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Foreignization and Domestication

Domestication and Foreignization in Translation from the Perspective of Functionalist Approaches 汤蓓 Tang Bei

Abstract

Translation is purposeful and trans-cultural communication. And domestication and foreignization are two strategies to cope with cultural differences in translation. This thesis attempts to explain the choice of demestication and foreignization in translation by case studies from the perspective of functionalist approaches.

Key words

domestication; foreignization;functionalist

摘要

翻译是一种有目的的跨文化交际，处理翻译的文化差异可以使用两种方法：归化和异化。本文从德国功能派翻译理论出发，利用该理论的主要观点，从翻译功能的角度分析译者在翻译过程中对翻译的两大策略——归化与异化的选择做出解释。

关键词

归化；异化；功能

Introduction

Translation, bridging the world of different cultures together, is a cross-cultural activity to the essence as well as an important medium to promote cultural communication. However, due to the differences between materials, customs, religions, thoughts, living environments and language systems, cultural gaps, independent of man’s will, exist objectively, which cause the main difficulties in cultural communication. Only by adopting proper translation strategies can translators reduce cultural conflicts and effectively achieve cultural communication. There are arguments in translation circles on which translation strategy is the better one to remove cultural confusion and promote cultural communication. Domestication and foreignization are two points at issue. Some are for domestication, and some are for foreignization.

In 1970s, the German functionalist approaches emerged. “Functionalist” means focusing on the function or functions of texts and translations. Functionalism is a broad term for various theories that approach translation in this way. Although Skopostheory has played a major role in the development of this trend. For the functionalist, translation is a purposeful activity, Nord had mentioned that a complex action designed to achieve a particular purpose.(Nord,1997) .The top-ranking rule for any translation is thus the “Skopos rule”, that is “the end justifies the means” (Nord 1997:29). Plus Holz-Manttari’s theory of tranlational action, Reiss’s text typology, the functionalism is intended to solve the eternal dilemma of many issues in translation studies, and the strategies of domestication and foreignization are without exception.

From the perspective of functionalist approaches, the choice of translation strategies depends on the functions of the texts, the Skopos. To achieve the prospective purposes, the translator has the freedom to choose the method he needs domestication or foreignization, or both. The functionalist approaches provided a perspective of translation studies.--Tang Bei (talk) 07:24, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

Chapter1: Brief Introduction of Domestication and Foreignization

Definition of Domestication and Foreignization

Domestication and foreignization, two different yet functionally related strategies, the two terms were formally put forward by Laurence Venuti, aiming at explaining two kinds of translation strategies in The Translator’s Invisibility in 1995. Venuti claimed that he traced the root of the terms back to Friedrich Schleiermacher’s famous notion about translation. Schleiermacher, a German theologian and philosopher, said in a lecture in 1813 on the different methods of translation, which stated that “There are only two. Either the translator leaves the author in peace, as much as possible, and moves the reader towards him; or he leaves the reader in peace, as much as possible, and moves the author towards him” (Venuti 1995:37).

According to Venuti, “domestication means bringing the foreign culture closely to the reader in the target culture, making the text recognizable and familiar. Foreignization, on the other hand, means taking the reader over to the foreign culture and making him or her see the differences” (Venuti 1995:148).

Mark Schuttleworth and Moria Cowie defined domestication and foreignization in the following way: “Domesticating translation is a term used by Venuti to describe the translation strategy in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for TL readers”, while “Foreignizing translation is a term used by Venuti to designate the type of translation in which a TT is produced which deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreignness of the original”. (Schaffner 1995:21)

To sum up above, the conclusion can be drawn like this: domestication refers to a reader-oriented translation which makes use of acceptable expressions in the target culture to make the target text easy to understand and suitable for the target text readers. Foreignization translation is a culture-oriented translation, which tries to retain the charm of the original text as much as possible in order to preserve the flavour of the original text.--Tang Bei (talk) 07:26, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

Supporter of Domestication and Foreignization

Eugene. A. Nida, a famous American translation theorist dedicated to the communicative function of translation, is widely considered to be the most important supporter for domestication. Nida understands the concepts of domestication and foreignization as “dynamic or functional equivalence” and “formal equivalence” or “formal correspondence”. Dynamic equivalence is a principle of translation. According to this principle, the translators translate the original text with the purpose of making the impact of target language wording on the target culture readers. (Nida&Taber, 1969:200). He argues that, “Under normal circumstances, translators always change the form of the original text ,but as long as the conversion rules change the consistency of transfer in the context of the source language to follow the rules and follow the anti-conversion target language, then the information is retained, and translation is faithful”. (Nida, 1964:118) Nida divides equivalence into two levels : the lowest level and the highest level of equivalence. The lowest level on the translation is of important and basic requirements; while the highest level on the translation is the ideal, and is therefore difficult to achieve. If the translator is unable to achieve the lowest level of equivalence, it is not enough. He also states that: “The purpose of dynamic equivalence in the translation is to achieve natural expression and to link the receptor and relevant behavior patterns within receptor’s cultural context.” (Nida, 1964:165) The natural expression indicates fluency is very important to this translation theory. Apparently, domestication in Nida’s works is involved in this fluency. Nida and other proponents of domestication have their own reasons: First, it is not only unrealistic, but also dangerous for translators to try to impose the linguistic and cultural norms of the source text on the target text. Language barriers and cultural barriers should be overcome in a good translation. Second, since translation is an important and necessary medium in both cross-linguistic and cross-cultural communication, the behavior patterns of the target culture should absorb some parts of the source culture in translation. Third, the language of the translated text should be natural, authentic and understandable, which is one of the requirements of translation. This requirement aims to avoid the misunderstanding caused by the target audience because of the language barriers. Domestication is considered to be the most important from the perspective of “natural expression” in Nida translations.

While Venuti, who is the famous representative of the foreignization school questioned Nida’s translation strategy, and proposed his own “resistant strategy” against the dominant fluency. He argues that “cultural differences will be contained in fluent translation strategy, which in fact is a practice of cultural imperialism” (Venuti, 1995:20). Venuti points out that foreignizing strategy of resistance is a pressure on those values to show the linguistic and cultural differences between the original and the translated text. By resisting the dominant cultural values, the role of resistant strategy in questioning, changing and destroying the native cultural norms is positive. With the destruction of the cultural norms of the target language, foreignization translation maintains foreignness and culture unique. Venuti sees domestication as a way for a strong culture to exert cultural hegemony over a weak culture. Considering the cultural inequality, domestication has more significance. Thus, “the foreignization translation in English can be a form which is based on the interests of democratic geopolitical relations. Venuti’s foreignizating strategy of resistance has a positive impact on studies about translation. He focuses translation not only on the language level, nor only view domestication and foreignization as translation strategies.Venuti and other proponents of foreignization argue reasons as following: First of all, “cultural authenticity” which embodies the characteristics of a foreign culture is one of the basic principles of foreignization translation. Only through the destruction of cultural norms of the target language, can foreignization maintain foreignness and cultural characteristics of foreign text. The supporters for foreignization hold that the target readers want to feel exoticism of the translated text. The translators should present a new cultural identity to the readers, because that is the purpose of the reader to read translated works. Thus readers may know the real outside world through translated works. The translators should have confidence in the readers’ intelligence and imagination to appreciate cultural differences. Third, the exchange and dissemination of culture should be one of the main purposes of the translation. The introduction of authentic exotic culture promotes cultural exchanges. Only when translation can transfer the source linguistic phenomenon and cultural phenomenon, can it be seen as faithful translation. Cultural communication can improve the development and prosperity of the local culture by means of foreignization translation. The local culture can be greatly enriched by absorbing nutritious heterogeneous culture. The culture of a nation will become energetic and influential through an open and receptive attitude towards foreignness.--Tang Bei (talk) 07:28, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

My Understanding on Domestication and Foreignization

As it is known that the argument about domestication and foreignization has a long period history. In these arguments, the translators always focus on one while ignores the another. In fact, domestication and foreignization have both its advantages and disadvantages. Actually, we should learn these two kinds of strategies from the perspective of a neutral standpoint. From above mentioned, it can be concluded that domestication can effectively avoid the misunderstanding of the original text by cultural differences. Translation is a kind of cultural exchange, and the main task of the translator is to establish effective communication between different cultures by eliminating cultural conflicts. Such communication may be effective in the source culture, but may not be effective in the target culture. The target audience can easily interpret the translated text in terms of their familiar cultural norms. If the information in the translation is within the understanding of the target audience, this translation can better convey the message. If not, the message may be misunderstood. While in foreignization, it can be concluded that the target readers want to experience a foreign culture. In other words, it is usually presumed that understanding foreign culture is one of the main purposes of the target readers in reading translated works. Generally speaking, foreignization is relatively smoother, simpler, clearer and more conventional, and can entertain ordinary readers and achieve a lively effect because the expression and style of such translation are familiar to the target readers. Foreignization is somewhat clumsy, unnatural and unfamiliar, and can be used to introduce foreign culture, history and philosophy, and let readers feel the exotic culture and customs. However, foreign cultural images and language features may cause information overload for readers. In a word, both domestication and foreignization have its advantages and disadvantages so it is hard to say which one is better. So we need a theoretical framework to guide us how to choose the translation strategy.--Tang Bei (talk) 07:29, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

Chapter2:Brief Introduction of Functionalist Approaches

Skopos Theory

Skopos theory was developed by Hans Vermeer in the late of 1970s. In the translation of non-literary text types such as scientific and academic papers, instructions for use, tourist guides, contracts etc, Vermeer came to realize that the contextual factors surrounding the translation cannot be ignored. These factors include the culture of the intended of the target text and of the client who has commissioned it, and, in particular, the function which the text is to perform in that culture for those readers. Later Vermeer and his followers continue to complete the theory and prove that it also can be applied to literary translation. Within the framework of Skopos theory, translation is not regarded as a process of transcoding, but as a specific form of human action. Like any other human action, translation has a purpose, and the word Skopos is used as a technical term for the purpose of a translation.

The general and primary rule of Skopos theory is the skopos rule. Vermeer assumes that as a general rule it must be the intended purpose of the text that determines translation methods and strategies. Translation is determined by its purpose. It all depends on the Skopos of translation whether to employ domesticating or foreignizing strategy. The second general rule is the coherence rule. This rule stipulates that the target text must be sufficiently coherent to allow the intended users to comprehend it, given their assumed background knowledge and situational circumstances. The third general rule is the fidelity rule. The rule concerns intertextual coherence between translation, the outcome of translational action, and source text. It stipulates only that some relationship must remain between the two once the overriding principle of the first two rules have been satisfied. Among the three rules, the skopos rule plays the most important role while the other two should subject to it. In the Skopos theory, another important term is “translation brief” which specifies what kind of translation is needed. In the ideal situation, translator can decide what strategy to use by the translation brief given by the initiator.

According to Skopos theory, a text is viewed as an “offer of information”(Reiss &Vermeer 1984: 139) made by a producer to a recipient. Translation is a secondary offer of information, imitating a primary offer of information. Translation is the production of a functionally appropriate target text based on an existing source text, and the relationship between the two texts is specified according to the Skopos of the translation. It is up to the translator to decide what role a source text is to play in the translation action. The decisive factor is the specified Skopos. As a result, the status of the source text is much lower in Skopos theory than in equivalence-based theories.--Tang Bei (talk) 07:34, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

Theory of Translational Action

The theory of translational action was developed by Holz-Manttari in1980s. The theory is based on the principles of action theory put forward by Wright and Rehbein and is designed to cover all forms of intercultural transfer. In her model, translational action is “the process of producing a message transmitter of a certain kind, designed to be employed in superordinate action systems in order to coordinate actional and communicative cooperation” or “a complex action designed to achieve a particular purpose” (Nord, 1997).The primary purpose of translational action is to enable cooperative, functionally adequate communication to take place across cultural barriers. Holz-Manttan pays special attention to the actional aspects of the translation process and she analyzes the roles of the participants (such as initiator,translator, user, message receiver) and the situational conditions (time, place, medium) in which their activities take place. In her model, the source text is viewed as a mere tool for the realization of communicative functions. It is a text to which a translation initiator, a client, has assigned the function of serving as source material for translational action. It is totally subordinate to its purpose and is afforded no intrinsic value, thus it may undergo radical modification in the interest of the targeted reader.--Tang Bei (talk) 07:36, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

Text Typology

The text typology of functionalist approaches was developed by Reiss in the book cooperating with Vermeer in 1984. The theory is based on the “origin model” of language functions proposed by the German psychologist Karl Buhler in 1934. The three functions of his theory refer to the representation of objects and phenomena, the attitude of the text producer towards such phenomena, and the appeal to the text receiver that correspond broadly to Jackobson’s Reprecentational, Expressive and Conative functions. It is on this basis that Reiss distinguishes among the informative text, the expressive text and the operative text, each calling for particular sets of skills and strategies on the part of the translator. Reiss distinguishes between two forms of text categorization, which are located on different levels of abstraction: on one hand, text types are classified according to the dominant communicative function (basically informative, expressive or operative mentioned above); on the other hand, text genres or varieties are classified according to linguistic characteristics or conventions (like those of reference books, lectures, satires or advertisements). (Nord, 1997)--Tang Bei (talk) 07:37, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

Chapter3:The Choice of Domestication and Foreignization in Translation from the Perspective of Functionalist Approaches

From the Perspective of Skopoos Theory

The Skopos theory gets its name from the Greek word “Skopos” which means “purpose”. This approach to translation stresses the purpose of the translation, which determines the translation strategies to be adopted. A translatum i.e. the translated text is determined by its Skopos. Knowing why a text is to be translated and what its function is going to be in the target culture is important in this approach. Like the summary Nord made in 1997, Skopos theory seemed to be exactly the translational model that was needed since it was pragmatic, culture-oriented, consistent, practical, normative, comprehensive and expert. The main point of this functional approach is the following: it is not the source text as such, or its effects on the source-text recipient, or the function assigned to it by the author, that determines the translation process, as is postulated by equivalence-based translation theories, but the prospective function or Skopos of the target-text as determined by the initiator’s, i.e. client’s, needs. Consequently, the Skopos is largely constrained by the target text user and his situation and cultural background.

There are some examples showing the function of Skopos rule. Translators’ choices of translation strategies are often decided by their purposes. Both Yang Xianyi and David Hawkes translated Hongloumeng, one of the four Chinese classical masterpieces. However, the two translators adopted totally different strategies. Yang tends to employ foreignizing translation while Hawkes domesticating translation. The translation of the title of Hongloumeng shows the difference. Yang translated the title into “A Dream of Red Mansions” while Hawkes chosen another name of the masterpiece, “The Story of the Stone”. For Hawkes, the Chinese traditional, noble red color won’t raise the same imagination in the westerners. Contrarily, it will be connected with blood, violence and so on. Therefore, he avoided translating the character literally and resorted to another English word “green” that has more pleasant meaning in English language. As a result, “怡红院” was translated as “the house of green delights” and “怡红公子”as “green boy” . Another domesticating example is the translation of “鸳鸯” , the mandarin duck which is the symbol of true love. He used “lovebird” to replaced the specific Chinese word. In order to make the translated text easier to understand, and “谋事在人，成事在天”were rendered as “Man proposes, God disposes”. The Chinese Buddhist “heaven” becomes the western Christian “God”. Hawkes’ purpose is to entertain his English readers and he adopted those easy-understood words and phrases in English culture in spite of sacrificing the original cultural connotation. Contrarily, Yang’s purpose is to introduce the luxuriant Chinese culture to the western world. That’s why so many words and phrases with culture-specification were maintained and translated literally. His expected readers are those who are willing to know Chinese culture and to absorb new expressions. Consequently he adopted a rather foreignizing method, attempting to maintain the exotic cultural factors of source text. Examples were seen as following: 1.俗语说的好：“一龙九种，种种个别。”未免人多了就有鱼龙混杂，下流人物在内。(第九回) “A dragon begets nice offspring, each one different.” And inevitably among so many boys there low types too, snakes mixed up with dragons.(Yang 202) “There are nice kinds of dragon and no two kinds are alike”. Where many are gathered together the wheat is sure to contain a certain amount of chaff; and this school was no exception in numbering some very ill-bred persons among its pupils.(Hawkes 206) 2.真是天有不测风云，人有旦夕祸福。(第十一回) “Truly, ‘Storms gather without warning in nature, and nature, and bad luck befalls men overnight’”.(Yang 291) “I know ‘the weather and human life are both unpredictable’.”(Hawkes 294) 3.俗话说得好：“杀人不过头点地。”(第十二回) Remeber the proverb “A murder can only lose his head.”(Yang 318) “You know what the proverb says: He who checks a moment’s rage, shall calm and carefree end his days.”(Hawkes 322)

It is can concluded that cultural gaps between the source language and the target language is always a hard nut for a translator to crack. Every language has its own specific cultural connotation, and sometimes the contained meanings are very difficult to convey by another language in the process of translation. The famous Chinese anesthetist, translator Zhu Guangqian pointed out: “Because of the different cultural situation and living status, words refer to the same thing sometimes can bring about different imagination and esthetics. For instance, the English words fire, sea, Roland, castle, sport, shepherd, nightingale, race will different psychological reaction between the English and the Chinese people. For English people, have abundant cultural factors. On the other hand, the Chinese characters and words like风，月，江，湖，梅，菊，燕，碑，笛，僧，隐逸，礼，and阴阳can evoke special association of ideas among Chinese people which may not be comprehended easily by the English people.”(Zhu Guangqian 1984:335) Consequently, the translating strategies translators choose must be determined by the Skopos of translation. Based on this Skopos, translators can select either foreignization, oriented towards the SL culture or domestication, oriented towards the TL culture, or both.--Tang Bei (talk) 07:39, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

From the Perspective of Translational Action

Translational action views translation as purpose-driven, outcome-oriented human interaction and it focuses on the process of translation as message-transmitter compounds involving intercultural transfer. Holz-Manttari says that translation is not only about translating words, sentences or texts but is in every case about guiding the intended co-operation over cultural barriers enabling functionally oriented communication. For her, translating is a form translational, intentional and interpersonal interaction.

As a form of communicative action, translating is a form of translational interaction. Translational interaction takes place in situations that are limited in time and space. This means every situation has historical and cultural dimensions that condition the agents’ behavior, their knowledge and expectations of each other, their appraisal of the situation, and the standpoint from which they look at each other and at the world. As a result, translators, who enable communication to take place between members of different culture communities, are conditioned by these factors too. Their decision of translating strategy is without exception. In addition, translation is an intentional interaction. For translators, there is a choice to act one war or another. In Manttari’s model inter-linguistic translation is seen as a communicative process with a series of roles and players. The roles and players are: The initiator, the person, group or institution that starts off the translation process and determines its course by defining the purpose for which the target text is needed. (Nord,1997:20 )The commissioner, is the person who asks the translator to produce a target text for a particular purpose and addressee. Sometimes he may influence the very production of the target text by demanding a particular text format or terminology.The ST producer, the person who writes the ST;the TT producer, who is the translator;the TT user, who is the person who uses the TT; the TT receiver, who is the final recipient of the TT. These roles and players are interconnected through a complex network of mutual relation. Among these roles, the initiator and the translator are the most significant since it is the initiator who gives out the translation brief and thus determines translator's translation strategy. Sometimes the roles and players can be overlapped, one person playing the roles of several agents at the same time. For example, translator can be the initiator and TT producer at the same time if he is the person who wants to translate the source text into target culture, Yan Fu and Lin Shu are of this kind. In this situation, the translator can determine the translation strategy subjectively according to the purpose he wants to attain. They initiated the translation action themselves and had their prospective TT receivers in mind. Thus the intentions of the translators, the initiators and the aesthetical expectation of TT receivers together determined the translators to choose the strategy of domestication. Lin Yutang, a famous Chinese writer and translator, candidate of Nobel Prize for literature, once asked his friend Yu Dafu to translate his masterpiece A Moment in Peking that had achieved a great success in the English world. He sent him a detail explanation of the idioms and quotations from Chinese culture in detail. Unfortunately, the deal turned out to be unaccomplished. (Later,some translators translated it into Chinese. However, Lin felt unsatisfied with all these translated versions.) In this case, Lin is the source text producer and the initiator, he gave out the translation brief and largely determined the translating strategy. Lin’s other works, such as The Importance of Living, My Country and My People, are originally written in English and later translated into Chinese. Compared the English and the Chinese versions, we can find great differences, especially those concerning Chinese specific cultural phenomena. Then what led to these differences? What are the purposes of the initiator? The reasons probably lie in this: creating a work that can satisfy both English and Chinese readers. Since the English readers are not familiar with the Chinese culture, Lin described it in great details; while in its Chinese version, these details were omitted. In Lin’s translation of Chinese classics, such as Laozi and Zhuangzi’s Taoism, he also adopted the same routine and won a large number of readers. In another translated work The Six Chapters of a Floating Life《浮生六记》, he adopted both domesticating and foreignizing strategies. The examples are in the following: 余笑曰：“卿非解人，摸索在有意无意间耳，拥而狂探，田舍郎之所为也。” Beauty of caressing lies in doing naturally and half unconsciously. Only a country bumpkin will hug and caress a woman roughly. (Quoted in Meng Jiangang, 2002) 惠来以番饼二圆授余，即以赠曹。曹力却，受一圆而去。 Hueilai gave me two Mexican dollars which 1 gave to Ts’ao, but Ts’ao would not take them, only after my insistence did he receive one dollar before going away.(Quoted in Meng Jiangang, 2002)

In the two examples quoted above, Lin employed domesticating translation. The Chinese classics was translated into modern English and the cultural images were replaced, such as “田舍郎，番饼二圆”. The translation became fluent and transparent as if the translator was invisible. However, in order to introduce the profound Chinese culture, he also adopted foreignizing translation in the same text. The example is in the following: 其形削肩长颈，瘦不漏骨，眉弯目秀，顾盼神飞，惟两齿微露，似非佳相。 Of a slender figure, she had drooping shoulders and a rather long neck, slim but not to the point of being skinny. Her eyebrows were arched and in her eyes there was a look of quick intelligence and soft refinement. The only defect was that her two font teeth slightly inclined forward, which was not a mark of good woman.(Quoted in Meng Jiangang, 2002)

The lines described the appearance of a Chinese woman. However, the traditional Chinese beauty may not be beautiful in western culture; and it is difficult for the westerners to understand that “两齿微露” is a premonition of disaster. Lin made no explanation here since he believed western reader would interpret the cultural connotation according to the context. There is no doubt that he succeeds.The secret of his success is to focus on the function of the target text. Since translation is an intercultural action, different cultures can communicate smoothly by this means. In Lin’s case, he played the roles of source text producer, initiator and translator. Initiators can be a group or an institution. In order to achieve some kind of political purpose, government sometimes initiates a series of translation action and determines the translating strategies for translators. In addition, in order to get more benefit, publisher, the initiator, sometimes will set a translation brief for translators, and asks them to act accordingly. These phenomena are not uncommon in modern society. For example, many foreign romances are translated into Chinese in recent years. Some are domesticating while others are foreignizing. The reasons behind them probably lie in the publishers’ intention to satisfy their perspective readers. Translatorial action produces a TT that is functionally communicative and functionally suitable in the target culture. It places translation in its socio-cultural context, which includes the interplay between the translator and the institution that initiated it and stresses functionality.

The Application of Domestication and Foreignization in Howard Goldblatt’s Translation of Mo Yan’s Works 欧蓉 Ou Rong

  摘要：一直以来，中国文学的独特风格在世界文学中备受瞩目，在流向海外的过程中，翻译成为了跨文化沟通的桥梁与传播的媒介。莫言是中国著名代表作家，2012年获得诺贝尔文学奖，外国对其作品的翻译研究从未断过。葛浩文是美国著名中国当代文学翻译家，莫言所有作品的英译本都来自于他。本文旨在通过分析葛浩文在翻译莫言作品过程中体现的归化和异化，从而指出其过人之处，从而思考中国文学作品被英译时应注意的事项，加强与提高不同文化之间交流的理解度与流畅度。  

关键词：归化；异化；葛浩文；莫言的作品  

Abstract: For a long time, owing to the unique style, Chinese literature has attracted much attention among world literature. In the process of flowing overseas, translation has become a bridge of cross-cultural communication and a medium of transmission. Mo Yan is a well-known representative Chinese writer, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012. The study on his works about translation abroad has never stopped. Howard Goldblatt is a famous American  translator specializing in contemporary Chinese literature, and all English versions of Mo Yan's works are from him. Through analyzing the domestication and foreignization that reflects in the translated version of Mo Yan's works by Howard Goldblatt, the thesis aims to point out the extraordinary of this application and consider the matters that should be paid attention to when translating Chinese literary works into English to strengthen the understanding and improve the fluency of the exchange between different cultures.  

Key words: Domestication; Foreignization; Howard Goldblatt; Mo Yan’s works  

1.Introduction

2. Domestication and Foreignization

2.1. The Definition of Domestication

2.2 The Definition of Foreignization

3. Howard Goldblatt’s Translation Strategies on Chinese Literary Works

4. The Embodiment of Domestication and Foreignization in Mo Yan’s works

5. The Enlightenment under the Application for Translation

6.Conclusion

Bibliography--Ou Rong (talk) 15:39, 6 November 2020 (UTC)Ou Rong

Domestication and Foreignization in the Course of Translation Under the Direction of Skopos TheorY 谭星越 Tan Xingyue

谭星越 Tan Xingyue,202020080642.

Abstract

Domestication and foreignization were put forward by Lawrence Venuti, a famous translation theorist in America, in his book The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation in 1995. Domesticating translation places emphasis on the target culture, which makes the original text more easily understood by the target-language readers, while foreignizing translation aims to produce the foreignness and cultural characteristics in the source text as much as possible. Skopos theory was proposed by Reiss and Vermeer in the 1970s, which held that the purpose of translation determines the translation strategy. This thesis takes Skopos Theory as the basis of theoretical research, and analyzes the application and practice of domestication and foreignization in the course of translation.

Key Words

Skopos Theory, domestication, foreignization

题目

目的论视角下归化和异化在翻译过程中的应用

摘要

归化和异化这对翻译术语是由美国著名翻译理论学家劳伦斯韦努蒂（Lawrence Venuti）于1995年在《译者的隐身》中提出来的。归化翻译是一种倾向于译入语文化的翻译方法，使原文文本更加容易被目的语读者所接受。异化翻译则旨在尽可能地传递原文文本的异质性和文化特色。翻译目的论由赖斯和弗米尔于20世纪70年代提出，该理论认为翻译目的决定翻译策略。本文将以目的论作为理论研究的依据，分析归化和异化在翻译过程中的应用和实践。

关键词

目的论，归化，异化

Introduction

In the context of economic globalization, cultural exchanges are becoming increasingly frequent among countries. Translation, turning an original or “source” text into a text in another language, is an effective way of cultural communication. As a bridge communicating between cultures, translation plays an implacable role in the interaction. Since translation requires constant language choosing according to different context of culture, different translation theories have been proposed. Traditional translation theories focused on the equivalence of meaning and form of language, and literal translation and free translation were the main approaches. In the 1990s, there was a “cultural turn” in translation. The study of translation was no longer limited to the linguistic level, which has greatly widened the theoretical scope of translation. Lawrence Venuti, an American translation theorist, proposed two translation strategies: Domestication and foreignization. In contemporary translation studies, Skopos Theory proposed by Vermeer is the landmark of functional approaches to translation, which is relatively accepted by the public. Vermeer (1987:26) held that translation is a kind of transformation behavior based on the original text and translation behavior is an intentional and purposeful behavior in a specific context. The thesis is comprised of five sections. The first part presents an introduction of this thesis. The second part discusses the origination and formulation of Skopos Theory and three rules of Skopos Theory, including skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule. The third part gives a brief interpretation of the two translation methods: domestication and foreignization. The fourth part analyzes the application and practice of the two methods in the course of translation under the direction of Skopos Theory. The last part draws a conclusion for this thesis.

Chapter 1 Skopos Theory

According to Gentlzer(1993:18), before the 1960s, translation was regarded as a kind of code-switching, reorganization and meaning equivalence of two languages. Under these circumstances, translation was listed as a branch of linguistics. For a long time, linguists devoted themselves to studying the translation methods, principles and standards in the linguistic range of research, without concerning the factors of external language, such as the author and reader, or the speaker and hearer. With going deep into the research work, a new theory based on the premise that linguistics is only a tool of translation study but not the object has been proposed. Proposers considered translation as a kind of communicative activity between human beings, in this case, pragmatic level should be given priority to translation study, and background knowledge such as the conventions, norms and habits of different cultures should not be ignored. This chapter will focus on the introduction to this new theory of translation study—Skopos Theory.

1.1 Origination and formulation of Skopos Theory

The formulation and development of Skopos Theory has undergone four stages. The representative of the first stage was Katharina Reiss, who was one of the founders of Functional Approaches to translation. The early theories of Katharina Reiss were based on the concept of equivalence. Reiss(1984:21) advocated that the equivalence between translation had to shift its focus from word and sentence level to textual level and that translators should take translation strategies, language functions, discourse types and text genres into account in the process of translation. Based on the three characteristics of linguistic functions, Reiss divided texts into three types: informative type, expressive type and operative type. These three different types of texts respectively served the communication between content, the communication between artistically organized content and the communication between content with a persuasive character, as a result, translation strategies for different text types were proposed. But in later studies, she realized that equivalence between translation was an impossible-to-be-realized, therefore, Reiss revised her theory of Text Typology, and the analysis of text types was no longer the main reference of translation strategies. She held that the translator should give priority to the functional characteristics of the target text rather than the principle of equivalence, and in the whole process of translation, the communicative functions that the target language was expected to achieve should be of great significance in the cultural environment of the target language. Thus it can be seen that Reiss’s theory laid the foundation for the formulation of Skopos Theory of translation.

In the second stage, Vermeer (1987:27) broke through the limitations of equivalence theory, and took textual purpose as the primary criterion for the translation process. He developed functional skopos theory and made outstanding contributions to functionalist translation theory. He tried to build a bridge between practice and theory, considering that translation was a transformation of language, and also a kind of human behavior. As we all know, any action has its goal or purpose, and leads to a result, a new situation or event. This was why Vermeer named his theory as “Skopos Theory”, which was proposed in the 1970s in German. “Skopos” was a word in Greek, which meant “aim”, “purpose”, “intention” or “function”. Generally, "Skopos" referred to the communicative purpose of the translation. According to Vermeer’s Theory, the text’s purpose must remain a high priority, which will directly affect all aspects of the translation process. According to Vermeer, there were three purposes of translation: the translator's purpose, the purpose of dissemination of the translation, and the specific purpose of the special translation strategy. It was the initiator of the translation act that determined the purpose of the translation. But the translator did not passively accept everything. He can also act as the initiator, directly participating in determining the purpose of the translation (Zhang Jinlan, 2004:35). Moreover, Skopos Theory claimed that the intended purpose of the translation determined the methods and strategies of translation and that three rules of translation should be observed: skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule.

Translation Action based on the communication theory and action theory was elaborated by Justa Holtz Manttari in the third stage of the development of Skopos Theory, which has expanded the scope of functional translation theory. She regarded translation as a person-to-person, purpose-driven and result-oriented interaction activity. Manttari conducted a detailed analysis of the participants and behavior in the translation processes, mainly including the initiator / client, the commissioner, the ST producer, the TT producer, the TT user and the TT receiver. (Manttarri,1984: 398)Translation was the transfer of complex information including texts, pictures, sounds and languages between different cultures. The purpose of translation action was to overcome cultural and language barriers, so as to achieve cultural communication. She insisted that adaptations, compilations, edits and information inquiries were of essentiality in the process of translation activities, and she even included editing, consulting, and other activities related to foreign cultures into the translation action. The translator produced "message transmitter" that met the specific needs of the recipient's cultural background according to the client's requirements. As long as the target text can be produced to meet the client's needs, the task of translation was complete. In other words, the translation needed not be equivalent to the original, which contrived the theory of Translation Action to be an extreme functional theory.

In the fourth stage, Christian Nord (2001：12)proposed two kinds of translation strategies, in response to the fact that Manttari completely ignored the original text: (1)Documentary translation: it referred to record the information contained in the original text in the communication of target language; it emphasized the direct production of the original text regardless of the context of the target.(2) Instrumental translation: it referred to the translation that achieved different functions for the certain purposes in the target language culture. Nord's contribution to translation studies was many-sided, and she proposed the theory of Function plus Loyalty. Function referred to the factors that made the translation work in a predetermined way in the target language environment, while loyalty referred to the interpersonal relationship among the translator, the original author, the recipient of the translation, and the initiator of the translation. In Nord’s view, loyalty was a kind of concept that translators should be loyal to both the original text and the target of the translation, and that was different from the concept of fidelity or faithfulness which only focused on the relationship between the original and the translation.

It can be seen from the above that the landmark theories of the German functionalist approach were: Katharina Reiss’ Text Typology, Hans Josef Vermeer’ Skopos Theory, Justa Holtz Manttari’ Theory of Translation Action and Nord's Function plus Loyalty.

1.2 Three rules of the Skopos Theory

The Skopos Theory proposed by Vermeer is the most important theory of functional approaches to translation. There were three ways to understand this word "skopos": the purpose of the translator; the communicative purpose of the text; the purpose to be achieved by using a special translation strategies. Usually, "skopos" referred to the communicative purpose of the text. (Zhang Jinlan, 2004:36). First, under an ideal situation, the initiator of the translation will give details of the elements in the process of translation, such as the recipient of the translation, the environment in which the translation was used, and the functions that the translation should achieve. According to Skopos Theory, the primary rule followed by all translators was the “skopos rule”: The translation purpose determined the translation methods and strategies. Second, coherence rule pointed that the translation must meet the criteria of intra-textual coherence and that translated text must be sufficiently coherent to allow the intended addressees to comprehend it, given that their assumed background knowledge and situation circumstances. Third, fidelity rule meant that the translated text should bear some relationship with the corresponding source text, and there should be intra-textual coherence between the original text and the translation. Intra-textual coherence was similar to what was commonly referred to as fidelity to the original, and the degree and form of fidelity were determined by the purpose of the translation and the translator's understanding of the original.

Chapter 2 Domestication and Foreignization

As we all know, translation has shifted its emphasis from language conversion to cultural transformation. Translation is no longer only regarded as the transformation of language symbols, but a mode of cultural transformation. Since translation is closely related to culture, a problem naturally arises: how to deal with the cultural factors in the text, especially the text with great cultural differences between the source language and the target language. It is on the issue of how to deal with cultural differences in translation that there exist disagreements in the field of translation. Generally speaking, it can be divided into two opposite opinions, namely, domestication and foreignization.

2.1 Domestication

Domestication is an important term in cultural criticism, cultural translation theory and cultural exchange. Due to the differences in geographical environment and social history, the differences between eastern and western cultures exist objectively. In other words, not every person in the west can understand the cultural symbols of the east. When dealing with various oriental materials, the oriental scholars in the west can only make some transformation based on some methods such as domestication or foreignization.

Lawrence Venuti, a famous American translator, was the first person to introduce the term “domestication” in his book The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation. He proposed that domestication is an approach that the translator "leaves the reader in peace, as much as possible, and moves the author towards him" and that domesticating translation should abide by the current mainstream values of the target language and culture, openly adopt conservative assimilation methods to the translation of the original text, and cater to local canon, publishing trend and political needs. (Venuti, 2001:19)

Schuttleworth and Cowie in their book Dictionary of Translation Studies defined “domestication” as “a term used to describe the translation strategy in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for TL readers. . .it is identified with a policy common in dominant cultures which are aggressively monolingual, unreceptive to the foreign, and which he describes as being accustomed to fluent translations that invisibly inscribe foreign text with [target language] values and provide readers with narcissistic experience of recognizing their own culture in a cultural other”.(Schuttleworth & Cowie, 2004:59)

Douglass Robinson, a Canadian translator who discussed domestication and foreignization from the perspective of postcolonial theory, defined domestication as a term used by translators who were strident advocates of foreignizing translation to describe the worst translation. This kind of translation adopts the way of domesticating the original text into the target culture and language values. Traditionally, this concept is often referred to as “free translation”. (Robinson, 1997:114)

Domesticating translation, which emerged in the 17th century when the translation activities mainly focused on the introduction of religious classics, classical literary works and the dissemination of Enlightenment thoughts, has been playing a dominant role in British for a long time. There were lots of scholars who firmly advocated the domesticating translation. For example, one of the representatives Eugene Nida has put forward the famous dynamic equivalence and the theory of reader’s response. He proposed that translation should achieve dynamic equivalence, not only in the form of expression, but also in accordance with the norms of the target language. He believed that the cultural category of the target readers should be taken into consideration in terms of expression, choice of words and sentences, and writing style, which should conform to the reading habits and reading psychology of the target readers (Nida, 2003:159). Meanwhile, in the United States, domesticating translation occupied the dominant position in the field of translation in a very long period of time. At that time, the critics in the United States strongly criticized those poems that tried to faithfully convey the exotic flavor of the original text, and publishers also strongly rejected this kind of foreignizing translation, which made it hard to get the chance of publication. They thought that only domesticating translation is the authentic translation, and in this way the translation can be read as if it is created in the target language. The translators completely vanish in the kind of fluent, domesticating translation that has erased every trace of exoticism.

In some sense, domestication aims to transform the cultural identity of “the other” into the identity of “I”, so that the thoughts, values and behaviors of “the other” conform to “my” standards. As a result, cultural standardization eliminates and replaces cultural differences, leading to the emergence of cultural supremacy or ethnocentrism which refer to the tendency of all countries and nationalities to regard their own way of life, beliefs, values and codes of conduct as superior to others. Homi Bhabha ever claimed that with the global expansionism of the strong culture of Europe and America, non-western countries have been placed in a narrow narrative of progress and development and their civilization described as decadent and autocratic (An Feng, 2004: 15). Under this circumstance, Vetinu proposed the foreignizing translation in order to achieve the deconstruction of ethnocentrism.

2.2 Foreignization

Based on a thorough study of the history of translation in the West from the 17th century to the present, Venuti (2001:23) found that the adoption of domesticating translation strategies was the dominant practice in the history of western translation. Such a translation tradition implies the fact that translators take the western ideology as the standard and foreign texts are shaped by the values of western nationalism and imperialism. Venuti has challenged this kind of translation tradition and firmly advocated foreignizing translation.

Venuti studied translation from the perspective of society and culture. His theory was directly derived from the German tradition of emphasizing foreignization, the influence of French thinker Derrida and the school of cultural studies. In the mid-18th century, German translators and writers have put other languages in the same position as German, and respect for foreign languages has become a guiding principle in the course of translation, from which people learn to adjust themselves to the heterogeneous elements in foreign texts. In the 19th and 20th century, attention to the foreignness of the original text has become an undercurrent in the study of German translation theory. During this period, the theorists were cautious and avoided the words of "literal translation" and "free translation". They no longer focus on the unit of translation, but turn to the issue of the interpretation of cross-cultural text. For example, German scholar Schleiermacher ever stated:

"An inner necessity, in which a peculiar calling of our people [the Germans] express itself clearly enough, has driven us to translating en masse; we cannot go back and we must go on. Just as our soil itself has no doubt become richer and richer fertile and our climate milder and more pleasant only after much transplantations of foreign flora, just so we sense that our language, because we exercise it less owing to our Nordic sluggishness, can thrive in all its freshness and completely develop its own power only through the most many-sided contacts with what is foreign."(Schleiermacher, 2004:62)

The German tradition of emphasizing “foreignness” (especially Schleiermacher's argument) provided the theorical basis and direction for Venuti's thoughts, then Derrida's "Deconstruction" philosophy provided a “strategy” for Venuti's translation theory. Derrida challenged all the traditional translation theories and practices with the concept of “differance” in his writing activity and deconstruction strategy. “Differance” is the source of uncertainty and difference. And the meaning of text is always be influenced by the temporization and spacing of the difference; therefore, meaning cannot be completely determined and the absolute translation of original text is always impossible (Graham, 1986:146). Deconstructive translation theory deconstructs the authority of the original text, and puts the translation on an equal and complementary position with the original, thus giving the translator more autonomy. Meanwhile, deconstructive translation theory emphasizes “difference”, and aims to achieve a deeper and more accurate understanding of the differences between languages through translation.

On the basis of previous scholars' theories, combined with American modernist translation theory, Venuti developed the connotation of foreignizing translation at least from the following aspects(Zhang Jinghua，2009:68): (1) The "heterogeneity" of modernist foreignization comes not only from foreign languages and cultures, but also from those excluded and marginalized discourses in local discourses. (2) The modernist text in foreignizing translation develops the idea of "translation autonomy" and enriches the connotation of foreignization translation in ethical sense, which also conforms to the Frankfurt School's thought of "artistic autonomy" in translation literature.(3) The foreignization of modernism advocates to promote the renewal of the target-language system with the help of marginal languages such as new words and ancient words. (4) In the discourse strategy, foreignizing translation endows translators with more freedom, highlights the subjectivity of the translator, and no longer relies solely on the literal translation.

Chapter 3 Translation Method under the Direction of Skopos Theory

Translation is not only a process of language conversion, but also a behavior of cross-cultural communication. Translation is the bridge of cultural integration. The negation and exclusion of foreign cultures are incompatible with the role of translation as a cultural bridge; however, the overall acceptance of foreign language will also lead the original language to lose its "social identity". XIE(Xie Yao,2017:360) stated that the translation work inevitably bears its cultural imprint, and domestication and foreignization are main ways to lessen the conflict between source language culture and target language culture. Foreignization does a good job in keeping the culture and images for the source language, while domestication means removing all strangeness and foreignness of the source text and making the translation clearly readable.

