Comp Stud Trans EN 5

5.1 Abstract: As a continuation of the dispute between literal translation and free translation, the conflict between domestication and foreignization has risen from the linguistic level to the level of literature, culture and thought. It further analyzes the cultural differences between the two languages in the translation process. Among various elements in languages, proverbs have been circulated in the Chinese and Western folk for a long time due to their pronounced national color and distinctive cultural connotations. In proverb translation, whether to preserve the exotic nature of proverbs or to favor the target language readers, disparate understandings reflect the complex historical origins of strong culture, weak culture, post-colonial culture, etc. Therefore, this paper reviews the historical materials of the domestication and foreignization debates between China and the West firstly. It then goes further to compare the differences about proverb translation in terms of ecological culture, language culture, religious culture, material culture and social culture based on Nida's classification of culture . By doing so, we try to summarize some different national consciousness behind it and get better understanding about the parallels and distinctions among them.

5.2 Key Words: domestication; foreignization; proverb translation; cultural classification

5.3 中文摘要: 作为直译和意译之争的延续，归化和异化之争由语言层面，上升到文学、文化、思想的高度，进一步剖析了翻译过程中两种语言背后的文化差异。谚语长期流传于中西方民间，带有浓厚的民族色彩和鲜明的文化内涵。在谚语翻译中，对于保留其本身异域性或是倾向于译入语读者问题的认识，体现着强势文化、弱势文化、后殖民主义文化等复杂的历史渊源。由此，本文基于中西方归化与异化论战史料，结合Nida的文化五类分理论，从生态文化、语言文化、宗教文化、物质文化和社会文化来比较中西方谚语翻译的差异，在源语文化和译语文化的不同处理上，揭示其背后所蕴含的不同民族意识。从而在比较中体味文化的差异。

5.4 关键词: 归化；异化；谚语翻译；文化分类

5.5 Introduction

In China or western countries, there is a long history about the argument between domestication and foreignization. By looking back to it, the earliest exploration of Chinese scholars could be traced back to the dispute between “Text” and “Quality” in the Buddhist Sutra translation of Han Dynasty. Meanwhile, scholars like Cicero in ancient Rome also proposed the word-for-word translation and sense-for-sense translation. Although the debate has been around for a long time, the two terms was not put forward by American translation theorist L. Venuti until 1995 after the publication of The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation. According to Venuti, domestication refers to “an ethnocentric reduction of the foreign text to target-language cultural values, bring the author back home”, while foreignization is an ethnodeviant pressure on those (cultural) values to register the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad.” (Venuti 1995:20) Generally speaking, the former emphasizes on the readers of target language in order to achieve communication that does not need great efforts, and the letter puts stress on the writer as well as the culture of source language to keep the origin text still even though it may cause some difficulties in understanding for readers. Different understandings about this two items will reflect diverse national consciousness underground cultures.

Proverbs, as an essential part of language, is defined as “a saying, usually short, that expresses a general truth about life, gives advice, make an observation, or present a teaching in a succinct and memorable way” in The Fact on File Dictionary of Proverbs (2007). When it comes to proverb translation, we should not only pay attention to it unique structure of sentence, but also notice the profound cultural foundation behind it as well as the education function in different proverbs. Choosing the two different approaches between domestication and foreignization to translate proverb, we also expresses our attitudes towards our culture and other nation’s culture. In fact, domestication has another implied meaning in the context of cultural injustice comparing to the other, that is “to tame an animal”. In the context of translation, it refers to the unequal status between “dominant culture” and “dominated culture”. (Venuti 1997:59) Then how to achieve the balance between the two approaches in proverb translation should be taken more seriously in order to reduce cultural asymmetry in China the the West.

Therefore, this paper sets to all kinds of proverbs in China and the West, classifies them into five categories based on Nida’s classification of culture and analyzes the different translation versions on account of domestication and foreiginization so as to reveal the different national awareness behind them.

  5.6 Theory Foundation
         5.6.1 Assimilation vs. Alienation and Domestication vs. Foreignization
         5.6.2 The Three Arguments in Chinese and Western Translation
         5.6.3 The Translation of Idiom
  5.7 Comparative Study from Five Cultural Aspects Based on Nida's Theory
         5.7.1 Idiom Translation about Ecology Culture
         5.7.2 Idiom Translation about Linguistic Culture
         5.7.3 Idiom Translation about religious Culture
         5.7.4 Idiom Translation about Material Culture
         5.7.5 Idiom Translation about Social Culture
  5.8 Conclusion
         5.8.1 Implements
         5.8.2 Limitation and Suggestions for Future Study
  5.9 Reference