History of Translation Studies 12

Culture Loaded Words

A Study on Foreignizing Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Chinese Food Culture 全美欣 Quan Meixin 202020080637

全美欣 Quan Meixin 202020080637 英美文学

Abstract

Chinese food culture, as an important part of Chinese traditional culture, is rich in ethnic characteristics. Some words related to Chinese food culture are also abundant in cultural information. By adopting the foreignizing translation, Chinese language and cultural information can be preserved to the greatest extent. This paper will be divided into four parts. The first part will give a brief introduction of culture-loaded words and foreignizing translation. The second part will explore culture-loaded words in Chinese food culture from the strategy of foreignizing translation in three categories: words of historical allusions, local customs and food aesthetics. The third part will put forward the trend and prospect of food culture-loaded words from the aspect of translation method, translation system and the training of translators.The fourth part will draw a concise conclusion about this paper.

Key Words

food culture; culture-loaded words; foreignizing translation; cultural communication; translation skills

题目

中国“食”文化中文化负载词的异化翻译研究

摘要

中国“食”文化是中国传统文化一个重要组成部分，极具民族特征，与“食”文化有关的词语也富含中华民族文化信息。采用异化翻译能最大限度保留中华民族的语言和文化信息。本文分为四部分：第一部分简单介绍文化负载词和异化翻译；第二部分对“食”文化负载词中历史典故词、民俗习惯词和饮食审美词三个类别的异化翻译策略进行探讨；第三部分从翻译策略、翻译技巧和翻译人才培养三个方面提出“食”文化负载词翻译的趋势和展望；第四部分对本文进行一个简短的总结。

关键词

“食”文化；文化负载词；异化翻译；文化传播；翻译技巧

1.Introduction

Chinese food culture is rich and colorful. It is not only the axis of the Eastern food culture, but also benefits the whole world and shines in the world culture. With the development of tourism, cultural exchanges have become more frequent, and the pursuit of food in China and the West has also risen to a higher level.

Therefore, translating food culture-loaded words accurately can not only promote international cultural exchanges but also further enhance the international competitiveness of Chinese food culture. In China, although many experts have done researches about culture-loaded words in related fields, such as research from the perspective of relevance, functional equivalence,and from famous literary works such as A Dream of Red Mansions.

There are few studies on food culture-loaded words from foreignizing translation. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the translation of food culture-loaded words from the perspective of foreignizing translation.

1.1 Culture-loaded words

Before discussing culture-loaded words in Chinese food culture, we have to know what is culture-loaded word. Liao Qiyi in his books An Exploration of Contemporary Western Translation Theories said that

“Language is one of the most fundamental systems of culture, with the function of storing, describing, expressing and disseminating culture. As the basic unit of language, word is of course the most direct reflection of culture. Culture-loaded words refer to the words, phrases, and idioms only contained in a culture. These words reflect the uniqueness of certain nations. This kind of uniqueness develops from the long historical process.”( Liao Qiyi 2002,232)

During the process of translation, we have to consider how to translate culture-loaded words because they make distinctions between different cultures. Culture-loaded words can also reflect a country's social background, financial basis and culture in a certain period of time. During different historical period, different culture-loaded words occur.

What's more, culture can be transmitted from generation to generation. During the transmitting, culture will also develop. As China has a long history , therefore, there are abundant culture-loaded words, which is both difficult for for translators to translate and for foreigners to understand.

1.2 Foreignizing Translation

Foreignizing translation is a concept that put forward by Lawrence Venuti from the perspectives of politics, culture, ideology and history in 1995.Venuti considers the foreignizing method to be "an ethnodeviant pressure on target language cultural values to register the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad".(Venuti 1995,20)

It is"highly desirable", he says, in an effort'to restrain the ethnocentric violence of translation. In other words, the foreignizing method can restrain the "violently" domesticating cultural values of the English-language world. The foreignizing method of translating, a strategy Venuti also terms "resistancy" is a non-fluent or estranging translation style designed to make visible the presence of the translator by highlighting the foreign identity of the ST and protecting it from the ideological dominance of the target culture. (Venuti 1995,35)

In some aspects, foreignization can preserve the uniqueness of the source language's culture. Compared with domestication approach, foreignization considers more about the source language's cultural background and is more faithful to the source language's culture. It can keep the exotic flavor of the source language text.