3.1 Target reader-oriented approach — domestication

If translators aim to produce equivalent translation, especially pragmatic equivalent translation to achieve communicative effect with fully understanding the semantic meaning and pragmatic meaning, and considering the acceptance and response of readers, the domesticating translation should be given priority. Therefore, one of the responsibilities of translators is to avoid cultural conflicts, which can lead to various forms of misunderstanding. When transplanting a text into another culture, the translator should carefully weigh the connotation of ideology in the culture. Therefore, we should try our best to transform the source language culture into the target language culture. At the same time, the translator is also a disseminator. In cross-cultural communication, he/she should eliminate barriers and deliver the meaning of the source culture to the readers of the target culture. Then, I will analyze the practice of domesticating translation combined with some examples.

“煮茶非漫浪,要须其人与茶品相得。故其法每传于高流隐逸、有烟霞泉石磊磈于胸次间者。 The art of tea brewing is not for roman' s sake. The moral state of the brewer should match well with the quality of the tea. That explains why the techniques of tea brewing are usually handed down only to eremitic wisdoms with lofty characters and peaceful mind." (Jiang & Jiang，2009:36)

“The art of tea brewing is not for roman' s sake”, the sentence pattern of this translation is obviously derived from “art for art's sake”, which reminds people of the aesthetic movement that appeared in the late 19th century in the field of British Art and Literature. “Art for art’s sake”, a slogan translated from the French “l’art pour l’art”, which was coined in the early 19th century by the French philosopher Victor Cousin. It expressed the belief held by many writers and artists, especially those associated with Aestheticism, that art needed no justification, and that it served no political, didactic, or other purposes. This form of expression has already been in the public eye for a long term. Therefore, the translator resorted to the domesticating method according to the cultural standards and traditions of the target language so that the information can be easily understood and accepted by the receptors.

Then, I take the translation of “角楼”, an ancient architecture in China, as another example. The word “角楼” has a long history, which first appeared in the book History of the Three Kingdoms · Wei Shu. It was built on the corner rampart. Because the horizon from the “角楼” is very wide and the enemy's situation can be observed clearly. Therefore, “角楼” was used as an important facility of the defense project in ancient times. At present, there are four “角楼” in the Palace Museum in Beijing. The most common translation of “角楼” is “turret”. The word "turret" originates from the Latin word "turris", which means a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle and is used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall. It can be seen that the meaning of the word is very similar to that of the “角楼”. Here, the translator adopts the domesticating strategy to try to find the equivalent words of the image “角楼” in the western culture. Many more examples could be mentioned. For instance, “肉夹馍” is a famous snack in Xi’an and has been listed as a cultural heritage, which is one of the delicacies for foreign tourists to taste in Xi'an. The official translation of “肉夹馍” in Xi'an is “Rougamo”. However, the more well-known or widely spread translations are "Chinese hamburger" and "Chinese sandwich", because foreign tourists think that “肉夹馍”is a popular Chinese "meat burger" or "meat sandwich", and the translation here adopts the domestication strategy.

3.2 The purpose of source culture dissemination—foreignization

For the sake of spreading the source language culture, translator should adopt foreignization so as to promulgate the culture of the original language to the target readers to the largest degree, stimulate the readers to learn the unknown source culture, help to overcome the obstacles in cross-cultural communication, and finally facilitate cultural integration. Then, I will analyze the practice of foreignizing translation combined with some examples.

“凡采茶,在二月、三月、四月之间。 The second, third, fourth months of the lunar year are a proper time for almost all sorts of tea to get harvested." (Jiang & Jiang, 2009:48)

During the Tang Dynasty, there was no strict time requirements for tea plucking. In the Classics of Tea, Lu Yu said that the optimum time for tea plucking was between February and April in the lunar calendar, that is to say, it is between March and May according to the current solar calendar. In this sentence, the translator supplemented the cultural element “the lunar year” for accurate time expression. The lunar calendar was established in ancient China based on the operating cycle of the moon, which has been used for thousands of years, guiding the Chinese nation's spring planting, autumn harvest, daily life, containing the wisdom of harmonious coexistence between the Chinese people and nature, and inheriting the continuous national life culture. With the western learning introduced into China, the solar calendar has gradually become a common social calendar, and the lunar calendar is to a large extent an expression of life customs and the inheritance of folk customs. The translator used communicative translation strategies to explain the precise season of tea-picking to the target readers. From the perspective of cultural communication and the expectations of the target readers, the translator tried his best to make the target readers appreciate the exotic and unique cultural information of the source text in the process of compensating for cultural defaults. For publicity translation, the original text can be regarded as a collection of languages, and also a mirror of national history and culture. It can be said that any text is always loaded with certain cultural information to show its unique national cultural temperament. In order to achieve cultural exchange, translators convey the cultural information in the original text accurately and faithfully. This is a good example of foreignizing translation.

Then, I take the translation of “谋事在人，成事在天”, an ancient proverb in The Dream of Red Mansions, as another example. David Hawkes translated it into “Man proposes, God disposes”. He quoted Western proverbs to express the central idea of the original sentence. However, his translation of “天” into “god” was based on his western mode of thinking. Hawkes' translation ignored the differences of religious and cultural information and failed to convey the cultural elements of the original text. However, Yang Xianyi translated this proverb into “Man proposes, Heaven disposes”. Besides, “阿弥陀佛” appeared many times in the novel, and Hawkes translated into “my Lord” or “my God” while Yang Xianyi translated into “Amida Buddha”, which showed the character's Buddhist belief. We can clearly see that Yang Xianyi employed the foreignizing translation. In the course of translation, foreignization is more favorable to show the cultural differences to the readers, and enable them to understand the Chinese religious and other cultural backgrounds more accurately.

Conclusion

Based on Skopos Theory, combined with the prop criterions of skopos rule, this thesis studies the domestication and foreignization in the course of translation. It should be said that the two strategies, domestication and foreignization, are not opposite or even contradictory, but complementary in translation. Cultural transplantation would be successfully achieved with a variety of methods and models. With Skopos theory applied to make a comprehensive analysis of various factors involved in translation, we can conclude that translators can adopt the principles and methods of both domestication and foreignization. (Guo Jianzhong,1998:5)As for to what extent source culture must be preserved in the translation, how to preserve it, and to what extent source culture must be adjusted to adapt to the target culture, we have to make a choice based on our correct understanding of the nature and the purpose of translation and the demands of target readers. Therefore, it is important for translators to have a deep cultural awareness in the process of translation, and to be sensitive to the similarities and differences between the two cultures. In addition, once one kind of translation method has been employed in a particular text during the process of translation, the translator better keep this basic tendency as far as possible.

References

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Study of domestication and foreignization in cross cultural translation 周罗平 Zhou Luoping

Abstract

Language is the carrier of culture and the medium of communication between cultures. Language and culture are closely connected. Nowadays, cultural exchanges are becoming increasingly frequent; hence, it’s particularly important to use translation to convey information between different cultures. Translation is a process not only about transforming one language into another, but also about noticing the history and cultural tradition behind languages. Therefore, in cross-cultural translation, translators should master two strategies to deal with culture: domestication and foreignization. This article will introduce domestication and foreignization and explore how to use them in cross-cultural translation.

Key words

Domestication Foreignization Cross-cultural Translation

题目

跨文化翻译中归化和异化研究

摘要

语言是文化的载体，是文化间传播和交流的媒介。语言和文化之间密不可分。在文化交流日益频繁的今天，用翻译去传递不同文化之间的信息就显得格外重要。翻译不仅仅是将一种语言转化为另一种语言，更要关注不同语言背后所承载的历史背景和文化传统，故在跨文化翻译中，译者应掌握处理文化的两种翻译方法：归化和异化。本文将系统地介绍归化和异化这两种翻译策略，并探究在跨文化翻译中如何选择使用这两种翻译策略。

关键词

归化 异化 跨文化翻译--Zhou Luoping (talk) 00:55, 1 November 2020 (UTC)

Introduction

Influenced by different geographical environment, historical development and other factors, different nations and countries form their unique culture. Translation plays an important role in cross-cultural communication. The translator as the main body of translation activities should convey the culture of one language in another language. In this process, the translator is faced with how and to what extent to show the cultural connotation of source language; therefore, the translator is bound to face the choice between domestication and foreignization.

Domestication, oriented by the target language culture, aims to eliminate the strangeness brought about by the source text, but it also reduces the opportunities for the target readers to contact with foreign cultures. While foreignization, oriented by the source language culture, aims to retain the unique style and cultural characteristics of the source language, but it will increase the reading difficulty. The best way is to combine domestication with foreignization. Therefore, the translator should fully consider the type of the text and the readers of the translation and then choose the translation strategies and methods reasonably.

This paper will be divided into five parts. The first part is the introduction of this paper. The second part is the introduction of domestication and foreignization, as well as a brief introduction of the representatives of domestication and foreignization. The third part is an analysis of the factors that influence the choice of domestication and foreignization. The fourth part introduces the translation methods under domestication and foreignization. The fifth part is the conclusion.

Chapter 1 Domestication and Foreignization

The terms domestication and foreignization were first put forward by Lawrence Venuti in his work The Translator’s Invisibility. The two concepts of foreignization and domestication are defined by Venuti based on Schleiermacher’s distinction between the two different translation orientations. Schleiermacher clearly pointed out that there can be only two ways of Translating. Either by keeping the author as still as possible, so as to lead the reader to the author; the other is to keep the reader as still as possible, thereby guiding the author to approach the reader. Venuti, on the basis of Schleiermacher’s distinction, called the former foreignization and the latter domestication (Jiang 2016，146-147).

1.1 Introduction of Domestication

According to Venuti, domestication is actually an ethnocentric practice, bringing foreign texts into the cultural values of the target language and thus bringing the author back home (Venuti 2009, 20).Therefore, in the process of translation, the translator follows the target language culture and adopts conservative methods to assimilate the original text so as to meet the needs of the target language readers.

In this sense, the biggest advantage of the domestication is that it makes the translated works more easily accepted by the target language readers and that readers can better understand the connotation of the source text. In addition, domestication well reflects the coexistence of different cultures in the process of communication, and shows that translators seek common ground when facing culture differences and conflicts. Of course, every coin has two sides. Domestication translation also has its shortcomings. When translators adopt domestication, they tend to assimilate part of the original content with different language style or unique national culture, which makes the translation lose the characteristics of the original text, thus affecting the communication and spread of different cultures and hinders readers’ understanding of foreign culture.

Eugene Nida is the representative figure advocating domestication. Nida’s functional equivalence theory or dynamic equivalence theory shows that he is a supporter of domesticating translation. His dynamic equivalence theory shows that he pursues the most natural equivalence translation. He once said that “dynamic equivalence is therefore to be defined in terms of the degree to which the receptors of the message in the receptor language respond to it in substantially the same manner as the receptors in the source language” (Nida & Taber 2004, 24). In other words, dynamic equivalence means that the reader’s response to the translation is consistent with that of the original. Nida’s dynamic equivalence theory fully considers the reader’s language culture and the reader’s ability to appreciate the translation. Therefore, in the course of translating, the translator should take the completely natural and smooth language expression as the goal. In order to make the translation natural and smooth, the translator must make some adjustments to the original text. Some heterogeneous cultures which are not accepted by readers should be eliminated as much as possible. Nida’s dynamic equivalence theory takes the reader into full consideration. It aims to eliminate the readers’ strangeness to the original content and let readers better understand the thought and meaning of the original text, which precisely reflects the characteristics of domesticating translation.

1.2 Introduction of Foreignization

Foreignization is an ethnodeviant practice, keeping language and cultural differences of the original texts as far as possible and thus sending the reader abroad (Venuti 2009, 20). In other words, in order to show the cultural characteristics of the source work, translators use foreignising translation to retain the characteristics of the source text and try to keep the writing techniques used by the author of the source language. Hence, for the readers of the target language, the translation is exotic and unfamiliar.

Same to the domestication, foreignization also has its advantages and disadvantages. Foreignization, by transplanting the culture of the source language into the culture of the target language, enriches the culture of the target language to a great extent. For example, the Chinese phrase “武装到牙齿” is translated as “armed to the teeth”, which greatly spreads Chinese culture and enriches the English and Chinese language culture. Of course, foreignization also has its limitations. Some cultural differences and language differences are difficult to overcome. If foreignization is adopted blindly in the process of translation, there will produce some translations that readers cannot understand and accept, and translation will also lose its function of cultural communication.

Schleiermacher and Venuti are strong supporters of foreignization. Schleiermacher’s preferred strategy is to accommodate the reader to the author. He claims that translations need not be same as the original author writes in the source language. The translation does not conform to the general expression habits of the target language. He believes that a translator who knows the target language can help target readers who are not proficient in the foreign language but have a strong understanding of the original text. In order to achieve this goal, the translator must adopt the foreignization translation, emphasize the value of heterogeneous culture, and ensure the faithfulness to the original text by subordinating the words in the target text to the source language (Jiang 2016, 147). In this way, the translation can be faithful to the meaning of the original text and can introduce heterogeneous cultures and concepts to readers of target language.

In his book The Translator’s Invisibility, Venuti expresses his understanding and support for foreignization translation in detail. He believes that foreignization translation is a kind of translation strategy that preserves and highlights the heterogeneity of the original text in the translation. Firstly, he believes that foreignization is reflected in the selection of translation materials. He mainly aims at the classic translation of literature and culture of the target language instead of scientific translation (Venuti 2009, 42). In the process of foreignising translation, the translator chooses a foreign text which is different from the mainstream culture of the target language, which can change the cultural composition of the target language. Secondly, foreignization translation is reflected in the language used by the translator in the process of translation (Venuti 2009, 23). This means that in the process of translation, the closer the language style of the translation is to the language style of the original, the more heterogeneous the readers will feel. Moreover, Venuti advocates that in the process of translation, the translator should use words that are not commonly used and non-standard. Translators should mix slang, neologism or archaic words to achieve heterogeneous effects. In this way, the foreignization style of translation highlights the heterogeneity of foreign texts and challenges and resists the mainstream culture of the target language. Thirdly, foreignization translation is embodied in cultural alienation (Venuti 2009, 21). By highlighting the cultural differences caused by language differences, foreignization translation promotes the development of cultural diversity, helps to resist the hegemony of European and American culture, and helps to promote the development of culture and language of weak and small nations. Fourthly, foreignising translation highlights and enhances the status of the translator, which changes the phenomenon that the smooth translation makes the translator invisible in the past, thus promoting translation research to gradually move to the academic center (Venuti 2009, 17). Venuti elaborates that smooth translation has long occupied the mainstream position in the history of western translation, and the fluency of translation has become the standard to judge whether a translation is good or not. Venuti challenged and questioned this phenomenon. The smooth translation covers up the translator’s intervention and interpretation of the original text, and covered up the language and cultural differences of the original work. Therefore, he put forward the concept of resistant translation to expound his translation thoughts. Resistant translation refers to a translation strategy that preserves some heterogeneity in literary translation. The object of resistance is the prevailing translation thought in British and American culture, that is, fluent translation is acceptable translation (Fang 2011, 100). Venuti challenges the dominant position of British and American culture and introduces the idea of weak culture by advocating resistant translation. Translation is not only a process of seeking similarities between languages and cultures, but also a process of facing the differences between languages and cultures. Translators cannot completely and thoroughly eliminate these differences. Therefore, a good translation must be the blending and collision of different cultures, from which the readers can better understand and perceive cultural diversity.

1.3 Literal translation, free translation, domestication, and foreignization

There are a lot of discussions on the translation strategies of domestication and foreignization, and literal translation and free translation. Many people think that domestication is equal to free translation, while foreignization is equal to literal translation. I don’t think so. In this section, I will make a comparison and distinction between the two groups of translation concepts.

Literal translation refers to the translation that maintains the content and style of the original text while following the norms of the target language. Literal translation starts with word to word translation (Shuttleworth & Moira 2005, 129). However, due to the need to be consistent with the grammar of the target language, the final target text may also present the equivalence of phrase to phrase or clause to clause. Free translation, as opposed to literal translation, refers to the translation that reads naturally, rather than the type of translation that completely retains the wording of the source text. Free translation is usually oriented to the target language (Shuttleworth & Moira 2005, 84).

As mentioned before, domesticating translation covers up the differences between different cultures and weakens the strangeness of the original. The translation produced by domestication is very fluent and natural so that readers are able to read and understand the translation according to their own language expressions. Foreignising translation requires the translation to show the heterogeneity of the original text and convey the foreign cultural characteristics of the original text as far as possible so that the reader will feel a strange feeling when reading the translated text and sometimes they will have some misunderstanding or questions that are caused by exotic culture.

Literal translation and free translation emphasize whether the translation is consistent with the original text in terms of language form and language style. Domestication and foreignization not only emphasizes the language level, but also pays attention to whether the values and cultural traditions conform to the expression habits of the target language countries. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that literal translation and free translation are static opposites. Whether the translation is faithful to the original is mainly seen from the linguistic unit. Domestication and foreignization is a pair of dynamic opposites (Lu 2018, 57). With the increasing frequency of cultural exchanges and the passage of time, the original foreignization will become domestication. Therefore, we cannot easily equate literal translation with foreignization, nor can we equate free translation with domestication.

Chapter 2 Factors influencing the choice of domestication and foreignization

In cross-cultural translation, translators are always faced with the choice of domestication and foreignization. Then, how does the translator make a choice? This chapter will explore some factors that influence the choice of translation strategies of domestication and foreignization, and then discuss when to domesticate and when to foreignize the text.

2.1 The type of the text

Different text has its own function. When dealing with different kinds of texts, translators should choose different translation strategies to translate text and to better show the function of the text. Newmark, a famous translator, divides text into three types according to its content and style: expressive function, informational function, and vocative function.

Expressive text mainly has literary value or shows the author’s unique writing style, including some serious literary works, such as some serious imaginative literature, authoritative statements and some literary works like personal letters, autobiography, and essay (Newmark 2001, 39). Expressive text emphasizes the expressive function of language. This kind of the text takes the authority of the original author into consideration and pays less attention to readers’ responses. Compared with other types of texts, expressive texts use artistic and beautiful language, with the purpose of creating artistic images, so that readers can be inspired and moved by the language in the process of reading (Wang 2008, 138). The characteristics of expressive texts require translators to translate not only meaning, but also the emotion in the process of translation, so as to reproduce the artistic characteristics of the original text to the greatest extent and make readers feel the artistic charm of the source text when reading the translated text. Therefore, the linguistic features and purposes of expressive texts require translators to use foreignization as much as possible to reflect the exotic flavor of the source language and reproduce the artistic features of the source text.

Informative text is mainly to convey the original information to readers truthfully and smoothly, mainly including technical reports, articles in newspapers or periodical, general teaching materials, product descriptions and other text whose content is more important than form (Newmark 2001, 40). This kind of text is created without author’s personal emotion and its main function is to lead readers to know and understand information. These characteristics require translators to focus on the content of the text and uses simple or clear expression as far as possible to convey the content so that readers can fully accept the meaning; therefore, it’s better to use domestication as much as possible to reproduce the content of the original text instead of sticking to the language styles.

Vocative text is mainly to call readers to take action, to think, and to make reaction, including notice, instruction, and advertisement. This type of text emphasizes the infective function of the language and it takes readers as center (Newmark 2001, 41). Vocative text emphasizes the readability of the text and the acceptability of the reader (Wang 2008, 139). It is necessary to put the readers of the target language in the first place and take their culture and receptivity into consideration, so that they can clearly get the information; therefore, when translating such texts, translators should grasp the cultural differences between different languages and put the cultural habits of target readers in the first place. Only in this way can readers truly think, feel, and act. Additionally, in the course of translation, translators should give full play to the linguistic advantages of the target language and should not be limited to the expression of the original text, so as to achieve the same effect as the original language as far as possible.

According to Newmark, the division of text is not absolute, and most texts have all three functions at the same time with one or two of them dominate (Newmark 2001, 42). Hence, in the actual translation, domestication and foreignization should be combined. Domestication and foreignization are not always antithetical; on the contrary, they complement each other. When choosing foreignising translation strategy, the translator should pay attention to the smoothness and understandability of the target text. When choosing the domestication translation strategy, the translator should also pay attention not to lose the flavor and style of the original text. During translating, to a certain extent, the translator has freedom so the translator should give full play to the advantages of the two translation strategies. The translator can adopt domesticating translation to familiarize language expression and use foreignising translation to keep cultural elements.

2.2 Readers of the target language

The translator choosing which translation strategy is not only influenced by the type of text, but also by the target readers. Reader is an important factor influencing the choice of domestication and foreignization so translator should take readers’ age, gender and educational level in the consideration in the course of translation.

The translation under the domestication strategy is smooth and natural and it’s easier to be accepted by readers. Therefore, if the target readers of the translated text are young children or readers with low education level, the translator can use the domestication strategy more when translating, so that the readers can understand and accept the information of the translated text. However, the translation under the foreignization strategy aims at revealing the heterogeneity of the source culture, spreading foreign culture, and preserving the unique expression and original flavor of the original text. Such a translation may be awkward and difficult to understand. If the readers of the target text are highly educated, highly receptive, or have a certain understanding and cognition of the culture of the source language, the translator can use the foreignization strategy to show the style of the source text, so that the readers can better understand the foreign culture and broaden their horizon.

Generally speaking, most works have a specific audience for reading. Different groups of readers have their own characteristics and different levels of comprehension; therefore, translators should take the factor of readers into consideration to choose domestication strategy or foreignization strategy in the actual translation.

Chapter 3 The application of translation methods in domestication and foreignization

In cross-cultural translation, translating culturally-loaded expressions is difficult. Choosing appropriate ways to translate culturally-loaded expressions will not only keep the original favor, but also make readers of target language understand so in this part I will introduce some methods to translate culturally-loaded expressions under the domestication and foreignization strategy.

3.1 Introduction of culturally-loaded expressions

Culturally-loaded words refer to words with certain cultural background or profound cultural implication, including proverbs, allusions, special characters’ names and current idioms and idioms that have been deposited in a certain historical stage (Fang 2011, 297). As culturally-loaded words have their own uniqueness, the following principles should be followed in the translation of culture-loaded words. According to Wang Zhenqi, first, the key implied meaning of the expression in the source text should be converted into non-implied meaning in translation. Second, the representation of the lexical meaning of the source language should be given priority to the representation of the form. Third, the context of the source words should be taken into full consideration in the choice of translation (Wang 2014, 97). Then, in the translation of such words, the translator takes cultural exchange as the purpose, evaluates the readers’ cultural reception and perceptivity, and adopts flexible and appropriate translation methods, so as to ensure that the translated text not only retains the cultural information and cultural color of the original text, but also has readability. There are different ways of translating culturally-loaded words because of their different forms and cultural meanings.

3.2 Translation methods under the domestication strategy

Under the domestication translation strategy, there are three main methods to translate culturally-loaded expressions, namely: free translation, cultural substitution, and simplification.

Free translation is a common way in translating culturally-loaded words. Free translation is to translate the cultural information in the source text as much as possible. If the translator only conveys literal meanings of the words that are rich in cultural information, sometimes they will confuse and even misunderstand readers. In order to better convey the meaning of the original text, the translator adopts free translation method to translate the real connotation of culturally-loaded words, fill the gap in the readers’ culture, and let readers understand the text more naturally and smoothly. For example, some color words in Chinese have lots of different symbolic meanings. The color purple in Chinese culture represents the spirit of saints and emperors, which is maybe unfamiliar to readers of other cultures. Hence, when translating the term “紫禁城”，in order to eliminate misunderstanding, the translator tends to adopt free translation to translate it as “the forbidden city” which shows its cultural meaning.

In cross-cultural translation, the translator may face such difficulty that there is no corresponding word in the target language equaling to the culturally-loaded word in the source language. In this case, cultural substitution is a good choice. Cultural substitution, put forward by Beekman and Callow, is a method of dealing with things that exist in the source language but do not exist in the target language. It is defined as using things in target language to replace the things in source language culture that is unknown to readers of target language. In order to maintain the functional meanings, both things have the same function. There are three points to note when using. Firstly, do not replace history with didactic words; secondly, choose the one that suits best and not just the one with the most obvious function; thirdly, avoid functional conflicts between source language and target language(Fang 2011,104). For example, in order to let readers of target language better feel and understand the love of Romeo and Juliet, we will use cultural substitution methods and translate it into the love between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, which eliminates the unfamiliarity of the cultural image in the source language and is the representation of domestication. Using the cultural images in the target culture, the translator enables the target readers to understand the foreign culture on the basis of their own culture, thus strengthening the understanding between different cultures.

Simplication is also a good way to deal with culturally-loaded expressions translation. According to Wang, simplified translation is to translate the core meaning of culture-loaded words in the source language into a simple and clear target language (Wang 2014, 98). In cross-cultural translation, the translator may encounter such a situation when the long-winded concept of the original text can be simply expressed in the target language, such as using idiom, and such a translation is more acceptable to the target language readers. Therefore, it is very effective to use simplified translation which not only preserves the core concept of the original text, but also makes the translation acceptable.

Free translation, cultural substitution and simplication are all translation methods to eliminate the strangeness caused by culturally-loaded words in the source language text and avoid readers’ confusion or misunderstanding. These domesticated text translation methods facilitate readers’ reading, better ensure that readers correctly understand the content of the source language text and experience the emotion of the source language text.

3.3 Translation methods under the foreignization strategy

Under the foreignization translation strategy, there are five main methods to translate culturally-loaded words, namely: literal translation, literal translation plus annotation, transliteration, transliteration plus annotation, and cultural borrowing.

Literal translation is loyal to the meaning and structure of the source text, directly translating the source language into the target language (Fang 2011, 104). With the increasingly frequent cultural exchanges, some loaded words and expressions have gradually become familiar to people. For example, the proverb “All roads lead to Rome” is directly translated as “条条大路通罗马” . “A near friend is better than a far-dwelling kinsman” is translated as “远亲不如近邻”. These culturally-loaded expressions are directly translated into the target language and Chinese readers can clearly understand the meanings.

However, when literal translation can’t fully convey the original cultural information and readers have difficulty perceiving the meaning, the translator can add some annotation to explain the meaning of the culturally-loaded words on the basis of the literal translation. Annotations can be used to supplement background information, cultural traditions and other information for readers to understand. For example, the sentence “Now he was his valet, his dog, his man Friday” is translated as “如今他便成了他的听差，他的狗，他的忠仆星期五（星期五Friday是《鲁滨逊漂流记》中Robinson Crusoe的忠实奴仆）” . By adding the supplementary information, readers will know the meaning of this sentence clearly. Hence, for one thing, the translation preserves the original culture and promotes the communication between different cultures as well; for another, the readers of target language can better understand the cultural connotation and broaden their knowledge.

Transliteration is a good and common way to translate culturally-loaded expressions. It uses letter symbols to represent letter symbols in another language system. When there is a big difference between the source language and the target language and there is a semantic gap, it is impossible to translate the semantic meaning (Fang 2011, 105). In this case, transliteration is the main translation method. The objects of transliteration are the names of people, places and newly generated terms. For instance, a city of America “Mount Pleasant” is translated as “芒特普莱森特” in Chinese. The Chinese Taoist thought “阴”and “阳” are translated as “Yin” and “Yang.” Through transliteration, readers of the target language can not only gain some understanding of the cultural knowledge of the source language, but also introduce new cultural concepts into the culture of the target language.

Transliteration plus annotation is also often used in the translation of specific cultural words. The translator can add some annotation that can be in-text annotation or extra-text annotation to explain the meaning of the culturally-loaded words on the basis of the transliteration(Fang 2011, 105), so as to achieve the purpose of cultural information transmission. For example, the sentence “Like a son of Bacchus, he can drink up two battles of whisky at a breath” is translated as “他简直像巴克斯（巴克斯是古希腊神话中的酒神）的儿子，能一口气喝光两瓶威士忌”. The annotation gives a clear explanation of the connotation of culturally-loaded words.

Cultural borrowing refers to some words in the source language, which can only be transferred into the target language word by word according to the literal meaning because no appropriate corresponding language can be found in the target language. The borrowed words may be unchanged or slightly altered, but their meaning must be clear and unmistakable in the target language text (Fang 2011, 304). For example, “as timid as a rabbit” can be translated as “胆小如兔”in Chinese. By cultural borrowing, this translation preserves the emotional image and cultural connotation of source language and the readers of target language can figure out the meaning of this expression. Therefore, when using cultural borrowing, the translator should not only keep the cultural image in source text but also let the reader of target language understand the image with exotic connotation.

On the basis of preserving the culture and keeping the flavor of the original text, these five translation methods try their best to make readers understand the culture of the source language so as to let readers perceive the beauty of foreign culture and to introduce new expressions into target language.

Conclusion

Translation is an activity of communication between different languages and cultures. Different nations and countries have different ways of language expression because of their different cultures. In cross-cultural translation, translators should not only take on the responsibility of transmitting the source language culture and promoting the communication between different cultures, but also take the responsibility of making the target readers understand the connotation of the text, so as to make the translation readable and acceptable. This requires the translator to master the two translation strategies of domestication and foreignization, and grasp the balance between them.

Domestication is helpful for the target language readers to understand the original text and avoid the obstacles caused by cultural differences; however, the translation approach to the readers’ language and culture will inevitably lose language features and cultural customs of the original text. Foreignization translation retains the expression habits and cultural characteristics of the source language, but is easy to increase the understanding difficulty of the target language readers, and may even cause misreading of the target language readers. With the frequent cultural exchanges, to some degree, people around the world are relatively familiar with each other’s cultural customs; therefore, on the premise that the target readers have no misunderstanding of the original text, the foreignization translation strategy can be appropriately adopted, which can enrich the target language culture and broaden the horizon of the target readers.

Hence, in cross-cultural translation, translators had to deal with the problems of domestication and foreignization. Translators should consider some factors that influence the choice and choose appropriate translation methods to make domestication and foreignization complement each other, and retain the original flavor of the original text while ensuring the understanding of the target readers.

References

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The Application of Domestication and Foreignization in the Translation of Chinese Allegorical Sayings 龚钰冕 Gong Yumian

Abstract

Chinese Xiehouyu (allegorical saying) is a unique part of Chinese folk culture, and people are familiar with it. The translation of Chinese and English allegorical sayings is a kind of cross-cultural communication activity that spreads the Chinese national language and culture to the English world. In depth study of the connotation and translation methods of Chinese allegorical sayings has played a significant role in promoting and improving the Chinese-English translation and cross-cultural communication between Chinese and English. Based on the theory of domestication and foreignization, this paper attempts to analyze the types and components of Chinese allegorical sayings, and to explore their translation strategies.

摘要

汉语歇后语是中国民俗文化特有的一部分，人们耳熟能详。汉英歇后语翻译是一种将中华民族语言文化传播到英语世界的跨文化交流活动，深入学习研究汉语歇后语的内涵和翻译方法，对汉英语言的互译和跨文化交际都起到了很好的促进和提高作用。本文试图用归化和异化理论出发，分析汉语歇后语的类型及其构成，探讨汉语歇后语的翻译策略。

Key words

Chinese Allegorical Sayings, domestication and foreignization, translation strategy

关键词

汉语歇后语；归化和异化；翻译策略

Introduction

Allegorical saying is a unique language form in Chinese idioms, which is full of cultural connotation and has a unique structural form. It has the characteristics of vivid and humorous language, rich in philosophy and enlightenment, which is widely spread and loved by the Chinese people. Chinese allegorical saying is not only widely used in spoken language of all social strata, but also can be seen everywhere in classical and modern literary works and articles.

However, as a unique language form in Chinese, it is difficult to find the corresponding expression in other languages. Therefore, it has become a difficulty in the translation of Chinese idioms, which is undoubtedly a great challenge to the translator. Moreover, it is hard to reproduce the language style of Chinese allegorical saying and convey its rich cultural connotation. At the same time, the translation of allegorical saying helps the world to understand China and Chinese culture, which is conducive to the wide spread of Chinese culture.

Domestication and foreignization are important strategies in translation. Besides, the correct application of domestication and foreignization in translating allegorical sayings will correctly and vividly introduce China's history and culture to foreign people to promote cultural exchanges. This paper attempts to analyze the types and components of Chinese allegorical sayings, and to explore their translation strategies. This paper has analyzed the connotations of domestication and foreignization, and attempts to summary the types and composition of Chinese allegorical sayings, and to explore their translation strategies.

A Brief Analysis of Domestication and Foreignization in the Translation of Chinese Historical Idioms Zou Xinyu 邹鑫雨

邹鑫雨 Zou Xinyu, No.202070080633.

--Zou Xinyu2 (talk) 13:19, 10 December 2020 (UTC)Zou Xinyu

Abstract

In Chinese idioms, the translation of Chinese historical idioms has something to do with cultural differences of English and Chinese. To appositely adjust cultural differences between English and Chinese, a large number of translators use two translation strategies: domestication and foreignization, when translating Chinese historical idioms.

Domestication and foreignization are two kinds of translation strategies which are culture-oriented. This paper will make an introduction of the definition, characteristics and translation strategies of Chinese historical idioms in the first part, and then will introduce domestication and foreignization. Then, it will discuss the application of these two translation strategies to Chinese historical idioms by taking some examples so that the author of this paper can make a brief analysis of the relativity of these two translation strategies, domestication and foreignization, and learn how to select proper translation strategies to translate Chinese historical idioms.

The study of the translation of Chinese historical idioms is conducive to the development of language, which will promote international exchanges and cooperation as well as the innovation of translation methods, thus deepening the organic integration of two translation strategies of domestication and foreignization in the translation of idioms and promoting the research and development of the dualism of translation.

Key Words

Chinese historical idiom; Translation; Domestication; Foreignization

题目

浅析中国历史典故习语翻译的归化异化

摘要

在汉语习语中，有关中国历史典故的习语的翻译涉及到英汉文化差异。为了适当地调和英汉文化之间的差异，许多译者采用了归化和异化的翻译策略。

归化和异化是两种以文化为导向的翻译策略，本文第一部分先从含义、特点以及翻译策略方面对中国历史典故习语进行了介绍，紧接着在第二部分介绍归化异化两种策略，然后通过举例来探讨这两种翻译策略在中国历史典故习语翻译中的运用，从而分析出这两种翻译策略的相关性以及如何选取合适的翻译策略来翻译中国关于历史典故的习语。

对中国历史典故习语翻译的研究有利于语言的发展，促进国际间的交流与合作，推进翻译方法的革新，加深归化异化两种翻译策略在习语翻译中的有机融合，推动翻译二元论的研究与发展。

关键词

中国历史典故习语；翻译；归化；异化

Chapter1 Introduction

Language is just like a long river which remains a reflection of an age, a people or a region, which means it contains thousands of tributaries. And as one of these tributaries, idioms are exactly a significant type of expressions in language. In particular, Chinese and English are two languages of a long history and conclude lots of idioms. Due to differences in geography, history, religion, custom and so on, idioms in Chinese and English carry forward with distinct national culture and cultural information, which has a close connection with their cultural traditions. This paper mainly talks about Chinese historical idioms. There are so many idioms about Chinese historical allusions with simple structures and profound meanings. These idioms are not supposed to be understood or translated just from their words. Instead, there are so many cultural factors hiding behind them. An important part of history and culture is embodied in Chinese historical allusions and fable stories. They have a strong national color and distinctive cultural personality, and contain abundant historical and cultural information, which can reflect different historical and cultural characteristics at most. Therefore, the translation of Chinese historical idioms is not just a code-switching between different languages, it is the exchange and transmission of various cultural information between different languages. Although the history and culture of each nation are very different, there are many similarities in people’s perceptions of the world. The human language and culture can reflect a common deep-seated “human commonality” as a whole. Due to cognitive reasons, many Chinese and English languages have similar meanings and forms, which fully reflects the similarities between different cultures in the human family. In this case, we can try to translate idioms in two translation strategies which can make the translation interesting and impressive, and give the reader a feeling of beauty.

The domestication translation strategy emphasizes the easy-to-understand characteristic in practice and tries to avoid ambiguous sentences or polysemy sentences. Therefore, when there is a cultural gap between the original text and the translation due to cultural differences, we need to process the language until the equivalent words are not found in the translated language, and turn them into cultural images that the readers are familiar with. Cultural differences between different languages require translators to maintain a high degree of cultural awareness in the translation process, because it is difficult to accurately reproduce the meaning of the original language in the translated language, which generally occurs in the original language and the translated language among the types of words. In this aspect of mitigating language and cultural contradictions, the domestication translation strategy has played a positive role. It effectively replaces the cultural and linguistic differences in the original text, making it easy for target readers to appreciate the content of the original text. Nevertheless, the purpose of translation is not to gradually eliminate the differences between cultures, but to reflect cultural differences as much as possible in translation. The foreignization translation strategy can greatly enhance the reader’s awareness of intercultural communication, and make them realize the difference between different cultures, thus creating a strong interest in the culture of the translated language. The translation method of foreignization has been welcomed by foreign friends who have a strong interest in Chinese traditional culture. Therefore, the foreignization translation strategy helps a country to promote its own traditional culture and to expand its international influence.

We cannot treat the two translations of foreignization and domestication as a completely opposite set of concepts. Instead, they can work together to make the translation perfect. Both foreignization and domestication strategies have their own advantages and disadvantages, and they differ in their respective scope of application. In the translation of Chinese historical idioms, the translator must adopt a combination of foreignization and domestication, and analyze the specific situation and deal with it flexibly. Over-emphasizing any one of this two translation strategies can impair the readability of the translation. Therefore, foreignization and domestication are not mutually exclusive translation strategies, and we need to use these two translation strategies reasonably to make the translation considerably readable.

Chapter2 Chinese Historical Idioms

The Chinese historical idiom is a relatively special linguistic group in Chinese idioms. It is not only concise, but also vivid, interesting, and profound. For example, "叶公好龙", "邯郸学步", "说曹操，曹操到",etc. In the translation process, translators often habitually associate Chinese idioms with English idioms. These idioms carry the unique culture of Chinese nation and are closely related to the Chinese cultural traditions. They are a kind of idiom with historical allusions and usually possess implied metaphorical meanings. The definition of Chinese historical idioms makes us know we usually pay attention to their metaphorical meanings when we use them rather than just literally understand their meanings. In order to understand exactly the metaphorical meaning of the idiom of the allusion, the translator must have a profound cultural knowledge and understand China's long history and culture.

Chinese historical idioms have a strong national character. China has been a big country dominated by agriculture since ancient times, and the agricultural population accounts for a large proportion. Therefore, a large part of Chinese idioms is related to agriculture, and its number far exceeds the agricultural shackles in its national language. They are the crystallization of the extremely rich wisdom accumulated by the working people in the productive labor for generations.

Chinese historical idioms are not easy to be familiar with and accepted by the target readers. Behind the allusions of Chinese historical idioms, there is a profound Chinese traditional culture, which contains the content and meaning of a certain historical background, customs, religious beliefs, geographical location and lifestyle under the baptism of time. These allusions reflect the profound cultural heritage and connotation of the Chinese nation. Former Chibi Fu has many allusions with Chinese traditional culture, which brings great difficulties to translation because of cross-culture and cross-language. For example, "万事俱备，只欠东风" comes from the battle in the Three Kingdoms period – the battle of the Red Cliff, which evolved from the story of “Zhou Yu’s fire attack Cao Cao” in the Battle of the Red Sea in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. "八仙过海，各显神通" reflects the content of Chinese traditional myths and legends. Chinese mythology only contains the Jade Emperor and all the gods, while the foreign countries only have God and the gods. It is difficult for readers who read the translation to understand these allusions of Chinese culture. Similarly, English allusions also have their own cultural color, with distinct national characteristics. English allusions are generally from Greek ancient Roman mythology, the Bible and literary works. For example, many of the allusions are from Shakespeare's literary works, and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice can be used to satirize the miserable who are mercenary and profitable. Also, English allusions come from people's daily life just like Chinese allusions, like "to have two strikes against one", and its meaning is "one is not good" or "the situation is not good". It turns out that in the baseball game, the player has missed two goals. If the third time is not hit again, he will be out of the game and cannot play it, that is, there are two hits in the three hits. The previously mentioned Chinese allusions may be unfamiliar to English readers, and at the same time, English allusions may be unfamiliar to Chinese readers. China and English-speaking countries have different histories and naturally derive different cultures and languages. Because of the differences between Chinese and Western cultures in many respects, readers of different cultural backgrounds have different understandings of allusions. For example, if you describe love, you can use "the happy life of the cowherd and the weaver girl" in China, and only use the "happy life of the prince and the princess" in foreign countries. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are the products of traditional Chinese culture, while the prince and the princess are the products of foreign traditional culture. Language is rooted in the fertile soil of culture and must be influenced by specific cultures. Therefore, in the land of China, there will be no happy love story between the prince and the princess; in the foreign land, there will be no love story between the cowherd and the weaver. Different environments create different cultures, different cultures create different language, and different language contains different allusions. As time went on, some changes occurred in the allusions. In daily life and literary works, variants of allusions emerge in an endless stream and appear in various forms. The author no longer directly quotes the allusion, but instead makes a different statement. Over time, it also possesses a special form of the allusion. For example, "怒发冲冠" is quoted from the Historical Records of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, "相如因持壁而立，倚柱，怒发上冲冠", which is the original form of "怒发冲冠", indicating that the hair and the erected hat will rise up, and describes it as anger. "朝三暮四" comes from The Three Gorges of the Hillside Sheep in the Winter:"朝三暮四，昨今非是，痴儿不解荣枯事". The meaning has changed a little bit. The original metaphor of it is that one uses fraud to deceive people, now it is used like that the analogy is changeable and unpredictable. The dominant allusions have obvious allusions, such as "刻舟求剑", "守株待兔", "破釜沉舟",etc., and can directly come up with the incidents and characters from the allusions. The dominance and recession of the allusions have brought certain difficulties to the translation. Some difficulties have arisen in determining the content and meaning of the allusions, which affects the quality of translation to a certain extent. The famous American esthetician and writer Zhu Guangqian once said that the most difficult thing to understand and translate foreign literature is the meaning of association. Then, for Chinese allusions, because of its rich associative meaning, its English translation is very difficult. The associative meaning of the allusion is difficult to analyze and grasp. It is closely related to the author's writing intention and plays a decisive role in the overall translation and detailed translation of the whole article.

