,butitseemstobeverydifficult,ifnotimpossible,toachieveequivalenceintranslatingfromChineseintoEnglish.Adoptingtheliteraltranslationstrategy,version1appearstobefaithfultotheoriginalbutmayeasilyconfusethereadersinthetargetlanguage.Version2employstheliberaltranslationstrategywithanattempttoconveytheoriginalmeaningaspreciselyaspossible.However,theoriginalpoeticflavorislostastherhetoricdevice —pun—isnotreproduced.Thetranslationseemstobefaithfultotheoriginal,butitmaynotbereallygoodforthepurposeofinterculturalcommunication.Foreignreadersofthetranslationmayfinditstrangeandinappropriate.ThefollowingiswhatafriendlyAmericanjournalisthascommentedonthetranslation:Myfirstreactionwasunfortunatelylaughterbecauseitissofullofmistakes. ItomitssomenecessaryinformationabouttheDragon-BoatFestival, includingitshistoricalorigins andwhenitactuallytakesplace.Thesethingsareimportant…Thecopyseemstotryto——snowllthereaderwithfanciful,overblownassertionsabouthowterrificitallis,butinunintentionallyhilariouslanguagethatleavesthereaderlaughingoutuninformed…Thebrochurealsosuffersfromlackofbackgroundmaterial,thetaking-if-for-grantedthatthereaderalreadyisfamiliarwithmanyaspectsofChinesehistoryandculture?visitinganareawanttoknow.WhyisitthatmanyChinesetravelguidesreadbasicallythesame,nomatterwhatregionisbeingwrittenabout,andaresopackedwithindiscriminatehyperbole?Lessexaggerationwouldactuallybemoreconvincing.Itdoesn‘ttellyouwheretogo,howtogetthere,whenthingsareopenandclosed,howmuchtheycost,andsoforth.AllthesearethingspeopleComparingthetwoEnglishversions,wecanseethatinYang ‘sversionmoreculturally-loadedmeaningsareconveyedfromtheoriginalwhileHawkes‘versionmaybeeasierforEnglish-speakingreaderstocomprehend.Lookatsomeofthedifferencesbetweenthetwoversionsofthisextract:賈母TheLadyDowager/GrandmotherJia老祖宗鳳辣子OldAncestress/GrannydearFieryPhoenix/PeppercornFengtheschool-roomnameHis-feng/thesomewhatboyish-soundingnameofTai-yulostnotimeingreetingherwithasmileas—cousin.II/二舅母王氏LadyWang,hers