Take Chinese food culture as an example, it contains great national characteristics and shows the creative spirit and unique style of the Chinese nation. The words related to the food culture are rich in Chinese culture. Therefore, we could make use of foreignizing translation to preserve Chinese tranditional culture.

2.The Application of Foreignizing Translation in Chinese Food Culture

Food culture embodies the creative spirit and unique style of the Chinese nation. Therefore, the culture-loaded words in food culture can be understood as words with distinctive Chinese cultural characteristics, reflecting the specific history, culture and customs of China.

For example, there are some relevant information, such as the birthplace of the dishes and the allusions of the founders. The correct translation of the name of Chinese dishes can convey the implicit knowledge of Chinese cultural background, which is of far-reaching significance to the promotion of China-Western cultural exchanges.

The naming of Chinese dishes reflects the information of the ingredients, followed by the cultural connotation and artistic characteristics behind the naming. Therefore, the translation of dish names is diverse.

This paper will combine the characteristics of Chinese food culture and divide culture-loaded words into three categories: Wwords of historical allusions,words of local custom and words of food aesthetic. And then this paper will introduce how to choose appropriate foreignizing translation strategies according to their characteristics.

2.1 Words of Historical Allusions

The historical allusions in Chinese "food" culture-loaded words are words formed by Chinese historical figures or events, legends and allusions. A large part of Chinese cuisine is named by Chinese historical figures or allusions, and a few come from historical allusions have long been heard or understood by foreigners, but others are still very unfamiliar.

Chinese Pinyin can be used for the translation of food culture load words which is already very familiar to foreign diners. Xu Xianling in her books Chinese Food Culture introduces the allusions of “元宵(Yuanxiao)”.(Xu Xianling 2005,229)

"It is said that in the Han Dynasty, a woman named ‘Yuanxiao’ missed her parents so much that she shed tears every day.In order to help her, a minister named Dongfang Shuo lied to Emperor of the Han dynasty that the god of fire with the order of the Jade Emperor would burn Changan(the Capital of China in Han dynasty) on the 15th of the first lunar month."(Xu 2005,230)

The solution to avoid this disaster was to ask the lady-in-waiting named ‘Yuanxiao’ to make Tang-yuan, the favorite food of the god of fire, and to ask all the people in Changan to hang lanterns. Emperor Wu approved this plan. Finally, the girl named ‘Yuanxiao’ met her parents. Thus, the tradition of Lantern Festival ( pronounced Yuanxiao Jie in Chinese, “jie” in Chinese means festival) appeared.”(Xu 2005,230)

Cultural words such as "Yuanxiao" formed by historical figures can be directly translated into "YUANXIAO" in Chinese pinyin because they are recognized and accepted by most foreign diners who come to China and even friends abroad. By the foreignization approach can achieve most of the unique things with Chinese characteristics.This translation method retains our national language style. (Xu 2005,232)

In addition, it can also enable foreign diners to arouse their desire for knowledge about the stories and historical background behind the food while tasting the food. For those historical allusions and culture-loaded words that have not yet reached a certain cross-cultural popularity, annotations, we can be added to supplement cultural information. These allusions with deep Chinese cultural characteristics can be retained to the greatest extent.

Another example cited by Hu Zhishan in his book Chinese Food Culture is a famous dim sum”大救驾”.

“The famous dim sum "Dajiujia" in Anhui is an allusion from 956 AD. When Zhao Kuangyin(the emperor of Song Dynasty), who was only a general at the time, conquered Huainan(a city of An Hui province), he was unable to conquer it for a long time at first, and finally he won after several setbacks, but he was also exhausted. For several months, it was difficult for him to eat any food.(Hu Zhishan 2005,92))

At that time, a chef in the army tried every means to carefully make a round snack, which was loved by Zhao Kuangyin, quickly recovered his health.