In summary, we can see that idioms and culture are related to certain ethnic groups. When studying idioms, it should be linked to its culture, nation, and history. This will help us to understand the idioms in depth and accurately translate them into English. Idioms are indispensable and expressive factors in language. Therefore, not only we regard them as a peculiar problem of translating literary works, but they are considered as one of the most important language problems in translation. With the opening-up to the outside world and the increasing exchanges between Chinese and English, the correct understanding and translation of Chinese idioms is an important subject step which is worthy of attention and researches.

2.1 Characteristics of Chinese Historical Idioms

To correctly translate Chinese historical idioms into English, you must first understand the characteristics of Chinese idioms. There are abundant and colorful idioms in the Chinese language, reflecting the wisdom and life diversity of the working people for many years. It is created from labor and has a national character. Therefore, idioms are closely related to the historical background, economic life, geographical environment, customs, and mental state of a nation. The general idioms have appropriate metaphors and can cause associations, but this metaphor and association are determined by the real environment and society of certain ethnic groups. The life experiences of different ethnic groups are the same but different. The same is the reality between the Chinese and English peoples, and they are rumored in idioms. The Chinese historical idiom is a special component of language, and it is an important rhetorical device in language. Using appropriate idioms in your article can make it fascinating. The Chinese historical idiom is an independent, irregular and fixed factor in language. It often appears in a sentence in the form of a phrase or a short sentence, but it is mostly used as a component in a sentence, and sometimes it acts as a word. Even if some idioms can be analyzed literally and grammatically, they still appear as a whole in the sentence. Chinese historical idioms have the following characteristics:

(1)Meaning independence

Idioms are often independent in meaning, which means that its meaning is not the meaning of its words. For example, the literal meaning of the Chinese idiom "expose foot" (露出了脚) is "expose the foot of the horse" (露出马的脚), and its independent meaning is "expose flaws" (露出破绽). The literal meaning of "开夜车" is "driving at night" and its independent meaning is "catch-up at night" (夜里赶工). The literal meaning of "落花流水" is "falling flowers and flowing water", and its independent meaning is "defective" or "disastrous".

(2)Breaking through grammar

Chinese historical idioms often violate grammatical rules or logical reasoning. For example, Chinese historical idioms often use classical Chinese, thus they often contradict modern Chinese. Words in idioms that are not used in modern Chinese or that are equivalent in modern Chinese are a multi-syllable word. According to the vernacular, the words "三心二意" should say "three hearts and two meanings", or "inexplicable". In addition, there are many Chinese idioms that are not logically explained. For example, "八道" in "瞎说八道"; "三心" in "三心二意"; "装蒜", "倒霉", "吃不开", "蹩脚",etc. cannot be reasoned by words.

(3)Self-contained

Chinese historical idioms have their own integrity. The words in idioms are fixed and generally cannot be disassembled or exchanged. For example, in Chinese idioms, it can be said that "雪中送炭", but cannot be said "雪里送煤" or "雪里赠煤"; "乱七八糟" cannot be changed into "乱六七糟"; "露出马脚" cannot be changed into "露出牛脚" or "露出羊脚"; "老马识途" can't be changed into "老牛识途" or "老驴识途", although both of the cow and the donkey know the way; "走狗" cannot be changed into"行狗" or "跑狗".

2.2 Translation strategies of Chinese historical idioms

According to the above discussion, the characteristics of idioms can be summarized as: fixedness, diversity, nationality. Song Tianxi proposed in the Translation of New Concepts in English-Chinese Translation: when translating Chinese idioms, you should avoid looking at the meaning of the text. There are two main countermeasures. One is to read the interpretation of the dictionary and to understand the meaning of the idiom. The second is that the context is flexible and can’t be changed. It’s believed that translating Chinese idioms, like translating English idioms, not only requires a true understanding of the meaning of the original idioms, but also faithfully reflects the style and culture of the original text, while avoiding verbatim translation.

The translation of Chinese idioms is limited by certain conditions. The successful translation is based on the existing vocabulary, grammar, and idioms in the target language. Even if the translation is based on the laws of the national language of the translation, the translation must not only be read. It is even more important to avoid misunderstanding in specific contexts.

Domestication and Foreignization

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Conclusion

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Title Translation

A Study on the Translation of Movie Titles 陈惠 Chen Hui

陈惠 Chen Hui No.202020080592

"Abstract"

Film is a comprehensive art integrating vision and hearing, which has made great contributions to the transnational communication and integration of culture. The title is an important factor in a movie's appeal to the public. Therefore, the translation of movie titles is of vital importance. The translation should not only fit the film content but also cross cultural differences. Moreover, it has strict word count control, which makes it difficult to translate literary works with relative freedom and high requirements. This paper will analyze the current situation of film title translation, try to summarize the features and functions of film title translation, put forward the criteria and principles of film title translation, and briefly discuss the strategies of film title translation.

Key words

Features of film titles. Translation criteria, translation principles, translation strategies.

摘要

电影是一门集视觉和听觉为一体的综合性艺术，为文化的跨国传播和融合做出了巨大的贡献。电影标题正是电影吸引大众眼球的重要因素。因此电影标题的翻译就显得至关重要。其译文既需贴合电影内容又要跨越文化差异，并且有严格的字数控制，难以像文学作品翻译那样相对自由，要求极高。本文将分析目前电影名翻译的现状，试图总结电影片名的特点和功能，提出电影片名翻译的标准及原则并浅谈电影标题翻译的策略。

关键词

电影片名特点，翻译标准，翻译原则，翻译策略。

Chapter1 Introduction

As one of the eight major arts, film is an important carrier of world cultural exchange, bearing specific cultural symbols. The translated names of films reflect different ways of dealing with foreign cultures and convey different cultural values. This paper released in mainland China and Hong Kong and Taiwan area's English movie, for example, from the political system, economic environment and language habits, this paper analyzes the reasons of different film title translation, points out that the different cultural values, dubbing staff of different translation strategies, and in order to meet the requirement of the local culture market, cross-cultural differences should be important factors should be taken into consideration when the translation practice. With the increasingly close cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, English films, as an important cultural form, have gradually entered the Stage of Chinese films, which inevitably involves English-Chinese translation. In English-Chinese film translation, film title translation plays a very important role. In order to translate high-quality film titles into Chinese, it is necessary to have an accurate understanding of the characteristics, translation principles and translation strategies of film titles.

2.1 The Introduction of Movie

Film is a comprehensive art integrating vision and hearing, which has made great contributions to the transnational communication and integration of culture. The title of the film is an important factor in its appeal to the public. Therefore, the translation of movie titles is of vital importance. The translation should not only fit the film content but also cross cultural differences. Moreover, it has strict word count control, which makes it difficult to translate literary works with relative freedom and high requirements. This paper will analyze the current situation of film title translation, try to summarize the characteristics of film title translation and the principle of film title translation, and to talk about the strategies of film title translation.Film, a continuous image developed by the combination of mobile photography and slide show, is a visual and auditory modern art, but also a complex of modern technology and art that can accommodate drama, photography, painting, music, dance, writing, sculpture, architecture and other arts. Cinema is a visual art that simulates the experience of communicating ideas, stories, perceptions, sensations, beauty, or atmosphere through recorded or programmed moving images and other sensory stimuli. The term cinematography is short for cinematography, usually used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, as well as the art form that emerges from it. Films are cultural relics created by a particular culture. They reflect these cultures and influence them. Film is regarded as an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful medium for educating citizens. The visual basis of a film gives it universal power of transmission. The film has its own characteristics. In terms of artistic expression, it not only has the characteristics of all kinds of other arts, but also has the means of expression beyond all other arts because it can use the artistic montage of the film grouping skills. With the development of modern society, movies have penetrated into every aspect of human social life and become an indispensable part of People's Daily life. Film is an art whose time and course of growth are known by human beings. It is a media with rapid development and great influence since the 20th century. It is also a creative industry integrating politics, economy and culture. Since the end of the 19th century, France, the United States and other parts of the film inventors have invented can mimic a person's eyes and ears of photoacoustic records and reduction technology and machine, the film technology, from the birth, were entrepreneurs become film business, by politicians become ideology, by artists become film art, researchers developed into film theory. The history of a film is also the history of filmmakers exploring the laws of film. Film is a kind of modern art which uses modern scientific and technological achievements as tools and materials, and uses the means of expression to create visual images and the combination of shots. In the space and time of the screen, it shapes the specific images that are moving, sound and painting combined, and lifelike, to reflect social life. The film can accurately "restore" the real world, "show" the virtual world, giving people a sense of authenticity, a sense of intimacy, just like being on the scene. This feature of film can satisfy people's desire to experience life in a broader and more real way. Movies can be divided into action movies, fantasy movies, comedy movies, horror movies, science fiction movies and so on.

2.2 Features of English Film Title

On the one hand, a film title is an art form, reflecting the literary value of a film; on the other hand, it is linked with the box office, reflecting the commercial value of a film. Therefore, a film title directly affects the success of a film. English movie titles have the following characteristics. (1) The title is easy to understand and arouses the audience's interest. This is contrary to the characteristics of Chinese movie titles. Some Chinese movie names are not introduced by media, which makes it difficult for the audience to have a clear understanding of the movie in advance, such as The Promise and Infernal Affairs. Movie titles in English are often simple, but they have a profound effect on the audience's enthusiasm. For example, True Lies, the movie's title tells you that the movie is about a lie, but what kind of a lie is a "True lie"? When the audience sees the name of the movie, they will first have such doubts in their minds, and then watch the movie with doubts and curiosity. There are plenty of similar movies, such as Back to the Future (" Back to the Future "; "No Turning Back").(2) The title contains slang to enhance the appeal of the film.The title of the film incorporates slang, on the one hand, to make the audience feel friendly, on the other hand, to achieve the desired ironic effect of the film. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, and at that very moment, the Cuckoo's Nest Flew very slowly. "Slumdog," for example, is a slur for someone who lives in a Slumdog. The other way around is to be sarcastic. The other way around is to be sarcastic.(3)The title of the film is named after the name, which is clear at a glance.Names of people, places, objects and places often appear in the titles of European and American films, such as Pearl Harbor(" Pearl Harbor "). As long as you have some historical knowledge, it is not difficult to know the content of the film, which is obviously related to the Pearl Harbor incident during the Second World War. In addition, there are also Casablanca(Casablanca), Roman Holiday(Roman Holiday), Waterloo Bridge(Waterloo Bridge) and other famous films with place names as film titles. People like Forrest Gump, which is clearly the main story in the film, but also Emma, Jane Eyre, etc. It's about a Perfume genius who's obsessed with Perfume and becomes a psychopath. It's also about The Piano and The Net. In addition, there are one case, is to add in the title of the character (place or items) characteristics. For example, Edward Scissorhands(Edward Scissorhands), Schindler's List(Schindler's List), The Mask of Zorro(Zorro's Mask), etc.(4) The title contains numbers to indicate the plot.Numbers appear frequently in English movies, and they are real rather than imaginary. In this kind of naming, the numbers in the title will appear in the play, either directly spoken by the characters, or the numbers-almand-or explained gradually through the plot. This may be related to the fact that westerners pay more attention to objectivity and practicality, and think more straight lines. [1] The famous film with numbers included in the title has Seven Deadly Sins(" Seven Sins "). According to the title, it can be associated with the Seven Deadly Sins of the Bishop. The mysterious serial murders in the film are one of these Seven Sins, so the title gives a good hint to the audience. 0Cean's Eleven tells the story of Eleven skilled dodgers.Heart completes a breathtaking mission story; Six Days and Seven Nights a man crashes in a plane and lands on a desert island for Six Days and Seven Nights. In addition, there are also Twelve Angry Men, The Six Sense, Eight LeggedFreaks and so on. These are the characteristics of British and American film titles, we can see that they value simplicity. Due to cultural differences, most Chinese film titles have deep meanings and reveal rich cultural heritage, such as Farewell My Concubine, A Thousand Miles Away, Curse of the Golden Flower and so on. Therefore, foreign films should attach importance to the translation of film titles in order to enter the Chinese market. How to arouse the resonance of Chinese audience's aesthetic appreciation requires the translator to pay attention to aesthetic factors in the translation of movie names.

2.3 Functions of English Film Title

The British translation theorist Newmark believes that language has six functions: the function of expression, the function of information, the function of demanding, the function of beauty, the function of responding, and the function of metalanguage. Among them, the first four are the main ones. The title of a film is a proper noun, which is the product of the screenwriter's careful conception. It can not only highly summarize the theme or content of the film, but also strongly stimulate the reader's desire to watch it. Therefore, it mainly has the function of information, imperative function and aesthetic function. In film title translation, BaoHui south thinks "should not only conform to the language specification, but also full of artistic charm, as well as the content of the faithful to the original title, and to reflect the language characteristics of formerly, strive to achieve the art to create", wants be particular about "mass, popularization, colloquial and artistic quality", "to be able to have very good guide depending on and promotion effect". The author believes that the film title has five functions: 1) Suit the content of the original film, reflect the theme of the original film, help the audience better understand the original film, highlight the style of the original film; 2) Concise and comprehensive, easy to remember; 3) Set the emotional tone of the film, and infect the audience with strong lyric, thrilling or dramatic atmosphere; 4) It conforms to the language norms of Chinese and is suitable for the appreciation habits of Chinese audiences(5) Attract audience and increase box office income. Therefore, the theoretical support for film title translation is not the traditional translation theory centered on "faithfulness to the original author or the original text", but the unified equivalence with the original title in language, cultural information and functional characteristics.

3.1 Current Study of Movie Title Translation

With the rapid development of China's society and the improvement of the openness of the country at all levels, more and more foreign films have entered China, giving Chinese audiences different visual and spiritual cultural feast. At times, however, the translation of movie titles has left audiences baffled. Due to the vast territory of China, the same English movies are sometimes translated differently under the cultural background of the mainland, Taiwan and the three places, making it difficult for people to judge the same movie from the name of the translated movie. For example, Gone with the Wind is translated in Mainland China, while Gone with the Wind is translated in Hong Kong and Taiwan. For example, in Cantonese, "slam-dunk" is called "Thun", while in Mandarin it is "slam-dunk". Therefore, the movie Space Jam has been translated into "Thun in Space" and "Slam-Dunk in the Air". Due to different pronunciations, the translation of movie names will also be different. For example, the classic film Titanic was translated into the Hong Kong version of "Titanic" and "Titanic", but the latter is better known. (3) Influence of commercial interests More and more films are driven by commercial investment. In order to win high box office, eye-catching words are often added to the title of the film in translation to make the audience shine. For example, in the film Leon, merchants translate it into Leon in order to pursue a better box office. In fact, it is also possible to translate it into Leon, but it lacks the thriller of the former, so it cannot better attract the audience. There's another movie, The Mask, for example. The Mainland version is The Mask, while The Taiwan version is The Modern Saint. The former is more convincing and mysterious, and The translation is better.(5) Random translation is quite common in Hong Kong. The so-called random translation refers to the translation of the name without the content of the film, imaginary, unrestrained, full of exaggerations, suspense, with only one purpose, is to attract audiences. For example, "Fair Came" was translated into Chinese by Hong Kong and translated into Chinese as "Fair game". The film tells the story of Kitty, who was originally a lawyer in miami-famous family firm, who woke up and suddenly became a target of Soviet spies, facing death threats all the time. It was hard to see how Kitty could be called a witch from beginning to end. Hong Kong translations (1995) and mainland Chinese translations of "Shawshank Redemption". The story takes place at the beginning of 1947, banker Andy is wronged and imprisoned. Facing the unfair fate, Andy can show not pleased by external gains, not saddened by personal losses and silently construct his own future. It is not clear where 1995 came from in the Hong Kong translation, and the word "stimulus" does not match the content of the film. From the perspective of translation, translation has made big fear of translation standards, even the most basic of faithful to the original works and "letter" to the cause for the current more than a translation, the chaotic translation for the current situation, in addition to our regional factors mentioned above, a local translation characteristics, the mass media have unshirkable responsibility. As a mass media, newspapers, magazines, films, radio and television do not pay attention to the use of standardized translation of the name, which leads to the further deterioration of the phenomenon of film translation one translation. In addition, in order to pursue business profits, translator and even from The film content, subjective themselves, exaggerated exaggerated, use some stimulus, poignant words to attract audience attention, no bridge ", and "candle" two characters, The tragic fate of The film, The heroine, consider translation of "faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance", such as Hong Kong and Taiwan to Hemingway's masterpiece The Sun Also Rises "The Sun Also Rises" translation "concubine is chaoyang and zhao jun, and formerly known as and simply goes and The original content.

3.2.1 Ways to Standard

Facing the current situation of film title translation, how should we regulate the translation of film title? I think there are several ways to look at it. From the perspective of the translator, the translator should accurately grasp the original content, want to reaction and its creation and works reflect the major theme of background, this can help the translator vividly grasp accurately the original content, understand the formerly known as connotation, translation with the original content, to maximize the reappearance of formerly known as information, make the translation really play a guide role. Such as film, A Walk in the Clouds, title literally "go" in the cloud, which describes A youth couple of vine flowers in the loving touching love story, also the garden it is translated into "to Walk through the Clouds,", reflects both the original meaning, and full of poetic, leave the audience with fragrant vineyard, fascinating intoxicating refreshing romantic breath. The translator should also be in accordance with the original, pay attention to the using a variety of translation method is flexible, should not only respect the formerly known as film, also considering the cultural differences, adopt the appropriate expression, proper free translation of some of the titles, appropriately express the original information, should not only to retain the original western style, and to consider domestic audience's comprehension and language habits, considering the cultural differences. Some titles can be translated literally, simply and clearly to convey the information of original titles, such as Sindler's List translated into Schindler's List,Back to the Future translated into Back to the Future, etc. Some titles require free translation. For example, the novel Cone Wih the Wind is translated as "Gone with the Wind" with literal translation, but the film's translation of "Gone with the Wind" is more attractive. "Troubled times" tells the background of the story, "Beautiful Woman" points out the heroine of the film, which -- the translated title vividly shows the heroine Scarlett's rough experience in the war years, which can fully attract the audience's attention. Waterloo Bridge, literal translation is "Waterloo Bridge", see the translation, the audience will first think of the battle of Waterloo, napoleon, but the film describes not smoke of the battlefield, but sad love story, the symbol of the combination of Chinese folk story "the blue Bridge", the translator skillfully as a "blue use some stimulus, poignant words to attract audience attention, no Bridge", and "candle" two characters, the film highlighted the tragic fate of the heroine.

3.2.2 The Criteria for Movie Title Translation

As for the criteria of translation, yan Fu, a famous modern translator, put forward the criteria of "faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance". Letter "is for the original text, requires the translator to correctly understand the original text, faithful expression of the original thought, style, inside" is for the translation, requires to use fluent and easy to understand the speech, but on the elegant ", but there is no consensus. King explained the concept from three aspects: receiver concept, effect concept and equivalence concept. As for the concept of effect, he pointed out that, after clarifying the effect of information on the receiver, it should be emphasized that it should include the full effect of information, namely the thorough understanding and feeling obtained by the receiver. Includes main spirit, concrete fact, artistic conception atmosphere three main elements (1998:18). In the translation practice of the film title, Jin Ti said that because of different language changes are bound to cause changes in the language effect, so only from the effect of the translation, to determine whether the language is appropriate (1998:43). Taking this as the standard, the translated name should try to achieve the equivalence of spirit, fact and artistic conception in sound, shape and meaning, that is, the relationship between the recipient and the translated message should be basically the same as that between the recipient and the original message "(Nida, CF King: 1998). BridgeOfMadison Cauntry and YouCai tTake ItW ith Yau respectively translate into "Li Bridge Suicide dream" and "Floating life like dream", which profoundly reflect the unique artistic conception of Chinese culture.

3.3 The Principles of Movie Title Translation

Although the translation of film titles has its particularity, it is not distinct from the translation of other genres, but has something in common. In terms of its translation process and results, the author believes that it should be mainly reflected in the following two principles :1. Principle of Economic Benefit Liu Miqing (1999:49) pointed out that since the content contained in the original language is worthy of translation (i.e., it has social benefits), the conversion should be realized by the target language that is acceptable to the society, instead of being restricted by the readability of the original language. It is also said that social benefits are the yardstick by which the meaning of translation, the quality of translation and the value of translation are tested "(1999:48). He puts forward three principles, among which the readability principle of the target language plays a guiding role in title translation. When the readability of the source language is very good, it can convert all the formal meaning and stylistic meaning of the source language into the target language correspondingly..." (1999:49). In Hong Kong, for example, Saund ofMusic has been translated as "floating in the sky" and in Taiwan as "truth, goodness and beauty", which leaves the audience puzzled. Since then, the film has been widely accepted as "the sound of music" by Chinese mainland translators. 2. Principles of Cultural Characteristics Translation with cultural characteristics is considered to be one of the most difficult to translate. "As for culture-specific", translation theorist Baker(2000:21) said that the words of the target language may express a concept that is completely unknown to the culture of the target language, which may be abstract or concrete and may be related to religious beliefs, social customs or even certain things. This shows the difficulty of cultural translation. The film is the director's reflection of the real or virtual life, and the title that reflects the content of the film also naturally contains many cultural factors, making it difficult to translate. There are various ways to embody cultural connotation, such as cultural words and idioms. "FirstBbod", for example, is an idiom meaning "first to win a battle", but always translated as "the first drop of blood".

4.1 Literal Translation

literal translation - simple and clear, to the literal translation is carried out in accordance with the literal meaning to translation, translation is not to add or increase or decrease, achieve unity, so as to convey sincerity buy primitive thoughts, reflects the primitive expression of the style of work, even done xingshenjianbei, otherwise the translation will lose the essence of the original. Nowadays, more and more audiences like original films. Excellent film translations retain their own unique labels while promoting films. Although there is no gorgeous translation of words, they are insipid yet mysterious. For example, a film about psychology, Beautiful Mind, which the translator translated directly into "A Beautiful Mind", without adding any other elements, makes people have a calm and mysterious feeling towards this film. There is also a film about the Sniper in Iraq war, American Sniper, which the translator directly translated into American Sniper. When people see the title, they can clearly know what subject this film is about. There is no gorgeous language, but it goes straight to the theme without losing the original meaning.

4.2 Free Translation

Free translation -- in a similar situation, free translation with cultural characteristics is translated in accordance with the general idea of the original text, instead of word for word translation, which can be applied in the context of huge cultural differences between the original language and the target language. There is a classic work by Nicolas Cage called "Face Off". Some translators have translated it into "Face Off" or "Face Off". Both translations are free translation, not literal translation. The advantage of this is that it not only expresses the meaning of the English title, but also conveys the content of the film. When English films encounter Chinese culture, they need to be adjusted appropriately, so that the film name can quickly enter people's lives and let people quickly understand the general content of the film on the basis of highlighting the theme and with local cultural characteristics. Such as a movie starring Tom Hanks was called Catch Me If You Can, translation version did not directly translated into "If You Can Catch Me, but according to the four words idioms in Chinese habit and common cultural features translated into" cat and mouse game "or" free ", the two translation versions are make good use of the four words idioms, injected with Chinese cultural characteristics, and highlight the theme, let the people You'll never forget.

4.3 Transliteration

Transliteration means to translate according to the English pronunciation and find the corresponding Chinese words, which is more intuitive and lets people remember the name of the movie. Even if English is not well spoken, foreigners can still understand it through the corresponding Chinese translation, which promotes cultural exchange. Milk, for example, translates directly into Milk. There are Avatars, Juno and so on, which keep the original flavor of the original films.

4.4 Amplification and Omission

Amplification and provincial translation -- to highlight the features of the film and keep close to the theme, amplification or provincial translation refers to adding or reducing the corresponding information on the original basis to achieve the function of better information transmission, so as to make the name of the film more representative and play the role of advertising. So for example, the movie, instead of making it literally Interstellar, you make it into Interstellar, you make it into Interstellar, so that you have a better way of talking about what the movie is about. -Two. There's also How to Train Your Dragon. Instead of being translated into how to tame your dragon, the translator reduced it to How to Train Your Dragon.

4.5 Naturalization

Domestication method is adopted in the translation of English film titles to avoid literal translation, which would make the Chinese translation of film titles impossible for Chinese audiences to understand the theme and cultural connotation of the film. This translation strategy aims to make the translated title conform to the cultural psychology and aesthetic standards of Chinese audiences, adapt to the difficulty of public understanding, give the audience an intuitive and preliminary understanding of the film content, and stimulate their interest in watching the film. Cleopatra Cleopatra was the last queen of the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt, one of the first sovereigns of Alexander the Great after his conquest of Egypt. Legend has it that Cleopatra was beautiful and intelligent. She was close to Caesar and Antony, politically adept, involved in the politics of the end of the Roman Republic, ambitious, and a legendary Egyptian queen. There is no doubt that Cleopatra was a central figure in ancient Egypt, and her anecdotes about Her relationships with Caesar and Antony made her a famous figure in literature and art. This is the story of Cleopatra, the 52-year-old Caesar who came to Egypt as a Roman governor to settle a royal contest between Cleopatra, the Ptolemaic dynasty, and her half brother Ptolemy XIII. Cleopatra quickly conquered Caesar with her charm of courage and political skill, gaining control not only of the Ptolemies in Egypt, but of Rome as well. The son of Cleopatra and Caesar was made heir, but Antony and Octavian were not satisfied. After Caesar's assassination, Antony took over the REINS of Rome and was also conquered by Cleopatra. If the title of the English movie CLE-Opatra is literally translated into Chinese as Cleopatra, Chinese audiences who are not familiar with Egyptian history will lose interest in watching it. Compared with the literal translation of Cleopatra, the domestication strategy can be used to translate Cleopatra to achieve the commercial purpose of attracting audiences' interest, and at the same time, the audience can understand the theme of the film more intuitively, so as to achieve the purpose of promoting the cultural transmission.

4.2.6  Foreignization

In the translation of English film titles, foreignization should try to keep the expression habits and cultural characteristics of the original titles, bring the audience into the English language and culture, let the audience experience an unprecedented exotic amorous feelings, and maximize the dissemination of English language and culture.The Hollywood film Titanic tells the touching love story between rose, a rich girl, and Jack, a poor boy painter, when the luxury liner Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank. On April 15, 1912,Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, carrying more than 1,000 passengers and more than 800 crew members, bound for New York. But unfortunately it collided with an iceberg and sank. When the wreck was found on the bottom of the sea in 1985, there was a portrait of a teenage girl on the cabin wall, and Rose, who was 102 at the time, claimed to be the girl. The original Rose because her fiance Carl is a snob and do not want to marry him, when ready to throw himself into the sea, was Bohemian poor painter Jack save. Rose fell in love with jack, a cheerful character. As a witness of love, Jack drew a portrait for Rose. Not long after that, the ship hit an iceberg and began to sink. In the critical moment of life and death, Jack left the chance of life to Rose, he was frozen to death in the cold sea. In the translation of the film title, alienation strategy was adopted, literally translated as Titanic. This translation strategy was consistent with the understanding and acceptance level of Chinese audiences, loyal to the social and cultural life of English-speaking countries, and retained the form and content of the original English title to the greatest extent.

Chapter5 Conclusion

Film is a comprehensive art. The translation of film titles should not only follow certain principles and methods of translation, but also have rich cultural knowledge and solid language skills. The title translation is not a simple and mechanical arrangement. It needs to consider the similarities and differences between Eastern and Western cultures and the acceptability of translation according to the content of the film, so that it not only conveys the message of the film, but also is full of beauty. Therefore, translators should not only be familiar with the ways of language expression and conversion, but also have a profound cultural awareness. On the basis of in-depth understanding of the cultural information conveyed by the title, translators should understand the content and style of the film, try to understand the wording and try to accurately grasp the surface meaning and associative meaning of the source language and the target language. "I was a standup, I was at the tenth month of October", I translated the title of the film with a rigorous attitude, and only by carving and chiselling can I achieve a classic translation that enjoys universal popularity.

A Study on Movie Titles Translation from the Perspective of Skopos Theory 罗雨晴 Luo Yuqing

罗雨晴 Luo Yuqing No.202070080601

Abstract

With the continuous advancement of globalization, more and more foreign films are introduced into China continuously. China's film market is huge and Watching films has become a popular way of entertainment for Chinese. Various kinds of films emerge in endlessly so that film titles are particularly important. The film title is the eye of the film, the highlight and essence of a film. A good film title can successfully attract people's attention, stimulate the desire to watch, and bring them into the cinema, which is the purpose of English film title translation. From the perspective of Skopos Theory, this paper will analyze the characteristics and functions of film titles, all kinds of existing translations, and puts forward some translation methods of English film titles, hoping to be helpful to the translation of film title translation.

Key words

 English film title translation; Skopos Theory; translation methods

摘要

随着全球化进程的不断推进，越来越多的外国电影源源不断地涌入中国，中国电影市场巨大，看电影已成为一种广受欢迎的娱乐消遣方式，各种电影层出不穷，因此电影片名就显得尤为的重要。电影片名是电影的眼睛，是一部电影的亮点与精华所在。一个好的电影名可以成功吸引人的眼球，激发大众观看欲望，将大众带入电影院。而英语电影片名的翻译目的就在此。本文主要将从目的论的视角出发，分析电影片名的特点与作用，对各种现有译名的进行分析，就此提出一些英文电影片名的翻译方法，希望能对电影片名的翻译工作有所帮助。

关键词

英语电影片名翻译； 目的论; 翻译方法

Chapter1 Introduction

A film is like a book with pictures and sound. When reading books, we will imagine the scenes described in the books, while words in book will be presented in the form of images and sound in film. Most of films last about two hours. In these two hours, we can get in touch with something we are not familiar with in a relaxed way. Film brings us a variety of visual, auditory and other sensory pleasure. It is not only a way of entertainment, but also an important medium to spread culture. With the rapid development of economy, people pay more and more attention to the quality of life and cultural exchanges between different countries are closer than before. A large number of foreign films are pouring into China, trying to get a share of the Chinese market. Although there are close cultural exchanges, there are still cultural differences between China and the West. Therefore, the translation of film titles after the introduction of foreign films into China is very important. Although the translation of film titles seems to be a small project, it is not so easy to translate them well and to the point to let people can't wait to see the whole film. It is self-evident that the film title is the essence of a film. It not good enough to accurately summarizes the contents of the film, to attract the audience. The quality of the film title directly affects its dissemination in China, and its importance is self-evident.

This paper proposes a Skopos Theory approach to the translation of film titles. The ultimate goal of film title translation is to attract attention as much as possible on the premise of accurately conveying the content of the film. Skopos Theory can provide a reasonable explanation for those film titles that are not translated according to the traditional translation theory. The Skopos Theory put forward by Hans Vermeer is the core theory of functional translation theory. Compared with some previous translation theories, this theory has some breakthroughs. The purpose of translation carries through the whole process of translation, and the purpose determining method is its biggest feature, which gives the translator a lot of space to adopt the translation method that he thinks is suitable.

This thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter one serves as an introduction, presenting the importance of the translation of English film title translation, the adaptability of the Skopos Theory and the structure of the thesis.Chapter two is a general analysis of English film title translation, including film genres and features and functions of English film title translation. Chapter three is a general introduction of Skopos Theory, consisting of its development, concept and three basic principle. Chapter four analyzes the existing film title translation from the perspective of Skopos Theory, and comes to the methods of film title translation. Chapter five draws a conclusion finally.

Chapter2 A General Introduction of English Film Title

2.1 Film Genres

According to He Ying in her article "Theory and Method Guiding Film Title Translation", films are normally divided into three categories: science and educational film, documentary film, and feature film. Educational film spread scientific and technological knowledge. (He Ying 2001, 57)Documentary film is a kind of film or TV art form that takes real life as the creation material, takes real people as the object of expression, and processes and displays it artistically. It takes showing the truth as the essence and arouses people's thinking with reality. Feature film is a kind of film work which uses image and sound as means to narrate. Any film which is played by actors, has a certain plot and expresses a certain theme can be called a feature film. Feature films are often more easily accepted by all and have a large audience,so that this thesis confines its tentative study to the titles and the corresponding translations of English feature films. As for feature films, Tim Dirks categorized the main genres such as action films, adventure films comedy films, crime&gangster films, drama films, epics or historical films, horror films, musical (dance）films, science fiction films, war (anti-war) films, and Westerns. Actually, a genre is always a vague term with no fixed boundaries and the referred types may overlap each other. Genres can be combined to form hybrid genres, (Tim Dirks,2003) such as Inglourious Basterds 《无耻混蛋》 which melts the genre of action and war，so does Saving Private Ryan《拯救大兵瑞恩》.

2.2 Features of English Film Title

2.2.1 Linguistic Features

Foreign film titles are usually translated into Chinese with four characters and The translated titles are usually concise. It is not convenient for the audience to grasp the key points when they meet with long title and a short title can also contain many meanings. With the fierce competition in the film market, most of the audience just want to relax so that they prefer to watch films with accurate and concise expression of film titles. In addition, the use of four characters may be related to Chinese language habits that there are four character idioms in China. For example, Transformers 《变形金刚》, Captain America《美国队长》, Escape Plan 《金蝉脱壳》, The Hunger Games 《饥饿游戏》, Once Upon a Time in America《美国往事》.The translated titles of these foreign films are very concise and to the point, and the emphasis is on simplicity. They use vivid words to arouse the audience's interest. For example, the film Escape Plan is literally translated into Chinese as《金蝉脱壳》. The translator combines a Chinese idiom, golden cicada out of shell, which comes from the Xie Tianxiang written by Guan Hanqing. This idiom means when a cicada turns into an adult, one should take off a layer of shell, which draws an metaphor between people and cicada. (Baidu Encyclopaedia, golden cicada out of shell）And the film is about a prison designer who is locked into a high-pressure prison designed by himself and is ready to escape with other accomplices. The meaning the film and the idiom want to express is just the same, and the translated title is more vivid.

2.2.2 Aesthetic Features

In fact, the translation of film titles is also a kind of literature. When foreign films are introduced into China, the translation of translated titles is equivalent to giving the film a life again. film titles can also be appreciated as the paintings do. The aesthetic translation of film titles will create a kind of artistic conception with a strong artistic quality. The translator will use a lot of rhetorical devices, such as metaphor, contrast, repetition, contradiction, exaggeration, parody, symbol and so on. Take film Hilary and Jackie《她比烟花寂寞》 for example, the film mainly shows us a cello genius Jacqueline dupley's brilliant and extremely short life like fireworks, which reflects the extreme gorgeous beauty, the loneliness behind the streamer. The word "fireworks" is used symbolically. At first, some people may think this translation is kind of affected, but in fact it is quite consistent with this film’s content and touching. There are other wonderful examples, such as The Hours《时时刻刻》, Sommersby《似是故人来》, The Shape of Water《水形物语》, Flipped《怦然心动》, The Bridges of Madison County《廊桥遗梦》, which are fabulous.

2.2.3 Commercial Features

Whether the translation of the film is concise or aesthetic, it is aim to attract the public to buy tickets. Film is the combination of art and commerce. A cinema film will not only express art or just for commercial purposes, It better to say that commercial films may pay more attention to box office, while literary and artistic films will pay more attention to artistic expression. A film is the painstaking efforts of all the workers. If no one appreciates it, it would be a pity. Therefore, attraction is indispensable in the translation of film titles. For example, there are some animated feature films made by Pixar. Finding Nemo《海底总动员》,Toy Story《玩具总动员》,The Incredibles《超人总动员》,Cars《汽车总动员》. They all used the form《XX总动员》,which is a manifestation of business characteristics. Toy story, as an animated film, created a box office miracle and had a wide influence in China. Naturally, the audience was deeply impressed by this translation. Therefore, considering its popularity and attractiveness, the distributor will try to translate similar cartoons in this way. However, with more and more such translated titles, the public has already experienced aesthetic fatigue. This kind of translation may lose its original function, so it will be replaced by other translations later.

2.3 Functions of English Film Title

2.3.1 Informative Function

The informative function is the basic function that any film title should possess.representative of a film, it is agreed that the film title should be of high-information value. A title without any informative value can be said meaningless.to enable the audience to get a thorough understanding of the film content. According to Newmark, the core of the informative function of language is external situation, the facts of a topic, reality outside language, including reported ideas or theories. (Newmark 2001, 40)In this thesis, the interpretation of the informative function is two-fold. A film tile should highly summarize the content of a film, which conveys a lot of information, such as the genre of film. Many film viewers tend to watch a certain type of film. When she chooses which film to watch in the cinema, the translation title of the film plays a very important role, such as Triangle 《恐怖游轮》,a psychological suspense film. The heroine experiences repeated asmsaras interacted with each other. The film shows the same people appearing in the same place and even chasing each other, which provides a variety of understanding for the play. The director said that the film has three endings, but they all lead to the same end point, that is, the final scene of the car accident, leaving Melissa in this endless cycle. The original translation is triangle in Chinese, which is actually about the closed reincarnation of a triangle. It can be said that the translation does not fully grasp the inner essence of the film. By contrast, 《迷失三角洲》 expresses this film’s theme more accurately, but the title 《恐怖游轮》 is more attractive. It makes the genre of the film more easy to get to. People will know that it is a thriller and suspense film at the sight of the title. Film title can not only let the audience know the type of the film, but also let the audience quickly know the relevant information of the film, such as time, place, character, what’s going on with characters. For example, Rise of the Planet of the Apes《猩球崛起》，from the title , we can know that the film is telling stories about orangutans. 12 Angry Men《十二怒汉》, this title tells us that the main characters of the story are twelve men. Homeless to Harvard: the Liz Murray story 《风雨哈佛路》，this title let us know know that it tells the story of the protagonist's struggle at Harvard. Sleepless in Seattle《西雅图夜未眠》, and from this title, we are ware of that the location of the story is mainly in Seattle.

2.3.2 Aesthetic Function

Peter Newmark once wrote: This is the language designed to please the senses, firstly through its actual or imagined sound and secondly through its metaphors. The rhythm, balance and contrasts of sentences, clauses and words also play their part. Their sound-effects consist of onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, rhythm, meter, intonation, stress (Newmark 2001, 42). These rhetorical devices make the form of film title diverse, rich in connotation, expand the meaning of the film space, enhance the aesthetic effect. Chinese and English are two different languages. Chinese pays attention to refining words, which is very consistent with the requirements of film title translation.Word refining pays attention to vivid, using language to render an atmosphere or artistic conception, and transmit this feeling to the Chinese audience.如The Remains of the Day《长日将尽》 This film is adapted from the novel of the same title British novelist of Japanese origin Kazuo Ishiguro, the film is an elegy about the decline of the aristocracy in the British Empire. The protagonist of the story recalls his life in the form of a diary. The most important thing is the relationship between him and his former colleague, the housekeeper Miss Ken Dunn. He was a loyal housekeeper in the noble family. He saw the vicissitudes of prosperity and tried to perfect his work. However, he always suppressed his feelings and saw miss Kendeng, who was waiting for no result, to marry away from home. This translation has successfully created a melancholy atmosphere. What’s more, a carefully designed film title can well perform the aesthetic function, creating such beauty as phonetic beauty and imaginational beauty. For example, Breathe《一呼一吸》, this translation sounds rhythmic, if we just translate it into 《呼吸》，then it will lose the beauty of sound, in addition, four characters looks more neat visually. And there are other wonderful examples, such as Like Sunday, Like Rain《如晴天，似雨天》, The Words《妙笔生花》.

2.3.3 Vocative Function

A film title can show the audience with the relevant information about the film, and it can create an imaginative atmosphere for the audience and entertain them aesthetically. However, its vocative function is more important. That is to call upon the audience to buy tickets. According to Newmark, "the core of the vocative function of language is the readership, the addressee"(Newmark 2001, 41). According to Wei Jianhua, when the definition is applied to film titles, the addressees here refer to audiences. The vocative function of film titles is to draw the attention of audiences, make them psychologically interested and buy tickets. (Wei Jianhua2008, 121-122) Both informative and aesthetic functions serve the vocative function, since the prime and ultimate aim of film production is to win the hearts of audiences and be financially rewarded. Few titles are purely informative aesthetic or vocative. The three major functions are often integrated, with emphasis on one of them. Some translations of film titles are very eye-catching, such as Frozen《冰雪奇缘》, if it is translated literally, it will become 《冰冻》, which is not vivid at all. However, 《冰雪奇缘》is full of sense of fairy tale, which gives people a lively and wonderful feeling, that is, realizes the value of information transmission, and also improves the publicity effect of the film. There are far more examples, such as Man on Fire《怒火救援》, The Bourne Identity《谍影重重》, The Matrix 《黑客帝国》, V for Vendetta《V字仇杀队》.

