論翻譯中的文化差異及習慣表達法Cultural Differences and Idiomatic Expressions in Translation

CulturalDifferencesandIdiomaticExpressionsin

Translation10級水利水電工程4班李超2010102062AbstractLanguageisanintegratedpartofculture.Asisknown,therearelotsoflanguagesintheworld.Sotherearelotsofdifferentcultures.Intranslationculturalelementsusuallyposeaproblemfortranslators.Itisindispensabletoattachimportancetoculturalelementsinliterarytranslation.Thecultureisveryimportantforliterarytranslation.Theroleoflanguagewithinaculture,theinfluenceofthecultureonlanguagearesopervasivethatscarcelyanytextcanbeadequatelyunderstoodwithoutcarefulconsiderationofitsculturalbackground.Tosumup,languagesdonotoperateinisolationbutwithinandaspartofcultures;culturesdifferfromeachotherinvariouswaysandthereisbynomeansaone-to-onerelationofexactlexicalequivalencebetweentheirlanguagesinmostcases.Translatorshavetotransmitspecialculturalqualitiesfromonelanguagetoanotherthroughamulti-prongedapproach.Fromthisperspectiveitisnecessaryforthemtopossesscross-culturalconsciousness.Keywords：translation,language,culture,culturalelements摘要語言是文化的綜合部分。我們都知道，世界上有許多種語言，所以自然有許多種不同文化。翻譯過程中，文化通常是翻譯程序的一個重要要素。它是翻譯的基礎，它能夠改善文化體制，它從各個方面反映當今的社會現(xiàn)象。因此，翻譯必須受到語言的限制，翻譯的綜合反映就是語言的精髓。語言對文化的影響滲透到各個方面，所以必須充分了解文化背景才能足夠地理解本文。從這個透視中，他們擁有交叉文化的意識是必要的，他們必須從語言的要素去徹底把握翻譯的結構以及它的理論基礎?？傊?，語言不能孤立存在，它是文化的一個部分。在一般情況下，它們的語言是均等的，但不是一對一的關系。所以，翻譯者不得不用細微的方法，把一種語言轉化為專門的文化質數(shù)。關鍵詞：翻譯；語言；文化；文化要素ContentsTOC\o"1-5"\h\zAbstracti\o"CurrentDocument"Contentsiii\o"CurrentDocument"Introduction1\o"CurrentDocument"LanguageandCulture1Thedefinitionoflanguageandculture1Therelationoflanguageandculture2\o"CurrentDocument"TranslationandCulture4Theimportanceofculturefortranslation5Theinfluenceofcultureontranslation6\o"CurrentDocument"CulturalElements7Socialelement7Thereligiousandideologicalelements8Geographicalandenvironmentalelements10\o"CurrentDocument"Conclusion11Bibliography12AcknowledgementsIntroductionTranslationhasplayedasignificantroleinthecommunicationamongnationssinceantiquity.Asisknown,therearequitealotoflanguagesintheworldandnobodycanknowallofthem.Thustranslatorsarerequiredtofunctionasintermediariesincross-nationalandcross-culturalexchanges.Translationisanart,abilingualart.Likepainting,translationenablesustoreproducethefinethoughtofsomebody,notincolors,butinwordsofadifferentlanguage.Itisindispensabletoattachimportancetoculturalelementsinliterarytranslation.JustasEugeneA.Nidasays,theroleoflanguagewithinacultureandtheinfluenceofthecultureonlanguagearesopervasivethatscarcelyanytextcanbeadequatelyunderstoodwithoutcarefulconsiderationDfitsculturalbackground.Thispaperissupposedtointerprethecloserelationamonglanguage,cultureindtranslationswellasexplainsomeaspectsofculturalelementsinliterarytranslation.LanguageandCultureThedefinitionoflanguageandcultureToillustratetherelationshipbetweenlanguageandcultureisworthwhistartbygivingthedefinitionsofthem.Manylinguistshaveagreedtoacceviewthatlanguageis,inessence,asystemofsymbolsdesignedforthepurofhumancommunication.AccordingtoJiXianlin,afamousChinesescholar,thereexistmorethan500definitioiaboutculturefromwhichwecanknowthatcultureisnoteasytodefine.Theclassicdefinitionofitisprovide19th-centur頁nglishanthropologistdwardBurnettTylor:cultureisthatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge,belief,art,morals,law,custom,aanyothercapabilitiandhabitsacquiredbymanasamemberofsociety.EugeneA.Nidadefinesitinasimplisticmannerasthetotalityofthebelpracticesofasociety.Inabroadsense,itusuallyreferstothetotalitycultureandspiritualculture.TherelationoflanguageandcultureLanguageandculturearecloselyrelatedinthattheyaremutuallynecessary:languagecanexistanddeveloponlyinasocialsettingwhileculturemaybemaintainedandconveyedonlythroughlanguage;inasense,languageispartofandmediumofculture.Particularstructuresoflanguagemayreflecttoacertaindegreethewaypeoplethink.Differentpeoplethinkdifferentlybecausetheirlanguageoffersthemdifferentwaysofexpressingtheworldaroundthem.Ontheotherhand,differencesinculturemaymeandifferencesinlanguage.Itisadvisabletobeawarethatwordshavemeaningsonlyintermsofcorrespondingculture.Whenacultureexperiencesradicalchangesthevocabularyalsoundergoesrelevantalterations.Tosomeextentcultureinfluenceswhatpeoplethinkandexpress.Moreover,itmakesconstantuseoflanguagetoperformitscrucialfunctionssuchasemotiveandaestheticones.ClaireKramsch,professorofGermanandForeignLanguageAcquisitionattheUniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley,thinksthatlanguageistheprincipalmeanswherebyweconductoursociallives;whenitisusedincontextofcommunicationitisboundupwithcultureinmultipleandcomplexways.Tohismind,languageexpresses,embodiesandsymbolizesculturalreality.Particularmeaningsareadoptedbyasocialgroupandimposedinturnonitsmembers.Forinstance,abouquetofrosesisacceptedasexpressingloveandchrysanthemumsarereservedforthedeadinmanycountries.Itwouldbecontroversialforindividualstoexpresstheirownparticularloveormourningwithoutresortingtothesymbolsthesocietygenerallyrecognizes.Fromthisperspective,itispropertosaythatsocialconventionsandnormsofsocialappropriatenessaretheproductofsocietiesoflanguageusers.Peoplewhoidentifythemselvesasmembersofasocialgroupacquirecommonwaysofviewingtheworldthroughtheirinteractionswithothermembersofthesamegroup,whichisreflectedinthewaytheyuselanguage-whattheychoosetosayornottosayandhowtheysayit.Ifindividualsofdifferentlanguagesdonotunderstandeachother,itisnotbecausetheirlanguagescannotbemutuallytranslated,butbecausetheydon’tsharethesamewayofviewingandinterpretingeventsandtheydon’tagreeonthemeaningbehindthewords.Cultureisheterogeneous,nothomogeneous.Membersofthesamesocialgrouphavedifferentbiographiesandlifeexperiencessothattheymaydifferinage,gender,ethnicity,opinions,etc.Inaddition,cultureisconstantlychangingaswecanseefromthedifficultymanycontemporaryreadershavewithancientpoetry.Languageisintimatelylinkednotonlytotheculturethatisandtheculturethatwas,butalsothecultureofimaginationthatgovernspeople’sdecisionsandactions.TranslationandCultureInEncyclopediaBritannica,translationisdefinedastheactorprocessofrenderingwhatisexpressedinonelanguageorsetofsymbolsbymeansofanotherlanguageorsetofsymbols.Involvingthetranspositionofthoughtsexpressedbyonesocialgroupintotheappropriateexpressionofanothergroup,itentailsaprocessofculturalde-coding,re-codinganden-coding.PeterNewmarkholdsthatfrequentlywherethereisculturalfocusthereisatranslationproblemduetothecultural"gap”or"distance”betweenthesourceandtargetlanguages.Theprocessoftransmittingculturalelementsisacomplicatedandvitaltask.Sinceculturalmeaningsareintricatelywovenintothetextureoflanguageitisimperativefortranslatorstopossesscross-culturalconsciousness.Caughtbetweentheneedtocapturethelocalcolorandtobeunderstoodbytheaudienceoutsidetheculturalsituation,translatorshavetobeawareoftwocultures.Oneofthemaingoalsoftranslatingistoinitiatethetarget-languageaudienceintothesensibilitiesofthesource-languageculture.TheimportanceofculturefortranslationChristianeNordexplainsinTranslatingasaPurposefulActivity:FunctionalistApproachesExplained(Shanghai,2001)thattranslatorsinterpretsource-culturephenomenoninthelightoftheirownculture-specificknowledgeofthatculture,dependingonwhetherthetranslationisfromorintothetranslator'snativelanguageandculture.Tohermind,inthecaseofatranslation,thetranslatorisarealreceiverofthesourcetextwhothenproceedstoinformanotheraudience,locatedinasituationundertarget-cultureconditions,abouttheofferofinformationmadebythesourcetext.Thetranslatoroffersthisnewaudienceatargettextwhosecompositionis,ofcourse,guidedbythetranslator’sassumptionsabouttheirneeds,expectation,previousknowledgeandsoon.Theseassumptionswillobviouslybedifferentfromthosemadebytheoriginalauthor,becausesource-textaddresseesandtarget-textaddresseesbelongtodifferentculturesandlanguagecommunities.Thismeansthetranslatorcannotofferthesameamountandkindofinformationasthesource-textproducer.Whatthetranslatordoesisofferanotherkindofinformationinanotherform.Fortrulysuccessfultranslating,biculturalismisevenmoreimportantthanbilingualism,sincewordshavemeaningsjustintermsofcorrespondingculture.Onlybybeinginthecountrieswhereaforeignlanguageisspokencanoneacquirethenecessarysensitivitytospecialmeaningsofwordsandphrases.Forexample,insomepartsofLatinAmericatheSpanishword“huahua”means“baby”，andinothers“bus”.Peoplebecomesoaccustomedtotheirownwaysofdoingthingsthattheycannotconceiveofotherpeopleaccomplishingthesamepurposesbyquitedifferentactions.Manypeopleknockondoorstomaketheirpresenceknown,butinsomepartsoftheworldpeoplemaycallthenamesoftheoccupantsortheymaycoughorclaptheirhands.2.2TheinfluenceofcultureontranslationHowever,asculturesareincreasinglybroughtintogreatercontactwithoneanother,multiculturalismshouldbepaidattention.Translatorsarenotjustdealingwithwordswritteninacertaintime,spaceandsocialsituation;rather,itisthe“culturahSpectofthetextthatshouldbetakenintoaccount.Multiculturalism,whichisapresent-dayphenomenon,playsarolehere,becauseithashadanimpactonalmostallpeoplesworldwideaswellasontheinternationalrelationsemergingfromthecurrentnewworldorder.Furthermore,asaresultofrapidlygrowingtechnology,nationsandtheircultureshavestartedamergingprocess.Barriersaredisappearinganddistinctionsarebeinglost.Thesharpoutlinesthatwereoncedistinctivenowfadeandbecomeblurred.CulturalElementsTranslatorsarefacedwithanalienculturethatrequiresitsmessagetobeconveyedinaproperway.Culturalwords,proverbsandidiomaticexpressions,whoseoriginanduseareuniquelyboundtothecultureconcerned,arehardtodealwith.Successfultranslationwilldependontheunderstandingofculturetheyareworkingwith.Cultureisacomplexcollectionofexperiencesthatarecorrelatedwithhistory,society,religion,tradition,custom,geographicalelementsandsoon.Peoplefromoneculturemayormaynotunderstandthosefromanother.Heretranslatorsareexpectedtobuildabridgebetweenthem.SocialelementsEverynationhasitsownhistoryanditinturnexertsinfluenceonitslanguageandculture.Inthecourseofhistory,languageandculturehavebeenexperiencingaprocessofabsorbingthefineanddiscardingtheobsolete,resultingintheenrichmentofthem.Somehistoriceventsandpersonsaswellastypicalcharactersandstoriesofepoch-makingclassicsaregrantedspecialmeaningsandaddedtothevocabularyoflanguageorthecontextofculture.TheBible,Shakespeare’splays,GreekandRomanlegendsareextremelyinfluentialinthewesternculture.InChina,Dou’e,createdbythenotedancientplaywrightGuanHanqing,isusuallyusedtorepresentthosewronged.Peopleofadifferentculturemaybeunabletounderstandandwonderwhosheis.Inthiscasetranslatorshavetoexplaininthenotes,makingitunderstandable.Asamatteroffact,duetothecontributionsoftranslatorssomehistoricalorculturaltermsofoneculturehavebeenborrowedbylanguageofadifferentculture.Forexample,Napoleon’sdefeatintheBattleofWaterlooisoftenemployedbymanyChinesepeopletosymbolizefailure;thestoryofRomeoandJulietdescribedbyShakespeareareknownaroundtheworldaslovetragedy.Socialelementsplayapartinthelanguageandcultureofanation.Chinesepeopleattachmuchimportancetofamilyrelationship.TherearequitealotofwordsfordifferentfamilymembersandrelativesinChinesewhileinEnglishthereexistmuchfewerones.AndintheIndianculturepeopleshowrespecttotheireldersbyaddressingtheminplural.Translatingnamesisworthcarefulconsiderationtoo.Anameisalinguisticculturalelementandanauthorusuallyusesitforitsassociativevalue.Ifasingleobjecfs,aperson’s,oraplace’snamealreadyhasanacceptedtranslationitshouldbeadheredto.ThereligiousandideologicalelementsBesides,theimportantroleofreligionandideologycannotbeignoredinthecultureofanation.Religionisaworldwidephenomenonthathasplayedapartinallhumanculture.Anadequateunderstandingofitmusttakeintoconsiderationitsdistinctivequalitiesandpatternsasaformofhumanexperienceaswellasthesimilaritiesanddifferencesinreligionsacrosshumancultures.Religiouselements,myths,legendsandthelikearemajorcomponentsofanyculture.Theypresentmajorproblemsintranslatingatext.Thissensitiveissuedemandstranslators9fullattention.Needlesstosay,mostwesternpeoplebelieveinChristianitywhileChinesepeoplearegreatlyinfluencedbyBuddhism,TaoismandConfuciusthought.Inaddition,custom,tradition,beliefsandfeelingsdifferfromculturetoculture.Thiscanbedemonstratedbygreetingsbetweenpeople.Englishpeopleusuallygreeteachotherbysaying“hello”，“goodmorning”，“howareyou”andsoforthwhileChinesepeopleusing“whereareyougoing”，andsoon.InaChristianmarriagetheexchangeofkissesispartoftheceremonybutinanIndiancontext“haveyouhaddinner”thiswouldbetotallyinappropriate.Whatisconsideredagoodomen,whetheranevent,ananimalorabird,maynotsymbolizethesamethinginanother.Chinesepeopletakedragonsforthegreatwhileinthewesttheystandfortheevil.DogsarefavoritepetsofAmericanpeopleandexpressionsconcernedaregenerallycomplimentary.Bycontrast,inChinadog-relatedexpressionsarealwaysderogatory.Thewhitecolormayrepresentpurityandblackevilinoneculture,butitmaynotbethesameinanother.Moreover,foodandclothingalsocountinthecultureofanation.Regardingfoodhabits,theveryflavorbehindafoodoritssignificanceisuntranslatabletoanaudiencewhohasneverheardofortastedit.Forinstance,certainfoodsarepreparedonlyduringcertainfestivalsandsuchfoodsremindpeopleoftheseasonorsomereligiousstory.Butthisisnotexperiencedbyanaudienceofadifferentculture.PeopleinthenorthernpartofChinaalwayseatJiaoziduringtheSpringFestival.Dresscodeorornamentsusedandthesymbolismbehindthemalsoposeaproblemforatranslator.InIndiasomeoftheornamentsaremeantforawomanwhosehusbandisaliveandawidowhascertainrestrictions.Thisideaofwidowhoodisnon-existentinothercountries.3.3GeographicalandenvironmentalelementsLastly,geographicalandenvironmentalelementsarealsopartofculture.Forinstance,snowisapartoftheEskimos’life.Thereareovertwentywordstoidentifydifferentkindsofsnowintheirlanguage.ChinaissituatedtothewestofthePacificOceanwhileEuropeislocatedtotheeastoftheAtlanticOceansoChinesepeopleuseeastwindwhereasEnglishpeopleemploywestwindtosymbolizethecomingofspring.ThegreatBritishpoetShelleywroteOdetotheWestWindtoexpresshisconfidenceinthefuture.“Ifwintercomes,canspringbefarbehind?”Inthepoemisnowwellknownworldwide.ConclusionTosumup,languagesdonotoperateinisolationbutwithinandaspartofcultures;culturesdifferfromeachotherinvariouswaysandthereisbynomeansaone-to-onerelationofexactlexicalequivalencebetweentheirlanguagesinmostcases.Translatorshavetotransmitspecialculturalqualitiesfromonelanguagetoanother