Later, Zhao Kuangyin succeed in lots of battles and became emperor. But he was missing about the dim sum, he once said: "The trouble of the pommel horse, the illness after the war, and this dim sum saved my life." And in the Song Dynasty, if one saved the emperor’s life, called “Jiu Jia”.Therefore, the "Da Jiujia" of An Hui province became famous.”(Hu 2005,92)

We used the foreignizing translation to translate “大救驾”as “Da Jiu Jia(a kind of food once saved the emperor)”This not only preserves the characteristics of Chinese culture, but also enhances the diners’ attraction to the food and the stories behind the food through simple explanations. Maybe they will try to think about what kind of food would save the emperor? It is unbelievable. Everyone may want to try such attractive food.(Hu 2005,93)

Another example is “叫花鸡”,Jiaohuaji is a special dish made by wrapping processed chicken with soil and lotus leaves and baking it. This dish has a long history.

According to legend, during a private visit by Emperor Qianlong, he was hungry and sleepy in the wilderness in the south of the Yangtze River. There was a Jiaohuazi(a beggar) who kindly gifted him what he thought was the best "Jiaohuaji". Being hungry and sleepy, Emperor Qianlong thought it was a delicacy on earth and asked the Jiaohuazi the name of this chicken. The beggar didn't know what it was called, so he said "rich chicken" casually. (XuXianling,2005,232)

After Emperor Qianlong returned to the dynasty, he was full of praise for the "rich chicken", so "Jiaohuaji" has been spread because of the emperor's praise, and it has become a famous dish. (Xu 2005,234)

So it is appropriate to translate “叫花鸡”into“roast whole chicken wrapped in mud (Jiao HuaJi, because it is a beggar who first cooked it quite accidentally).

In Chinese history, there are lots of allusions which could explain the creation of a famous dim sum. If we want to introduce these dim sums to foreigners, we have to explain the historical background so that we can express the original meaning. (Xu 2005,234)

2.2 Words of Local Customs

Folklore, as a direct reflection of people's lifestyle, also contains rich symbolic meaning. On the Dragon Boat Festival, people eat rice dumplings to express their memory and remembrance of Qu Yuan(a famous poet in Warring state period); on the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn moon cakes and reunion dinners embody people's strong desire for a happy family.

In China, all ethnic minorities have their own unique eating customs, which can be said to be diverse and different. Therefore, the folk customs contained in the culture-loaded words of "food" show the typical nationality of Chinese culture.

The strongest dietary customs should be the festival customs. There is a habit of eating specific foods in various traditional Chinese festivals. The translation of such words can directly express the content so that the target language readers can understand.

Such as: eating "重阳糕," the custom in the Han nationality , Double Ninth Festival is September 9th in the day, so it can be directly translated into "Double-ninth Cake".(Zhang 2008,54)

In addition, expressing prayers for various good wishes is also one of the characteristics of folk custom words.

"清汤全家福" is a famous dish in Shandong. The ingredients are more diverse, mainly including abalone, sea cucumber, chicken, duck, fish maw, mushrooms and cabbage heart. "全家福" is often used to celebrate the birthdays of the elderly and wedding banquet, family reunions, and even baby full moon banquets, so we can translate it into “family gift”to express auspicious meaning.(Xu 2005,35)

For example, the "合欢汤" mentioned in A Dream of Red Mansions expresses the yearning for the joy of family. Mr. Yang Xianyi directly translated it into "happy-reunrion soup"。 "happy-reunion" not only achieves equivalence in language form, but also fully conveys cultural connotation.(Xu 2005,36)

By foreignizing translation shows the traditional customs behind the food. Such as: eating jujube buns for newlyweds in Shanxi, eating Zhuzibaba on March 3rd in Anhui, etc. The nationality, regionality and history of traditional customs are difficult points in the translation of food culture.