Chapter3 A General Introduction of Skopos Theory

3.1 The Development of Skopos Theory

Skopos Theory, originally written as Skopostheorie in German, is a major translation approach of German Functionalist School. "Skopos" means “ purpose ”or “ goal ” in Greek. “The 1970s and 1980s saw a move away from the static linguistic typologies of translation shifts and the emergence and flourishing in Germany of a functionalist and communicative to the analysis of translation (Munday 2016, 73) .” The Skopos Theory is one of the achievements of its development and the most important one.The development of the Skopos Theory experienced following four stages. Firstly,in the book “ Possibility and Limitations in Translation Criticism” , Katherine Rice first proposed functional translation theory. She believes that translators should put functional features first rather than information equivalence. Secondly, Hans Vermeer, a student of Reiss, broke away from the equivalence-based theories and set up the theoretical framework for "Functional School": Skopos Theory. situation". In the framework of Vermeer's theory, every translation is directed at an intended audience, since to translate means “ to produce a text in a target setting for a target purpose and target addressees in target circumstances” (Vermeer 1987, 29). Thirdly, On the basic of Vermeer's research, Justa Holz Manttari further developed the functional theory. “ Manttari's theory is based on the principles of action theory and is cover all forms of intercultural transfer ” (Nord1991, 12-13). “ Manttari places special emphasis on the action aspect of the translation process, analyzing the roles of the participants (initiator, translator, user and message receiver) and the situational conditions (time, place and medium) in which their activities take place ” (Nord 1991, 13). Skopos Theory views translation as a complex activity intended to realize a specific purpose. Fourthly，Christina Nord summed up and perfected the theory of functionalism. She systematically expounds in English the internal and external factors to be considered in text analysis in translation and how to formulate translation strategies suitable for translation purposes on the basis of the functions of the original text. Christina Nord sorts out the functionalist theories and proposes that translators should follow the guiding principle of “ Function Plus Loyalty ” , thus perfecting the theory.

3.2 Three Basic Rules of Skopos Theory

The top-ranking rule for any translation is thus the “ skopos rule”, what Reiss and Vermeer described as “ the end justifies the means ” (Reiss &Vermeer1984, 101). There are three possible kinds of purposes in the field of translation: (1) the translator's general purpose in the translation process (perhaps to earn a living); (2) the communicative purpose aimed at by the target text in the target situation (perhaps to instruct the reader); (3) the purpose aimed at by a particular translation strategy or procedure (for example, to translate literally in order to show the structural particularities of the source language). (Baidu Encyclopaedia , Skopos Theory)The skopos rule is summed up by Vermeer as “ the end justifies the means ”. He explains the skopos rule in the following way: Each text is produced.for a given purpose and should serve this purpose. The rule thus reads as follows: translate/ interpret/ speak/ write in a way that enables your text/translation to. function in the situation in which it is used and with the people who want to use it and precisely in the way they want it to function.(Nord 2001, 29) Another important rule of Skopos Theory is the coherence rule, which means that "a translation should be acceptable in a sense that it is coherent with the receivers situation". Focusing on the target readership and target culture, functionalists regard intra-textual coherence than inter-textual coherence, just as Nord put it, "inter-textual coherence is considered subordinate to intra-textual coherence, and both are subordinated to the skopos rule. The third rule of Skopos Theory is fidelity rule. Fidelity rule means that there should be inter -textual coherence between the original text and the target text. This is equivalent to the so-called faithfulness to the original text in other translation theories, but the degree and form of faithfulness to the original text depends on the purpose of the translation and the translator's understanding of the original text.

3.3 Function Plus Loyalty

As mentioned above, the primary rule in Skopos Theory is the skopos rule, which defines that the translators can make changes of the word, style or form of the source text in the accordance with translation purpose. While the inter-textual coherence rule holds that the translated version should be loya1 to the source text. However, when the aim of the author is contrary to the aim of the translator, the inter-textual coherence rule should be abide by the skopos rule. As a result, there may appear the situation that there is no restriction for the change of source text. In order to improve the functionalism studies, Nord proposes the loyalty rule, which insists that the translator should be loyal to the author and audience: “ The audiences have the right to know what the translator has done for the original text and what kind of work produced by the translator. Translators cannot simply translate in a non-literal way without telling the target audience what they have done and why (Nord 2001, 125) ”. Function refers to the factors that make a target text work in the intended way in the target situation. Loyalty refers to the interpersonal relationship between the translator, the source-text sender, the target-text addressees and the initiator. Loyalty limits the range of justifiable target-text functions for one particular source text and raises the need for a negotiation of the translation assignment between translators and their clients. All in all, This theory enriched Vermeer’s Skopos Theory, avoids sour-text sovereign and perfects radical functionalist.

Chapter4 The Application of Skopos Theory in Film Title Translation

4.1 Skopos Theory's Guiding Role in English Film Title Translation

A careful look at theory may show that it is significant in that it is different from traditional theories. It helps to free translators from the bondage of traditional theories by providing them a new way of thinking, broadens the scope of translation studies by increasing the range of possible translation strategies, and establishes a profound foundation, helping people to penetrate deeper into cultural and translation phenomena.Traditional translation theories tend to classify the translation of film titles into general literature translation. Equivalence theory plays an important role in traditional translation theories. However, the author believes that it is difficult to achieve the commercial effect required by the film title simply by emphasizing the equivalence between the original text and the translation. Therefore, it will be more appropriate to regard it as an advertisement translation. Since it is an advertisement translation, of course, the first thing to emphasize is the publicity effect. （Zheng Yuqi & Wang Xiaodong，2006）For example, the Chinese translation of film titles is to make the Chinese translation attract the interest of Chinese readers in the Chinese market. In this way, Skopos Theory naturally plays a guiding role. Therefore, the first rule of Skopos Theory is skopos rule. The translation of film titles emphasizes the commercial nature, that is to say, it should be attractive enough. Therefore, we should not stay in the translation itself when translating film titles. The traditional equivalent translation theory can not be fully applied to the translation of film titles, so more effective translation theories are needed to guide it. Therefore, it has to be associated with the German functionalist translation theory with Skopos as its core. The most direct purpose of film title translation is the transmission of information. A good translation can highlight the content of the original film and make the audience better understand the theme information expressed and transmitted by the original film.If the translator could not produce a satisfactory version only on the base of the original title, he should consult the plot of the film. Let's look at an example in order to make this point clear. The film Thelma and Louise,Louise is a waitress in a cafe. She is busy all day and wants to travel. Her good friend Selma has been unhappy since she married a car salesman Daryl. She stayed at home all day, lonely and bored. One weekend, Persuaded by Louise again and again, she agreed to go on a pleasant trip with her. They parked their car in a bar in Arkansas for the night. The bar is full of young customers. The drunken Harun took a fancy to Selma and asked her to dance. Selma didn't listen to Louise's advice. She danced and drank with Harlan, and was taken outside to the parking lot. Harlan tried to harass her. After being rejected, Harun becomes violent and tries to force Selma to submit to him with violence. Louise came to the parking lot, found Selma in a critical condition, took out the pistol that Selma had brought in the luggage bag, and forced Harlem to let Selma go. Harlan began to curse and insult them. In his anger, Louis shot and killed him. In a flash, the two female partners on a vacation journey, embarked on a journey of despair that can not be turned back.In the Grand Canyon, Selma and Louise are determined to fight to the end and never give in. They smile and clasp hands,driving towards the cliff. Actually, this film mainly describe what happened to this two women and their growth process.Thelma and Louise, When translated into《末路狂花》, the audience can predict the stimulating effect that the film wants to express and convey the message of the film. If translated literally into 《塞尔玛与露易斯》, it will inevitably make people confused, unable to grasp the main meaning of the film, only two names can be known. Therefore, Skopos Theory plays an important role in the translation of film titles. There are many examples, Erin Brockovich 《永不妥协》, Fast & Furious《速度与激情》 Blade Runner《银翼杀手》, Lord of Ring 《魔戒》, Inception《盗梦空间》,Top Gun《壮志凌云》, These titles are not only translated from the source language into the target language, but also for the purpose of film sales, taking into account the information, aesthetic and other factors to form an attractive translation.

4.2 Methods for Film Title Translation

4.2.1Transliteration

Transliteration means to seek phonetic correspondence in terms of the translation to describe the English syllables through the corresponding Chinese characters carrying similar sounds. It relates to the conversion of different alphabets in different language system. Transliteration is usually applied this situations, when they are the name of persons and places and historical events. This method is often adopted in the film title translation because it has the obviously features in keeping the phonetic fluency of original film titles which express its strong exoticism, which can arouse the audience's curiosity to see the film. With the development of global communication, people become more and more interested in knowing other country’s culture, this method is becoming increasingly popular. For example，Jane Eyre 《简爱》，Dunkirk《敦刻尔克》，Hamlet《哈姆雷特》, Emma《爱玛》, Mulan《木兰花》, Brooklyn《布鲁克林》,Manhattan《曼哈顿》.Transliteration can enable the target audience to know more about the original history and culture. On the contrary, if they are translated in other ways, the viewers may take it as an ordinary film and may feel no interest in it, which will in turn do great harm to the box-office value of the film. However, this does not mean that transliteration should be adopted for any title which can be transliterated. If the original title can only provide little information and the audience can only contact with a foreign word, then transliteration can not achieve the effect that translation of film title should have.

4.2.2 Literal Translation

Functionalism does not exclude equivalence so long as it is adequate to "a Skopos that requires that the target text serve the same communicative function or functions as the source text."（Nord 2004, 36). The merits of this method lie in its fidelity to the original meaning and cultural flavor of the original.The original title of many films is a high generalization of the content of the film, which can better realize its information function, aesthetic function and market function. It is necessary to be faithful to the theoretical basis of the original text. At this time, the literal translation of the title often inherits the simplicity and clarity of the original title, with large amount of information and easy to arouse the audience's curiosity. In the process of actual translation, the degree of overlap between Chinese and English in many film titles is astonishing, which can almost achieve word-for-word translation. For example, Blue Valentine《蓝色情人节》,Eat Pray Love《美食、祈祷和恋爱》,Darkest Hour《至暗时刻》,Hideen Figures《隐藏人物》, Primal Fear《一级恐惧》, Four Wedding and a Funeral《四个婚礼和一个葬礼》, Pearl Harbor《珍珠港》, Atonement《赎罪》, Leap Year《闰年》, Detachment《超脱》. Besides, there are other way to use this method by changing the parts of the speech or adjusting the word order, for example, 10 Things I Hate About You《我恨你的十件事》12 Years a Slave《为奴十二年》, Life as We Know It《我们所知道的生活》,to make it more specific, I will use this example A Star Is Born《一个明星的诞生》，in the original title, the “born” is a verb, but when it is translated in to the Chinese title, the verb is changed into a noun to make this title look more balance. And in this example,The Boy in the Striped Pajamas《穿条纹睡衣的男孩》, the translator changed the original order to cater to the grammar of Chinese . What’s more, sometimes, the article like a or the will be deleted when translated into Chinese because it is not so important to viewer to catch the information about a certain film in some circumstances and by doing this, the title will look more concise, such as The Imitation Game《模仿游戏》, A Beautiful Mind 《美丽心灵》, A Perfect World《完美的世界》, The Social Network 《社交网络》.

4.2.3 Liberal Translation

Any translator with common sense of translation will not expect to find equivalent expressions in the target language all the time. Given this, translators may often adopt free translation. Free translation is an alternative approach that is used mainly to convey the meaning and the spirit of the original title without sticking to the form. (Feng qinhua2000, 36-44) Liberal translation preserve the content of the original title as much as possible at the cost of changing the form of the film title. In the specific operation, translators often use some techniques, such as addition, conversion and extension in particular so as to deeply convey the content of the original film and enhance the appeal of the title.（He Ying 2001, 57） A List of examples belong to this group, such as Coherence《彗星来的那一夜》, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty《白日梦想家》, Welcome《非法入境》, Agro《逃离德黑兰》, Silver Linings Playbook《乌云背后的幸福线》, A Lot Like Love《相见恨早》, If Only《爱再来一次》, Temple Grandin《自闭历程》, La La Land 《爱乐之城》,Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind《暖暖内含光》,Hacksaw Ridge《血战钢锯岭》.

4.2.4Combination of Transliteration and Literal Translation

In addition to literal translation and transliteration, there is another way, that is, to combine literal translation and transliteration. This method is usually applicable to the original title containing the name of a person or place. Of course, this is not a perfunctory translation method, the title can still summarize the information of the whole film after being translated. For example, Becoming Jane《成为简奥斯丁》, The Life of David Gale《大卫·戈尔的一生》, Manchester by the Sea《海边的曼彻斯特》, Notting Hill 《诺丁山》, A Rainy Day in New York《纽约的一个雨天》, Maid in Manhattan《曼哈顿女佣》,Citizen Kane《公民凯恩》, The Shawshank Redemption 《肖申克的救赎》, Schindler’List《辛德勒的名单》.

4.2.5 Combination of Literal Translation and Liberal Translation

The combination of literal translation and liberal translation can be faithful to the original text to the greatest extent and attract the audience. Due to various reasons, the original titles of some English films only realize the information function of translated titles. In order to realize the various functions of translation, the translator sometimes retains the reasonable part of the original name, and then combines the need of the audience to complete the relevant information as far as possible. (He Aixiang2020, 103-107) There are some examples, such as Wonder《奇迹男孩》, Whiplash《爆裂鼓手》, Sully《萨利机长》, I, Tonya《我，花样女王》, Love Actually《真爱至上》, Changeling《换子疑云》, The Bucket List《遗愿清单》, Before Sunrise《爱在黎明破晓前》, Before Sunset《爱在日落黄昏时》, Before Midnight《爱在午夜降临前》, The Martian 《火星救援》.

4.2.6 Re-creative Translation

As mentioned above, re-creative translation is the last resort so far as the translation of English film titles is concerned. Sometimes, some titles are obscure and neither nor fowl after translation while others are very ordinary without attraction and this method aims not only transferring the informative value, but also reproducing the aesthetic and appellative value of the film. (Ma Yuanyuan 2010, 28-29)The following are good examples, such as North Country《永不让步》, Rudy《追梦赤子心》, Definitely，Maybe《爱情三选一》, Up《飞屋环游记》, Coco《寻梦环游记》.

Chapter5 Conclusion

This paper studies the translation of film titles from the perspective of Skopos Theory. Firstly, it analyzes the genres of films, the characteristics and functions of film titles translation. Secondly, it mainly introduces the development and rules of Skopos Theory. Finally, it analyzes the translation of film names under the Skopos Theory and puts forward some translation methods of film titles. Skopos Theory holds that the skopos rule is the primary rule, therefore, when translating film titles, translators have more initiative and they can use more diversified methods, which makes the film titles more commercial. However, there are still many shortcomings in this paper. For example, when analyzing the characteristics and functions of film titles, the aspect of cultural exchange is not taken into account. In the final translation method part, the summary is not in place, and the proposed method is not novel enough. I hope that in the further study, I can put forward a more applicable model of film title translation, and the last point is the lack of film data, the main purpose of film title translation is to attract more audience to buy tickets. If I can analyze the data of box office well, I can further evaluate whether the purpose of film title translation has been achieved. This paper is only limited to the author's understanding of the translation, thus some conclusions and analysis are still not profound enough. The author hopes that there will be more research results in the future, which can provide more abundant theories and methods to guide the translation of film titles.

References

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Translation of Cultural Words

Translation of Culture-Loaded Words in Li Qingzhao's Ci-Poetry Based on Scopos Theory 周思庆 Zhou Siqing

周思庆 Zhou Siqing 202020080673

Abstract

This paper attempts to illustrate the influence of Skopos theory on translation strategies and the influence of translation strategies on translation effect by analyzing the different translations of culture-loaded words in Li Qingzhao’s Ci-Poetry based on Scopos Theory according to Nida’s classification of culture-loaded words. This research is of great significance to refresh blood into the study of Li Qingzhao’s Ci Poems and promote excellent Chinese traditional culture to go abroad.

Key word

culture-loaded word, Li Qingzhao, Scopos Theory

题目

从目的论看李清照词中的文化负载词英译

摘要

本文主要以目的论为指导，以奈达对文化负载词的分类为依据，从对不同英译版本的李清照词中文化负载词的翻译进行分析，说明目的论对翻译策略的影响以及翻译策略对译文效果的影响，旨在为李清照词的英译研究注入新鲜血液，推动中国优秀传统文化走向世界。

关键词

文化负载词， 李清照， 目的论

Introduction

Li Qingzhao, is the representative of the graceful and restrained school well-known for her elegant, fresh and refined language as well as rich and vivid images. Her poetry is an unparalleled cultural treasure in the history of Chinese literature. Culture-loaded words are those words rich in cultural connotations.(Fu Guiying, 2013：3) Nida divided culture-loaded words into five categories, namely ecological, material, social, religious and linguistic culture-loaded words.(Nida, Eugene A, 1993:25) As the representative of the “German school”, Hans J. Vermeer proposed the Scopos Theory and continued the functionalist tradition. Analyzing the culture-loaded words in different translations of Li Qingzhao's Ci Poems according to Scopos theory is conducive for the readers to grasp the elegant style of Li Qingzhao's, to figure out the proper translation strategies, and to encourage more creation of excellent translation works.(Reiss and Vermeer, 1984:196)

Chapter 1 Introduction of Li Qingzhao and her Ci-Poetry

1.1 Brief introduction of Li Qingzhao

Li Qingzhao, a well-known poetess in Song Dynasty, is the only woman who is generally compared with the most outstanding poets. As a female writer, she suffered a lot in that unstable age full of oppression and discrimination, but still kept a resolute and resistant attitude toward life no matter how much turns and twists in the process of struggle. Li Qingzhao was born in a rich and cultured family in 1083. Thanks to her father Li Gefei, the Minister of Rites, and her well-educated mother, she had a peaceful and favorable circumstance in her childhood and received a good education, which paved the path for her literary career. Unlike most ignorant women in that age, she had great talent in many aspects, such as painting and music, especially writing. She was a versatile writer whose Ci Poems and prose are both excellent. Her contribution in literature earned great fame for herself.(Fu Guiying, 2013：3)

She married to Zhao Mingcheng, the son of a vice-president of the Board of Rides when she was eighteen years old. The marriage life was happy and idyllic in the early years. They collected and appreciated rare books, paintings and antiques together. However, their peaceful and harmonious life was ruined by the invasion of the Jurchens in 1127. They were forced to fled to the southern areas and separated with each other. The bulk of precious collections, including the ancient paintings, vessels, and books, lost during the fugitive way. Her husband was dispatched to a new official post in Zhe Jiang province and died on the way. Since then, Li Qingzhao lived lonely and homelessly in endless sorrow. The miserable and painful life experience didn't destroy her poetry proposition but deepened the theme of her literary works. The concern for the fate of the masses and country showed her great integrity and patriotic passion.(Fu Guiying, 2013：3)

1.2 Development and characteristics of Li Qingzhao's Ci-Poetry

As a literary form, Song Ci, also called Ci Poems or long-short lines, emerged in Tang Dynasty and popularized in Song Dynasty. Ci Poems revolved from a kind of folk music used for expressing the emotions through its original melody. Li Qingzhao is regarded as the representative of the graceful and restrained party. Generally, Li Qingzhao's proposition of Ci Poems can be divided into two periods according to the critical historical events in Song Dynasty and her personal life experience. The former period works most depicted her delightful life as a young girl. The theme includes the praise of nature and beauty, her pure love to her husband, and the memories of the innocent childhood, such as Rumengling( 如 梦 令 ), Dian Jiangchun( 点 绛 唇 ), Jianzimulanhua( 减 字 木 兰 花 ) ， Cai Sangzi( 采 桑 子 ), Zuihuayin(醉花阴), Yijianmei(一剪梅) and so on. As for the latter period, her works changed dramatically because of the downfall of the Northern Song Dynasty as well as the death of her husband. The theme of her poems turned to homesickness, the grief for the instability of the nation and the melancholy meditation of the miserable life. She transmitted her feelings in the images implicitly rather than cry out her sorrow directly. The poems written in this period include Spring in Wulin(武陵春), Shengshengman(声声慢), Yongyule(永遇乐) and so on.(Fu Guiying, 2013：4)

To conclude, her elegant and pure language and sensitive emotion were demonstrated in both of her literary period. Her Ci Poems are full of accurate and vivid images, leaving the readers a wide imagery space. No other poetess in Song Dynasty can replace her position in the Chinese history of literature.(Fu Guiying, 2013：4)

Chapter 2 Introduction of Scopos theory

2.1 Historical development of Scopos theory

Functional approaches emerged in 1970s and developed through three stages: (1)Katharina Reiss introduced the functional category of translation criticism; (2) Hans J. Vermeer proposed Scopos theory; (3) Justa Holz-Manttari put forward the theory of translation action.(Zhang Chenxiang, 2007:32)

In the first stage, Katharina Reiss proposed the text function and translation strategy, which paves the way for the Scopos theory. The theory foundation of Reiss’s theory is the functional equivalence theory, which aims to establish a model of translation criticicm based on the functional relationship between source text and target text (Zhang Chenxiang, 2007:32). Katharina Reiss divided text into three categories: expressive text, informative text and vocative text. The proposal of functional translation theory signifies that translation study gradually get rid of static linguistic typologies.(Zhang Chenxiang, 2007:32)

In the second stage, Hans J. Vermeer established the initial theory of functional group, Scopos theory, further developing the functional translation theory. He pointed out that translation is a human activity and a kind of transformation. Every human activity has its purpose and will create certain consequence , a new situation or event or a new thing (Zhang Chenxiang, 2007:34). This is the origin of Scopos theory. Reiss mentioned that, “the source text can be assigned to a text type and a genre, and in making this assignment, the transoat0r can decide on the hierarchy of postulates which has to be observed during target-text production”. Vermeer thinks that translators needn’t be restrained to certain translation method, instead, the translators should consider the purpose of translation and the psychology of the target audience and use the translation strategies flexibly. In the process of translation, the translator can adapt literal translation or free translation according to the situation to make sure the expected effect can be realized. (Reiss and Vermeer, 1984:196)

In the third stage, Justa Holz-Manttari developed Vermeer’s theory and proposed the theory of translation action 1n 1984. She avoid using the term “translation” and focus on the process of translation which concludes traditional translation and other text building activity. In Holz-Manttari’s model, translation is defined in a broader sense as “a complex action designed to achieve a particular purpose”, or an intercultural communication whose product is the target text which achieves appropriate function in a particular cultural context. According to the functional approach, all participants have certain functions or roles in the interaction. The TT addressees are crucial in specification of the purposes of translation(Nord, 2001:20).

2.2 Basic rules of Scopos theory

In the Scopos theory, there are three basic rules, namely skopos theory, coherence rule and fidelity rule. Among the three rules, scopos rule is the most significant one. “Each text is produced for a given purpose and should serve this purpose. The skopos rule thus reads as follows: translate/interpret/speak/write in a way that enables your text/translation to function in the situation in which it is used and with the people who want to use it and precissely in the way they want it to function.” This rule can help solve the contradiction between literal translation and free translation. It means that the choosing of translation strategies depends on translation purpose. When the scopos focuses on the original language, as long as the features of the original culture is well expressed, literal translation or even word for word translation can be adopted.(Reiss and Vermeer, 1984: 98)

The coherence rule is also named intra-textual coherence by functionalists. It requires that the translated text should make sense on the communicative situation in which it is received. It specifies that a translation should be acceptable in a sense that it is coherent with the receivers’ situation (Reiss and Vermeer, 1984: 100) Being coherent means being “part of the receiver’s situation”, so the cultural aspects should be taken into consideration. Besides, the target readers’ culture-specific world-knowledge, expectations and communicative needs are also important factors which may affect the way of handing a text, translators ought analyze these factors carefully. (Li Zhao, 2011:24)

Since the source text is the offer of information , it should also be taken into account. Fidelity rule is also named “intertextual coherence”. This coherence balance the source text and the target text and the form and degree of such intertextual coherence are determined by the translator’s interpretation of the source text and the translation skopos. However, intertextual coherence is subordinate to intra-textual, and both of the two are subordinate to the skopos rule.(Li Zhao, 2011:28)

Chapter 3 Introduction of culture-loaded words

3.1 Definition of culture-loaded words

Since Bassnett and Lefervere put forward the concept of “cultural turn” in 1990, the interaction between translation and culture has been drawn more attention. During the five thousand years’ civilization, China has accumulated its unique culture due to the unique geographical locations, living environments, historical background, etc. Many scholars has made different definitions to cultural loaded words. J. F Aixel gives these words another name “cultural-specific items” and defined them as: “some items appearing in the source text do not have equivalent items in the target reader’s cultural systems” (J. F Aixel, 1996:58). Later, Mona Baker defined culture-loaded words as: “The source-language word may express a concept which is totally unknown in the target culture. The concept in question may be abstract or concrete; it may relate to a religious belief, a social custom, or a type of food. Such concepts are often referred to as ‘cultural-specific’.” This paper studies the translation of culture-loaded words according to Nida’s classification of cultural elements. Nida divided culture into five categories: ecological culture, material culture, social culture, religious culture and linguistic culture. This paper will analyze the culture-loaded words according to the five categories. (Baker, 2004:21)

3.2 Classification of culture-loaded words

3.2.1 Ecological culture-loaded words

Culture develops in certain ecological environment, so different region has different culture. Ecological culture-loaded words refer to those words that reflect the distinctive geographical conditions, the natural surroundings, feature of the climate, plants and animals, etc. in a language. Even the connotations of the same thing in western and eastern culture are different or even opposite. (Liao Huihua, 2010:9)

For example, the “west wind” in China is totally different from that in western countries. Because China lies in the Eastern Hemisphere, with mountains to the west and oceans to the east. This location makes it dry and cold in autumn and winter when the west wind blows. Therefore, the west wind in Chinese culture often refers to the cold wind in autumn an winter, which is often used to describe the desolate, cold, and sometimes also compared to the decadent force of the fall of the sun with a derogatory meaning. Such as “古道西风瘦马” in Ma Zhiyyuan’s 《天净沙·秋思》. On the contrary, Britain is located in the western hemisphere, the west Atlantic island, and the east is the continent of Europe. When the west wind blows from the Atlantic Ocean, Britain is in the season of revival. Therefore, in English culture, the west wind is the symbol of hope and strength. For example, the Ode to the West Wind, a famous British poem, reflects this meaning. Obviously, through the above analysis, we know that “西风” and the west wind have the same conceptual meaning but have very different associative meaning due to different ecological environment. (Liao Huihua, 2010:9)

3.2.2 Material culture-loaded words

Material culture-loaded words include the words related to the economic life, daily supplies, commodities, food, transportation, etc. Different nations have different living habits, so the material products are quite different. For example: “旗袍”(qi pao), “麻将”(ma jiang),”馄饨”(Wonton), etc. (Liao Huihua, 2010:10)

3.2.3 Social culture-loaded words

The tradition, custom, living habit, social activity, etc. All belong to the category of social culture. Due to different historical background, political feature, tradition and custom, the social culture-loaded words formed and developed. For instance, “重阳节”(chong yang jie) is a traditional Chinese festival to give the blessings to the old people, which is familiar to Chinese but unfamiliar to foreigners.(Han Zhouwen, 2014:18)

3.2.4 Religious culture-loaded words

Religious culture is composed by the religious faith and and ideology under the different nation’s cultural background, which demonstrate in the difference in psychology and language behavior. Chinese people advocate Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism whereas western people mainly believe in God. Therefore, the cross-cultural communication barriers and language translation barriers emerged. Religious culture-loaded words reflects the characteristics of religious beliefs, so it is quite difficult for the foreigners to understand the Chinese religious culture-loaded words. For example, western people believe in God while Chinese people believe in “天”(tian), “菩萨”(pu sa), “佛”(fo). (Han Zhouwen, 2014:23)

3.2.5 Linguistic culture-loaded words

Language as one part of culture also produces translation problems. Since the two languages belong to two different language systems, their different language features will be involved in translation. These particularities may be reflected in phonetics, morphemes, vocabulary and syntax. For example, reduplicative words and four-character words and expressions are frequently seen in Chinese but are rarely seen in English.(Han Zhouwen, 2014:24)

Chapter 4 The application of Scopos theory in the translation of culture-loaded words

Chinese culture and western culture are so different due to different geographical location and historical background. And these differences also reflect in the two language systems, which is also known as cultural gap. In the process of translating Li Qingzhao’s Ci-Poetry, the translator may face all kinds of problems due to the cultural gap. In this chapter, the focus is on analyzing the suitable translation strategies from the perspective of Scopos theory.(Fu Guiying, 2013:56)

4.1 Translation of ecological culture-loaded words

(1)梨花欲谢恐难禁。(《浣溪沙》）

I am afraid pear blossoms cannot bear at all

—translated by Xu Yuanchong (Xu Yuanchong,2003:25)

O bright pods/ Of the pepper plant, you do not/ Need to bow and beg pardon./ I know you cannot hold back/ The passing day.

—translated by Kenneth Rexroth (Kenneth Rexroth,1979:66)

Some plants and flowers have certain connotation in Chinese, which leaves the gap of further imagination. Snow is often compared to pear-blossom, which is a common metaphor in Chinese poetry, for example: “忽如一夜春风来，千树万树梨花开” is used to describe the beautiful snow-covered landscape. Here, Xu Yuanchong translated “梨花”into “pear blossoms”directly is to reproduce this often-used metaphor. Both the basic meaning and the cultural content have been well transmitted. Xu Yuanchong adopted literal translation to realize foreignization. In contrast, Kenneth Rexroth adopted demestication and free translation and translate “梨花” as “the pepper plant” to achieve the skopos of translation. Here, “the pepper plant” is used to serve as a substitution because it is a New Year decoration which shows the passion of spring. This passionate image can contrast the depressed mood of Li Qingzhao for the fleeting time.(Liao Huihua, 2010:40)

(2)试问卷帘人，却道海棠依旧？（《如梦令》）

I ask the maid rolling up the screen./ “The same crab-apple tree,”she says, “is seen”

—translated by Xu Yuanchong (Xu Yuanchong,2003:34)

I asked my maid as she rolled up the curtains,/ “Are the begonias still the same?”

—translated by Kenneth Rexroth (Kenneth Rexroth,1979:44)

In Chinese culture, “海棠” usually symbolizes bitter love. When people encounters twists and turns in love, they often use it to express the sad feeling of parting. Xu Yuanchong adopted literal translation and translated “海棠” into “crab-apple tree”, which maintain the traditional Chinese culture by employing foreignization. However, Kenneth Rexroth translated it into”begonias” by demestication, which makes this image more familiar to the target readers. The aim of Xu Yuanchong is to introduce Chinese culture to foreigners whereas the purpose of Kenneth Rexroth is to make the text be accepted by the taget readers, therefore, , sothe former uses foreignization but the latter uses demestication.(Liao Huihua, 2010:41)

4.2 Translation of material culture-loaded words

(3)常记溪亭日暮 (《如梦令》)

I oft remember what a happy day/ We passed in creekside arbour when it glooming.

—translated by Xu Yuanchong (Xu Yuanchong,2003:38)

I remember in Hsi T’ing/ All the many times/ We got lost in the sunset.

—translated by Kenneth Rexroth (Kenneth Rexroth,1979:21)

The meaning of “溪亭” can be interpreted as the name of a place in Ji’nan, Shandong Province or a pavilion by the river side. Therefore, different versions of this word appears according to the different understanding of this word. Xu Yuanchong translated it as “creekside arbour” by employing literal translation whereas Kenneth Rexroth translated it into “Hsi T’ing” according to its sound by using transliteration. The version “creekside arbour” is more acceptable by Chinese readers because it shows the basic meaning of this word. But the version “Hsi T’ing” is more understandable for foreigners because it’s just a name of a place.(Liao Huihua, 2010:48)

(4)轻解罗裳，独上兰舟。(《一剪梅》)

My silk robe doffed, I float/ Alone in orchid boat

—translated by Xu Yuanchong (Xu Yuanchong,2003:49)

I open/ My silk dress and float alone/ On the orchid boat.

—translated by Kenneth Rexroth & Chung Ling (Kenneth Rexroth,& Chung Ling,1979:56)

Generally speaking, “兰舟” refers to a small boat which is made of the trunk of a magnolia tree. However, both Xu Yuanchong and Kenneth Rexroth translated “兰舟” into “orchid boat” in order to reproduce the poetic language of the original text. If they translate it according to the literal meaning, the beautiful poetic language cannot be reproduced in the target language. So, they associated the boat with orchid, a kind of beautiful flower to achieve “literariness”, making poetry as poetic as possible.(Zheng Yanhong. 2001:129)

4.3 Translation of social culture-loaded words

(5)海燕未来人斗草。(《浣溪沙》)

The swallows not yet come, a game of grass we play.

—translated by Xu Yuanchong (Xu Yuanchong,2003:55)

People are gathering wild flowers and herbs in the meadow.

—translated by Kenneth Rexroth (Kenneth Rexroth,1979:93)

Viewed literally, “斗草” is mostly interpreted as “to fight with grass”. But actually, it refers to a particular custom on the Dragon Boat Festival according to the notes in various anthologies of Li Qingzhao. On the Dragon Boat Festival (the fifth day of May), people usually participate a kind of game in which every one need to gather flowers and plants to be the winner. Xu Yuanchong knows that “斗草” is a traditional game, so he adopted literal translation as “a game of grass we play”, which is direct and correct. While Kenneth Rexroth adopted amplification and translated it as”gathering wild flowers and herbs in the meadow” in order to create concrete scene for the target reader. Generally speaking, both the two versions realized the skopos of translating the cultural connotation of “斗草” by adopting different translation strategies.(Liao Huihua, 2010:49)

(6)佳节又重阳(《醉花阴》)

The Double Ninth comes now again.

—translated by Xu Yuanchong (Xu Yuanchong,2003:54)

Again it is the Ninth of the Ninth Month.

—translated by Kenneth Rexroth (Kenneth Rexroth,1979:47)

“重阳” is a traditional Chinese festival on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. People would always miss their families and relatives on this day every year. Here, when this festival is coming around, the poetess feel sad and lonely because of the separation from her husband, Zhao Mingcheng. In Xu Yuanchong’s version, he translated it literally as The Double Ninth and made a annotation to explain the cultural meaning of this festival to make target readers know the background information about this term. The unique feature of the ST is fully conveyed in the TT through foreignization. The skopos of Xu Yuanchong is to maintain the original feature of Chinese culture as much as possible, so he adopted foreignization to achieve this goal. In contrast, Kenneth Rexroth translated it into “the Ninth of the Ninth Month”. Although the time of the event is translated, but the connotation of this festival is lost. Sometimes literal translation for words with rich connotation can cause cultural loss. Here, Rexroth omitted the cultural meaning because he thinks it is not necessary to add the burden of understanding the text. In this way, the target reader can easily understand the TT within their own knowledge.(Liao Huihua, 2010:49)

4.4 Translation of religious culture-loaded words

(7)仿佛梦魂归帝所 (《渔家傲》)

In leaf-like boat my soul to God’s abode would fly.

—translated by Xu Yuanchong (Xu Yuanchong,2003:62)

I am rapt away to the place of the Supreme/ And hear the words of Heaven.

—translated by Kenneth Rexroth (Kenneth Rexroth,1979:33)

As we all known, Chinese culture is much influenced by Taoism whereas western culture is much affected by Christianity. Here, “帝所” refers to the place of the Jade Emperor. Because western people are not familiar with the myths of Taoist culture, here “God” is be the substitution of “帝” in Xu Yuanchong’s version by literal translation. In contrast, Kenneth Rexroth translated it as “the place of the Supreme”, which means the Sovereign. We can see the religious devotion of the ST is neglected. To conclude, Xu Yuanchong’s version is more faithful to the original text because he aims to introduce Chinese culture to foreigners. Kenneth Rexroth translated it without Taoist culture because he aims to remove cultural barriers and make target readers easier to understand the meaning of the text.(Li Qing, 2005:148)

(8)造化可能偏有意，故叫明月玲珑地。(《渔家傲》)

You find a special favor in Creator’s eye,

The moon caresses you with pure beams from on high.

—translated by Xu Yuanchong (Xu Yuanchong,2003:76)

Making the bright moon shine splendid on your curving flesh.

—translated by Kenneth Rexroth (Kenneth Rexroth,1979:45)

In Xu Yuanchong’s version, “造化” is translated directly into “Creator” but in Kenneth Rexroth’s version, this image is deleted. In China, “上天”（heaven）is the governor of the universe under the influence of Taoism and Buddhism. “造化” is a unique concept in Taoist culture. Xu Yuanchong aims to maintain the Taoist culture and introduce it to foreigners. However, in western countries, Christianity is the mainstream of religious belief. Therefore, Kenneth Rexroth neglected this image to make the TT more acceptable western people who believes in Christianity. In summary, Xu Yuanchong focused more on the culture of the ST whereas Kenneth Rexroth payed more attention on the acceptability of the target reader.(Liao Huihua, 2010:45)

4.5 Translation of linguistic culture-loaded words

(9) 寻寻觅觅，冷冷清清， 凄凄惨惨戚戚。(《声声慢》)

I look for what I miss;

I know not what it is.

I feel so sad, so drear,

So lonely, without cheer.

—translated by Xu Yuanchong (Xu Yuanchong,2003:81)

Search. Search. Seek. Seek.

Cold. Cold. Clear. Clear.

Sorrow. Sorrow. Pain. Pain.

—translated by Kenneth Rexroth & Chung Ling (Kenneth Rexroth,1979:78)

Tune: Slow, Slow, Song is recognized as the representative of reduplication. The use of seven sequential reduplicative words add the powerfulness of the miserable tone. we can find some similarities between these reduplicative words such as “清清”, “凄凄” and “戚戚” sound quite similar or even the same, really strengthen the melodious effect of the language. Xu Yuanchong adopted free translation in order to reproduce the beautiful artistic conception in the ST. The form of reduplication is neglected but the sad atmosphere that the reduplicarive words create is reproduced. Rexroth use the literal translation to imitate the original reduplicative words. The repetition of the same word reproduces the sound of reduplication in ST, and words with one syllable are also very similar to Chinese character. But the sense is not well conveyed. The target readers fail to experience the painful atmosphere and the great sadness of the poetess in the TT.(Li Qing, 2005:149)

(10) 小风疏雨萧萧地 (《孤雁儿》)

A grizzling wind and drizzling rain

—translated by Xu Yuanchong (Xu Yuanchong,2003:90)

Small wind, fine rain, hsiao, Hsiao

—translated by Kenneth Rexroth (Kenneth Rexroth,1979:56)

In the ST, “萧萧” is a reduplicative word in order to foil the depressed and sad atmosphere. It is difficult to reproduce this unique structure in the TT. We can see in Xu Yuanchong’s version, he omitted the original form and tried to reproduce the beautiful sound and sense. The rhymes of “grizzling” and “drizzling” are the same. This internal rhyme can make compensation for the loss of reduplication. And the strong sad mood is fully conveyed. Here, foreignization is employed. Kenneth Rexroth focused on the reproduction of the form, so he adopted transliteration to maintain the form of reduplicative word. Although the sound and form are beautiful, in this way, the sad cultural conception may lose at the same time.(Li Qing, 2005:75)

Conclusion

In this paper, the present author studies the translation of cultural-loaded words in Li Qingzhao’s Ci-Poetry from the perspective of Scopos theory. By contrast analysis, we can find that Xu Yuanchong and Kenneth Rexroth adopted different translation strategies: the former adopted foreignization whereas the latter adopted domestication because of their different translation skopos. Xu Yuanchong devoted himself to introduce excellent Chinese culture to foreigners and Kenneth Rexroth aimed to make target reader better understand the TT. This study still has some shortcomings. Although this paper can shed some light on the study of culture-loaded word, ti still has some limitations. If more samples of culture-loaded word are taken for the analysis, the study could be more comprehensive and systematic. Thus, the English translation of the culture-loaded words of her Ci poetry based on Skopos theory deserves further study. The author believes that wider cases will be involved in this study.((Liao Huihua, 2010:64)

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A Study on Culture-loaded Words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life Translated by Lin Yutang from the Perspective of Domestication and Foreignization 蒋淇玮 Jiang Qiwei

Abstract

Six Chapters of a Floating Life is an autobiographical prose written by Shen Fu, who was a Chinese scholar in Qing dynasty, in 1808. It is popular among readers for its genuine words and sincerity between the lines. Among the current English versions of this book, Lin Yutang's Six Chapters of a Floating Life is written first and the closest with the original version in style, which enables lots of foreign readers to catch a glimpse of the life of an obscure Chinese scholar. Six Chapters of a Floating Life is written in classical Chinese and has a long history, which both make the translation more difficult, especially the translation of its culture-loaded words. Culture-loaded words refer to words, phrases and idioms that demonstrate specific things in a culture. As we all know, China has a centuries-old history and rich civilization, possessing plenty of unique cultural phenomena, not to mention numerous culture-loaded words. In Six Chapters of a Floating Life, there are many culture-loaded words that are worthy of study. By consulting relevant materials, I find that there are only a few works analyzing cultural-loaded words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life from the perspective of domestication and foreignization. This pair of translation terms was put forward by Lawrence Venuti, a famous American translation theorist, in The Translator's Invisibility in 1995. As a matter of fact, domestication and foreignization are a unity of opposites and complement each other. Neither absolute domestication nor foreignization exists. There are different degrees of domestication and foreignization in all translation activities and works. Therefore, it is reasonable, scientific and feasible to analyze Mr. Lin’s translation from this perspective, which can fill certain research vacancy and benefit future studies in this field. Thus, in this thesis, the author will subdivide domestication and foreignization into several detailed translation methods so as to analyze representative culture-loaded words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life. By doing this, this paper aims to prove the instructiveness of the translation strategies of domestication and foreignization, find out the reasons of the success of Mr. Lin’s translation, point out the positive role of this translation in the "going out" of Chinese culture, and provide reference for the translation of culture-loaded words.

