| affection: n. 情感 |
| hypocrisy: n. 伪善 |
| Christianity: n. 基督教 |
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文化与翻译--Part II 补充阅读--第六页
2. Cultural Factors Behind Semantic Differences |
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| People ' s ways of thinking is also a part of a culture ． The thinking habits of the source language users cannot be neglected in translating ． Native English speakers are usually good at logical thinking due to the formalization of their language ． Some words the m selves don ' t have implied meanings as those mentioned above ． But different thinking habit makes them have different logical meaning within certain context ． The English terms shake means “摇头”．“摇头” in Chinese always carries a negative meaning ． But in English it is not necessarily so ． “ You should not be discouraged ．” Mother said to us gently ． We all shook our heads. Literally in Chinese is ：妈妈轻轻对我们说 : “别泄气 ” . 我们都摇摇头 . According to Chinese people's thinking habit ，“摇摇头” here is a negative response to the mother's words ， which means “ But we ARE discouraged. ” Actually the original meaning of shook our head in the context means “ No, we don ' t (we are not discouraged) ” , which should have been presented by “ 我们都点点头 ” in Chinese. But understanding is only the first step of translating ． The second is to transform the ideas into target language ． Only when readers successfully understand the translation work can translating achieve its goal —— communicating and understanding ． Therefore, acceptability is another crucial factor for the success of translating ． Keeping in mind whether the translation work can be accepted and understood by future readers ， a translator needs to take cultural background of the target language into consideration ． Some special dealing techniques are required for words with strong cultural flavor ． For example ． in English there is an expression a Judas kiss ． It is an allusion from The Bible . Judas is the thirteenth disciple of Jesus ． He betrayed Jesus under the temptation of money ． He kissed Jesus Christ when Jesus was caught after their “ last supper ” ． People use the idiom a Judas kiss to refer to false affection and hypocrisy ． It is an expression with marked features of cultural background ， which makes it difficult to be understood by foreign people who know little about Christianity or The Bible ． Its implied meaning can not be successfully transmitted to Chinese people if only translated literally as “犹大的吻”． In China it is Buddhism that occupies the position of people ' s mind just as Christianity does to western people ． So far as most Chinese people are concerned, their contact with western culture is too little to provides them with what “ 犹大的吻 ” means on earth ． If it is translated literally ， then some explanation following the translation is necessary ． The explanation should provide the readers with such information as who Judas was, whom he kissed and some clues of the story ． Or it is also OK to translate it freely into the form of Chinese idioms which carry the similar meaning ， such as “口蜜腹剑”． But one flaw of this translation is that the flavor of the original is somewhat lost ． “买菜” is so familiar to Chinese people that it seldom occurs to them to think carefully about its concrete meaning ． But when doing translating work ， the term “买菜” is not so easy to deal with ．“菜 ” literally means vegetables ． But in fact ， to Chinese people “菜” here is a concept that refers not only to vegetables but also to meat ， fish ， eggs ， etc ．“买菜 ” actually means to buy a11 kinds of raw materials for Chinese style dishes ． Western people have quite different habit in eating and drinking ． They have no the concept of “买菜 "as Chinese people do ． What they usually do is to buy ready or half-ready food ， such as hamburger ， milk ， meat ， butter, etc ． Their dishes are also different from the Chinese ones ， usually fried steak ， sausage ， or something like that ． Western people's concept on dish is not like what Chinese people have ， and they have no corresponding term for the Chinese term “买菜”． So if “ 买菜” is translated literally as to buy vegetables ， most of its meaning is missing ． But neither can free translation ， such as to do some shopping for dinner ， express its meaning accurately ． Chinese people buy raw materials for meals almost everyday or even more than once a day ． And the habit of the western people is usually to go down to do shopping once a week and what they buy are not defined to food and drink ． The existence of cultural gap makes it necessary to give up some distinctive features of the original and to adapt it to the target culture ． In China ， everyone knows what “解放前 ” means ． For Chinese people ，“解放前” has a peculiar value, that is, before the founding of the People ' s Republic of China in 1949 ． But there is little possibility for foreigners who are not familiar with China's history to grasp the actual meaning of before liberation ． It can be just translated according to its meaning as before the founding of the PRC or before 1949 to make the translation acceptable to foreign readers ． |
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