For example, how to translate this sentence”每年的立冬是请酒神的日子。”

It can be translated into :”Lidong, the start of winter, is the day to worship the god of wine.”In this version, "Lidong" is one of the twenty-four solar terms of the folk calendar, and the foreignizing translation version "Lidong" is intriguing. "酒神" is generally translated as "Bacchus" or "Dionysus" in English, which is the Western Bacchus and Dionysus. The translation "请酒神" is translated into "worship the god of wine" because the god of wine of Shaoxing wine is Yidi.(Zhang 2008,58)

The creation of food is an inevitable accident, and is the result of the hard work and wisdom of the people of all ethnic groups. Foreignizing translation implicitly and euphemistically re-exhibits emotions, which is more helpful for target language readers to understand the development process of Chinese food culture.

2.3 Words of Food Aesthetics

The food aesthetics of Chinese "food" culture has been analyzed in detail in Xu Wanbang's article "Aesthetic Interest in Chinese Food Culture".

In this paper, in addition to mention the beauty of the Chinese people's image of food, the beauty of the food environment, the beauty of food utensils, and the aroma of food, he also listed the aesthetic appeal of name, sound, beauty, etc. in particular, the naming methods of various dishes such as colors, flowers, etc.(Xu Wanbang 2005,37)

From this we can see the Chinese people’s pursuit of "true to the name", and strive for beautiful dishes, tastes, and better names. The wonderful feeling that diners can enjoy both materially and spiritually. Because a wonderful name is not only a vivid description of the dish, but also an organic part of the dish itself, which often plays an unexpected function.(Xu Wanbang 2005,37)

For the translation of dishes with beautiful names, some people think that the main ingredients of food should be directly translated to ensure the faithfulness of the translation. In fact, this is not the case. In "food" culture, thinking style, and language characteristics embodied in such words are more abundant.

For example, "the Chinese cuisine '鸟语花香', can be translated into 'Singing Birds and Fragrant Flowers(Steamed mandarin fish and bird-shaped shrimps)' and '青龙过海' can be translated into 'Green Dragons Crossing the Sea(Soup with green onion)". (Zhang Jiachen 2014,106)

This method of literal translation,annotation foreingnizing translation and not only allows foreign diners to appreciate the good name of the food, understand the Chinese thinking mode and word habits, but also shows the true content of the food in the annotation part clearly.

The name of the dish is beautiful. Chinese food is delicious and has a better name. The name of a lady is beautiful and moving, which can reflect the person's personality, hobbies, and cultural accomplishments.

The same is true for the name of the dish. It has to be repeatedly scrutinized and not far-fetched, and strive to be elegant and relevant to the title. The name of the dish can reveal the characteristics of the dish and reflect the whole picture of the dish.(Xu 2005,36)

Xu in his paper put forward several methods to name a dish.

“1.Named after color. Especially named after the color of the ingredients and the color of the dishes after they mature. For example, the "Jade" of jade shrimp is mainly green and fresh to the green of peas, and matched with the white shrimp color, it gives people a feeling of refreshing.(Xu Wanbang 2005,38)

2.Named after flowers. Flowers are deeply loved by people and are cleverly combined with dishes. Some of them are delicacies with real flowers, which are named after the delicacy of orchids and belly silk. Although some flowers do not appear in the dishes, the color and shape after the dishes are like a certain kind of flower can also be named, such as "Osmanthus scallops".(Xu 2005,38)

3.Named after the type. After the dishes are made, they are named according to the shapes formed, which are both realistic and poetic; they have both practical value and beautiful enjoyment. For example, the butterfly sea cucumber, seeing the name of the dish, immediately realizes that the shape of the dish is like a butterfly.(Xu 2005,38)

After discussing these categories of culture-loaded words in Chinese food culture, we could have a basic understanding about these specific words and learn how to translate it properly. By using the foreignization approach, this kind of translation can preserve the beautiful image of these cuisines and the explanatory note can also prevent foreigners from being confused.