Key Words

domestication; foreignization; Six Chapters of a Floating Life; Lin Yutang; culture-loaded words

摘要

《浮生六记》是清代文人沈复于1808年所著的自传体散文，以真言诉真情，为历代读者所推崇。目前流传较广的《浮生六记》英译本中，林语堂先生的Six Chapters of a Floating Life成文最早且与沈复原文风格最为接近，让不少外国读者得以一窥中国一无名文人的若梦浮生。 沈复此书以文言文著就，加上距今年代较为久远，译者的翻译之路可谓困难重重，这其中文化负载词的处理更是值得反复推敲。文化负载词是标志某种文化中特有事物的词、词组和习语。众所周知，中华民族的历史文明源远流长，独有的文化现象数不胜数，应运而生的文化负载词自然不在少数。《浮生六记》一书中就有相当数目的文化负载词具有研究价值。 通过查阅相关资料，本人发现从归化和异化角度来解读林译中文化负载词的研究还少之又少。归化和异化这对翻译术语是由美国著名翻译理论学家劳伦斯·韦努蒂（Lawrence Venuti）于1995年在《译者的隐身》中提出的。作为两种翻译策略，归化和异化是对立统一、相辅相成的，绝对的归化和绝对的异化都是不存在的。所有的翻译活动及作品都存在不同程度的归化和异化现象，故而，从这一角度来分析林译具有合理性、科学性和可行性，且能填补一定的研究空缺，为之后的相关研究提供可参考的思路与借鉴。 因此，本文作者将聚焦这一文学经典，将归化与异化这两种翻译策略细分为不同的翻译方法，对林译中有代表性的文化负载词进行分析解读，以小见大，从词见章，进而证明归化与异化的翻译策略的指导性，找出林译在国内外成功的原因，指出其在中国文化“走出去”中所起的积极作用，并为文化负载词的翻译难题提供解题思路及开口，引起大众对于文化翻译的重视与思考。

关键词

归化，异化，《浮生六记》，林语堂，文化负载词

Chapter One Introduction

With globalization surging ahead, cultural communication and exchange have become rising tides that no one can fight against. Chinese and English, as the language with the largest number of users and the language most widely used in this globe, are both crucial languages, which work as vital bridges in cultural world. However, as is known to all, China is a nation of age-old history and rich civilization. On her vast earth, there grows plenty of unique cultural phenomena. As a result, quite a number of culture-loaded words have been emerging. For culture-loaded words have their specific cultural connotations, it is hard to render them so that foreign readers could understand, which is a real and tough task for translators. Six Chapters of a Floating Life is an autobiographical prose written in classical Chinese by Shen Fu, who was a Chinese scholar in Qing dynasty, in 1808. It is popular among readers for its genuine words and sincerity between the lines. In this book, there are many culture-loaded words, which are worth studying. Among the current English versions of it, Lin Yutang's Six Chapters of a Floating Life is written first and the closest with the original version in style, which enables lots of foreign readers to take a look at the life of an obscure Chinese scholar. Thus, in this thesis, under the guidance of translation strategies, domestication and foreignization, the author will subdivide them into several detailed translation methods so as to analyze representative culture-loaded words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life. By doing this, this paper aims to prove the instructiveness of the translation strategies of domestication and foreignization, find out the reasons of the success of Mr. Lin’s translation, point out the positive role of this translation in the "going out" of Chinese culture, and provide reference for the translation of culture-loaded words.

Chapter Two Literature Review

2.1 A Study on Six Chapters of a Floating Life

For the sake of carrying on this study, we must have a basic understanding of both our original and translated text sources: Six Chapters of a Floating Life. Hence we will have a brief review of its original version and English version translated by Mr. Lin in the following paragraphs.

2.1.1 A Brief Review of Its Original Version

Six Chapters of a Floating Life is an autobiographical prose written by Shen Fu, who was an unknown scholar in Qing dynasty, in the 13th year of Jiaqing (AD 1808). It includes six chapters, of which only four remain, recording Shen Fu’s wedded bliss, pleasures of life, ups and downs, travel experiences, experiences in Formosa and the way of life. The phrase in this book’s title "floating life" derives from a passage in Li Po's poem, “ Our floating life is like a dream; how often can one enjoy oneself ?” Shen Fu, whose courtesy name is Sanbai, and alternative name Meiyi, was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu province in China in the 28th year of Qianlong (AD 1763). He was a man of letters, who was once an assistant to ranking officials and a merchant. The remaining four chapters of Six Chapters of a Floating Life was accidentally found on the stall in Suzhou by a man called Yang Yinchuan. Yang passed it on to Wang Tao, his brother-in-law, who then published it with movable type in 1877. Subsequently, this book gradually established itself on the literary field. This book is a pure and fair record of Shen Fu's ordinary but difficult life, which is still full of unforgettable and beautiful moments. It is incredibly touching, for Mr. Shen wrote down his real experiences and sincere feelings in plain words naturally, without traces of sham. Nowadays, Six Chapters of a Floating Life has become a classic and owned a mass of readers. Many people even called it “little A Dream in Red Mansions” for its description of the conflicts in the feudal family and society, which highly affirms its literary value and achievements.

2.1.2 A Brief Review of Its English Version Translated by Lin Yutang

In the spring and summer time of 1935, Lin Yutang successively translated Six Chapters of a Floating Life into English and serialized them in the English magazines T'ien Hsia Monthly and Hsi Feng published in Shanghai. For the sake of better work, Mr. Lin has modified his translation no less than ten times. Now, his translation version has been acknowledged as the most popular one for it is the closest to the original text in terms of writing style. Lin Yutang once highly praised Shen Fu’s wife Yün, “Yün, I think, is one of the loveliest women in Chinese literature.” Mr. Lin said he translated the work for two reasons, one is to let the world know Yün by her name, and the other is that he has found lots of things in the simple life of this couple, the pursuit of beauty, the experience of ups and downs, and unswerving love for carefreeness. In February of 1999, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press reprinted Six Chapters of a Floating Life with Mr. Lin’s translation in the form of picture book. Its introductory notes claim that the reprinting is first due to Mr. Lin’s translation work, which has contributed a lot in the promotion of Chinese culture, secondly Mr. Lin’s superb artistic attainments and extraordinary cultural accomplishments, and lastly his beautiful and skilled use of English language. It demonstrates that Mr. Lin's translation has a far-reaching influence.

2.2 An Introduction of Culture-loaded Words

Here we will focus on another important item in this study: culture-loaded words. This introduction covers three aspects, including definition, categorization and previous studies on them in Six Chapters of a Floating Life, which enable us to distinguish, select and analyse culture-loaded words in future steps.

2.2.1 Definition of Culture-loaded Words

There are many definitions for culture-loaded words, and I have presented three different versions below. First, Mona Baker claims that "the source-language word may express a concept which is totally unknown in the target culture. The concept in question may be abstract or concrete; it may relate to a religious belief, a social custom, or a type of food. Such concepts are often referred to as `culture-specific' " (2000:21). This definition mentions three fields, namely religion, custom and food, which are now recognized to be among the main sources of culture-loaded words. Second, it means that the cultural information words carry in the source language finds no equivalent in the target language (包慧南，2001：10). In this version, the focus is “no equivalent”, which reveals why it is significant to study the translation of culture-loaded words. For in numerous cases, there is no equivalent in the target language. Third, J.F. Aixelá, a Spanish translator and translation theorist, defines them as "culture-specific items" and states in his book Culture-specific Item in Translation that "Some items appeared in the source text do not have equivalent items in the target readers' cultural system or these items have different textual status with those in the target readers' cultural system, thus leading to translation difficulty while transferring the function and meaning of the source text to the target text" (张南峰，2004：19). From this definition, we are able to get a new perspective. Besides “no equivalent”, it makes a point that culture-loaded words can exist in the target cultural system but with different function and meaning. To sum up, as barriers to translation, culture-loaded words have no equivalent in other cultural systems and are marks and mirrors of a nation’s distinct environment, which are often seen in fields like religion, custom, food etc.

2.2.2 Categorization of Culture-loaded Words

Eugene Nida considers that "if translators want to do a good job in cross-cultural translation, there are five types of cultural factors: 1) ecological culture; 2) material culture; 3) social culture; 4) religious culture; and 5) linguistic culture"(胡壮麟、姜望琪，2002). In line with Nida's categorization of cultural factors, culture-loaded words can also be classified into five types accordingly, namely ecological culture-loaded words, religious culture-loaded words, material culture-loaded words, social culture-loaded words and linguistic culture-loaded words. This thesis will analyze Lin Yutang’s translation of culture-loaded words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life on the basis of Nida's categorization.

2.2.3 Previous Studies on Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life

Among those studies of the English versions of Shen Fu’s Six Chapters of a Floating Life, the studies of Mr. Lin’s account for a large proportion of it. In Quan Shulian’s article “Translator’s Cultural Orientation: Comparative Study of Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life”, she compares the translation of culture-loaded words done by Mr. Lin and Shirley Black and then claims that Shirley Black tends to use domestication while Mr. Lin applies foreignization more frequently. With a different focus, Li Yi, who has studied the culture-loaded words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life translated by Lin Yutang, analyzes the translation of culture-loaded words in three aspects: wording, Chinese idioms and the looks of women, and concludes that it is the purpose of translation determines which translation strategies to use and domestication and foreignization are a unity of opposites which should not be discussed apart.

Chapter Three An Analysis of Translation Strategies Based on Six Chapters of a Floating Life

3.1 Translation Strategy of Domestication

Domestication, as opposed to foreignization, refers to a translation strategy, which aims to translate the source text into target language in a transparent, fluent and natural style so as to minimize the strangeness for target readers. As free translation is the most widely used translation method pertaining to domestication, we will discuss it and its two branches paraphrase and idiomatic translation.

3.1.1 Free Translation

Free translation refers to a translation method that reproduces the transferred meaning of the source text, which can be further divided into paraphrase and idiomatic translation.

3.1.1.1 Paraphrase

When applying paraphrase, the translator translates the source text explanatorily, without application of collocations and idioms in the target language as replacement of those parts in the source text.

1a. 合卺后，并肩夜膳，……（沈复，2018：7） 1b. After the drinking of the customary twin cups between bride and groom, we sat down together at dinner… (Lin Yutang, 2019: 35)

The Chinese phrase “合卺” refers to a characteristic part of ancient Chinese wedding ceremonies that the newlyweds drink cross-cupped wine in their wedding room. Foreign readers would have difficulty comprehending this phrase as there is no such a rite in their countries. Thus, Lin Yutang applies the translation method of paraphrase, explaining exactly what the custom is, which enables foreign readers to understand this special activity.

3.1.1.2 Idiomatic Translation Idiomatic translation is an explanatory method of translation as well, with application of collocations and idioms in the target language as replacement of the parts in the source text.

2a. 井井然未尝稍失。（沈复，2018：9） 2b. Whatever she did was done well, and it was difficult to find fault with her. (Lin Yutang, 2019: 40-41)

“未尝稍失”means that someone handles things incredibly well, without anything wrong. And we can translate this Chinese phrase just in such an explanatory way, for it is clear and correct in meaning. But it is comparatively lengthy. That’s why here Mr. Lin adopts the English phrase “find fault with”, which is quite familiar to English users. For it conveys the meaning of the source text precisely and concisely, and improves the smoothness of foreign readers’ reading activity.

3.2 Translation Strategy of Foreignization

Compared to domestication, foreignization refers to a translation strategy that retains the original expressions and differences between source and target languages to a larger extent. This translation strategy can offer foreign readers more exotic information if they are willing to explore, but the reading process is less natural and efficient. And foreignization consists of three translation methods, namely transliteration, word-for-word translation and literal translation, which will be presented below.

3.2.1 Transliteration

Transliteration refers to the rendering of alphabets, words or phrases in one language with symbols of similar or even the same pronunciations in another language.

3a. 服余衣，长一寸又半；于腰间折而缝之，外加马褂。（沈复，2018：31） 3b. As my gown was found to be an inch and a half too long, she tucked it round the waist and put on a makua on top. (Lin Yutang, 2019: 108)

The Chinese phrase “马褂” refers to the mandarin jacket worn over a gown, which is a kind of special costume of Chinese characteristics. It is popular in Qing dynasty and the Republic of China. Originally, it’s worn by the Chinese Manchu people on horseback. “马” means “horse” in English. “褂” means a short gown. And that is the reason why this costume is called “马褂”in Chinese. Though foreign readers barely know this kind of clothes and its origin, Mr. Lin translates it as “makua” tersely according to its Chinese pronunciation, which offers foreign readers an opportunity to get a clue of the new item “makua” and shows his confidence of Chinese history and culture.

3.2.2 Word-for-word Translation

Word-for-word translation is the rendering of text in which a word is used to replace another in the source text without considering the differences between the two languages in morphology, syntax and semantics, so as to translate a word in accordance with the paraphrasing method.

4a. 一场，主考得香钱百文。（沈复，2018：57） 4b. The official examiner would get one hundred cash “incense money”. (Lin Yutang, 2019: 253)

“Incense” translated into Chinese is “香”, while the English equivalent of “钱” is “money”. From this we can find that “incense money” is a word-for-word correspondence with “香钱”. There are much fewer people in English-speaking countries who are Buddhists, compared with China. So the concept of “incense money” may be strange to them. Here, Mr. Lin translates this phrase literally without transforming or considering morphological differences in two languages, which shows a brand-new concept to plentiful foreign readers. And it might arouse their interest to figure out what this phrase implies and what’s the culture connotation behind it.

3.2.3 Literal Translation

Literal translation, or directed translation, is the rendering of text in which a word is used to replace another word in the original text correspondingly, with consideration of the differences between the two languages in morphology, syntax and semantics, so as to enable the translation to conform to the lexical and syntactic norms of the target language.

5a. 急人之难，成人之事，嫁人之女，抚人之儿，指不胜屈，挥金如土，多为他人。（沈复，2018：63） 5b. He used to help people in trouble, bring up other people's sons and marry off other people's daughters in innumerable instances, spending money like dirt, all for the sake of other people. (Lin Yutang, 2019: 299)

“挥金如土” in Chinese means to throw one’s money about. There is a set expression in English both in meaning and construction, which is “spending money like water”. But instead of the image “water”, which is more common and well-accepted among English people, Mr. Lin keeps the original image “dirt” in his translation. That’s because the image “dirt” is more acknowledged by Chinese people, who have been rooted in agriculture civilization and dealt with dirt all the time. Hence, the literal translation of “dirt” into English is able to let readers of different culture background grasp more of the source text and aware of the culture differences.

3.3 A Brief Conclusion on the Translation Strategies

In this Chapter, we have mainly discussed five translation methods based on Six Chapters of a Floating Life. Among them, two belong to the translation strategy of domestication while three the translation strategy of foreignization. The former instances from the book have proved that the application of the translation methods under domestication enables foreign readers to comprehend and accept literary works in a closer and more natural way, while the translation methods under foreignization provides them with a choice to feel the cultural differences and find out more valuable information. There is no absolute domestication or foreignization and no perfect choice of translation strategies. It is the purposes of translation that determine which translation strategy or methods to use. As to Mr. Lin, he has combined the usage of both the two superior strategies and their translation methods in his translation of Six Chapters of a Floating Life.

Chapter Four An Analysis of the Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life

4.1 Domestication Applied in Culture-loaded Words

In this part, we will center upon some culture-loaded words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life that are translated by Mr. Lin with the adoption of domestication.

4.1.1 Free Translation of Culture-loaded Words

As we have mentioned before, free translation is the most commonly used translation method pertaining to domestication and it includes paraphrase and idiomatic translation. Therefore, we will discuss them with examples of culture-loaded words in the book.

4.1.1.1 Paraphrase of Culture-loaded Words

The following two examples are able to demonstrate the brilliant use of paraphrase by Mr. Lin in his translation of culture-loaded words. 6a. 自此耳鬓相磨，亲同形影。（沈复，2018：9） 6b. And so every day we rubbed shoulders together and clung to each other like an object and its shadow… (Lin Yutang, 2019: 42)

The Chinese phrase “耳鬓相磨” is culture-loaded, which just derives from this book of Shen Fu. It literally means the rubbing of people’s ears and sideburns, whose extended meaning refers to the close relationship among people. Here Mr. Lin applies the new image of shoulders instead of the original images of ears and sideburns, for it would be hard for foreign audience to grasp the connection between ears and sideburns and the intimacy within them. Meanwhile, rubbing shoulders can accurately express the meaning of closeness in English. So he uses the phrase “rubbed shoulders” to convey the original meaning in an explanatory way.

7a. 粉颈 （沈复，2018：8） 7b. Beautiful white neck (Lin Yutang, 2019: 38)

In China, scholars conventionally adopt the word “粉”, which is “pink” in English, to modify one’s face, neck, etc. to show that one’s skin is white touched with red. However, if translating the Chinese term “粉颈” literally, we will get the phrase “pink neck”. There is no doubt that it will be odd for foreign audience. Therefore, Mr. Lin uses “beautiful white” rather than “pink” to modify “neck”, which expresses the meaning of “粉” briefly and precisely without causing troubles to readers and makes their reading activities more natural and pleasant.

4.1.1.2 Idiomatic Translation of Culture-loaded Words

The following example is able to demonstrate the fine use of idiomatic translation by Mr. Lin in his translation of culture-loaded words.

8a. 大醉而卧（沈复，2018：7） 8b. I fell asleep drunk like a fish. (Lin Yutang, 2019: 37)

This four-character Chinese phrase means one is lying in a state of terrible drunkenness. In the processing of this phrase, Mr. Lin uses a set English phrase “drunk like a fish”, which describes that one is terribly drunk. The adoption of this ready-made phrase in translation does convey the meaning of the source text correctly and vividly, which makes it easy for foreign readers to catch on and picture the scene. From this we can see that wise use of idiomatic translation may yield twice the result with half the effort.

4.2 Foreignization Applied in Culture-loaded Words

In this part, we will center on some culture-loaded words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life that are translated by Mr. Lin with the adoption of foreignization.

4.2.1 Transliteration of Culture-loaded Words

The following two examples are able to show the use of transliteration by Mr. Lin in his translation of culture-loaded words.

9a. 故上下呼芸为“三娘”。后忽呼为“三太太”……（沈复，2018：63） 9b. hence they used to call Yün “san niang” at home, but this was later suddenly changed into “san t'ai t'ai”. (Lin Yutang, 2019: 301)

“San” refers to “number three” in Chinese. “Niang” generally means a young married woman in a big household, while “t’ai t’ai” suggests the mistress of an independent home. “Niang” and “t’ai t’ai” are two of those unique terms of addressing people in ancient Chinese society, so there are no equivalents in English. That’s why Mr. Lin chooses to introduce their Chinese sounds to foreign audience, which leaves them a hint to learn two interesting addresses with era characteristics and know the distinct Chinese system of addressing. 10a. 余则从之学画，写草篆，镌图章…… （沈复，2018：56） 10b. They would then either write “grass-script”, or “chüan-script” or carve seals… (Lin Yutang, 2019: 247)

“篆书” refers to a style in Chinese calligraphy, often used on seals. If we translate the Chinese character “篆” literally into English it would be “seal”. However, Mr. Lin abandons the easy translation of “seal- script” and renders this calligraphy style as “chüan-script” according to its Chinese pronunciation, which exhibits an individual kind of Chinese writing style to foreign readers. There will be problems that most people who know little about China will feel difficult to understand this ancient “script”. And if they desire to figure it out, they need to do extra work beyond reading this book. Nevertheless, in this way, they have chances to know much more about China, which is an efficient way of spreading Chinese culture and driving cross-cultural communication.

4.2.2 Word-for-word Translation of Culture-loaded Words

The following example is able to show the masterly use of word-for-word translation by Mr. Lin in his translation of culture-loaded words.

11a. 芸笑曰：“白字有缘，将来恐白字连篇耳。”（沈复，2018：13） 11b. “It is all right,” Yün smiled and replied. “to have one's life bound up with the Po's, only I am afraid I shall be writing Po characters all my life.” (Lin Yutang, 2019: 54-55)

The so-called Po characters are words written wrong. This kind of words indeed exists in Chinese writing system, but they are used in a wrong way by people for they are of similar pronunciations and forms while in different meanings. In translation of this sentence, Mr. Lin renders “白字”, which means misspelt words, as “Po characters” word for word. “Po” is close to the pronunciation of Chinese character “白”, while “character” literally means “字” in Chinese. Mr. Lin translates the culture-loaded phrase like this to demonstrate a new term to foreign readers, instead of “misspelt word” which is easy to grasp but lack of Chinese charm. In this way, foreign readers can be more conscious of the original cultural genes lie behind those English words.

4.2.3 Literal Translation of Culture-loaded Words

The last two examples will show the tactful use of literal translation by Mr. Lin in his translation of culture-loaded words.

12a. 但李诗宛如姑射仙子，有一种落花流水之趣，令人可爱。 （沈复，2018：12） 12b. but Li Po’s poems have the wayward charm of nymph. His lines come naturally like dropping petals and flowing waters, and are so much lovelier for their spontaneity. (Lin Yutang, 2019: 53)

In Chinese, “落花流水” is an idiom, which usually refers to the beauty of the scenes is waning in the late spring or one is defeated utterly. But this phrase is used here to compliment Li Po’s poems’ fluency and naturalness. Even though this expression is full of Chinese features, it is not too hard for foreign readers to get its implication from the images of “dropping petals” and “flowing waters”. For we have a common sense about these two natural scenery that they are both in the state of harmony and fluency. So Mr. Lin’s adoption of the method of literal translation is quite appropriate here and leaves some space for readers to imagine and taste by themselves.

13a. 芸曰：“世传月下老人专司人间婚姻事……” （沈复，2018：27） 13b. “It is said that the Old Man under the Moon is in charge of matrimony,” said Yün. (Lin Yutang, 2019: 92)

“月下老人” is the god of marriage who is in charge of human love relationships in Chinese mythology. This image is peculiar to China, so it stands to reason that there is no equivalent expression in other countries. When rendering this culture-loaded phrase, Mr. Lin chooses the method of literal translation with words of capitalized initial letters, which enables readers to feel that it is obviously a new culture symbol for them and the Old Man may be a Chinese god. Then it is up to the readers themselves if they want to search for some more information about this “Old Man under the Moon” or not. In this way, the translation becomes briefer and it rests with the readers concerning how much information they will get beyond the lines.

Chapter Five Conclusion

Concerning the current fact that different cultural systems around the world are becoming increasingly connected, translation activities have been literally taking place at every moment. However, the cultural differences in different counties have made it an arduous task. In view of the tremendous differences between China and English-speaking countries, the translation works are no easy tasks as well. As symbols which carry lots of cultural information, culture-loaded words are obstacles in translation, for they have no equivalents in other languages. So when translating these words, translators need to be alert and adopt the most proper translation strategies and methods so as to achieve the translation purposes to the deepest extent. In this thesis, guided by domestication and foreignization, the author has discussed several culture-loaded words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life, which translated by Lin Yutang. Different from other theses focusing on this issue, the author probes it in five detailed translation methods under the two translation strategies we have mentioned before. Through the analysis of former examples, we can come to the point that domestication and foreignization are the unity of opposites. There is no standard answer that which translation strategy should be used in which circumstances. It is the purposes of translation that determine our choice. In the translation of Six Chapters of a Floating Life, Lin Yutang has proved this to us by using different translation methods in accordance with his purposes, which contributes to his translation success both at home and abroad and the cultural exchanges between China and other countries. In total, this thesis has basically fulfilled its tasks to prove the instructiveness of the translation strategies of domestication and foreignization, and find out the reasons why Lin Yutang’s translation version turns out to be a huge success and receives warm responses. At the same time, it points out that this translation has played an active role when Chinese culture steps out to the global stage, and provides reference for the translation of culture-loaded words.

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How to Keep “Chineseness” in Idiom Translation from Chinese to English 瞿淼 202070080604 Qu Miao

Abstract

Idiom is a form of expression natural to a language, person, or group of people. With rich cultural information, Chinese idioms carry the characteristics of Chinese language and culture. In the translation of idoms from Chinese to English, “Chineseness” in idioms is often lost in the translation, since Chinese and English belong to different language systems so there exist great cultural differences between them. This article, from the perspective of domesticating and foreignizing, compares the different effects of the text translated repectively by domestication and foreignizing method and discusses the way to keep “Chineseness” in idiom translation form Chinese to English. And the article ends with the conclusion that in idiom translation from Chinese to English, it is advisable to translators should, according to the needs of a specific context, find a balance between foreignizing and domesticating, so that “Chineseness” in the original text is kept in translated text as much as possible.

Key Words

idiom translation; cultural deficiency; cultural differences; foregnizing; domesticating

摘要

俗语是流传在人民群众口头上的，结构相对稳定的通俗语句，一般包括谚语、歇后语、惯用语和俗成语。汉语俗语承载着中国语言文化特色，蕴含着丰富的文化信息。在汉英俗语翻译中，因为汉语和英语属于不同的语言系统，并且文化差异较大，所以常常出现译文丢失了中国特色的情况。本文从归化和异化的角度，对比了分别使用归化和异化翻译方法的译文的效果，讨论汉英俗语翻译保持中国特色的方法，得出结论，在中文习语的翻译过程中，译者应该根据特定语境的需要，在异化和归化之间找到一个平衡点，以此来最大限度地保持俗语的中国特色。

关键词

习语翻译；文化缺失；文化差异；异化；归化

1. Introduction

An idiom is a set phrase of two or more words that means something different from the literal meaning of the individual words． ( Ammer，1997: vii) (习语是由两个或多个词组成的固定词组，它的意义不同于各个组成词的字面意义。) Generally speaking, idioms include colloquialisms, allegorical sayings, proverbs, slang, jargon and so on. The composition and semantics of idioms are very conventional, which is inseparable from the social and cultural background of idioms. Language is the carrier of culture, and idioms are an essential part of language. Idioms are deeply rooted in the social and cultural background where they are produced, and fully reflect the geographical environment, customs, religious beliefs and social, political, economic, and cultural systems in this background. Therefore, idioms are very national and cultural.

As an effective means to promote cross-cultural communication, translation is a bridge connecting different languages and can enhance communication between different cultures. As the essence of national culture, the translation of idioms plays an increasing important role in promoting cultural exchanges, and the biggest difficulty in translation is how to deal with the cultural conventions of source idioms. For translators, idiom translation must not only be fluent and express meaning, but also realize the transfer of cultural connotations implied by idioms. Idioms in Chinese are the carriers that convey the rich connotations of the Chinese language. They have the characteristics of concise language, brilliant meaning, typical connotation, and wide range of uses. Since idioms are the most quintessential and typical part of Chinese culture and the shining pearl in Chinese culture, idiom translation is of great significance for achieving the most perfect state of communication between China and the West. Due to the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, there exist cultural deficiencies in the translation of Chinese idioms, which makes it difficult for people of different cultural backgrounds to establish coherent and unobstructed semantics when communicating.

The first chapter of this article is an overview of Chinese idiom translation, analyzing the problems of Chinese idioms translation and the importance of keeping “Chineseness” in idiom translation. In the second chapter, this article discusses the reasons for cultural deficiency in Chinese idiom translation form four aspects: different emotional orientation, historical and cultural background, religious beliefs and ways of thinking. The third chapter is a comparative analysis of foreignizing and domesticating translation in idiom translation. This chapter begins with a brief introduction of foreignizing and domesticating translation method, and then compares the application of the two methods in idiom translation. At last, this article ends with the conclusion that translators should, according to the needs of a specific context, find a balance between foreignizing and domesticating.

2. Chapter 1 An Overview of the Idiom Translation form Chinese to English

Chinese idioms are mainly created by the folk and widely circulate. From the expression content of Chinese idioms, it has a large connotation, rich and profound content, hence it is surely informative with a good expression effect. As for language structure, it is usually characterized by popularity and colloquialism. In view of the current situation of the translation of Chinese idioms, the cultural connotation is obviously missing due to the influence of cultural forms. Idiom is a window for foreigners to understand Chinese culture. Therefore, it is of significance to keep Chinese characteristics in the translation of Chinese idioms as much as possible to spread Chinese culture.

1.1 The Problems of Idiom Translation form Chinese to English

Chinese idioms involve many contents and cover a wide range of knowledge. There is no doubt that this colloquial language has the characteristics of popularity, reflecting common and commonly used factors in daily life, so that the meaning of Chinese idioms can be fully expressed.Chinese idiom is a kind of inheritance of folk culture. In the process of translation, it is affected by its own cultural form and historical factors, and there is a certain cultural deficiency, or "loss of Chineseness“, in the translation of Chinese colloquial language.

The manifestation of cultural deficiency in the translation of Chinese idioms is mainly due to the errors in the interpretation of the inherent meanings conveyed by the Chinese idioms, and the discrepancy in the intrinsic values between the translator and the original Chinese idioms after translation. As a result, the inheritance and development of culture are hindered, and there is a lack of comprehensive understanding in the process of foreign translation.The emergence of this phenomenon is a manifestation of cultural deficiency, and the contradiction of cultural mechanism orientation between readers and translators leads to the emergence of cultural deficiency.On the basis of the semantic meaning of the original text, the translation of Chinese colloquial language is in accordance with the linguistic environment and the operational environment of grammar. The translation process emphasizes the cultural inheritance and the expression of intrinsic value.It is precisely the collision between different cultures that causes the phenomenon of culture loss.

1.2 The Importance of Keeping “Chineseness” in Chinese Idiom Translation to English

Idioms are the condensed and quintessence of human language. As the treasures of national culture, they carry the cultural information such as geography, history, religion and living habits of a country or a nation. Translation is a kind of cross-cultural communication activity, which conveys cultural characteristics. If it is separated from the culture of a nation, translation would miss its due role. Since the 1980s and 1990s, translation studies have ushered in a new stage, namely the shift of translation. Susan Bassnett is a representative of the school of "cultural translation". Her view of cultural translation emphasizes the special status of culture in translation -- as language and culture are closely related, culture, rather than text, should be regarded as the basic unit of translation. In short, translation is by no means an act of pure language. It is deeply rooted in the culture in which the language is located. Translation is the communication within and between cultures, and translation equivalence is the cultural function equivalence between the source language and the target language. In a word, it is significant to keep Chinese characteristics in Chinese Idiom Translation to English as much as possible to spread Chinese culture.

2. Chapter 2 The Reasons for the Loss of “Chineseness” in Idiom Translation from Chinese to English

Chinese and English have completely different cultural backgrounds. The cultural differences between the two are huge, which makes the Chinese and Western people have huge understanding barriers in language exchanges, especially idioms in traditional Chinese culture. Since idioms contains rich and profound cultural background knowledge, translators will inevitably encounter the problem of cultural deficiency in the process of idiom translation, transplanting one culture to another. The problem of cultural deficiency in idiom translation occurs frequently. The reasons for the Loss of “Chineseness” in Idiom Translation from Chinese to English are mainly reflected in the following four aspects.

2.1 Different Emotional Orientation

Although there are many words that refer to the same thing in Chinese and English, the word may mean differently in different language contexts, for the same word may bear different associative meanings. For example, Chinese people and Westerns often have different understanding to color words. The semantic associations of the word "yellow" are different in English and Chinese cultures.In Chinese culture, yellow is the symbol of imperial power and status, so it plays an important role.For example, "黄袍加身“（the yellow robe adds the body） refers to being an emperor.However, in modern Chinese, the word "黄" often has a derogatory meaning, which means lewdness and depravity. It forms many new words with other words and is widely used.For example: "黄色影片", "黄色书籍" and so on, most of them are related to the concept of sex. Nevertheless, yellow represents justice, wisdom and glory in Western culture.In Western art St. Peter is dressed in yellow.Of course, yellow also has a bad symbolic meaning. It reminds people of the color of the clothes worn by Judas, who betrayed Jesus. Therefore, yellow can be used to express "timid, unreliable, jealous, sensationalist, low-level sensationalism" and other derodic meanings. But in English the word "yellow" doesn't have an obscene meaning. Chinese people has regarded the "dragon" as the symbol of the nation since ancient times, and the Chinese nation called themselves the "descendant of the dragon". However, in western culture, "dragon" is a lizard with scales, wings and tails, an can breathe fire. It is a symbol of evil and cruelty. Therefore, if the Chinese idiom “望子成龙” was translated into “hope one’s children to become a dragon”, it would lead to great misunderstanding. But we translate it into “hope one’s children will have a bright future”, foreigners may not get the metaphoric meaning of the word “龙”. This is what we said the loss of “Chineseness”, namely, cultural deficiency.

2.2 Different Historical and Cultural Background

Chinese culture has a long history and bears a profound and sophisticated cultural nature. As the essence of Chinese culture, Chinese idioms often contain many historical allusions. And idioms originated from literary quotation or historical events should not be conceived literally because they have deeper meanings. Without cultural background knowledge, it is not easy to understand this kind of idioms, not mention to translate them. For instance, the Chinese idiom “三顾茅庐”, which means repeatedly requesting somebody to take up a responsible post, derives from a historical story of Zhuge Liang. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang lived in a thatched cottage in Longzhong. Xu Shu, a counsellor, recommended zhuge Liang to Liu Bei and said, zhuge Liang was a genius.In order to ask Zhuge Liang to help him conquer the war, Liu Bei went with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to ask him to leave the mountain.However, Zhuge Liang was not at home, so Liu Bei had to leave his name and went back unhappy.A few days later, Liu Bei learned that Zhuge Liang had returned and went with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei against the wind and snow.But Zhuge Liang went out again, and Liu Bei and his men left again. Liu Bei went to Longzhong for the third time and finally met Zhuge Liang.In the conversation, Zhuge Liang made a very incisive analysis of the situation, which impressed Liu Bei. Liu Bei visited the thatched cottage three times, which greatly moved Zhuge Liang and he promised to go out to help him. Zhuge Liang helped Liu Bei win many victories and laid the foundation of the state of the Han dynasty for him. From this story comes the idiom. If we just translate “三顾茅庐” into “repeatedly to request somebody to take up a responsible post’ or “have visited the cottage thrice in succession to call on somebody repeatedly”, foreigners would not get the allusion of it, hence the Chinese characteristics is lost somehow. Likewise, the idioms like “班门弄斧” and “卧薪尝胆” are all relevant to some historical figures, who are known by all Chinese people but unfamiliar to foreigners. Only when they have learned something about Zhuge Liang, Lu Ban, and Gou Jian can they get the meaning of these idioms. And it is the profound historical and cultural backgrounds that make the Chinese idioms hard to translate.

2.3 Different religious beliefs

As a special form of human culture, religion is produced and developed almost synchronously with human culture, and all ethnic groups have their own religious beliefs and cultures. Religion not only exerts a certain influence on people's values and ways of thinking, but also influences language expression. In the late Western Han Dynasty, Buddhism was introduced into China, and it has a history of more than one thousand years in China. Accompanied with the introduction of Buddhism came some idioms from Buddhism or related to Buddhism, such as “放下屠刀，立地成佛”, “苦海无边，回头是岸”, and “醍醐灌顶”. Most Chinese people believe in Buddhism and Taoism, while most Westerners believe in Christianity. In the context of two different religious cultures, translators often meet translation difficulties. Take “放下屠刀，立地成佛” as an example. The idiom "放下屠刀"(lay down the butcher's knife) does not refer to the butcher's knife that actually kills. The "butcher's knife" here refers to malice, evil deeds and all delusions, delusions, confusion, differentiation and persistence. The sentence “放下屠刀，立地成佛"(Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot) means: the one who put down delusion, distinction, persistence, is the Buddha! The essence of "butcher knife" is "man's confusion to himself". Many translation versions of this idiom are given, like “A killer becomes a Buddha at the moment he drops the knife to kill.” and “A wrongdoer may become a man of virtue once he does good.”; however, these versions both neglect the original Buddhist factors. If the cultural connotation is not expressed in translation, westerners would feel confused while reading.

2.4 Different Ways of Thinking

As for the characteristics of the deep structure of Chinese culture, from Hager to Derrida, the western academic circle has formed a prejudice that China has no rationality and no philosophy. Previous Chinese scholars have found some similarities and differences between Chinese and Western cultures in material, institutional and ideological aspects, but they have neglected the role of rationality in the Chinese and Western cultures. Reason has different contents and categories. Different categories of reason make up different rational structures. Although the outbreak of rationality is the common characteristic of Chinese and Western civilizations in the axial age, their rational structure is not the same.The rational structure of the ancient West includes logical reason, natural reason, practical reason, and aesthetic reason, but it lacks historical reason. Its rational structure is dominated by pure reason, while logical reason occupies a dominant position.The rational structure of China includes historical reason, natural reason and moral reason. It has logical thought, but it has not developed logical reason, among which historical reason occupies a dominant position. Logical reason dominates western thinking, while historical reason leads Chinese thinking. This difference in rational structure is the fundamental reason for the difference in Chinese and Western thinking. The difference between Chinese civilization and Western civilization lies in the difference of rational structure. The difference between the western civilization and the Chinese civilization lies in the difference of dichotomy.Some of the differences between Chinese and Western dichotomies can be traced back to the differences between Chinese and Western languages. Different language features are the source of the differences between Chinese and Western cultures.

3. Chapter 3 Comparative Analysis of Foreignizing and Domesticating Translation in Idiom Translation

As a literary form, Chinese idioms have many inherent and connotative meanings. In the process of translation, the phenomenon of loss of Chinese characteristics is quite serious. In order to induce the loss of Chinese characteristics in translation to minimum, we should choose the appropriate translation method. Domesticating and foreignizing translation have always been the focus of debate in the field of translation. The essence of the contradiction lies in the proposition that the expression form of the original language introduced into the target language or the idiomatic expression in the target language. This article, from the perspective of domesticating and foreignizing, compares the different effects of the text translated repectively by domestication and foreignizing method and discusses the way to keep “Chineseness” in idiom translation form Chinese to English.

3.1 A Brief Introduction of Foreignizing and Domesticating Translation

Foreignizing and Domesticating Translation are systematically put forward by Lawrence Venuti in his book Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation (1995). Domesticating translation is to transform the foreign element in one culture into something familiar in another culture.It puts aside the sentence and image of the original text, but grasps its pragmatic meaning. From the target language and the original text of the pragmatic meaning of the same way of expression.Strictly speaking, domestication is a revision of the culture of the target language. However, it reduces the difficulty of the readers to accept the translation text at the expense of the large culture contained information as well as the appreciation and understanding of the meaning of heterogeneous culture to some extent. On the contrary, foreignization is to transform the information from one culture and language to another culture and language in a way that remains almost as it is. It endows the target language with new linguistic elements and also novel and unique forms of expression, which is conducive to the mutual communication and penetration of two heterogeneous cultures and languages, so as to promote their mutual integration. In his book, Venuti makes a critical study of western translation from the early 17th century to the present, and reveals that the strategy of "smooth translation" has always been dominant in the history of Western translation. The fundamental reason is to form a norm of foreign literature in English based on the western ideology. Venuti puts it bluntly that his purpose writing this book was to go against tradition, namely, to advocate the visibility of translators. Venuti opposed domestication and advocated foreignization in tradition. This translation strategy, he says, can be called "resistance". Such translation not only avoids smooth translation, but also challenges the culture of the target language, because smooth translation tamper with the foreign text with the ethnocentrism of the culture of the target language. "Resistance" means resistance to the ethnocentrism of the target language culture, so that the translator is no longer invisible in translation.

Nida is the representative of the domestication translation. He put forward the concept of functional equivalence, “The relationship between the target receptor and the target text should be equivalent to that between the source language receptor and the source text”, in order to eliminate the differences in language and culture in the translation.

3.2 The Application of Domesticating Translation in Idiom Translation

The ideal of Nida's domesticating translation is the closest natural equivalent. Domesticating translation maximizes the dominant position of the target language and makes the target language close to readers. It tries to overcome cultural differences to realize the equivalent translation. Due to the cultural differences between different languages, translators are required to have a keen sense of culture and ability to fully and accurately interpret the national psychology and cognitive mode of the source culture, so that they can reproduce the profound cultural connotations of the source language. Generally speaking, idioms are words with rich cultural connotations. Undoubtedly, the choice of foreignizing and domesticating method will produce different results: whether the culture of the source language can be preserved, and to what extent can be preserved. If we choose domesticating method, we should realize that there are two premises to distinguish it: one is the domesticating under the principle of fidelity, which is prescriptive and centered on the source language; another is domesticating under the premise of non-faithfulness, which is descriptive and oriented by the translation into Chinese. That is to say, domesticating translation can be divided two way. One is a faithful principle under domestication, we can refer it as equivalent translation. While using this method to translate idioms, translators try to look for expressions from target language which has the same smantic effect as that of the source language, thus to make the translation natural, direct and vivid, improving the readability and acceptability of the translation. For example, the Chinese idiom "时间就是金钱" is translated as "Time is money", and "事实胜于雄辩" as "Facts speak louder than words". The other is a loyal premise of domesticating, which is similar to free translation. When the cultural characteristics of source language idioms expressed cannot be transformed through literal translation, translators should adopt free translation, not only to convey the deep meaning of the source language, but also to reflect characteristics of the target language, realizing the harmonious development of the two different languages. For instance, "胆小如鼠" is translated into "as timid as a hare" instead of "as timid as a mouse".

Another example of the application of domesticating is the translation version of the famous Chinese novel 《红楼梦》 by Hawkes. There are a large number of idioms in the novel, and Hawkes generally translated them by using the method of domesticating. For the sentence “癞蛤蟆想天鹅吃。”( 曹雪芹 165) , Hawkes translated it into “ The toad on the ground wanting to eat the goose in the sky” (Hawkes 242). Here, Hawkes replaced “swan”(天鹅) with “goose”(鹅), since the associative meanings of “swan” and “goose” are completely different in western culture.

3.3 The Application of Foreignizing Translation in Idiom Translation

Foreignizing translation means that, under the pressure of cultural value deviationism, the reader is brought into the context of the translation, accepts the language and cultural differences of the foreign language text. It takes the source language culture as the destination, adopting the source language expression methods that correspond to the original author, approaching the source language text author, and conveying the original content most truthfully. For example, if "一箭双雕" is translated as "kill two hawks with one arrow" instead of "kill two birds with one stone", the cultural information of the source language would be preserved to the greatest extent, so that the different cultural connotations can be truly presented to readers. The differences in the culture of the source language are reflected, allowing readers to experience foreign cultures through their own cultural cultivation. The foreignizing translation method reflects a trend of cultural integration, allowing the strong culture and the weak culture to develop in the collision, and finally achieve equal dialogue in the continuous exchange. It not only promotes cultural exchanges, but also contributes to the enrichment and development of the target language culture.

