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文化与翻译--Part II 补充阅读--第一页
1. Cultural Differences in Translation between English and Chinese |
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| I．The importance of cultural differences in translation Translation is an activity of the exchange of two cultures. Without knowing the differences between two cultures it would be important to achieve a correct and efficient cultural exchange through the medium of translation ． So it is important to possess the knowledge about the two countries ， especially the differences between the two cultures ． In the Translation Conference at SISU in 1997 ， Dr ． Nida(one of the most notable linguists and translators abroad) ， in his paper ， pointed out ： “ … Language and culture are two symbolic systems ． Everything we say in language has some meanings ， designative or sociative, denotative or connotative ． Every language form we use has meanings ， carries meanings that are not in the same sense because it is associated with culture and culture is more extensive than language ． Language is only part of culture. ” That means translation is not a simple transformation from one language to another language ， but a process of cultural exchange ． English and Chinese are two kinds 0f totally different languages ． Both of them have their own long developing histories ． Each of them is closely connected with their own society ， religions ， history ， culture, etc ． We can find a great number of cultural differences between Chinese culture and English culture. These cultural differences result in the main difficulties in translation ． The translation between English and Chinese is ， therefore ， the most difficult ． And the more the cultural differences are ， the more difficult for the translator to fulfill his task ． In recent years ， the equivalent principle that the translator should produce the same effect on his own readers as the source language author produced on the original readers has also become one of the main topics of the Chinese translation theorists and accepted by some of them ． The most famous equivalent principle is Nida ' s Dynamic Equivalence ． In it there is one equiva1ence in culture ． In order to achieve the cultural equivalence and the same effect the translator should try his best to transfer the most possible cultural message from the original to the version of it and to do it effectively ． In this situation, the translator ' s qualified knowledge is not only the mastery of two kinds of language ， but also the cultural backgrounds of the two nations ． As a translator ， he plays two roles at the same time ． One is the reader of the original works and the other one is the writer 0f the version ． His transferring task is more difficult than a writer ' s because he has to read the original works and understand it like the native readers ， and then he completes the transferring process in his mind and reproduces it ． It ' s really difficult work ． Eugene Nida has referred that ， to a successful translator, it ' s more important for him to master two cultures than two kinds of languages ； he needs to be both bilingual and bicultural in order to “ read between the lines ．” A translator must be able to sense what is purposely left implicit in the source text and what call and should be made implicit in the translated text ． Ⅱ．The role of the cultural backgrounds in translation From long time ' s practice of translation between English and Chinese we know that mastering two kinds of cultural backgrounds ， especially the cultural differences ， can really help us fulfill our responsibility in translation. A ． Helping prevent literal meanings from being mistranslated Since language is part of culture ， it can have the connotative meanings ． We cannot use the so-called equivalent words or phrases in TL(target language)text which have a quite different cultural background in nature from those in SL(source language)text ． e ． g ． The phrase “ the Milky Way ” has been translated into Chinese as “银河 ” ． Superficially “ the Milky Way ” and “银河” are equivalent in translation ． Actually ． They have quite different cultural backgrounds. The phrase “ the Milky Way ” is associated with Geek mythology ． When Hera(the wife of Jesus)fed their baby—Hercules(son of Jesus)on milk ． Some milk dropped and the milk formed a way called the milky way ． But in Chinese literary works ，“银河” often makes us think of a love fairy tale ，“ the Cowboy and the Woman Weaver”. In our mind “银河” refers to a river which flows rapidly and a natural moat unable to get to ． It ' s obvious that the Milky Way in Chinese is a river and in English it ' s a milky white road ． It ' s difficult for us to find this cultural difference ． So let ' s compare one part of Milton ' s “ Paradise Lost”with the version by Zhu Weiji ： A broad and ample road ， whose dust is gold and pavement stars ， as stars to those appears seen in the galaxy--that Milky Way ， thick nightly ， as a circling Zone ，… Version ： 一条广大富丽的路，尘土是黄金，铺的是星星，象所见的天河中的繁星，就是你每夜所见的，腰带般的银河… ( 朱维基译《失乐园》第 278 页 ) In this example ， Milton drew an analogy between the road on which Adam went to visit God ， and the Milky Way that is filled with dust and paved with stones ． That ' s a common road ． But the translator translated it into “银河 ” ． It ' s quite irrelevant because if we say there is dust and stars in a river it will be ridiculous ． This misunderstanding is caused by the effect of our cultural background ． |
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