Although the foreignization approach can be of great help to pass the source language's culture to the target readers, it requires the translator's great knowledge between the two cultures. Therefore, translators have to do a good preparation and be familiar with cultural background before translating.

3.The Trend and Prospect of Culture-Loaded Words

In the future, the extent of cultural exchanges will be larger and more diversified. The cultures of all countries are constantly pursuing similarities and seeking differences. What’s more, we have to learn to accept foreign cultures with tolerance and an open mind.

Foreignizing translations will gradually be accepted by readers. In spread of the characteristics of "food" culture, it is an inevitable trend to adopt foreignizing translation strategies. However, the research on the translation of "food" culture-loaded words is still a relatively new topic. The paper has made considerations on its future development in the following aspects.

3.1 Translation Method

First, the choice of translation of "food" culture-loaded words should also "kick out the old and welcome the new". Of course, the "old" here refers to those culture-loaded words that are too old and rarely used or limited to a small range.It is unnecessary to translate such culture-loaded words .

In addition, the development of "food" culture is not stagnant,and it will be updated with the changes of the times. For example, the classification of cuisines may be expanded; new dishes will continue to appear; eating habits will also change, and so on. All of these require researchers or translators to have an attitude of studying hard and keeping pace with the times.(Zhang 2014,106)

Therefore, we have to try to use different translation methods to translate these culture-loaded words. In addition, taking untranslatability into consideration is also very important.

Catford thought that untranslatability is caused by the target language’s lack of lexical or syntactical substitute. Different languages differ from each other in the phonetic, grammatical, semantic, pragmatic aspect etc. When translating culture-loaded words, it is hard for translator to translate the culture behind these words in a perfect way. (Liao Qiyi 2002,153)

Catford thought the cultural untranslatability was caused by the lack of the target target culture’s relevant situational features to the source language’s culture.(Liao 2002,153)

Cultural untranslatability comes from cultural differences. Although it is hard to translate culture-loaded words into target language in a perfect way, translators still need to try to discover the translation of culture-loaded words.

Translators can also add some explanations after the translated sentences or words to make the meaning and culture behind the source language text be understood by target readers.

Under the great progress of globalization, different cultures have more accesses to communicate with each other. According to Eugene Nida, “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 Eugene 1969,13)

“Ordinarily speaking, there are three approaches to translate culture-loaded words, namely foreignization, domestication and literal translation. The translation of culture-loaded words belongs to the micro aspect of cultural translation.

In the context of globalization, the fundamental standpoint of exploring the translation approach is to preserve the unique cultural significance carried by culture-loaded words, which determines that we should use foreignization and literal translation as the main translation approaches to translation culture-loaded words”.(Wang Xiang 2017,75)

Different translation methods can be used to translate different words or sentences. The most important thing is that we have to consider the real situation and whether the target readers can understand it or not.

3.2 Translation System

We need to form a systematic translation system of "food" culture-loaded words. The system should not only include translation theories for the proper definition of culture-loaded words, but also a corpus of culture-loaded words. Among them, though the establishment of a corpus of culture-loaded words is a huge systematic project, the advantages that the corpus brings to translation work are immeasurable.(Zhang 2014,106)

Translation scholars should consciously collect the corpus of culture-loaded words related to "food" in their daily research and practice to achieve accurate and efficient translation as soon as possible.

With the development of technology and science, it is convenient for us to use machine translation to finish translation works. That means that it is possible to introduce Chinese food culture to the whole world by machine translation. What we should to do is to improve and supervise the quality of the translation of culture-loaded words.

Maybe in the beginning, these will have lots of mistakes during the process of translation., but I believe it will become more accurate gradually.