Moreover, another example of the application of foreignizing is the translation version of the famous Chinese novel 《红楼梦》 by Yang Xianyi(杨宪益). Contrary to Hawkes’ s translation, Yang adopted the method of foreignizing while confronting with cultural factors in translating. As for “癞蛤蟆想天鹅吃”(曹雪芹 165), Yang translated it into “A toad hankering for a tatste of swan”. Here, Yang keeps the “Chineseness” in source language through literal translation.

Choosing domesticating or foreignizing is not a question of black and white, but a question of grasping "degree", or finding a balance. Translation involves the pragmatic rules of two different languages and is a cross-linguistic and cross-cultural communicative activity. Foreignizing and domesticating shouldn’t be treated simply separately. In many cases, the use of the two methods is restricted by the pragmatic environment and must be combined. It is impossible for a translator to choose only one method to translate a work and use it to the end. The key to the translation of idioms is to grasp a balance point between domesticating and foreignizing. If we simply emphasize the readability of the translated version, we may ignore the cultural characteristics of the source language, leading to excessive domestication and loss of the culture of the source language. However, if we only focus on the transmission of the cultural information of the source language, it may damage the readability of the translated text and lead to excessive foreignizing. The loss of readability of the translated text will eventually lead to the failure of the translator's efforts. The selection method of foreignizing and domesticating should be a dynamic mechanism, flexible and changing with the change of corresponding influencing factors. Due to the need of specific context, the same idiom may be translated in different ways. In the process of idiom translation, whether to adopt domesticating or foreignizing, communicative purpose and pragmatic environment all affect the choice of methods. For example, the primary purpose of Yang’s translation of Dream in Red Chamber is to spread Chinese culture; therefore, he mainly adopted the method of foreignizing in idiom translation, so that the “Chineseness” in idioms could be kept as much as possible. And Hawkes mainly used domesticating in his translation, because he wanted to reduce the difficulties of reading, making it easier for western readers to accept the novel. So we can see, different communicative purposes lead to different chooses of translation methods.  

4. Conclusion

Domesticating and foreignizing have always been the focus of controversy in translation circles. The essence of the contradiction is to advocate the introduction of the original expression in the target language or the authentic expression of the target language. The article believes that the contradiction between the two is not irreconcilable under normal circumstances. In fact, mere foreignizing or domesticating cannot appear alone in translation. The balance between the two should be sought as much as possible on the premise of loyalty to translation duties.

One of the purposes of translation is to spread the source language culture, promoting cultural exchange and integration as well as the diversified development of the world. The foreignizing translation method can reserve enough space for readers to appreciate and analyze foreign cultures. The translator should have enough confidence in readers when adopting foreignizing strategies, and believe that readers can give full play to their imagination to understand foreign countries on the basis of comparing their own and foreign culture. The ultimate goal of translation is to promote cross-cultural communication. It is necessary to consciously retain relevant cultural factors in the translation process. Simply using domestication translation will inevitably hide or even distort the cultural connotation of the source language. In order to preserve and spread the source language culture, the use of foreignizing translation methods should be emphasized when translating idioms rich in cultural meaning. However, the foreignizing strategy has its limits. Regardless of whether for interpretation or translation, it does not mean that all idioms containing cultural factors should be preserved. Information transmission and cultural transmission are equally important in the translation process. One cannot lose sight of the other. Idioms convey a country’s culture brilliantly. In the process of idiom translation, the expression of cultural factors cannot be ignored. The retention of unique cultural images can attract readers of the target language. The actual acceptance ability of the target language readers cannot be ignored, otherwise it may cause poor communication. In the translation process, the translator must adhere to the principle of the inter-growth of different languages and cultures, and must pay attention to the fact that the translation must achieve communication, coordination and docking with the world, and at the same time, it must not be inappropriately eliminated in order to comply with the needs of the target country. The source language and the target language are inherent in language and culture.

Translation of English Proverbs from the Perspective of Culture 韩海洋 202020080602 Han Haiyang

Abstract

under the context of close communication between eastern and western countries, cultural influence now is increasingly enjoying more importance than before in language exchanging. As for translation of English proverbs, proper translation strategies should be considered in order to better understand their meaning and characters. By looking up thesis and documents, some translation strategies need to be concluded. In terms of cultural influence and social communication, foreignization and domestication are chosen in which the former is used more frequently that the latter. It arrives the conclusion that foreignization applied for translation of English proverbs is on the increase.

Key Words

proverbs; culture; translation strategies

摘要

由于文化因素在不同语言之间的交流具有一定的影响，特别在中西方交往日益密切的背景下。为了更好的翻译英语谚语，使其达到应有预期效果，适当的翻译策略可以在翻译过程中更好地了解谚语的含义与特色。通过查阅资料和文献，总结出合适的翻译方法。根据现在的社会背景和文化影响，对于归化和异化两种方法，异化的选择得到了更多的倾向。在翻译的过程中，将文化因素考虑进去对于语言翻译上面，异化的趋势将会逐渐增大。

关键词

谚语; 文化; 翻译方法 

1. Introduction

With the advent of 21th century, society has been changed in a wide scope, and shed light on the unparalleled interaction of culture and economy as most exemplified phenomenon happening everywhere. Translation is thereby a way to transfer from one culture to another, in which the effect of cultural background is behind language the essence of best fruit of translation. The history of translation has been lasted for a long time, for example when it comes to English proverbs, which can be traced to centuries ago, like Bible and works of Shakespeare. It is not rare to see that each country has its own unique culture, and under the cover abundant resources mirroring a country can be exploited. English proverbs as a product of culture the bridge for cultural exchange is been studied since centuries ago. The strategies of proverbs translation also have been experimentally discussed from time to time as the rapid development of culture and economy. Translation plays a key role in promoting a country’s own culture, because that is the way of importing and exporting knowledge of culture to another country. Proverbs is the product of culture that cannot be understood directly without any effort to digest it. So translation is needed, which could impose exotic flavors to new conception or understanding, but the premise is that translation is properly chosen in regard to nowadays strongly cultural promotion awareness.

Usually proverbs are concise, concrete and pithy words which are rhythmed and organized for the sake of being simple to remember and spread to people. Proverbs are summarized by certain people from all walks of life in a specialized area, including eating habits, farming, belief, customs and so many. Proverbs composed of words the exact symbol of language, are named as the crystal of culture in a easily understandable way. Culture awareness is highly appreciated whatever it is developed country or developing country. For the fulfillment of translation of English proverbs, therefore this thesis aims to translate English proverbs with appropriate translation strategies-mainly foreignization and domestication from the perspective culture.

2. Chapter 1 General Introduction to English proverbs

1.1 Definition of Proverbs

As far as history is concerned, proverbs can be dated back to the times that language is produced. According to Dictionary of Proverbs, proverbs are “a succinct and memorable statement that contains advice, a warning or a prediction, or an analytical observation”. Maybe the first definition is given by Socrates that a proverb is noted as brevity, philosophical tone, and common usage. In the 15th century, Michael Apostolius of Byzantium wrote, “A proverb is a statement which conceals the clear in the unclear, or which through concrete images indicates intellectual concepts, or which makes clear the truth in furtive fashion”. Champion (1966:xi) has claimed his idea “a proverb in my opinion is a racial aphorism which has been, or still is, in common use, conveying advice or counsel, invariably camouflaged figuratively, disguised in metaphor or allegory.” According to Mieder (1993), “A proverb is a short generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorable form and which is handed down from generation to generation”. Although definition is definitely different from one to another, one thing is for sure is that proverbs have been proved to exist for a long time. From all the above have been talked, proverbs can be boiled down to a simple, culture-loaded, and wide-circled saying enjoying great popularity throughout the whole country. Considering it that a majority of elements are included in proverbs, especially when it comes to perspective of culture, some feasible measures should be properly taken to handle it.(Honeck 1997,12)

1.1.1 Origin of Proverbs from Abroad Proverbs are not come out from nowhere, and the amount and meaning of them do not stay the same eternally. As a rule, comparison between at home and abroad is always been found. From abroad, English proverbs could be seen in Bible, and works from Shakespeare and other fables. Part of old proverbs are stemmed from Bible, which largely related to God and so many fairy tales, or in other word like “God” or any related implication are sometimes recorded in proverbs. Like the famous one said: “man proposes, God disposes”, it shows that in western country people faithfully believe in God who is enshrined in most western religions, especially Christianity. Except from Bible, in the times of Renaissance Shakespeare’s works can be found in which some proverbs are known from that time. For example, in Romeo and Juliet there is one sentence “a rose by any other means would smell as sweet”. It means that irrespective of how things’ names are changed, the essence embedded in them would still intact. Shakespeare is as one of the most brilliant play writers just on the behalf of renaissance period. There are still amounts of proverbs created by other scholars like Francis Bacon, John Milton and so on.(Li Keshi 2009,35-38)

1.1.2 Origin of Proverbs at home

In china, proverbs can be traced to Spring and Autumn periods. At that time, people mostly work at farm, so there are a lot of proverbs related to farming or country life. with Zuo’s Commentary( 左 传 ) deserves the first.In it, the Chinese proverb “山有木，工则度之；宾有礼，主则择之”has its track, and most of the proverbs mentioned in Zuo’s Commentary are from Zhou Dynasty as “Zhou proverbs”(周谚). Besides, terms like “Xia proverbs(夏谚)” can also be found in Mencius(孟子). Like the proverb “吾王不游，吾何以休？吾王不豫，吾何以助？一游一豫，为诸侯度”from Mencius, though have not been handed down, it is regarded as the earliest proverb that have been recorded (ibid,2003). Xia is an extremely ancient dynasty in Chinese history, as far as over 4,000years from today. So maybe proverbs are not as popular as today, they are definitely has records and can shed light on Chinese history.Proverbs in China are said to date back to as early as before the words came into being. People at that time did not pass down their knowledge and experience by writing, while they made it by speaking and saying in a simple and memorable way. With time moving forward, proverbs are gradually been regarded as important as written words which play a great role in future generation in dealing with culture and heritage. No matter what kind of proverbs are produced, from the historical evidence it can be observed that proverbs can across ocean and land, moving to another country, another culture domain.(ibid 2003,31)

1.2 Characteristics of Proverbs

Proverbs are memorable, vivid words which are succinct and simple in form summarized by people from all walks of life. Both Chinese and English are bountiful in considering the thousands of proverbs have been recorded and there are still more proverbs to be created as time goes on. For the record, proverbs are not spoken at random and created at one’s free will. Some rules can be depended on, such as the lifestyle, living environment, education, social value, and so on. Take environment for example, the British lived near to ocean or sea, and therefore it is common to see proverbs related to sea spoken by English people “In a clam sea, every man is a pilot.”

1.2.1 Cultural Characteristics of Proverbs

Broadly speaking, culture contains all the aspects of the society and gives its people ability viewing the world. Meanwhile, culture also can be regarded as a deciding element on distinguishing the difference from each country. It is no exaggeration to say that a country’s most standing heritage is its culture, which keeps changeable in line with the history. Although nowadays similarities of culture are seen more easily than ever before, the reason is under the influence of globalization-culture import and export take place here and there. The logic is culture formed from all walks of life, which means language is included, and proverbs are product of language. Therefore, proverbs carry characteristics of culture whatever the country is and how singular its culture is. Social customs is one of the big parts in a cultural society, there are some symbols or people are widely used in proverbs. Jack and Jill usually refer to man and woman in general such as: “every Jack has his Jill”. The counterpart in china is also easy to find. To name a few, there are more could be found in each cultural community. The next indispensable one is religion. It is well acknowledged that western countries like America and the UK, are religious countries, in which the words like: “God, devil, and church” are seen here and there. Like it has been said before, language is the product of culture, which contains every aspect of people’s life from individuality to the whole society. What is more, value concept is also included since it reflects how a country embodies its culture to the outside world. Giving respect for the aged in china is a necessary and ethic social value passed on and on for thousands of years. In Chinese, there is proverb saying that: “不听老人言，吃亏在眼前”. It means youth should listen to what the old men told you, or you will pay the price of what you have done. Instead, traditional values favor in masculinity, people think that men are superior to women and they have direct control over them. Ego and individuality in America is felt deeply, because they think that they are going to be successful by themselves from any given chance. They seldom make big achievement by working in group rather than enjoying doing it by their own hands. Proverbs like “near is my shirt, but near is my skin” is emphasizing that someone himself is more important than others.(Li Keshi 2009,35-38)

1.2.2 Rhetorical Characteristics of Proverbs

As proverbs express concrete meaning by only a few words, sometimes it has to apply some kind of rhetorical devices for perfectly presenting the delicacy of proverbs. Some meaningful proverbs are not understood directly by adding each word all together, however, it only can be realized by using proper rhetorical methods to give their deep meaning, in another word, connotative meaning.

Simile is often seen in proverbs, and it usually compares one thing to another thing, in order to showing its vivid or obscure picture to receptor who may not understand directly from plain words. In sentences with simile, “like” and “as” are widely used for example, “March come in like a lion and goes out like a lamb”, and “time tries friend, as fire tries gold”. The former means that the changes of March is different from how it is coming and ending, and the latter means that friend like gold needs to be tested then you would find who is your real friend. Both of them impressively express the core meaning from unfamiliar thing or abstract thing to specific and easily understandable thing. Metaphor is seemingly like simile, but it is more implicitly explaining meaning than simile. Like “brevity is the soul of wit” and “an empty bag cannot stand upright”. The former means brevity is so important to wit like the soul of a person, the latter one translated in Chinese is “人是铁，饭是钢，一顿不吃饿的慌。” Hyperbole is a rhetoric that uses overstatement or obvious exaggeration to emphasize something, such as “Our life is but a span” and “An unfortunate man would drown in teacup”. The former means life lasts in a few times as short as span, which is obviously overstated. The latter means if a person is feeling unlucky at that day, whatever you do will bring bad lucky. Personification is the ability to endow common lifeless things with features of human-being. For instance, “Money is a good servant but a bad master”, and “fortunate knocks once at least at every man’s gate”. The former means money should be rationally handled or it may be a burden for you. The latter means everyone has a chance to be fortunate at least once.(Guo Min 2008,123-127)

From all above have been discussed, they are just the most common figurative devices formed into proverbs. In terms of the function of rhetorical, proverbs can come into being in a simple, memorable form. It can be inferred that proverbs in a much degree use rhetorical to express refined and concrete meaning. Meanwhile it reflects the problem that when doing translation of proverbs, focus are more than just words themselves needed to be considered, as well as culture, form and connotative meaning.

1.3 Differences Between Proverbs and Maxims, Sayings, Idioms

It seems that proverbs are looked the same as maxims, sayings, and idioms one way or another, but in fact there still exists some differences between them. For one thing, the existence of proverbs is across the whole world, therefore, no one can precisely calculate how many of them are recorded, and how many of them are still unknown to us. In terms of the number of proverbs is uncertain, so making a convincing definition is unrealistic, at least not perfect. If referring to it could be found that the definition in the dictionary is also easy to distinguish from each other. Some researchers disagree with each other on the definitions of these similar terms. Fergusson (1983) states some proverbs are simple folk sayings. Burton Stevenson (1987)’s idea about proverb is that― “A maxim is the sententious expression of some general truth or rule and it becomes a proverb when it gets its wings by winning popular acceptance.” Some scholars believe that sayings are one stream in the vast ocean of proverbs while others argue that proverbs should be included in the realm of sayings. In one source defining idioms and proverbs, NTC’s American Idioms Dictionary (1987) mention that ― “the idiom ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ is a proverb meaning that something you already have is better than something you might get.” As for classifying maxims and proverbs, Cordry (1997) suggests that “one defines a maxim as a rule of conduct and a proverb as a comment or observation with regard to the universal experience of life, the distinction is not always clear.” And as given in Concise Oxford English-Chinese Dictionary (2003), saying is defined as “a maxim, proverb, adage, etc.” Even so, there must be some obvious features we could rely on to categorize them in general. It could be concluded that maxim and saying are mostly the expression of principle or behavior of man or the rules that summarized by famous writer or philosopher. Thus maxim and saying are seldom heard or seen except reading in the books and hearing from author himself. As a number of them are in a serious or form expression, there they are not as popular as proverbs which are created from daily experience by common people. In regard to idiom, its meaning is not the each word put together, but by understanding it form local people who made them and made it spread in his surrounding places. Idioms sometimes are not complete sentences but simple phrases. While, proverbs enjoy great popularity and are universally spread because of their concrete, succinct and vivid description.(Fergusson 1983,28-31)

In conclusion, proverbs are prevalent in the world enjoying widespread social value and abundant sentence structures, but for sayings and maxims they are carrying the color of literature. Idioms have local color that is only understood within the same or similar speech community. With such understanding, it lays the foundation for researcher to better study and distinguish the distinctions form others.

2. Chapter 2 Relation Between Culture and Proverbs Translation

2.1 Definition of Culture

As many scholars have been studied the definition culture, there have been existed sorts of definitions, in which they do not have big difference in one way or another. Culture is a general word that could take language, customs, religion, and others into account. One of the oldest and most quoted definitions of culture, which is frequently mentioned regardless of so many entries of definitions, was formulated by the 19th-century English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in the first paragraph of his Primitive Culture (1871) as “Culture… is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. …” . While Nida, a famous linguistic and translation theorist, gives his definition of culture as “the totality of beliefs and practices of a society” in the book Language and Culture (2001:139) and as “the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression” by New mark given in his book of A Textbook of Translation (2001:94).From the mentioned above, culture includes every aspect of human life such as housing, transporting, communicating with people, recording of history and so on. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that proverb, or even language is a part of culture. Some scholar even put that language is the medium of culture, without language there may be no existence of culture. So the importance of culture cannot be ignored in order to better understand the deep meaning when studying proverb, a culture-loaded word, and more attention should be given to perspective of culture.(Katan 2004,16)

2.2 Language and Proverb

It is no exaggeration to say that language is the product of culture since culture is culturally transmitted from the view of linguistics. Therefore, proverbs are composed of a set of words, which are selected from a particular language community. Take English and Chinese for example, they both represent their special culture and unique characteristics respectively. More importantly, proverbs are the crystal of language, which can be used as a convenient tool to understand different cultures for language is the bridge leading to culture.

2.3 Value and proverbs

Value is associated with sorts of people’s live and is defined by these people living in a specific area. Value of appreciation on people is an obvious example that eastern and western countries have extreme angles on how to appraise a person. Tanned skin and jeans clothes are symbols as to select people whom they like more, but for eastern, white skin and Qipao maybe are thresholds for people to judge a person whether he or she is more stylish. Value of eating is still a big mark to differentiate race or natality. Cooked meal in china and salad in the west make the difference that eating habit is so little sameness on each other. There are still more, living environment and national policy if is related to country. All of them shape all kinds of values which are on behave of its countries or people. Like east or west, home is the best means “金窝，银窝，不如自己的狗窝.” Proverbs are not just created form nowhere but they are existed for ages and still available only if they are still reflecting meaningful viewpoints.(Chen Jinshi 2006,72-77)

Language is a part of culture and also at the same time a reflection of culture. Taking Chinese and English for example, they belong to different language families, therefore there exist some distinctions between them. Chinese people usually don’t say daring or family name directly, which is so different from western people who call their parents’ name and say sweet words without any concerning of awkwardness or shyness. It works to proverbs, and that is the social custom defining a society what is their core valve. As far as we know, social value between western country and eastern country are of great differences. In western country, self-awareness and individuality are mostly emphasized, but for eastern, more attention is given to collective wisdom and working in groups. Like Chinese proverbs “ 三个臭皮匠，顶个诸葛亮。”and in English proverbs such as “ God helps those who help themselves.” From above being said that it has a lot benefits to study proverbs to better understand culture and language.(Chen Jinshi 2006,72-77)

2.4 Cultural Similarity on Chinese and English Proverbs

Without any effort it can tell that Chinese and English are defined by different language families. Even so, Chinese and English proverbs shared some similarities in various ways, which are performed in different form and speech of proverbs. Because there exist universal truths and life styles, they are more or less understood by people from society to society. Like the truth of the universe in the definition of right and wrong and subjects including philosophy, math, chemistry, they are all developed separately in different areas but shared and summarized by all members form all the world. In this point, proverbs play the role in spreading some common knowledge and experience to the outside world, though forms are created by different society, they are carrying the same meaning or implying one way or another. Examples like “a snow year, a rich year(瑞雪兆丰年), strike while the iron is hot, and a neighbor is better than a distant cousin.” All of them are proved to share universal life experience and truth in the everyday life. Because people live under the same sky, sun, star, they go on making their living by hard working.(Han Jiaoyang 2009,111-117)

It is no exaggeration to say that cultural exchanges are rapidly happening all over the word, and foreign culture may be assimilated by domestic culture or rejected by its opposite expression of culture. In this sense, we have same expressions in different ways of forms, like “情人眼里出西施” (Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder). They are describing the same thing but with different cultural background, therefore they sometimes have similarities in one way or another.(Han Jiaoyang 2009,111-117)

2.5 Cultural Difference in Chinese and English Proverbs

Without a doubt that cultural similarities surely make translation easier in understanding foreign proverbs, but they are not silver bullets to taking all the proverbs into consideration. When it comes to separate boundaries which cut the Earth into serval parts, under this context, local culture will be formed and promoted in its own birth place. One of the most common features of culture is religion in western and eastern country, because western people have belief in God, Chinese people believe in Buddhism, which are of two great differences. That is the reason why in the process of translation, factor of culture has to be reckoned, especially in the new eras. As Nord have ever put forward in Translating as a Purposeful Activity that ―A culture-specific phenomenon is one that is found to exist in a particular form or function in only one of the two cultures being compared‘‘ (Nord,2001:34), therefore culture will be compared at a time when people have different perceptions on things, in which language would be the first. The grammatically sentence structure and the pronunciation for example, have little in common regarding they belong to different language family.(Fu Yanli 2016,91-92)

Living environment is an element on deciding the formation of proverbs. Traditional Chinese people were busy doing farming, agriculture, so there are proverbs associated with them. Like “ 瓜熟蒂落” means things will be done when they are mature, and “人靠血样，苗考水活”means blood is a necessity for existence of human being as well as water to seedlings.” Moreover, a fruitful harvest is dependent on the weather, producing proverbs such as “三月三，著蓑衣，三月十五冷凄凄”, which means lunar early month has heavy and the middle is heavily cold. But for English proverbs, which are to a large extent related to fishery or marine affairs such as “to sink or swim”, “to keep one’s feet above water” and so many. Therefore both of the proverbs are created surrounding environment. Except for living environment, living customs are also reflected on formation of proverbs. In different communities, people have different perception of things like animals. In Chinese proverbs, “杀鸡取卵” which equals to “kill the goose that lays golden eggs”, in which different animals are choose represent local customs. English proverbs would say that “look for a needle in a haystack”, which has a Chinese counterpart as “大海捞针”. It means that doing something is as difficult as finding out a small piece in an immerse container. Dog is also a featured sign that stand for different views in Chinese and English proverbs. In China, although dog is loyal to his master, it always leaves unrespectable impression on people, on the contrary, English love dogs and cherishes them so much sometimes even more than their family.(Fu Yanli 2016,91-92) Different cultural heritage and religious beliefs are also play a key role in the formation of proverbs. It is not hard to refer that understanding proverbs on the bases of translation is convenient for study foreign culture. With all the differences and sameness, within the range of translation, culture is a must during translation

3. Chapter 3 Translation Strategies for English Proverbs

Translation strategies have long been studied for a long time, during that time, domestication and foreignization have been considered as dominating strategies that were applied by a lot of scholars. Cross-culture exchange has gained great trend, especially in those years global communication between countries develops rapidly. It is true that here exists another method like “functional equivalent” created by famous scholar Eugene Nida who claims that in the process of translation source text and target text are both considered as author and reader are separated by the language or culture. The best function of translation is aiming to make source text as readable as reader-oriented text, which is popular in centuries ago in the era of underdeveloped cultural exchanges. In Chinese culture, the history of translation can also be traced to hundreds of years ago, some brilliant point of view like “信，达，雅”by Yan Fu, then it was changed into “信，达，切”by Liu Chongde. It means that translated text in which the flavor of text should be close to its original color of its culture. Taking what translation strategies into consideration should comply with the trend of culture exchange and its development.(Chen Daoen 2015,257-258)

3.1 Domestication and Foreignization

Domestication is a target language oriented translation device, which is to change the flavor into reader’s meet. It is compatible with the taste of people who think their country is strong enough to set international standard and in which all other countries will prepare for the transmission of culture. It is the assimilation that causes translator to change resource text into native flavor. But for this phenomenon, the reason is that people’s recognition is limited and their hold self-importance to the most, therefore, everything from outside will be transmitted into domestic flavor. As communication of culture and technology grows rapidly and each country would like to strengthen its comprehensive power by take into foreign culture. As for translation strategies, which are still be reckoned which one should be adapted. Foreignization is a source language oriented translation device, which is to change the flavor into author’s meet. The roots of the terms “domestication” and “foreignization” can be traced back to the German philosopher Schleiermacher‘s argument in 1813 in a lecture on the different methods of translation, he found only two methods of affecting the domestic reader‘s understanding of the foreign author, “Either the translator leaves the author in peace, as much as possible, and moves the reader towards him; or he leaves the reader in peace, as much as possible, and moves the author towards him.” (Venuti 2004,19-20).

In China, some scholars also have put forward their own opinions about the definitions of domestication and foreign. Among them, Lu Xun’s opinion is famous. He claimed that domestication was as “rewriting, changing the foreign story into Chinese story and changing the foreigners into Chinese” , while foreign was “translation is like going abroad traveling, it must reflect the scene and flavor of the foreign country concerned.”(ibid 1984,301) Expect the definition of domestication and foreignization, translator when doing the work of translation should consider the perspective of culture and the intention of the writer as well as reader whether they want to the culture of source text to be originally intact or changed into readers’ culture.(罗新璋 1984,301)

3.2 Foreignization over Domestication for Translation

As far as social development is concerned, cultural exchange is more frequent than now or ever. In previous centuries, domestication is always been advocated by Chinese and western translators, as the exchange of economy and culture is not as common as today. Countries blindly think themselves as the leading one, so naturally take translated text as a respect from other countries. In translated works, any trace of alien culture is eliminated, in favor of own country’s culture to be admired and promoted. The awareness of culture is not developed people only unconsciously find that in their mind anything enters into their country is no foreign at all, because every product from aboard will be transferred into familiarly native fruit with sense of closeness. In another way, people at that time are barely having the chance to access to education, in particular for poor family most of them are illiterate. It is without saying that no room is left for people in their countries to study culture abroad while native culture still did not gain completely popularity. From the above being mentioned, at an early age, domestication has upper hand indeed. So in choosing translation strategies, it is no doubt that it should be domestication centered.(Ding Min 2014,72-76)

For another thing, as technology and economy develop from nowhere, cultural exchange between countries has witnessed great changes in the past decades. In highly developed areas, people in their countries universally receive full education in which their counties’ historical culture has been deeply absorbed. So, in the process of translation, foreign culture as novel things fulling with exotic flavor has attracted people a lot to see the differences and experience a foreign journey. The untouchable place of domestication did not enjoy its popularity an anymore for its limitation of spreading of foreign culture. Therefore, foreignization became more and more important as translation tool in the view of people’s eye. It not only translated the original foreign text into native character, but also carried the foreign special into domestic text. Take china for example, although as a developing country in the Asian, china has so much say in the stage of the world in the aspect of culture and world peace. Language as the bridge of communication, have to be understood by others in the way of translation. In one way or another, domestication and foreignization can both play the role in the translation, but from the perspective of culture, foreignization seems to weigh more in nowadays choosing translation strategies.(Ding Min 2014,72-76)  

4. Conclusion

Proverbs are culture-loaded words that has been transmitted and renewed from generation to generation as well as the changes of different eras. As a part of language and the product of culture, it is no exception that proverbs can be a medium, which offer the opportunity to learn language and culture. With the advent of new technology and wide economic communication, translation is playing an indispensable role in this process. Proper translation strategies are essential that whether foreign culture should be taken into consideration since it stands as the soft strength of a country. By considering this, foreignization has more superiority when compared with domestication. Foreignization as a trend translation, keeping the original culture intact to target readers, meanwhile can enrich a native country’s culture and expand vocabulary. There is no doubt that domestication is not totally worthless, regarding proverbs has multiple varieties, which cannot be translated simply by foreignization, therefore domestication is worked as supplementary tool assisting foreignization in translation.

Foreignization leaves the culture of source text untouched, wishing to give target reader exotic environment where readers experience different aspects of culture, like religion, belief, custom and others.

In the end, as cultural development and social progress is moving forward, foreignization has more advantages than domestication.  

5. References

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Translation of Chinese Neologisms from the Perspective of Cross-cultural Translation Theory

解帆 Xie Fan

Abstract

With the continuous enhancement of China's overall national strength and international influence, Chinese is playing an increasingly important role in communications and exchanges among countries all over the world. An increasing number of Chinese neologisms are used to express and describe the status quo. These neologisms invigorate Chinese culture, however, meanwhile, they make it harder for the world to understand Chinese.

On the one hand, each language has its own uniqueness in terms of word construction and expression. In reality, there are no two completely equivalent sign systems. On the other hand, different ethnic groups have different historical traditions, religious beliefs and way of thinking, which increases the difficulty of understanding. Therefore, cross-cultural translation becomes indispensable in popularizing Chinese culture. Through reviewing relevant paper, it’s easy to find that the late start of English translation of Chinese neologisms results in the immature translation of Chinese neologisms both at home and abroad, with some problems existing in the process of the translation of Chinese neologisms. Previous articles have pointed out these problems, but how to improve the quality of translation by avoiding them hasn’t been mentioned. This paper introduces the classifications and characteristics of Chinese neologisms, explains the significance of cross-translation theory to Chinese neologisms translation, and discusses ways of translating Chinese neologisms based on the previous viewpoints combining with examples.

Key words

Chinese neologisms; cross-cultural theory; English translation; strategies

摘要

随着我国综合国力和国际影响力不断增强，汉语在世界各国沟通与交流中起到越来越重要的作用，用来表达和描述社会状态的汉语新词也日益增多。这些新词给中国文化带来生命力的同时，也给世界人民理解汉语带来了困难。

一方面，语言本身存在着不可译性，每种语言在其组词造句、表达方式上都具有其独特性，现实中并不存在两种完全对等的符号系统。另一方面，不同的民族有着不同的历史传统、宗教信仰、思维方式，这尤其增加了语言理解的难度。因此，跨文化翻译成为中华文化传播过程中的重要一环。通过翻阅相关资料，不难发现由于汉语新词的英译起步较晚，国内外相关翻译研究尚未成熟，因此在英译汉语新词的过程中出现了一些问题。前人已有相关文章指出过这些问题，但没有提出如何才能避免这种问题、提高译文质量。基于前人的相关理论和观点，并结合实例，本文将首先介绍汉语新词分类及其特点，然后说明跨文化翻译理论对于英译汉语新词的意义，最后介绍在跨文化翻译理论下英译汉语新词时的几种方法，希望为后续规范汉语新词英译行为提供必要参考。

关键词

汉语新词；跨文化翻译；英译；策略

Introduction

With the growing power of China and the further improvement of the globalization, China's contact with other countries in the world has become closer. And how to maintain Chinese culture’s uniqueness when it is introduced to the world has been the top priority for translators. The development of China has given birth to a large number of Chinese neologisms with its uniqueness. The society changes with each passing day, covering from international affairs to domestic matters. Against this background, neologisms are likely to be derived. These words attract widespread attention and gradually enter people's daily life. Since the implementation of the reform and opening up to the outside world, a great number of Chinese neologisms have appeared.

Not only do these neologisms with Chinese characteristics vividly show Chinese people’s understanding of their unique phenomena, but also they largely enrich the expression of Chinese. However, at the same time, these words pose serious problems for translators as well. On the one hand, the differences between Chinese culture and western countries’ culture are numerous, which makes it hard to find equivalent of Chinese neologisms in English. On the other hand, with the times going forward, the number of Chinese neologisms is steadily increasing, which results in difficulties in translating Chinese neologisms into English. Therefore, Cross-cultural translation of Chinese neologisms into English becomes prevailing. Cross-cultural translation theory was proposed by Mary Snell Hornby in her well-known representative book Translation Studies: an Integrated Approach. She believes that translation is not a process of decoding or the transformation of language symbols, but also the transformation of cultural patterns. Due to the rapid development of Chinese society in the past decade, more and more translators have turned to Chinese neologisms, making the study of English translation of Chinese neologisms a new focus. Chinese Translators Journal, Lexicographical Studies and other authoritative academic journals have set up columns for translation of Chinese neologism. There are also vocabulary books compiled according to the specific types of Chinese neologisms, such as Chinese-English Expressions of Current Events by Yang Quanhong and English Translation of Buzzwords and Sayings by Chen Dezhang. In addition, the most representative ones include Yang Quanhong's Approaches to Translation of Chinese Words and Expressions into English and Zhang Jian's On Translation of Chinese Press Neologisms into English. In the age of information, it is not hard to find English translation of Chinese neologisms on English learning websites such as https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/, https://www.en84.com/ and so on. These websites have launched platforms for English translation of Chinese neologisms and updated them timely. So far, scholars have studied Chinese neologism from different perspectives. This paper is based on 138 related articles including these key words such as “cross-cultural theory” “Chinese neologisms” and “English translation” on http://kns.cnki.net. Fu Rong narrated the difficulties and methods in The English Translation of Chinese Neologism from a Cross-cultural Perspective. Zhou Hongjie elaborated on the basic principles, methods and key points in The English Translation of Chinese neologisms from a Cross-cultural Perspective. In addition, a majority of articles analyzed the status quo in the English translation of Chinese neologisms from the perspective of cross-cultural translation theory, but few dwell on strategies of solving the problems during the course of translation. This paper introduces Chinese neologisms and its classifications and characteristic in the second section, the significance of cross-translation to Chinese neologisms in the third section and ways of translating in the fourth section. It is based on the previous viewpoints and puts forward practical strategies to be followed in the translation of Chinese neologisms from the perspective of cross-translation theory combining with examples.

Chapter 1 Overview of Chinese Neologisms

Neologisms are words new in connotation or form. In other words, they can either be new words created to express new concepts and phenomena in line with times or existing words given new meanings. These words help the further development of language, embody Chinese people's latest understanding of the world with the times going forward, and enrich the expression and promote transmission of Chinese language. (Fu Rong, 2015: 80) To better translate Chinese neologisms into English, we need to have a deeper understanding of Chinese neologisms, including its classifications and characteristics.

1.1 Classifications of Chinese Neologisms

Generally speaking, Chinese neologisms can be classified into four categories, namely, old words endowed with new meanings, Chinese abbreviations, newly generated words and loan words.

Old words endowed with new meanings, as the name suggests, are existent words that have been endowed with new meanings for reuse even though have been forgotten for a long time. (Li Chunjiang, 2015: 62) Take “备胎(spare tire)”as an example, which refers to an extra tire carried in a motor vehicle for emergencies. It now refers to a back-up, second line, just-in-case, or a B-plan or contingency, in other words, someone who is benched now. Besides, “粉(powder)”originally refers to fine powder used for makeup or paint, while it means having a crush on or adoring a famous celebrity now. With the changing society of China, the essential characteristics of the things or phenomena referred to by the old words have changed as well. Because of the uniqueness pf Chinese words, it may be defective to use substitute words and fail to reflect the pun. Not only does endowing the existing words with new meanings produce connection between old words and new meanings, but also reduces the trouble of creating new words.

Chinese abbreviations are the result of refining existing words. The process of extracting mainly depends on the importance of each part of the words. Those significant parts are selected to replace the lengthy words. The most common Chinese abbreviations can be divided into three forms. First, extracted initials. Such as “哥哥(brother)--GG”, “笑死我了(It’s so funny that I have a shortness of breathe)” and “漂亮小姐姐(good-looking sister)--PLXJJ”. Second, syllable imitation. Such as “呜呜呜 (onomatopoetic words of cry)--555”, “我爱你一生一世(I love you forever)--5201314” and “不要这样子(don’t do like this)--表酱紫”. Third: reduced words. Such as “很累，感觉不会再爱了(feel so tired that will not fall in love again)--累感不爱” and “躺着也中枪(a lying person can be shot as well)--躺枪”. Chinese abbreviations have their own laws of forming, so it is easy for us to understand as long as we recognize the laws of them. Besides, in the premise of reflecting the principle of simplicity and the purpose of economy frugality, Chinese abbreviations are helpful to ensure goog rationale and high semantic transparency. Nowadays, people are always pursing a simple and peaceful life, which gives rise to the frequent use of abbreviations. Nevertheless, the abbreviations of words should neither be arbitrarily imitated, nor be simply carried out by way of analogy. Instead, the abbreviations with the widest social acceptance should be selected through investigation and evidence collection from multiple aspects.

Newly generated words can be roughly divided into two types. The first is generated through metaphors, similes and metonymy. For instance, “虎妈(tiger mom) is defined as strict disciplinarian mothers who demand high achievement from their children and maintain control of their activities”, and“猫爸(cat dad)”refers to fathers who take a more softly approach to parenting, preferring to be emotionally sensitive, gentle and relaxed about rules and discipline, and they are in the belief that this kind of parenting will make their offspring self-sufficient and independent. With new things coming in, people need words to describe them but there are no ready expressions at hand. The metaphorical use of some expressions will do the job as it will reflect the same essence of the objects through metaphor. The second type is created with the arrival of new phenomenon. For instance, “APEC蓝” is employed to describe the quality air and the exceptionally blue sky in Beijing during the APEC meeting in 2014. And “蒜你狠”is used to illustrate the price of garlic which soared more than 100 times in 2010, even outstripping meat and eggs. A great number of new phenomena and new concepts spring up, however, it’s hard to describe them with the existing words. Under this circumstance, the vocabulary system needs to produce more new words to meet the requirements of social communication.

The advancement of globalization, communication and cooperation in some fields among countries are deepening day by day, which inevitably bring changes in language, and that is so-called “Chinese localization”. Loan words are “transformed” into Chinese words in accordance with the rules of pronunciation, semantics, structure and grammatical system of Chinese. In the mid-1970s, Taiwanese used “show--秀” as morphemes to match with "做" and "作". To the surprise of the editor, these newly created words were so well-received in the entertainment industry that a large number of words such as “歌舞秀、双人秀、真人秀、脱口秀”were produced. Nowadays, the neologism “秀儿” referring to those who like to show off their resources is widely accepted. Similarly, “博客、思客、播客、朋客、创客”appeared one by one. “客” was derived from “黑客(hacker)”, in other words, the word group of “X客” were generated.

1.2 Characteristics of Chinese Neologisms

In order to have better quality of translation of Chinese neologisms, translators need to have a deep insight into its characteristics. Chinese neologisms are characterized by cultural uniqueness, simplicity, vividness and uncertainty.

Chinese neologisms come from a wide range of sources, but they all have roots in China. Some are based on Chinese culture. For instance, “山寨(mountain fastness)”originated from Water Margin, which used to refer to the place where the poor live. But when used online, the original meaning is transformed to plagiarism, imitation, parody and other popular cultural phenomena. Others are on the basis of customs. Take “红色炸弹(red bomb)” as an example. Since Chinese traditional wedding ornament is red, the word "红色炸弹(red bomb)" is used to describe the overwhelming wedding invitations.

We are living in a fast-paced era. The speed of generation and transmission of information are accelerating. Under this situation, we crave for cost-effective communication. This status quo requires concise language. Chinese abbreviations exactly exemplify the simplicity. Abbreviations are condensed with rich information content, and effectively reinforce the expressiveness of Chinese vocabulary. Therefore, the number of abbreviations in vocabulary increases rapidly.

The appearance of Chinese neologisms meets people's needs to describe an object or a phenomenon more vividly. Such as “人艰不拆” means that since life has been so hard, some things should not be exposed. And “酸菜鱼”is used for persons who are jealous, ugly, and redundant to make fun of themselves. “剁手党”refers to the addicted shopping crowd. They buy countless things, but often regret after calming down, even vow to chop off their hands if they don't act rationally next time. The vividness of Chinese neologisms adds humorous effects to the expression.

With the crazy tempo of life, Chinese neologisms emerge in an endless stream. For one thing, with the increasing influence of network to people's life, online language is a shock to traditional language since many words are not compatible with Chinese language system. For another, neologisms fade away with the end of an event and are quickly replaced by neologisms with the times.

Chapter 2 Cross-cultural Translation Theory and Its Significance

As Chinese neologisms are rooted in Chinese culture, translators are supposed to turn to cross-cultural translation theory when translating Chinese neologisms into English. Hence, having a deep insight into it and its significance helps improve the quality of translation.

2.1 Hornby’s Cross-cultural Translation Theory

Cross-cultural translation theory refers to translation across cultural divide and be less influenced by factors such as politics, religions, regions and ideologies. Cross-cultural translation theory was put forward by German translation theorist Mary Snell-Hornby. From her perspective, translation is a kind of cross-cultural communication. In this way, translators should not only have a bilingual ability, but also the cultural backgrounds of the source language and the target language. In reality, there are no two completely equivalent language systems. Each language has its own uniqueness in terms of word formation, sentence construction and expression, which is even more distinctive in translating into the target language with totally different economic, political, social and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, cross-cultural translation becomes a rigid demand. In the process of cross-cultural translation, translators are supposed to strike a balance between Chinese style and maximize the recipients’ understanding and acceptances’ of Chinese culture. Mary Snell-Hornby proposed that translators should skillfully switch the two languages in the process of translation as well as deeply dig into the culture backgrounds behind the two languages. In other words, translation is more bicultural transformation than bilingual transformation. (Wang Weidong, 2011: 78).