Forming a systematic translation system is really important for us. In Hu Bin’s paper”The Spreading Skills of Chinese Food Culture”, we could notice he put forward many strategies to introduce food culture to the international market. It is obvious that we will encounter unpredictable problems, but if we set up a system, and it will make things become easier. (Hu 2008,99)

In Zhu Dan’s paper “A Study of the Translation Strategies on Culture-loaded Words of Chinese Food--A Case Study on the Translation of Tasting China”, she pointed out that there is no relatively complete food translation system in China. As a result, when you encounter some word problems in the translation process, you often cannot find a reasonable and unified standard.(Zhu Dan 2003,12)

As a result, the translators of the translated content can justify themselves, but it will cause foreign readers to be puzzled, and ultimately unable to accurately and systematically spread Chinese food culture. (Zhu 2003,12)

The author has summarized the strategies and methods for the translation of staple food content, and found that the translation of such names and related cultural words can follow certain translation rules, but this is only a point in many food translations. (Zhu 2003,15）

Translation strategies and methods at this point are expanded and improved, and on the basis of this point, through joint efforts to establish a comprehensive and detailed Chinese food translation system, the current Chinese food is classified as a whole, such as cold dishes and hot dishes.

Categories, soups, staple foods, specialty snacks, Chinese wine and Chinese tea, and then continue to refine. In the process of sorting and summarizing, the criteria for recurring or culturally characteristic names are determined, so that fixed and key food content can be translated. (Zhu 2003,15）

3.3 Training of Translators

The cultivation of relevant talents needs to strengthen the cultivation of cultural awareness. In the process of foreignizing translation of "food" culture-loaded words, the understanding of the cultural knowledge of the source language and the target language is the basis of translation.

Nowadays, most of the random translations are caused by the lack of cultural background knowledge.Therefore, in the process of training talents, we should grasp cultural background knowledge and cultivate cultural awareness throughout the entire process of language learning.

Since the content of the translation involves traditional Chinese and Western cultures, especially Chinese people are very sophisticated in all aspects of food, including the choice of ingredients, cooking skills, color matching, taste pursuit, etc. So the translator is required to choose vocabulary very carefully which could convey the meaning of the original one.(Zhang 2014,106))

However, the author found that in the translation process, there are often several English words corresponding to a Chinese word, but it is more confused when we have to choose a word. It is difficult to clearly point out the difference between each word.

It is necessary to carefully consult the dictionary and view the relevant example sentences, consider each word in the specific application language environment, and find out the key points emphasized by each word in a set of synonyms through comparative analysis.

This requires translators not only to expand their vocabulary, but also to grasp the most accurate meaning, applicable context, and key points of each English word, so as to make the translation process more smooth and express the content more accurate. When many translators re-translate culture-loaded words, their translations are still inadequate and have a "translation style". (Xu 2008,69))

Zhu in her paper summarize the connotation and values of Chinese culture accurately and vividly. On the other hand, I must choose the correct and appropriate English expression method. To balance the two,I still needs to deepen my English skills in many aspects.

Eliminate the translation barriers between the two languages to the greatest extent, allowing foreign readers to read their own authentic language and understand China's characteristic food culture. At the end of the translation process and during the proofreading process, the translators have to examine their translations.”(Zhu 2003,16)

At the same time, the curriculum system needs to be reformed to meet the demand for talents. Today's tourism industry continues to develop. Catering is an indispensable part of the tourism industry, and its market demand will also grow rapidly.

Enterprises will integrate international standards from food translation, dish innovation, and even service management. This shows that the demand for translators in food-related fields is rising. Therefore, relevant courses or teaching content can be added to the curriculum to train outstanding professionals for the external communication of Chinese food culture.

4. Conclusion

In short, Chinese food culture not only plays an important role in the lives of our people, but also continuously expands its influence in the world environment. As the top priority of Chinese food culture, "food" culture is even more prominent.

Although the food of China and the West is very different in all aspects, under the situation of globalization, the culture is constantly merging and spreading. Enjoying the cuisine of different countries has become an indispensable part of the daily life of contemporary people.

The culture-loaded words of in food culture are rich in Chinese characteristics. During the translation process, try to adopt foreignizing translation strategies, and appropriately adopt different foreignization methods according to different culture-loaded words. Therefore, we could retain their own cultural characteristics to the maximum extent and introduce them to the whole world.

In addition, we also give foreigners opportunities to experience the splendid "food" culture while experiencing the same wonderful language features and profound cultural connotations of China. The world-famous Chinese cuisine attracts food lovers from all over the world.

Chinese traditional food culture is broad and profound, has a long history with rich and diverse cuisines, different cooking styles, and distinctive ethnic characteristics. When we enjoy delicious food with all colors, flavors, we can learn about the historical allusions, humanistic customs, legends and traditional culture of our nation, and spread our customs and food to other countries.

When translating Chinese traditional food culture, it is not only necessary to understand the food characteristics, but also to understand the basis of the naming of dishes from the connotation of our traditional culture. Only when we have a rich knowledge in Chinese food culture, can we make a correct translation of Chinese dish and contribute to the spread of Chinese food culture.

In foreign cultural exchanges, translation is an important means and carrier. It is a huge challenge for translators to let foreign audiences understand Chinese culture, while retaining and reflecting cultural characteristics.

With the development of social economy and cultural exchanges, we are required to innovate and use a variety of translation methods to effectively draw readers, and explore the common emotional attributes in the different culture.

To stimulate emotional resonance in different contexts, so that we can fully and accurately show our country's cultural characteristics and gain the initiative status in the increasingly fierce cultural competition.

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--Quan Meixin (talk) 03:06, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Translation Strategies of Culture-loaded Words Based on Interpretive Theory 何长琦 He Changqi 202070080589 MTI

Abstract

In conference speeches, culture-loaded words are quoted in large numbers as a kind of symbol with traditional cultural characteristics, which plays a role in conveying Chinese culture, but at the same time increases the difficulty of interpretation. This paper discusses the definition, classification and translation difficulties of culture-loaded words. Under the guidance of interpretive theory, it analyses and concludes the translation strategies of culture-loaded words based on translated materials of important speeches given by Chinese leaders.

Key words

interpretive theory; culture-loaded words; translation strategy

摘要

在会议致辞中，文化负载词作为一种具有传统文化特色的符号被大量引用，起到了传递中国文化的作用，同时也增加了口译的难度。本文探讨了文化负载词的定义、分类和翻译难点，并以释意理论为指导，以中国领导人重要会议的翻译材料为文本，分析总结了会议口译中文化负载词的翻译策略。

关键词

释意理论 文化负载词 翻译策略

Introduction

With the implementation of the strategy of “Chinese culture Going Out” and the development of external communication, China’s external communication has made gratifying achievements. However, misunderstandings and prejudices still exist in the dominant western media. Although ideological differences and economic development modes are important factors in explaining such obstacles, the fact is that most Westners have little knowledge about Chinese language and culture, do not understand China’s profound history and modern society. Therefore there are distortion and misreading of China’s policies and propositions.

China's diplomatic activities on the international stage are becoming more and more frequent, and Chinese leaders are spreading not only the voice of China but also its culture in their speeches to outside world. This is why the culture-loaded words are heavily quoted as a symbol with traditional cultural characteristics, highlighting the charm of national culture while also posing challenges to interpreters. (Li Ying 2017,419-424) Language, as the carrier of culture, is the characteristics of a country and has its own cultural content with unique national characteristics. Therefore, interpreters need to understand, analyze and interpret the linguistic symbols within a limited time.

Interpreters need not only to translate the semantic and cultural connotations accurately, but also to conform to the conventions of the language into which they are translated. The theory of interpretation was born out of the need to accurately interpret not only the semantic and cultural connotations, but also the expression habits of the incoming language, and is gradually becoming an important guide and widely used in interpretation practice.

Overview of Interpretive theory

The theory of interpretation was born in the late 1960s at the Ecole Supérieure in Paris, France, by Danica Selekovitch and Marianne Le Dreyfus renowned interpreting theorists and practitioners. According to the general theory of translation, there exists three levels in translation : the lexical level, the sentence (i.e. the discourse of Saussurean concepts) level and the chapter level. These three levels can be interpreted as: word-for-word translation, sentence translation out of context and communicative environment, and chapter translation combining linguistic knowledge with cognitive knowledge, respectively.Interpretive theory refers to word-for-word and sentence translation as translation linguistique or linguistic translation, while translation at the chapter level is referred to as chapter translation or translation.