In the process of translation, the cultural deposits have a direct bearing on the expression of words, its connotations and emotions. Hence, translators must take these factors into consideration in translation. Cross-cultural translation theory has the following requirements for translation, which can be divided into three aspects: first, to express the meaning of the source language. Second, to dig out the cultural connotation of the source language. Third, to convey the emotion of the source language. Only when translator meets the three requirements above can the quality of the translation be guaranteed.

2.2 Significance of Cross-cultural Translation Theory

The significance of Cross-cultural Theory to English Translation of Chinese Neologisms can be divided into the following three aspects. The British historian Dr. Toynbee once said, it is not surprising to say that the 21st century belongs to East Asia led by China for China’s control over East Asia is not merely political, but cultural. Though East Asian countries such as Korea and Japan maintain their political independence, they are strongly influenced by Chinese culture.” Therefore, promoting English translation of Chinese neologisms is very important for enriching the world language system, improving China’s soft power and introducing Chinese culture into the world.

2.2.1 Learning the Chinese Idiomatic Expression

Translators can learn the rules of Chinese word-formation and characteristics of Chinese expression in the process of translating from the perspective of cross-cultural translation theory. There are great differences between Chinese and English word-formations. Take the three main forms of Chinese neologisms as example. Subject-predicate forms, such as “私聊” and“群聊”; Verb-object forms, such as: “煞风景”“抬杠”; Complementary forms, such as: “吓尿”and so on. In English vocabulary system, most compound words are in the form of nouns, while Chinese has a variety of parts, such as verbs, nouns and adjectives. Translators can grasp the characteristics of Chinese word-formation through the translation and readers can understand the Chinese idiomatic expression.

2.2.2 Spreading Chinese Culture Contained in Chinese Neologisms

Chinese neologisms are produced in China’s distinctive environment, containing culture with Chinese characteristics. It is an effective way to spread Chinese culture contained in Chinese neologisms through cross-cultural translation. For example, “打虎” and “拍蝇” have become buzzwords in China these years. In fact, both above two neologisms are political terms. The “tigers” refer to corrupt officials at higher level and “flies” at grassroots level. Chinese neologisms are epitomes of China's development in a certain period, carrying much social information. The world can learn about the development of China through Chinese neologisms. Accordingly, determination of Chinese government to take out “tigers” and swat “flies” can be seen through these coinage of new terms such as “打虎” and “拍蝇”. Therefore, cross-cultural translation helps spread Chinese culture contained in Chinese neologisms.

2.2.3 Conveying Emotion Expressed by Chinese Neologisms

Emotional expressions are essential to translation of Chinese neologisms. Translation of Chinese neologisms from the perspective of cross-cultural translation theory helps to convey emotion expressed. For example, it is not proper to translate“和事佬”into“peacemaker”. In Chinese, “和事佬”refers to persons who are unprincipled and blindly promote reconciliations, with derogatory meaning. While in English, “peacemaker” refers to those who create and safeguard peace, with commendatory emotions. Therefore, if the cross-cultural principles are violated in translation, there will be differences in the expression of emotions, which will hinder the expression of real emotions and lead to misunderstanding.

Chapter 3 Methods of Chinese Neologisms Translation

To improve the quality of Chinese neologisms translation, translators need to have a full knowledge of problems existing in the process of the translation of Chinese neologisms, and then avoid them by choosing appropriate ways of translating and following principles of cross-cultural translation theory. The late start of English translation of Chinese neologisms results in the immature translation of Chinese neologisms both at home and abroad, with some problems existing in the process of the translation of Chinese neologisms.

Nowadays, it is common to see rigid translation, which leads to failure to convey its true meaning. For example, if “我好方”is translated into “I’m so square”, it will confuse readers. In fact, this neologism refers to people in panic. As its word “方”pronounces similarly to the word “慌”，it is employed to make fun of those who can't distinguish between “f”sound and “h” sound. Similarly, “蓝瘦，香菇” can’t be translated into “blue monsters and shiitake mushrooms” for it refers to “I’m so sad that I’m going to cry”. Hence, rigid translation will result in misunderstanding. Not only should we make translations interesting, but also we need to ensure they are correct.

Many Chinese neologisms, after being translated into English, can express their meanings accurately, though fairly lengthy. For instance, if“无语”is translated into “have nothing to say”, it seems a little bit lengthy. We can translate it into“speechless”, instead. When translating Chinese neologisms, translators are supposed to use as few words as possible to accurately convey as much information as possible, making readers spend as little time as possible to understand them.

Till now, many neologisms lack Chinese uniqueness after being translated into English. For example, “杠精”will lose the uniqueness the word“精”carries if it is translated into“argumentative person”. In China, “精”commonly describe demons and ghosts, with derogatory meaning, such as those used in“白骨精”“蜘蛛精”and“蜈蚣精”. In this case, it is not proper to translate“精”into “person”. Therefore, we need to ensure Chinese culture be spread in the process of translation.

3.1 Transliteration

Transliteration is the translation of Chinese neologisms into English which sounds similarly to Chinese. Transliteration of Chinese neologisms into English can fully retain the pronunciation of Chinese and traditional Chinese culture. What’s more, it is more efficient.

Zeng Lisa once proposed that translators should accurately convey more information with as few words as possible, so that the audience can obtain the clearest and smoothest information with as little time as possible. Transliteration gives priority to efficiency and can meet the requirements of the fast pace of modern society, improve the communicative efficiency of readers, and save space for readers' cognitive ability to play.

For example, "大妈" is transliterated into "dama" and entered the Oxford dictionary. In addition to this, there are a sea of transliterations of Chinese neologisms in modern English vocabulary, for example: "风水" (fengshui), "八卦" (bagua), "太极" (taichi), "气功" (qigong), and "武术 "(wushu), "功夫" (kungfu), "胡同" (hutong), "麻将" (mahjong), "叩头" (while), and so on. Transliteration makes Chinese neologisms widely spread and its culture behind. However, if translators stick to the literal interpretation or explanatory translation of some words, it may lead to cumbersome words and poor quality.

3.2 Literal Translation

Literal translation is one of the efficient way of translation. Literal translation enables us to directly find equivalent expressions in English in terms of form, style and connotation, which is the perfect embodiment of "commonness" between English and Chinese. Above all, literal translation helps promote Chinese culture.

Language carries and transmits culture, as it is the heart of the cultural system. Culture influences and even shapes language, which is the foundation of language and the source of innovation. In the current context of cross-cultural communication, translation is not only a process of language conversion, but also a process of cultural transplantation.The transmission between eastern and western cultures is practical in theology, but it is limited in reality. Chinese neologisms are the most active part of Chinese vocabulary, which reflect the way of thinking, values, customs and lifestyles formed by the Chinese people in the new natural and social environment. Therefore, literal translation works for spreading Chinese culture.

In modern English, examples of literal translation of Chinese neologisms can be found everywhere, such as “一国两制--one country, two systems”, “二孩政策--two-child policy”, “希望工程--Hope Project” and “好久不见long time no see” and so on. Literal translation is straightforward, concise and efficient. Not only can it effectively reduce the boredom caused by the transformation from Chinese to English, enrich the expressiveness of English, but also maximize the retention of Chinese cultural.

Therefore, it is necessary to interpret or add annotations in the context, otherwise it is difficult to convey its Chinese characteristics and cultural connotation.

3.3 Free Translation

Free translation is another way of translating, which emphasizes the relative independence of both Chinese and English. On the one hand, differences exist in different language systems including grammatical constructions and expressions. On the other hand, there are quite a few distinctions between different cultures including historical traditions, religious beliefs and even ways of thinking, ways of thinking. Therefore, sometimes free translation is required to avoid misunderstanding and disputes.

Free translation refers to reproduce the matter without the manner, or, the content without form. Put another way, it explains the general idea of Chinese neologisms. For example, “豆腐渣工程” refers to the construction project that collapsed or did not comply with relevant regulations due to cutting corners in the construction process. It is translated into English as “jerry-built project”. “白色污染”, the pollution of the environment by plastic waste that is difficult to degrade, is translated as “plastic pollution”. In a word, although the paraphrased neologisms need not strictly stick to Chinese, it can better reflect the meaning of Chinese.

Conclusion

The emergence of Chinese neologisms demonstrates a new face of China. Neologisms are new in content, form, and content, which are produced to express new concepts and phenomena. However, due to the obvious cultural differences between China and western countries, there are many obstacles in the course of translating Chinese neologisms into English. Neologisms are perhaps the number one problem for non-literary translators and professional translators. Under this circumstance, cross-cultural translation of Chinese neologisms becomes a prevailing trend. Cross-cultural translation refers to translating crossing cultural divide and being less influenced by factors such as politics, religions, regions and ideologies. In a way, translating Chinese neologisms into English from the perspective of cross-cultural translation theory can help to promote understanding of Chinese. In another, it can effectively convey the emotions expressed by neologisms. Moreover, it can help to promote the spread of Chinese culture. In spite of the continuous standardization and improvement of translation, there are still some problems in the process of translating Chinese neologisms into English, such as rigid translation, wordy translation and translation with cultural loss. English translation of Chinese neologisms may be a daunting problem, so we need translators with joint efforts, both stick to effective translation methods, flexible and innovative, and latest changes, in order to improve the overall quality of translation of Chinese neologisms, thus speak up aloud in the international community. In this paper, three main strategies are suggested, and they are transliteration, literal translation, and free translation. To better translate Chinese neologisms from the perspective of cross-cultural translation theory, translators need to adopt compatible ways of translating with different types of Chinese neologisms and target readers. On the one hand, it is necessary to fully grasp Chinese neologisms, which requires translators to have more knowledge of Chinese cultural background and Chinese idiomatic expression. On the other hand, we should find the way of translating which is most accepted by readers.

Moreover, Chinese neologisms are constantly updated with the development of the society. If we do not keep pace with the times and know the latest meaning of Chinese neologisms, it may lead to misunderstanding. (Tian Longjiao, 2013: 160) Therefore, translators should constantly supplement, update or revise the English translation of those Chinese neologisms without definite translation, which is an important guarantee to keep the English translation of Chinese neologisms accurate. Advancing with the times often requires translators to pay close attention to the post-translation effect. On the other hand, translators should also constantly draw on new English words. Chinese neologisms have strong timeliness, especially with the increase of Internet users, hence, at any one time emerge Chinese neologisms which are closely associated with the society. In short, in the process of translation, translators must pay attention to riding on the trend of the times so as to update the expression of the target language and readily accepted by readers. Update expressions means keeping up with the development of the times and use idiomatic English to illustrate new things, new words and new expressions. In other words, on the basis of grasping the exact meaning of Chinese neologisms, we should make it understood in English. Translators should not only improve their ability to understand Chinese, enhance their ability to translate Chinese into English, but also be keeping with the times so as to introduce more Chinese neologisms into English and continuously inject more Chinese elements into English. In this way, Chinese culture can be spread and the expression of English can be innovated.

References

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Translation of Dish Names

On the C-E Translation of Chinese Dish Names: From a Functional Equivalence Perspective

刘洋诺Liu Yangnuo, 202020080621.

Abstract

With increasing global influence, the task of cultural communication is a formidable project. Translation as a media plays an important role in cultural communication. A Bite of China, a TV program to introduce Chinese dishes, has gained popularity at home and abroad, thus broadcasting Chinese dishes. But difficulties in translating Chinese dishes are evitable considering abundant culture-loaded expressions and complex cooking skills. The chapter discusses theoretical and practical significance of researching Chinese dish names. We summarize some point of views from other scholars. Also, we analyze the difficulties in translating Chinese cuisines from a functional equivalence perspective. We will discuss three strategies for translating Chinese dish names combined with translation examples.(Zhangtingli 2015,1-2)

Keywords

Chinese-English Translation; Chinese Dish Names; Functional Equivalence

摘要

中国国际影响力不断提高，文化交流的使命更加艰巨。翻译作为文化交流媒介，其重要性也不容忽视。中国饮食文化节目《舌尖上的中国》在海内外热播也进一步推动了中国特色饮食文化的传播，但是其丰富的文化内涵和多样的烹饪技巧也给译者带来不少困难。本文探讨研究中国菜名翻译的理论和实践意义，总结中国菜名翻译目前的研究成果。从功能对等理论出发，分析中国菜名翻译的困难，同时也结合翻译实例，提出三个中国菜名翻译的策略。

关键词

中译英；中国菜名；功能对等

Introduction

As the old Chinese saying goes, food is the God of the people. In other words, we regard food as the primary need. Chinese cuisine has a firm connection between our daily life and Chinese culture. But when it comes to Chinese cuisine, there are many aspects left for us to consider, such as the etiquette of dining table, dietary structure or habits, the art of dietary decorations and cultural connotation. In the chapter, we will mainly focus on Chinese dish names. From semantic linguistic point of view, there are two structure in a language. The surface structure is Chinese dish names themselves, but the deep structure is the meaning behind these dish names. It’s not surprising that we will discuss the relationship between some Chinese dish names and their cultural connotation in the later part of this chapter. Chinese dish names are endowed with Chinese culture through culture-loaded expressions or idioms. When we dive into our research, it’s easy to find out that behind some dish names from historical stories and anecdotes are layer upon layer of meanings. Although the majority of us understand the importance of translating Chinese dish names, good translations still remain in the dark. The reasons abound, ranging from a great variety of Chinese dishes and difficulty in fully understanding of cultural connotation behind Chinese dishes.(Chu Yiyi 2017, 3-7)

The chapter takes functional equivalence coined by Eugene Nida as a theoretical basis. In the first part, we look back on previous studies on the C-E translation of Chinese dish names. In the second part, we try to discuss difficulties in translating Chinese dish names in terms of basic information and cultural backgrounds. In the third part, we review functional equivalence theory. In the last part, we turn to discuss the possibility of applying the theory into translation practice on Chinese dish names in order to improve C-E translation of Chinese cuisine. We consolidate commonly used strategies into three combined with translation examples in reality. And then we summarize what we have discussed before and to point out limitations of this chapter. The purpose of our research is to have a better understanding of our own culture and transmitting Chinese culture to foreigners. Apart from cultural aspect, cultural communication interconnects with economic and political aspect, which is one of reasons why China attaching much importance to cross-cultural communication and transmission.

Previous Studies on the C-E Translation of Chinese Dish Names

There are some scholars who have paved the way for our further researches. Among these researches, almost all of scholars share the same Chinese cultural background. Some of them describe strategies for C-E translation of Chinese dish names based on several translation theories. Others analyze the C-E translation of Chinese dish names at restaurants abroad. Zhang Tingli (Zhang Tingli 2015, 1-2) summarized six characteristics of Chinese dish names based on A Bite of China, a popular TV program in China. Below are six characteristics: place names plus ingredients, personal names plus ingredients, main ingredients plus supplementary ingredients, cooking procedures, various flavors and cultural elements. Li Weiwei (Li Weiwei 2017, 1-2) wrote a report on Chinese-English cuisine interpretation under the guidance of Skopos Theory, including the Skopos rule, the coherence rule, the fidelity rule and the loyalty rule. Che Yimo (Che Yimo 2019, 1-2) summarize three principles to analyze the menu translation quality of a Chinese restaurant based on cross-cultural communication theories. The three principles include semantic proximity, cultural communication and aesthetics. Xue Jingnan (Xue Jingnan 2015, 1-2) involves an analysis of the translation of Chineseness by Chinese-Candians in food discourse from a cultural perspective, which providing a glimpse into Chinese culinary identity. Similiarly, Lee Yi Yan (Lee Yi Yan 2016, 1-2) mainly focus on cultural and sociological phenomenon behind Chinese food. His research is based on two types of popular Chinese food narratives: Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman published in 1994 with a televisual documentary series A Bite of China released in 2012. As the chapter published in International Communication of Chinese Culture (Kai-Chee Lam, Man-Ling Ng, Lay-Hoon Ang & Radina Mohamad Deli 2018,1-2), four scholars collected from Malaysian Chinese weddings and the lunar new year celebration in order to investigate the concrete and abstract naming of Chinese dishes and to discuss the common cultural considerations underlying them. They found that concrete naming deals with the tangible aspects of a dish by incorporating method of preparation, taste/aroma, appearance of dish, as well as container used. Under the guidance of their chapters, we are able to explore more in this infinite sphere. We pay tributed to great efforts they have paid. While researches on the C-E translation of Chinese dish names have spread into most sectors, researches from a functional equivalence theory are few because previous scholars mainly apply Skopos theory and cross-cultural theory into their researches. In the chapter, we will discuss the C-E translation of Chinese dish names coupled with functional equivalence theory. In the next part, we will turn to existing problems in the C-E translation of Chinese dish names. (Zhang Tingli 2015, 1-2)

Existing Difficulties on the C-E Translation of Chinese Dish Names

(1) Difficulty in Transmitting Basic Information of Chinese Dish Names

Different translation versions of a Chinese dish always make foreigners confused. For example, there are at least three versions of 炮弹鱼, including Shell fish, bullet mackerel and trigger fish. We often blur the lines between scientific name and general name in our translation. Also, sometimes we seem to ignore distinct difference between two things by using the same name to define them. For example, some translators use bamboo fungus and edible tree fungus to stand for竹笋 and 木耳 respectively, but in reality 竹笋is completely different from 木耳. There are some subtle differences among Chinese dishes. As Mo Chuanxia and Yue Lin (Mo Chuanxia & Yue Lin 2020,5) mentioned in their chapter, 水米籺is cooked rice pounded into paste with stuffing inside for worship or diet. 籺is a defining food for South China, especially in Guangdong provinces. It is totally different from cake or pastry in Western culture. The best way to translate it is to use explanatory words. Below are some C-E translations related to Chinese dishes: 黄馍馍(yellow steamed bun), 肉夹馍(the marinated meat in baked bun), 榴莲酥(crispy durian cake) and蒿子粑粑(crown daisy rice cake). Everyone who has ever eaten these four kinds of food will have an inkling of knowledge about the different flavor and shape between 黄馍馍and肉夹馍. Likewise, the word “sausage” is insufficient to translate 血肠, 腊肠 and 香肠. For some well-known Chinese food such as tofu, it’s unnecessary to translate it into bean curd as in 油豆腐(fried bean curd puff). It seems to be nonessential part in translating Chinese dish names because we often are encouraged to create our own translation. But for long-term effects, chaos will lead to negative impact on economic benefits of those Chinese dishes and cross-cultural communication. (Mo Chuanxia & Yue Lin 2020,5)

Judging from a great variety of cooking techniques in many Chinese dish names, they bring a lot difficulties in the rendering of Chinese cuisine. In Chinese, there are a lot of verbs to describe how to cook. I list some common verbs below: 炒, 煮, 炖, 炸, 煎, 煲, 蒸, 烧, 焖 and 拌. But when it comes to C-E translation, we translators seem to ignore these verbs and use the same "with" structure to translate all of them as in 莴笋炒火腿(Stir-fried ham with asparagus lettuce), 莲藕炖排骨(Stewed ribs with lotus root) and 虾子焖茭白(Shrimp roe stewed with cane shoots). On top of these commonly used verbs, some verbs are really difficult to understand for native speakers who are unfamiliar with cooking, let alone for foreigners. The four words list below is a case in point: 煸, 焙, 焗 and 烩. The reason behind this phenomenon lies in lacking language about cooking techniques. The word list in this paragraph is more about the duration and degree of heating while cooking Chinese cuisine. As a translator, we should not only know general translation skills that can applied to a large number of texts, but also should have the inkling of other fields. Without background knowledge on cooking procedures, they will be stumbling blocks for translators striving for concise and accurate renderings. (Chu Yiyi 2017,13)

After discussing cooking techniques in Chinese dish names, we will turn to the different flavor of Chinese cuisine. When burying myself into oceans of Chinese dishes, I divide all sorts of flavors into two categories. In the first category, word list includes 酸辣, 三鲜, 川味, 麻辣, 卤味, 家常, 酱香, 五香, 香辣 and 酥. In the second category, 孜然, 铁板, 鼓汁, 姜汁, 泡椒, 糖醋 and 蒜泥 will put in a group because these nouns mainly derived from ingredients and cooking utensils rather than the flavor itself. The main function of these words are not referential but beautifying. The flavor of delicious Chinese cuisine was represented by these beautifying words, thus triggering mouth-watering effect. But it's hard for target reader to get the same effect as source reader through translation due to lacking equivalent words and expressions. Likewise, some Chinese words that refer to all sorts of food don't have equivalent one in English such as 什锦, 八宝 and 拼盘. If we translate them into "all sorts of food", the aesthetic effect weaken. Whereas the translation loss and gain are inevitable, underlying aesthetic effect plays an imporant role in translation process. On top of this, cuisines with Chinese characteristics lead to translation problems. Below are some Chinese dish names: 红豆沙, 撞奶, 龟苓膏, 木瓜雪耳羹 and 蛋白果糖水. Lexical vacancy leads to losing the adding touch that brings a work of art to life. Many translators tend to use word-for-word rendering to translate these Chinese dish names such as 红豆沙(orange flavored red bean paste). Since Chinese dish names not only contains basic information of main ingredients and cooking skills but also mirrors culinary identity and wisdom, translators are supposed to pay considerable attention to convey layers of meaning in Chinese dish names.(Che Yimo 2019, 6)

(2) Difficulty in Considering Different Cultural Backgrounds

Diffference between Western culture and Chinese culture leads to problems in culture-loaded Chinese dish names. Chinese dish names are endowed with good omen. 鸳鸯锅(double-flavor hot pot) is a case in point. In Chinese culture, 鸳鸯 is a symbol of beautiful love and perfect marriage. But the beautiful underlying meaning lost in Western culture. Appropriate ways to deal with culture-loaded words or expression become an issue in the C-E translation of Chinese dish names. Though double-flavor hot pot conveys the basic information of this dish, signified meaning still remains in the darkness. Likewise, attention-grabbing Chinese dish names combined with Chinese culture background lead to translation problems such as 刀板香(sliced salted pork) and 片儿川(noodles with preserved vegetable) . 刀板香 is a traditional pickled food in Anhui province. Through its dish names, it's difficult to know the main ingredients of this dish. A story lies behind the dish: When a person called Hu Zongxian came by one of his teachers, the wife of his teacher treated him with a delicious dish made by pork slices. Hu Zongxian felt satisfied with the dish and named it as "刀板香". 片儿川 is the most well-known dish in 奎元馆(a famous restaurant in Hangzhou). In the Qing Dynasty, there were many examinees rushing to join a ancient test for selecting officials in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Examinees from all over the country gathered in Hangzhou. In order to attract them, the shopkeeper supplied noodles made of pour-sweet vegetables, bamboo shoots, and pork slices. Three eggs were added to breakfast noodles, which contained a good omen for examinees. Therefore, a large number of examinees often came to eat noodles because Kuiyuan’s noodles were so cheap. Later, one of the examinees was got number one in a round of test. When he went to the store to thank the owner, he found that the restaurant didn't have a name. So he named it "Kuiyuan Hall". Since then, 片儿川 in Kuiyuan Hall has become famous and tables in Kuiyuan Hall are in full bloom. All those who come to Hangzhou to take the exam will come here to eat noodles for good luck. 片儿川 has specially meaning for the person who are going to test. Similarly, foreign foods invade into our daily life with increasing cultural communication. The origin of 罗宋汤(Borscht) is in Ukraine. 罗宋 is the transliteration of Russian and is originated from the early Shanghai Pidgin English. Russian Borscht (Borshch) is another commonly used name. During the October Revolution, a large number of Russians moved to Shanghai. They brought vodka and Russian-style western cuisine. The first western-style cuisine restaurant in Shanghai was opened by the Russians. This soup evolved from the Russian-style red cabbage soup. The Russian-style red cabbage soup is spicy and sour but Shanghai people are not used to it. Later, influenced by local taste, it gradually formed a unique Shanghai-style borscht. In Shanghai-style borscht, we take beets as the main ingredient with supplements such as potatoes and carrots, spinach and beef, cubes and butter. From what we discussed before, we can conclude that Chinese dish names often pay considerable attention to good connotation. Abstract meaning mainly derived from legends, idioms, historical events and auspicious words. When we start to translate Chinese cuisine, cultural considerations are indispensable part to consider. It should be noted that translators take the responsibility to fill the gap between Chinese culture and Western culture. (Mo Chuanxia & Yuelin 2020, 7)

Except for source cultural background, target cultural background is also of great importance. When it comes to cultural taboos, 龙(dragon) is the first symbol coming to our mind. Whereas 龙 are often embedded with good connotation in Chinese culture such as good fortune and bright future, 龙 often stands for brutal animal or person as in the well-known epic Beowulf. Below are some Chinese dish names with 龙: 龙抄手 (Easter Bunny Wonton), 龙须面(fine noodles) and 乌龙吐珠 (Sea Cucumber with Quail Eggs). Some translators replace dragon with bunny due to different preference between Chinese culture and Western culture. Others omit word-for-word translation, rather emphasizing the main ingredients of the dish. In addition, some Chinese dish names with internal organs such as intestines or blood may keep target readers at bay. For example, in 肠粉(Steamed vermicelli roll) and 脑花(brain or brain flower), the former hightlights main ingredients rather than being confined to word-for-word translation, but the latter fails to arouse target reader's appetite. Further explanation and translation skills are involved in these dish names. Other examples include 夫妻肺片(Sliced Beef and Ox Tongue in Chili Sauce) and 撒尿牛丸(juicy beef ball). Word-for-word translation can be confusing or even disgusting for people who are unfamilar with Chinese dishes. 夫妻肺片 is a well-known dish mainly made by ox tongue, tripe and beef. Guo Chaohua (husband) and Zhang Tianzheng (wife) created the dish. Nowadays, it becomes part of Chuan cuisine. Contrary to the dish name, lungs of different animals are not the main component of the dish because 肺片 is originated from 废片. 废片 is a humourous name for all sorts of sliced internal organs. Likewise, though juicy beef ball conveys the basic information of the dish, it loses its attraction and refreshing impression. Therefore, target readers will have totally different feeling from source readers. The equivalence between SL and TL can be broken. In the next part, we will have a brief review of functional equivalence theory in order to discuss the application of the theory into C-E translation of Chinese dish names.(Wu Tingting 2017, 4)

Functional Equivalence Theory

Functional Equivalence put forward by Eugene. A. Nida, a renowned American linguist and translation theorist. Functional equivalence theory focus on the verbal comparison between the SL and TL. Nida attempts to offer a new way to produce an equivalent, taking the relationship of the receptor to the text into account. Functional equivalence theory developed from dynamic equivalence. He defined dynamic equivalence as "the quality of a translation in which the message of the original text has been so transported into the receptor language that the response of the receptor is essentially like that of the original receptors. Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style” (Nida 1969, 200). In the later works, he thought that the adequacy of a translation depended on “the reliability of the text itself, the discourse type, the intended audience, the manner in which the translated text is to be used, and the purpose for which the translation has been made” (Nida 1993, 127). Under the influence of Eugene. A. Nida, other subsequent scholars also put forward their own understanding of functional equivalence. In the views of Christian Nord, the translator recreates the text in target language by keeping some source-text information or linguistic elements invariant and adapting the rest to the receivers’ background knowledge, expectations and communicative needs or to such factors as medium-restrictions and deixis requirements(Yue Siwei 2013, 61-68). The term the closest natural equivalent implies that the rendering must be readable (related to the language form) and understandable (related to the content) to the target receptors, since different languages have different features of grammar and lexicon. Functional-equivalence requires the highest degree of proximity (Zhang Qing & Wang Jiaqi 2010, 880-888). The translation is a reproduction process of source text in target language, observing the target culture. The target language features in terms of contents, sentence structure and lexis should be considered as criteria to adapt the source text before translating. The source text elements that do not fit in target culture should be revised or even neglected in translating so as to transfer the flavor of source text while not violating target culture. (Nida 1993, 127)

In Nida's view, the success of the translation depends above all on achieving equivalent response. It is one of the four basic requirements of a translation, which are 1. making sense; 2. conveying the spirit and manner of the original; 3. having a natural and easy form of expression; 4. producing a similar response. He pays great attention to equivalence and reader's response. Nida's functional equivalence theory has gone through three stages of development ranging from formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence to functional equivalence. The core of Nida's theoretical framework is mainly functional equivalence. Functional equivalence is mainly to enable translation and original text to be equivalent in language function, rather than language form correspondence. The reader of the target language should fully understand the customs, social consciousness and habitual expression mentioned in the original context. This receptor-oriented approach considers adaptations of grammar, of lexicon and of cultural references to be essential in order to achieve naturalness. The target language should not show interference from the source language and the foreignness of the source text setting is minimized. Except for equivalence, reader's response pays an important role in functional equivalence theory. In contrast with traditional translations views towards the source text and the target text, functional equivalence translation pays considerable attention to the receptor‟s response and the naturalness of the target language rather than language forms as formal equivalence. Though later translation theorists critize Nida's functional equivalence given the impossibility of achieving functional equivalence in translation process, his functional equivalence has still paved the road away from traditional translation views by instilling fresh views into translation studies. Functional equivalence theory provides a glimpse into dealing with the relationship between target text and related cultural expectations. For real and practical translation, functional equivalence set the standard for what good translation is. So in the next part, we will discuss the application of this theory in the C-E translation of Chinese dish names. (Jeremy Munday 2016, 126)

Application of Functional Equivalence Theory in the C-E translation of Chinese Cuisine

4.1Princples of C-E translation of Chinese Cuisine

Principles on C-E translation abound given different original texts. When it comes to C-E translation of Chinese Cuisine, two principles should be mentioned. What comes first is faithfulness. The translator is supposed to translate the basic information of Chinese cuisine. Sometimes, ingredients and cooking procedures should be included into the translation process. The main purpose of our translation is to inform target readers, especially foreigners who know nothing about Chinese. In Chinese, we often use the number three to represent three kinds of ingredients. Therefore, we translators should list three ingredients clearly in translation process. For example, in 扣三丝,some translators render it into Chicken, mushroom, ham threads in consommé. Though this rendering is in great detail, target readers can catch the point quickly. But for other larger numbers such as five and eight, listing all ingredients will lead to clumsiness. 八宝菠菜(Spinach with Eight Delicacies) is a case in point. This is the living proof for precise and clear translation. Faithfulness is not equal to word-for-word translation. Various translation skills should be involved in translation process in order to arrive at the principle of faithfulness. But the principle of faithfulness is not enough for a good translation. (Qing Zhang & Jiaqi Wang 2010, 880)

It’s noted that distinct cultural difference plays an important role in cultural communication. If a translator fails to delivery cultural connotation in a Chinese cuisine, these cultural-loaded dish names lost their attract towards foreigners. Even though native speakers are able to understand what a Chinese cuisine refers, the functional equivalence is out of balance. The purpose of our study is not only to provide a glimpse into informing foreigners when they barge into a Chinese restaurant, but also to spread Chinese culture behind Chinese cuisine. For example, in 烩南北(Stewed Mushrooms with Winter Bamboo Shoots), target readers fail to get the meaning from original words. Literal translation doesn’t fit in this Chinese cuisine because ingredients and cooking procedures are difficult to understand unless we dig more information on the Internet. The origin of the dish name lies in two different ingredients. Bamboo shoots are most in the south of China and mushrooms are most in the north of China. The combination of bamboo and mushroom represents the combination of culture in two parts of China. The precious value of Stewed mushrooms with winter bamboo shoots also lies in the combination of two precious ingredients. The same goes for榆钱饭(Elm Seeds Meal). 榆钱 is originally an ingredient in Shangxi province. But the dish name also bodes well for well-off or prosperous future. Chinese people attribute their wish of getting more money into the word 钱(money). It sounds vulgar but the true wish is to live a better life. When translating Chinese cuisine, translators should consider the different cultural backgrounds in order to spare no efforts to broadcast Chinese culture. On top of this, some dish names are complicated to render them. For example, 龙, an image with red and gold color, refers to good wishes for prosperous future in China but it’s disgusting in Western culture. Therefore, when we translate龙抄手, the word 龙 should be replaced by other words. Some translators try to translate it into Easter Bunny Wonton. Also, the same goes for words referring to internal organ. 肠粉is a case in point. A dish name with intestines will lead to vomiting before eating. What’s more, the main ingredient in肠粉has nothing about intestines. Steamed vermicelli roll is a better translation version. The most scary and well-known Chinese dish name I have heard is 夫妻肺片. But the power of ingenious translation can help foreigners understand this dish and avoid awkwardness ahead of them. While broadcasting Chinese culture, culture taboos in the culture of target readers also need to be taken into our consideration. After we have put forward two principles for C-E translation of Chinese cuisine, the next part will discuss some strategies available for translators in the translation process.(Qing Zhang & Jiaqi Wang 2010, 885-888)

4.2Strategies for C-E translation of Chinese Cuisine

First and foremost, a large number of Chinese cuisines can apply literal translation in some way. The main cooking procedures, ingredients and skills should be very clear in dish names. Lexical equivalence is the main purpose of literal translation. Also, we can divide the application of literal translation into four parts. The first part is the combination of main ingredient and other supplementary ingredients. For example, in 羊肚包肉, roasted mutton wrapped in lamb tripe can avoid ambiguity. The most special ingredient in the dish is roasted mutton, which delivers some flavors to target readers. We can also render “番茄牛腩” into tomato and beef brisket. The spicy beef briskets and sour tomatoes arouse different feelings in the heart of target readers. Sometimes, the flavor of a dish makes itself clear in the name of a dish. When we use literal translation, the flavor of a dish such as剁椒 and 家常 cannot be ignored. For example, in剁椒鸭肠(Duck Intestines with Chili) and家常烧蹄筋(Home-Style Braised Beef Tendon), Chili and home-style not only inform foreigners of basic information of this dish, but also arouse a sense of taste in their mouths. The third part of the application of literal translation is the combination of utensils and ingredients such as 砂锅面(Casserole Noodles). In Chinese, 砂锅 is a utensil for cooking. But with increasing popularity of noodles cooking by casseroles, casserole noodles have become a Chinese dish. The last part of the application of literal translation lies in the combination of cooking methods, eating methods and ingredients. 手抓饼(Shredded Cake) is a case in point. Opposed to forks in Western culture, Chinese tend to use chopsticks. Therefore, Shredded Cake is a dish without using chopsticks or any other dinner sets. But literal translation is not a sliver bullet for all C-E translation of Chinese cuisine. Sometimes, a dish includes too much ingredients or cooking procedures. If we apply to literal translation in the case, we will sacrifice simplicity in order to maintain faithfulness. Also, some translators applied to literal translation with annotation in order to render dish names clearly. For instance, let’s take “长寿面”, a cuisine name from A Bite of China as an example. The translation provided in “longevity noodles”, followed by the annotation “the noodles are long and slim, and long is homophonic to ‘chang’ and slim to ‘shou’, ‘changshou’ means longevity”. In the case, not only can the foreigners know the basic meaning of the dish, they can also understand its cultural meanings (Chu Yiyi 2017, 9). Another example is螺蛳粉. Some translate it into Snail Rice-flour Noodles, a local snack in Liuzhou. Snail Rice-flour Noodles is very faithful to the Chinese dish name. But the translator added some explanations to emphasize local characteristics. The origin of Snail Rice-flour Noodles is in Liuzhou, Yunnan province. In the case, the translator tried to spread local culture in a dish name.(Chu Yiyi 2017, 9)

Secondly, dishes with local names can apply to transliteration such as兰州拉面 Lanzhou Beef Noodles), 金华火腿(Jinhua Ham) and重庆小面(Chongqing Small Noodles). Some local names have become a brand for selling. They emphasize the authentic flavor of these dishes in order to attract people from other places or countries. As for some culture-loaded dish names, we fail to find the equivalent words in English. That’s the reason why we resort to transliteration. It’s a translation method mainly depend on Chinese pinyin such as Lanzhou, Jinhua and Chongqing as we mentioned above. One of the perks of transliteration is to emphasize local characteristics and spread local cultures. But transliteration is not confined to this area. Some translators combine transliteration into literal translation. For instance, if we simply translate “东坡肉” literally into“Dongpo’s Pork” without any further explanations, the target readers will get confused if they first see the translation. Thus, explanation “Dongpo, a famous poet in Song Dynasty” needs to be added (Chu Yiyi, 2017). Some dish names are from foreign countries such as 生鱼片(Sashimi). Sashimi is Japanese way of speaking. Transliteration with sounds of foreign languages can apply to these Chinese dish names. Some translators also translate腌制泡菜 into kimchi rather than pickles cabbages, thus emphasizing Korean flavor rather than Chinese flavor. But there are few dish names originated from foreign languages. (Chu Yiyi 2017, 12)

Lastly, some Chinese cultural-loaded dish names fail to fit the framework of literal translation and transliteration. Translators should apply free translation into their translation process. There are four categories of free translation applied to C-E translation of Chinese cuisines: named according to the characteristics of ingredients metaphorically, named after historical allusions, named according to the production process metaphor and named after the meaning of good. As for the first category, 蚂蚁上树is a good example. The word-for-word translation of蚂蚁上树 is ants on a tree but it does not deliver the essence of the dish. The main ingredients of the dish are minced pork and fine vermicelli. The final dish is similar to ants on the tree, so Chinese give it a metaphorical dish name. Sauteed Vermicelli with minced Pork is a better version than the original translation. Some dish names are full of historical allusions such as霸王别姬. The deep-level meaning of the expression霸王别姬 is to reveal the tragic ending of a hero in history. But there is a coincidence for the combination of turtle and chicken in the dish 霸王别姬. Different from mandarin, Chinese people give a nickname “王八” for turtle. 姬in 霸王别姬 sounds similar to 鸡(chicken). The word-for-word translation of 霸王别姬 is farewell my Concubine, but turtle stewed chicken is easier to understand for target readers. As for the third category——named according to the production process metaphor, 驴打滚 is a case in point. 驴打滚 is one of the traditional snacks in the northeast China, especially in Beijing and Tianjin. It is a three-color snack with yellow, white and red. The final process of making is to sprinkle on the soybean noodles, which looks like wild donkeys rolling up of the loess in suburb, so we named it 驴打滚(Donkey Roll). But compared to donkey doll, fried chop rice cake shows the main ingredients of the dish, thus lowering the hurdles for understanding. As for the last category, 佛跳墙 is a case in point. The literal meaning of 佛跳墙 is that a Buddha jumps over the wall. But actually 佛跳墙 is a dish cooking all things in one pot. It comes from a story: when we open the jar, the smell of a dish become popular in other places as well. That attracts many Buddhas who jump over the wall to have a see. Also, the dish bodes well for longevity and reunion. That’s why we also call it 福寿全, a word full of good omens.From strategies discussed above, we can find that there is no fixed pattern for C-E translation of Chinese cuisines. We translators should bear these principles and strategies in mind and put them into practice in our translation process. The ultimate goal for our translation is to produce a simple but accurate translation to inform target readers, especially foreigners. (Siwei Yue 2013, 65-68)

Conclusion

With the popularity of Chinese culture, there has been a resurgence of interests in C-E translation of Chinese cuisine. In this chapter, I discussed the previous studies on this topic with functional equivalence theory in order to emphasize the importance of our research and try to find research gap among these chapters. After discussing the existing problems on C-E translation of Chinese cuisine, I summarized some principles and strategies that can apply to C- E translation of Chinese cuisine. But what I discussed in the chapter is only a panoramic view of Chinese dish names. There are eight classifications of Chinese famous cuisines ranging from Lu Cuisine and Chuan Cuisine, Yue Cuisine and Min Cuisine, Su Cuisine and Zhe Cuisine, Xiang Cuisine and Hui Cuisine. Under these eight Chinese cuisines, there are distinct differences in dish names considering region and ethnic group. As we know, one size can’t fit all. Aside from researches on Chinese dish names, cultural elements behind idioms related to Chinese dishes deserve more attention. (Yi-Yan Lee, 2016, 10)

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A Study of English Translation of Chinese Dish Names from the Perspective of Domestication and Foreignization -- Taking Hunan cuisine an Example 邬香 Wu Xiang

邬香，202020080651.

Abstract

As a bright pearl in the storehouse of traditional Chinese culture, catering culture plays a more and more important role in the increasingly frequent cross-cultural communication. However, there are many problems in English translation of Chinese dish names, such as the use of direct and rigid expressions, the neglect of cultural connotations of dishes, and the lack of unified translation standards. Foreignization and domestication can effectively solve the above problems. From the perspective of foreignization and domestication this chapter takes the English translation of Hunan cuisine as an example, and uses different translation strategies for realistic and freehand dishes from the linguistic and cultural levels. Although domestication and foreignization can not remove all the obstacles in English translation of dish names, they can help to accurately express the meanings of dish names, reflect their cultural connotations, and promote cultural exchange and dissemination.

Key words

Chinese dish names; English translation; domestication and foreignization; cross-cultural communication

题目

异化和归化视角下中国菜名英译研究——以湘菜为例

摘要

饮食文化作为中国传统文化宝库中一颗璀璨的明珠，在如今日益频繁的跨文化交流中的作用愈发重要。但是目前中国菜名英译中出现不少问题，主要包括使用直接生硬的表达方式、忽略菜肴文化内涵、缺乏统一的翻译标准。运用异化和归化翻译策略能有效解决上述问题。本章拟从异化和归化的视角出发，以湘菜英译为例，针对写实型和写意型菜肴从语言和文化层面使用不同的翻译策略。尽管归化和异化不能清除菜名英译中所有的障碍，但其有助于准确表达菜名含义，体现其蕴藏的文化内涵，促进文化交流与传播。

关键词

中国菜名；英译；归化和异化；跨文化交流

1.Introduction

After thousands of years of precipitation and inheritance Chinese food culture has emerged on the international stage and gradually gained the favor and recognition of foreigners. In today's society cultural exchanges between countries and nations are increasingly frequent. As a cross-cultural communication activity, translation refers not only to the process of language conversion, but also to the process of cultural transformation and dissemination. Because Chinese food contains a large number of cultural and artistic features, which reflect the Chinese cultural landscape, we have different translation versions in the process of translating Chinese dishes. This is not conducive to the spread of Chinese culture. It’s known that translation strategies of domestication and foreignization can retain the cultural elements in the original text to the greatest extent. As one of the eight major cuisines in China, Hunan cuisine has its unique characteristics and rich cultural heritage, so it is suitable to adopt domestication and foreignization in English translation. Many domestic scholars focus on specific translation methods and skills in the research on translation of Chinese dish names.They consider the translation strategies of foreignization and domestication. However, it is necessary to clarify what kind of translation strategy to adopt before choosing appropriate translation methods and skills, because the implementation of the former is reflected in the application of specific translation skills, while the application of the latter requires certain translation strategies (熊兵, 2014: 84). Therefore, this chapter will discuss the application of translation strategies of domestication and foreignization in the English translation of traditional Chinese dish names based on the corpus of Hunan dishes.

中国饮食文化历经数千年的沉淀和传承后，在国际舞台上崭露头角，逐渐得到外国人的青睐和认可。当今社会世界各国、各民族文化交流日益频繁，翻译作为一种跨文化交际活动，不仅指语言转换的过程，而且是文化转换和传播的过程。归化和异化策略能最大程度保留原文中的文化元素，解决目前中国菜名翻译过程中存在的一些问题。湘菜作为中国八大菜系之一，具有独特的特点和丰富的文化底蕴，适合采用归化和异化英译。国内许多学者对中国菜名翻译的研究多着眼于具体的翻译方法和技巧，很少从异化和归化的翻译策略高度来考虑。然而首先明确采用怎样的翻译策略，才能继而选用合适的翻译方法和技巧，因为前者的实施体现在特定翻译技巧的运用，同时后者的运用需依据一定的翻译策略（熊兵，2014,84）。因此，本文将以湘菜菜品名为语料，探讨翻译策略在传统中国菜名英译中的运用。

2.Exiting problems in English translation of Chinese dish names

Chinese food culture is extensive and profound. It has a long history. The importance of English translation of Chinese dish names in cross-cultural communications between China and foreign countries is self-evident. However, there are many problems in the English translation of Chinese dish names, such as the use of direct and rigid expressions, the lack of unified translation standards, and the ignorance of the cultural connotation of dishes. These problems make foreigners and some domestic English learners confused. In the following, I will analyze them in detail with examples.

中国饮食文化博大精深，源远流长。中餐翻译在中外文化交流中的重要性不言而喻。然而，目前中国菜名英译存在不少问题，诸如使用直接生硬表达法、缺乏统一翻译标准、忽视菜肴文化内涵等。这些问题不仅引起外国人的困惑，国内英语学习者亦云里雾里。下面笔者将结合实例具体分析。

2.1 The use of direct and rigid expressions

China has a vast territory and abundant resources. The eating habits and cooking methods in different regions of the country are different. Some dishes are named after myths, legends and allusions, while others are complex in cooking methods and various in ingredients. Direct and stiff expressions can‘t express the rich connotations of these dishes, and even make people funny. For example, if "Jiaohua chicken, a whole chicken roasted in caked mud"(叫花鸡) is translated into "beggar's chicken"(叫花子的鸡), it does not reflect the origin and the cooking method of this dish. It is said that in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, a beggar in Changshu（常熟，a city of Jiangsu province） got a chicken by chance. He had no cooking utensils and seasonings. So he had to put the chicken into the mud to simmer and roast it. When the chicken was cooked, it knocked off the mud shell, and the aroma overflowed. It became a delicious dish. Another example is that "木须肉" is translated as "wood mustache meat"（木头胡子肉）. This translation is confusing and does not reflect the main ingredients of this dish. I think that it is appropriate and reasonable to translate it into "stir fried pork with eggs and black fugus".

中国地大物博，全国各地区的饮食习惯与烹饪方法各不相同，其中一些菜肴以神话、传说及典故命名，还有一些佳肴烹饪方法复杂，食材多种多样。直接生硬的表达法不能很好表达这些菜肴的丰富内涵，甚至会让人啼笑皆非。比如，”叫花鸡”(Jiaohua Chicken，a whole chicken roasted in caked mud)若译成”Beggar’s Chicken”则完全没有体现这道菜的由来及做法。相传明末清初时，常熟一个乞丐偶然间得到一只鸡，苦于没有炊具和调料，只能将鸡处理后放入泥土中煨烤，鸡熟后敲掉泥壳，香气四溢，成为一道美味佳肴。又如，“木须肉”被译为”Wood mustache meat”（木头胡子肉），这种译法让人不知所云，更没有体现这道菜的主要原料。笔者认为将其译为”Stir-fried pork with eggs and black fungus”比较恰当合理。

2.2 The lack of unified translation standards

At present there is no uniform international standard for the translation of Chinese dish names, which leads to the emergence of multiple translation versions in the book market and restaurants. It brings inconvenience and trouble to foreigners and seriously affects the spread of Chinese catering culture. For example, there are several different translations of "麻婆豆腐" in China: bean curd with minced pork in hot sauce; Mapo Tofu; tofu made by woman with freckles. The last translation is not very appropriate and easy to cause disgust. Foreigners are familiar with the translation of "Mapo Tofu" and have already accepted it, so it is acceptable not to explain it. The first translation is to make people salivate. It reflects the method and raw materials of this dish. There are also many ways to translate "宫保鸡丁", including "Kung Pao chicken", "fried diced chicken in Sichuan style" or "sautéed chicken cubes with chili and peanuts". So many translation versions will not only make readers confused, but also fail to reflect the characteristics and cultural connotation of Chinese dish names. Therefore, the translation of the unified dish names is one of the problems to be solved in correctly understanding Chinese cooking culture.

目前，国际上没有关于中国菜名翻译的统一的标准，这导致在图书市场和餐厅内出现多个翻译版本，给外国人就餐带来不便与麻烦，严重影响了中国饮食文化的传播。例如，国内“麻婆豆腐”有以下几种不同的翻译：Bean curd with minced pork in hot sauce; Mapo tofu; Tofu made by woman with freckles.笔者认为，最后一种译法不是很贴切，容易引起反感。外国人已熟知并接受”Mapo tofu”的译法，故不解释亦可。第一种译法较为形象，体现了菜肴的做法和原料，让人垂涎欲滴。“宫保鸡丁”五花八门的译法包括”Kung Pao Chicken”, “Fried diced chicken in Sichuan style” 或”Sautéed chicken cubes with chili and peanuts”. 如此多的译名不仅会引起读者思维上的混乱，而且没有很好地体现中国菜名的特点与文化内涵。由此可见，统一菜名的翻译是正确领略中国饮食文化亟待解决的问题之一。

2.3 The neglect of cultural connotations of dishes

The differences between Chinese and Western cultures lead to the differences between Chinese and Western catering cultures, which in the final analysis stems from the different attitudes towards rationality and sensibility. Chinese people have strong perceptual thinking, so they pursue beauty and artistry. Chinese dishes are full of color, fragrance and other cultural connotations. Westerners pay more attention to rationality, truth and science. The names of Western dishes are easy to understand, and the raw materials and nutrients are relatively clear. For example, onion soup in French style(法式洋葱汤) is used in Western food, while "stewed snake and chicken"(龙凤呈祥) in Chinese food is the soup stewed with snake and chicken. Snake is regarded as a small dragon (Jiao 蛟) in China, and there is a folk saying that "pheasant flies on the branch and becomes a phoenix"(野鸡飞上枝头变凤凰). Therefore, the snake is compared to the dragon, and the chicken to the Phoenix, which is used to bless and praise things and others. The main ingredient of "more than every year"(年年有余) is fish. "Yu"(余) in Chinese refers to surplus, which is homophonic with "fish”(鱼), which expresses people's good wishes for a prosperous family and surplus every year. If foreigners do not understand the Chinese culture implied in these dishes, they will find this kind of translation very strange. Therefore, cultural factors must be taken into account in translating Chinese dishes to avoid misunderstanding.

中西文化的差异导致中西饮食文化的不同，而这种差异归根结底源于双方对待理性和感性的不同态度。中国人感性思维较强，故而追求美和艺术性，中餐讲究色香味俱全，通常含有祝福、美好等文化内涵。西方人则更注重理性、真理和科学，西餐菜名通俗易懂，原料和营养成分较为清楚。比如，西餐中的Onion soup in French style(法式洋葱汤),而中餐中的”龙凤呈祥”（Stewed snake and chicken）是用蛇和鸡炖的汤。蛇在中国视为小龙（蛟），且民间有“野鸡飞上枝头变凤凰”的俗语。故把蛇比作龙，鸡比作凤凰，用作对事物和他人的祝福和赞美。”年年有余”（More than every year）的主要食材是鱼，“余”在汉语中指剩余，与“鱼”谐音，表达人们对家业发达、年年有余的美好愿望。如果外国人不了解这些菜隐含的中国文化，则会觉得这种翻译很奇怪。因此，在翻译中国菜名时必须考虑文化因素，避免造成误解。

To a large extent, the above problems are caused by the fact that people pay attention to the intuitive feelings in the process of translation, ignore the cultural connotations of dish names, and use inappropriate translation methods. I will try to solve these problems by adopting translation strategies of domestication and foreignization from the linguistic and cultural levels. Next, I will introduce the two translation strategies and analyzes how to use them to improve the quality of translation in the process of translating Hunan cuisine into English.

以上问题很大程度上是因为人们在翻译过程中注重直观的感受，忽略菜名蕴含的文化底蕴，使用不恰当的翻译方法造成的。笔者试图从语言和文化层面采用归化和异化翻译策略来解决这些问题。接下来将介绍着这两种翻译策略并分析在湘菜英译过程中如何运用它们来提高翻译质量。

3.Translation strategies of domestication and foreignization

3.1 Definitions of domestication and foreignization

Domestication and foreignization are two different translation strategies in the process of translation. These two terms were first put forward by Lawrence Venuti in his book Translator's Invisibility according to the theory of German philosopher Schleiermacher. (王少飞 2006,30) Domestication refers to a translation strategy that localizes the source language, takes the target language or target language readers as the destination, and adopts the expressions that the readers are used to convey the content of the original text. It can help readers better understand the translation and enhance its readability and appreciation. Foreignization in the process of translation considers the linguistic characteristics of foreign cultures, absorbs foreign language expressions. It requires translators to approach the author and adopt the corresponding source language expressions to convey the content of the original text. It means that we should take the source culture as the destination. The purpose of using foreignization is to consider the differences of national cultures, preserve and reflect characteristics of foreign cultures and their language styles, and to retain the exotic sentiment for the target readers.（百度百科）

“归化”和“异化”是翻译过程中两种不同的翻译策略。这两个术语最初是由劳伦斯韦努蒂( Lawrence Venuti) 根据德国哲学家施莱尔马赫( Schleiermarcher) 的理论在他的著作《译者的隐身》中提出的。(王少飞，2006: 30) 归化指把源语本土化，以目标语或译文读者为归宿，采取目标语读者所习惯的表达方式来传达原文的内容的一种翻译策略。归化翻译要求译者向目的语的读者靠拢。归化翻译有助于读者更好地理解译文，增强译文的可读性和欣赏性。异化在翻译上迁就外来文化的语言特点，吸纳外语表达方式，要求译者向作者靠拢，采取相应于作者所使用的源语表达方式，来传达原文的内容，即以源语文化为归宿。使用异化策略的目的在于考虑民族文化的差异性、保存和反映异域民族特征和语言风格特色，为译文读者保留异国情调。（百度百科）

3.2 Two levels of domestication and foreignization

Foreignization and domestication should be investigated from the level of language form and cultural content. (张志中, 2005：46) On the one hand, at the linguistic level, adopting the translation strategy of foreignization is beneficial to enrich the expression of the target language, but only in a few cases the purpose of translation is to show the language form of the source language. Domestication, because of its reader-oriented characteristics, can ensure that the translation is easy to understand, and it is favored by readers. Therefore, at the language level domestication is the mainstay and foreignization is the supplement. On the other hand, on the cultural level foreignization can retain the cultural elements and connotations contained in the source language as much as possible, which helps to spread foreign cultures, and its advantages are greater than domestication. However, it is impossible to completely adopt the foreignization strategy, because there are too large cultural differences in cross-cultural communication, and it is necessary to use domestication to remove communication barriers. Therefore, at the cultural level the principle of foreignization as the mainstay and domestication as the supplement is adopted. In addition, adopting domestication strategies at the language level can clearly express the meaning of the original text, which helps to better reflect the cultural elements expressed by the use of foreignization at the cultural level. In short, when the source language has distinctive national characteristics, the use of a combination of translation strategies of domestication and foreignization can maximize strengths,avoid weaknesses and promote cultural transmission.

谈论异化和归化，应从语言形式和文化内容层面考察。（张智中，2005：46）一方面，在语言层面上，采取异化翻译策略有利于丰富目的语的表达方式，但是只有在少数情况下翻译的目的是展现源语的语言形式。而归化由于读者导向性的特点能保证译文通俗易懂，受到广大读者的青睐。故而在语言层面提倡主要采用归化策略，异化策略辅助的原则。另一方面，在文化层面上，异化能尽可能保留源语中蕴藏的文化元素和内涵，有助于传播异国文化，其优势大于归化。但是，完全采用异化策略是不可能的，因为在跨文化交际中存在文化差异过大的情况，需要采用归化来扫除交流障碍。因此，在文化层面上采用异化为主，归化为辅的原则。此外，在语言层面上采取归化策略能清楚的表达原文意思，有助于更好地体现在文化层面采用异化策略所表达的文化元素。总之，当源语具有鲜明的民族特色时，采用归化和异化结合的翻译策略能够扬长避短，促进文化传播。

Theoretically speaking, foreignization and domestication are two opposite translation strategies. However, they are closely related and interact with each other in specific translation practices and applications. When domestication and foreignization are applied in the translation of Chinese dish names, the translator should deal with the relationship between the readers and the author. On the one hand, from the perspective of readers we should try our best to use their habitual expressions and consider their way of thinking and understanding ability to make sure that they can understand the translation. On the other hand, we should pay attention to retaining the essence of Chinese traditional culture contained in Chinese dish names, so as not to blindly please readers without knowing to change. This is the basic requirement of a qualified translator of Chinese dish names.

从理论上看异化和归化这两种翻译策略是对立的，然而在具体的翻译实践和应用中二者有紧密的联系，且相互作用。在中国菜名翻译中应用归化和异化翻译策略时，译者应处理好读者与作者之间的关系。一方面，应从读者的角度出发尽可能用其惯用的表达方式，考虑他们的思维方式和理解能力，以达到他们能明白翻译内容的目的。另一方面，应注意保留中国菜名中所蕴含的中国传统文化精髓，做到既不一味取悦读者，也不不知变通（一成不变），这是一位合格的中国菜名翻译者的基本素养。

4. Application of domestication and foreignization in English translation of Hunan cuisine

4.1 Composition and nomenclature of Hunan cuisine

湘菜的构成及命名方法

As one of the eight major cuisines in China, Hunan cuisine has the unique characteristics of color, flavor and taste of Chinese dishes, and its naming also shows different styles. Hunan cuisine can be generally divided into realistic dishes and freehand dishes, which describe their mood. The first type of dishes directly reflects the cooking elements. The second one usually uses rhetorical skills to endow dishes with certain cultural connotations according to their own composition. If foreigners don't understand Chinese culture,from literal translation they don't know the specific methods and raw materials of this kind of dishes, so it is difficult to understand their meanings.

湘菜作为中国八大菜系之一，具有中国菜肴独有的色香味俱全的特点，其命名亦显示不同的风格。湘菜一般可分为写实型菜肴和写意型菜肴，写实型菜肴直接体现烹饪要素。写意型佳肴则通常使用修辞手法，根据其本身的组成赋予菜肴一定的文化内涵。如果外国人不了解中国的文化，单从字面翻译他们不知道这类菜肴具体做法和原料，难以理解其具体含义。

4.1.1 Realistic dishes

Realistic dishes are often named according to the combination of cooking elements. The cooking elements of Hunan cuisine mainly include raw materials(原料), seasonings(调料), knife techniques(刀法), taste(口味) and cooking methods(烹饪方法). Common main ingredients embody fish, meat, chicken, etc.; seasonings involve star anise(八角), cinnamon(桂皮), green onion(葱), ginger(姜), garlic(蒜); knife techniques are various, such as slicing(切片), shredding(切丝), cutting into wicker shapes(切柳) ; the taste is famous for its sour and spicy(酸辣), fresh and tender(鲜嫩), crisp and fragrant(酥脆) taste; the cooking methods are mainly sauted(爆), simmered(煨), stewed(炖), fried(炒), braised(烩) and steamed(蒸). The common combination methods include following three types: cooking materials + methods + knife method, such as sauted shredded pork with green pepper(青椒肉丝); seasoning + raw materials, such as bullfrog with ginger sauce and pepper(姜辣牛蛙), hot and sour radish strips(酸辣萝卜条); taste + cooking method + raw materials, such as smoked fish in five flavors(五香熏鱼).

写实型菜一般根据其菜肴烹饪要素的组合命名，湘菜的烹饪要素主要包括原料、调料、刀法、口味和烹饪方法。常见的主料包括鱼、肉、鸡等；调料有八角、桂皮、葱、姜、蒜；种类繁多的刀法如，切片、切丝、切柳等；口味以酸辣、鲜嫩、酥脆、香熏著称；烹饪方法以爆、煨、炖、炒、烩、蒸为主。常见的组合方式包括以下三种：烹饪原料+方法+刀法，如青椒肉丝（Sauteed Shredded Pork with Green Pepper）；调料+原料，如姜辣牛蛙（Bullfrog with ginger sauce and pepper ）、酸辣萝卜条（Hot and sour radish strips）；口味+烹饪方法+原料，如五香熏鱼（Smoked fish in five flavors）。

4.1.2 Freehand dishes

There are two types of freehand dishes. The first one is named according to the raw materials, colors, shapes or origin places of the dishes, which not only contains rich historical and cultural backgrounds and local flavors, but also expresses good wishes for good luck and has Chinese characteristics. These dishes are often named after allusions, legends or use metaphors, such as steamed glutinous rice ball (with meat / sugar in it)(姊妹团子), Hotpot of snakeheaded fish slices as butterflies out of the soup(蝴蝶飘海). The second one refers to the names of people and place names related to dishes, which has distinctive local characteristics, such as Mao's braised pork(毛氏红烧肉), braised chestnut with green cabbage(板栗烧菜心), Changde rice noodles(常德米粉), and Lixian County stewed pork gut(澧县肠子).

写意型菜包括两种类型。第一种根据菜肴的原料、色形或产地取名，使其不仅蕴含丰富的历史文化背景和地方风味，也表达了吉祥美好的祝愿，更具有中国特色。这些菜常以典故、传说命名或使用隐喻等修辞手法，如姊妹团子（Steamed Glutinous Rice Ball (with meat/sugar in it)）、蝴蝶飘海(Hotpot of snakeheaded fish slices as butterflies out of the soup)。第二种引用与菜肴相关的人名、地名命名，具有鲜明的地方特色，如毛氏红烧肉（Mao's braised pork）、板栗烧菜心（Braised chestnut with green cabbage）、常德米粉(Changde rice noodles)，澧县肠子(Lixian county stewed pork gut)。

According to the composition and nomenclature of Hunan cuisine and the high acceptability and comprehensibility of domestication and foreignization, translation strategies of domestication-based and foreignization-assisted translation of realistic Chinese dish names reproduces the original style well. The strategies of adopting foreignization as the main and domestication as the supplement for the English translation of freehand dish names can better convey the interesting characteristics of Chinese cuisine and the broad and profound cultural heritage. In the following, I will use exemplification to analyze it from different perspectives.

根据湘菜构成及命名方法和归化和异化的可接受度高和可理解性强的特点，翻译写实型中国菜名时采用归化为主、异化为辅的翻译策略很好地再现原作的风格，而针对写意型菜名英译采用异化为主、归化为辅的策略能较好地传达中餐妙趣横生的特征及博大精深的文化底蕴。下面我将从不同的角度使用例证法具体分析。

4.2 At the language level domestication is the mainstay and domestication is the supplement

Domestication at the language level means that the English translation of Hunan dishes should use common and appropriate expressions in English to convey the meaning of Chinese dish names at different levels of linguistics such as vocabulary, semantics, and grammar, so as to ensure the acceptability of English translation of dish names for foreigners.

语言层面的归化指湘菜的英译要在词汇、语义、语法等语言学的不同层面上，使用英语中常见、贴切的表达方式传达中国菜名的含义，以确保英译菜名在外国人中的接受度。

4.2.1 Domestication at lexical level

“童子鸡”can be translated as “Tender chicken”(嫩滑的鸡肉), but it cannot be translated as “chicken without sexual life”(没有性生活的鸡). According to this literal translation, “童子鸡” refers to chickens that have not mate. However, this dish originally emphasized that the chicken is tender and tastes very good, not the age of the chicken. Therefore, when translating “童子鸡”, the strategy of domestication is used at the lexical level. The word “Tender” is used to express the concept of “童子”, which means that the chicken is not mature enough. It expresses the essence of this dish vividly and avoids misunderstanding. This method is also applicable to the English translation of “鱼香肉丝”. “Shredded pork with garlic sauce or Fish-flavored shredded pork in hot sauce”(蒜蓉猪肉丝或鱼香肉丝) refers to shredded pork mixed with minced garlic. The “fish fragrance”(鱼香) of this dish does not refer to the fragrance of fish meat, but a complex flavor composed of various seasonings such as pickled pepper, sugar and vinegar. The above-mentioned translation not only retains the original meaning of Chinese, but also arouses foreigners' associations with the smell of fish.

“童子鸡”可译为Tender chicken(嫩滑的鸡肉)，但不能译成“chicken without sexual life”。按照这种字面翻译，“童子鸡”指的是没有交配的小鸡。然而，这道菜原本强调的是鸡肉很嫩，口感十分好，而非鸡的年龄。因此翻译“童子鸡”时在词汇层面使用归化策略，用tender表示“童子”这个概念，指鸡尚未发育成熟，可传神地表达这道菜的本质，避免误解。这种方法同样适用于“鱼香肉丝”的英译。“鱼香肉丝”（Shredded pork with garlic sauce or Fish-flavored shredded pork in hot sauce）指混合着蒜末的肉丝。这道菜的“鱼香”并非指鱼肉的香味，而是一种用泡椒、糖、醋等多种调料组成的复合味道。上述译法即保留了中文的原意，又能引起外国人对鱼香味的联想。

In addition, pinyin can be used in English translation of dishes with Chinese characteristics which have been included in major foreign English dictionaries, such as wonton(馄饨), tofu(豆腐), jiaozi(饺子) and Shaomai(烧卖). These dishes are traditional Chinese food which has been widely accepted by foreigners. Moreover, the use of pinyin can promote Chinese and Chinese cooking culture.

此外，具有中国特色且被国外主要英文字典收录的，使用汉语方言拼音或音译拼写的菜名，英译时可使用拼音，如“馄饨”（Wonton）、“豆腐”（Tofu）、“饺子”（Jiaozi）、“烧卖”(Shaomai)等。这些菜肴都是已被外国人普遍接受的中国传统食品，使用拼音能推广汉语和中国饮食文化。

4.2.2 Domestication at semantic level

Domestication at semantic level is conducive to convey the meaning of dish names simply and clearly. For example, “一卵孵双凤” can be translated as “two phoenix were hatched from an egg (two chickens, winter bamboo shoots and mushrooms steamed in watermelon)”. From the above translation you can clearly understand the main ingredients and cooking methods of this dish, so as not to be confused by its name. In another example, “金鱼戏莲” is made with squid as the main ingredient. The squid rolls resemble goldfish, playing among the lotus clusters composed of eggs, shrimps and green beans. The name of the dish comes from it. If this dish is directly translated as “goldfish plays with lotus” with the use of foreignization, it is difficult for foreigners to figure out what it means. Therefore, “Oil-fried squid files and steamed shrimp meat, albumen and lima bean to mean”(金鱼戏莲) vividly expresses the essence of this dish, and a vivid and interesting picture can be constructed in the reader's mind through the representation of the image of “floating lotus”(浮莲).Similar examples include “stewed assorted meats/hotchpotch” (全家福), “hotpot of snakeheaded fish slices as butterflies out of the soup” (蝴蝶飘海) and “steamed whole hen with litchi, longan, jujube, lotus and medlar”(五元神仙鸡).

语义上的归化有利于简单明了地传达菜名的含义。例如，“一卵孵双凤”可译为Two phoenix were hatched from an egg(two chickens, winter bamboo shoots and mushrooms steamed in watermelon).从上述翻译可以十分清楚地了解这道菜的主要食材和制作方法，从而不会再被菜名弄得一头雾水。又如，“金鱼戏莲”以鱿鱼为主料制作而成，鱿鱼卷似金鱼，嬉戏于由鸡蛋、虾仁和青豆组成的群莲中，菜名由此而来。如果采用异化策略直接译为Goldfish plays with lotus,外国人很难弄明白这指的是什么。故用Oil-fried squid files and steamed shrimp meat, albumen and lima bean表示“金鱼戏莲”,既十分形象地表达了这道菜的本质，又通过“浮莲”意象的再现，能在读者脑海里构建一幅生动有趣的画面。类似的例子还包括“全家福”（Stewed assorted meats/hotchpotch）、“五元神仙鸡”（Steamed whole hen with litchi, longan, jujube, lotus and medlar）、“蝴蝶飘海”（Hotpot of snakeheaded fish slices as butterflies out of the soup）。

4.2.3 Domestication at grammatical level

The domestication of Hunan cuisine at the grammatical level is mainly reflected in the use of prepositions and verb past participles in English translation of dish names. There are various cooking methods for Hunan cuisine, including simmer, stew, steam, fry, smoke, and the past participle is usually used in the translation. Such as “Dongting spicy salted duck” (洞庭酱板鸭), “Dongting barbecued mandarin fish”(网油叉烧洞庭桂鱼), and “fried winter bamboo shoots”(油辣冬笋尖).Dishes with main ingredients and supplemented by ingredients, seasonings, and soups are generally translated by prepositions, such as “preserved egg with hot pepper”(尖椒皮蛋),“fragments of garlic bolt without using knife”(手撕蒜苗), “Yongzhou fried duck pieces together with its blood and balsam pear” (永州血鸭), and “braised pig knuckle in brown sauce” (走油猪腿).

湘菜在语法层面的归化主要体现在英译菜名时介词和动词过去分词的使用方面。湘菜多种多样的烹调方法，包括煨simmer、炖stew、蒸steam、炒fry、熏smoke，在译文中通常用过去分词。如“洞庭酱板鸭”（Dongting spicy salted duck ）、“网油叉烧洞庭桂鱼”（Dongting barbecued mandarin fish）、“油辣冬笋尖”（Fried winter bamboo shoots）。而以主料为主，配料、调料、汤汁为辅的菜肴一般会使用介词翻译，如“尖椒皮蛋”（Preserved Egg with Hot Pepper）、“手撕蒜苗”（Fragments of garlic bolt without using knife）、“永州血鸭”（Yongzhou fried duck pieces together with its blood and balsam pear）、“走油猪蹄”（Braised pig knuckle in brown sauce）。

4.3 At the cultural level foreignization is the mainstay and domestication is the supplement. As we all know, the exchange of food culture in cross-cultural communication is closely connected with daily life. Chinese cuisine is both delicacy and art. They have profound cultural heritage and aesthetic value. There are many dishes named after allusions and legends, as well as dishes with names of people and places in Hunan cuisine. Only when people understand their cultural background can they be translated into English more successfully. At the cultural level the translation strategies of foreignization as the mainstay and domestication as the supplement helps to inform customers of the taste, cooking method and ingredients of the dishes to the greatest extent, and accurately convey the cultural elements of the dishes. In my opinion, to use the foreignization translation strategy to translate Chinese food must first understand the characteristics of the naming of Western food. According to the famous French chef Auguste Escoffier, Western dishes are usually named after people, places, gods, historical events, and main ingredients. Comparing the naming and composition characteristics of Hunan cuisine and Western cuisine, it can be seen that when translating freehand Chinese cuisine names, the taste, ingredients, cooking methods and necessary knowledge background of the dishes must be reflected. So understanding the characteristics of Western dishes names is beneficial to the translation of Chinese freehand dish names.

众所周知，跨文化交际中饮食文化的交流与日常生活紧密相连。中国菜品既是佳肴又是艺术品，其具有深厚的文化底蕴和审美价值。湘菜中有许多以典故、传说命名的菜肴以及带人名和地名的菜肴，人们了解其文化背景，才能较成功地将其译为英语。文化层面采取异化为主，归化为辅的翻译策略有助于最大程度告知顾客菜肴的口味、烹饪法和食材，精准传递菜品的文化元素。我认为，使用异化的翻译策略翻译中餐首先要了解西餐的命名的特点。法国名厨Auguste Escoffier 的认为，西餐菜肴通常用人名、地名、神灵、历史事件以及主要原料等命名。对比湘菜和西餐命名和构成特点，可知翻译写意型中餐菜名时需要体现菜名的口味、食材、烹饪方法以及必要的知识背景。由此可见，了解西餐菜名的特点有利于翻译中国写意型菜名的翻译。

4.3.1 Dishes named after allusions and legends

以典故、传说命名的菜肴 There are many dishes named after allusions and legends in Chinese and Western cuisine. These dishes have historical and cultural origins and are not suitable for literal translation. For example, the famous French dish Veronique（薇洛妮克）is named after the mythical goddess. The white juice symbolizes her beautiful appearance, and the white grapes next to it symbolize her tears.“姊妹团子” is a local snack in Hunan Province. It is made by grinding the finest glutinous rice into a fine powder, and the inset is a meat filling made of raw materials such as fresh meat, mushrooms, monosodium glutamate and sesame oil. The shape is a long cone with a pointed top and a flat bottom. After being steamed, it looks like a small white pagoda. The origin of this dish is as follows: In the early 1920s the young and beautiful Jiang sisters set up a stall selling glutinous rice dumplings in the polder of the Fire Palace in Changsha. The dumplings they made were delicious and beautiful, and people were full of praise for it. (百度百科) The translation “Steamed glutinous rice ball (with meat/sugar in it)” points out that the main raw material of this dish is rice ball, the auxiliary materials are meat and sugar, and the cooking method is steam, which makes it clear at a glance.

中餐和西餐中有不少以典故、传说命名的菜肴。这些菜有历史文化渊源，不适合采用直译的方法。例如，法国名菜Veronique（薇洛妮克）以神话女神命名，白汁与象征着她的美丽容貌，配在旁边的白色提子象征着她的眼泪。“姊妹团子”是湖南省地方特色小吃。其制作时用上等糯米磨成细粉，内陷是由鲜肉、香菇、味精、芝麻油等原料构成的肉馅。外形是尖顶平底长型锥体，蒸熟后像一座白色的小宝塔。这道菜肴的由来如下：本世纪20年代初在长沙火宫殿的圩场上年轻漂亮的姜氏姐妹摆了一个卖团子的摊子，她们制作的团子既好吃又好看，人们对此赞不绝口。译文“Steamed glutinous rice ball (with meat/sugar in it)”指出此菜主要原料是rice ball、辅料为meat和sugar,烹饪方法为steam,让人一目了然。

“湘西土匪鸭”is a dish named after an allusion. It is said that a woman surnamed Zhang(张氏) opened a restaurant in Xiangxi (湘西，the west of Hunan province), but her business was not very good due to the large area and sparse population. To make matters worse, her ducks raised in the house are fierce and domineering, ruining the crops every day, not laying eggs properly and causing Zhang to hold the bamboo poles and rush and scold them every day: “You damn ducks, you are like bandits!” She was so angry with these ducks to kill all of them. Because these wild ducks are delicious and Zhang's cooking skills are good, the ducks she burns are soft and tender, and they are delicious, attracting people to smell the fragrance and attracting a large number of guests. Someone asked what this dish was called. Because of the ducks Zhang was extremely angry at that time, and she casually replied: “What kind of dish? Wild ducks!” Since then this dish has become famous. (百度百科) If we use the translation strategy of domestication to translate this dish as “Brigand in Xiangxi ducks”, it is incredible. Translating “湘西土匪鸭” into “Xiangxi wild ducks” not only allows guests to understand the special ingredients of the dish, but it embodies the legendary story of Xiangxi.

“湘西土匪鸭”是以典故命名的菜肴。传说湘西以前一个姓张的妇人开了一家餐馆，由于地广人稀，生意不太好。更糟糕的是，家中饲养的鸭子凶悍霸道，天天糟蹋庄稼，不好好下蛋，害得张氏天天拿着竹竿又赶又骂:“你们这些该死的鸭子，简直像土匪!。她一气之下把这些鸭子全杀了。由于这些爱撒野的鸭子肉质鲜美，且张氏厨艺很好，她烧的鸭子酥软嫩滑，鲜香绝伦，引得食客闻香而至,吸引大量的客人。有人问这叫什么菜，张氏气极，随口答：“什么菜/土匪鸭!”从此这道菜名声大震。(百度百科)若使用归化的翻译策略将这道菜译为“Brigand in Xiangxi ducks”让人匪夷所思。把“湘西土匪鸭”译成“Xiangxi wild duck”不仅能让客人了解菜的特殊食材，而且体现了湘西这个传奇的故事。

4.3.2 Dish names with place names and people's names

带地名和人名的菜名

There are usually two translation methods for the name of a dish with a person's name and a place name in the name of a western dish: dish name + place + style; place person’s name + dish name. For example, the Mexican hot chocolate (墨西哥热巧克力) uses the second translation method, indicating the origin and ingredients of the dish name. This is a classic dessert in Spanish restaurants. All kinds of fruits are cut into small pieces and then mixed with sugar water or juice. It's a little like our Chinese fruit with sugar. The name of this dish is related to the Great Alexander of the Macedonian Empire in the fourth century BC. At the age of 30, Alexander established the largest empire in the history of the time and promoted the integration of races, cultures, and languages throughout the empire. In the 18th century the French called things that combined various elements "Macedonia." Therefore, this candied fruit chowder is named "Fruit Macedonia".“攸县香干”is a famous characteristic traditional soy product in Hunan Province, which originated in Youxian County, Hunan Province(湖南省攸县). This dish tastes smooth and tender. Tofu is easy to taste and has an aftertaste after eating. It is a home-cooked dish which is suitable for all ages. The translation "Dried tofu, Youxian style" uses the foreignization translation strategy to point out from the cultural level that the raw material of the dishes is dried tofu, and it reflects the local characteristics of Youxian County.

“攸县香干”是湖南省著名的特色传统豆制品，起源于湖南省攸县境内。这道菜口感滑嫩、韧性足、口味纯、细而不腻，有点劲道。豆腐很容易入味，吃完后有回味，是一道老少适宜的家常菜。译文“Dried tofu ，Youxian style”采用异化的翻译策略从文化层面指出了菜的原料是烘干的豆腐，而且体现攸县的地方特色。

“玉麟香腰”was created by the chef of Peng Yulin(彭玉麟), a famous official in Hengyang(衡阳,a city of Hunan province) in the Qing Dynasty, and the name of the dish came from this. The main ingredient is pork loin. There are a variety of snacks in a bowl. The dishes are divided into seven layers, stacked one after another, shaped like a pagoda(宝塔), also known as “pagoda fragrant waist”(宝塔香腰). If this dish is translated as "sweet pig kidney", it is difficult to explain its cultural heritage, and it does not show the beauty of this dish's visual “step by step”(步步高升) like a pagoda. “玉麟香腰”can be translated into English as “Yulin’s best homely dish”. According to legend, when Peng Yulin returned home to banquet his fellow villagers, he used “玉麟香腰” as the first dish. “Peng Yulin's best family banquet dishes”(彭玉麟最好的家宴菜) can ingeniously explain the origin of this dish, and undoubtedly explain why this dish is also called “touwan”(头碗，the first dish), and the English translation of the name of the dish implies “top”(顶级，最好). It seems to mean “to reach the highest level”(登塔至级). Translation of “Yulin’s best homely dish” not only conforms to the psychological world of diners, but also fully considers the audience’s cognitive needs and aesthetic expectations. （张艳萍，张伟平，2016,121）

“玉麟香腰”是清代衡阳名官彭玉麟家厨创作而成，菜名由此而来。其主要食材是猪腰，一个碗里有多种小吃，菜分七层，层层堆砌，形状象宝塔，又名“宝塔香腰”。若将此菜译为“Sweet pig kidney”则很难解释它的文化底蕴，亦没有呈现这道菜视觉上“步步高升”如宝塔的美感。，“玉麟香腰”可以英译成 Yulin’s Best Homely Dish，因相传彭玉麟回乡宴请父老乡亲时，为表示丰盛，第一道菜就用的是“玉麟香腰”。“彭玉麟最好的家宴菜”能巧妙地解释了此菜的起源，无疑说明了此菜又称为“头碗”的缘由，且菜名英译中“最好”有蕴含“顶级”，似“登塔至级”之意：菜英译名 Yulin’s Best Homely Dish 不仅顺应了食客的心理世界，也充分考虑到受众的认知需要与审美期待。（张艳萍，张伟平，2016：121） 4.4 Limitations of domestication and foreignization in English translation of Hunan cuisine

Translation strategies that adopt the combination of domestication and foreignization can ensure the clarity of English translation of Hunan cuisine and retain its cultural connotation, but there are still shortcomings, which are mainly reflected in the following three aspects. Firstly, foreignization requires translators to move closer to readers and try their best to use their familiar and accustomed expressions, but sometimes it is difficult to find corresponding words in the target language, especially when we translate the culturally loaded words. For example, the dishes which represent happiness and lucky in Chinese include “四喜丸子”, “百鸟朝凤”, and “全家福”. When we translate these dishes from Chinese into English, we don't know which words should be used to convey auspicious and beautiful meanings on the basis of accurately expressing the meaning of them. Secondly, due to the limitation of menu capacity, the meaning of Chinese dishes named after allusions, legends, and myths can’t be fully expressed. If it is literally translated or transliterated, the guests may be very confused. The choice of transliteration and annotation is too much content, which violates the principle of concise menus. For example, if we translate“佛跳墙” into “Fotiaoqiang” or “Buddha jumping the wall”, it does not reflect the essence of this dish. “Fotiaoqiang-steamed abalone with shark’s fin and fish maw in broth” is more appropriate, but not concise enough. Thirdly, due to the variety of cooking methods and seasonings in China, when translating Hunan cuisine into English the use of domestication is beneficial to people who understand Chinese food culture, but for most foreigners who do not know or are not familiar with these cooking methods and seasonings this type of translation will increase the difficulty of understanding. For example,“干锅烧明虾” and “红烧肉” both have the word “burn”(烧), but the translations are completely different. They should be translated as follows: “Fried prawns with pepper sauce” and “braised pork with brown sauce”. The cooking method of the first dish is “fried”(煎), and the second dish is “stewed”（炖）.（张扬，2016：48）

采用归化和异化结合的翻译策略能最大限度地保证湘菜译文清晰明了，保留其蕴含的文化内涵，但仍有不足，主要体现在以下三个方面。第一，异化要求译者向读者靠拢，尽可能用他们熟悉和习惯的表达方式，但有时候很难在目的语中找到对应的词语，尤其是文化负载词的翻译。比如汉语中表示吉祥的菜包括“四喜丸子”、“百鸟朝凤”、“全家福”，翻译时在准确表达菜名含义的基础上不知道该用什么词来传达吉祥美好的意思。第二，由于菜单容量的限制，以典故、传说、神话等命名的中国菜肴的含义不能完全表达。如果直译或者音译，客人可能会十分困惑。选择音译加注解的方式则内容太多，违背菜单简洁的原则。例如，“佛跳墙”如果译成“Fotiaoqiang”or “Buddha jumping the wall”未体现这道菜的本质。“Fotiaoqiang-steamed abalone with shark’s fin and fish maw in broth”比较贴切，但不够精简。第三，由于中国的烹饪方法和调料多种多样，英译时使用归化的翻译策略对于了解中国饮食文化的人来说是有利的，但是对于大部分不知道或者不熟悉这些烹饪方法和调料的外国人来说，这类的译文会增加他们的理解难度。比如， “干锅烧明虾”与“红烧肉”都有“烧”字，但是译法却是完全相同的，应该分别翻译如下：“Fried Prawns with Pepper Sauce”与“Braised Pork with Brown Sauce”。第一道菜的烹饪方法是“煎”，第二道菜则是“炖”。（张扬，2016：48）

5. Conclusion

Although foreignization and domestication are theoretically opposite, they are complementary and indispensable in the process of English translation of Chinese dish names. Taking translation strategies of domestication and foreignization from the linguistic and cultural levels can not only be faithful to the original, but also embody the rich cultural connotations and Chinese elements contained in the dish names. Therefore, the English translation of Chinese dish names is an indispensable part of cross-cultural communication and an important link in spreading Chinese traditional culture. I hope this chapter can provide some valuable reference for future research on the English translation of Chinese dish names.

尽管异化与归化在理论上是对立的，但在中国菜名英译过程中二者的作用是相辅相成，缺一不可的。针对写实型和写意型的菜肴从语言和文化层面采取异化和归化的翻译策略不仅能够尽可能地忠于原文，还可以体现菜名中蕴含的丰富文化内涵和中国元素。由此可见，中国菜名的英译是跨文化交际中不可或缺的一部分，是传播中国传统文化的重要环节。希望本文能为未来中国菜名英译研究提供一些有价值的参考。

References

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