The the theory argues that successful translation should be carried out at the chapter level, namely, the interpretation of the chapter, because the sentence is the grammatical unit and the chapter is the semantic unit; it is the meaning, not the grammar, nor the individual words and sentences that are translated.(Xu Jun, Yuan Xiaoyi 1998,193) The equivalence of the original text and the translation is expressed in an overall communicative sense, which means the translation produces the same effect on its readers or listeners as the original. In order to achieve this effect, it is clear that the basic unit of translation should not be the words, but the communicative meaning.

It can be concluded from this that the theory holds that translation is the interpretation of the non-linguistic meaning expressed by the speaker, and that language is only a carrier and a tool, so the object of translation should be the information content, the meaning, not the language (Xu Jun, 2001).

Interpreting and translating at conferences under the guidance of the Interpretive theory

The theory of interpretation comes from the practice of interpreting, which is of great significance in guiding the practice of conference interpreting. Interpretive theory divides the interpreting process into three levels: understanding the meaning of the original language, breaking away from the shell of the original language and re-expression. Therefore, interpreting is a triangular process rather than a straight line. Understanding the source language means that the interpreter must first understand linguistic knowledge (including phonetics, semantics, syntax, etc.) and encyclopedic knowledge (including memory, experience, perception of important events, theoretical knowledge, imagination, etc.); the next step breaking away from the shell of the original language is a cognitive process in which the oral presentation is fleeting and we can remember the whole of what we heard. (Li Ying 2017,419-424)

In recent years, national leaders have been using culture-loaded words more and more frequently in their speeches, while interpreters are inclined to be influenced by their own culture. They can easily fall into the misunderstanding of English word gaps and cultural word gaps. For example, in the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), it is said that “打铁还需自身硬”.

This saying is familiar with Chinese people which means that a blacksmith must be "high skilled" in order to make strong and durable iron tools. The Daily Telegraph translates the phrase as "To forge iron, you need a strong hammer". “To forge iron, one must be strong”, as translated by Cable News Network and The New York Times, means “In order to work with iron, the person who works with iron has to be strong”. The foreign media's translation of the above perspective is imprecise: if the hammer is hard, the iron mat must be hard as well; if the person is strong, it is not "strong" even if the iron-driving technique is not skillful.

The essential implication of this Chinese saying in a particular context is to emphasize the need for refining their techniques. The official translation, “It takes a good blacksmith to make good steel”, recognizes the cultural lexical gaps in the target language and, with sufficient analysis and interpretation, translates the cultural implications of the target language more accurately.

Overview of Translation of Culture-loaded Words

Definition and classification of Culture-loaded words

Culture-loaded words refer to the words, phrases, and idioms only contained in a culture. These words reflect the uniqueness of certain nations. This kind of uniqueness develops from the long historical process.” (Liao Qiyi 2002:232) Chen Xiaodan divides culture-loaded words into absolute vacancies and relative vacancies according to their semantic vacancy in other cultures, and relative vacancies are subdivided into three categories: vacant words with reference scope, vacant words with meaning and linguistic normative vacancies. (Chen Xiaodan 2010,106-108)Based on the uniqueness of the words, Wang divided the culture-loaded words into five categories: physical geography, customs and habits, spiritual culture, material culture and socio-economic culture.(Wang Guoan 1996,402). Nida Eugene classifies culturally loaded words in five ways: ecocultural words, material cultural words, social cultural words, religious cultural words and linguistic cultural words（Nida, Eugene A. 1964,91）

By comparing the translated materials with data compiled from the interpretation of important meetings of Chinese leaders in recent years, and based on Naida's classification of culture-loaded words, the author has divided Chinese culture-loaded words into five categories according to the characteristics of Chinese culture-loaded words.

(1)Three-character Structure

A three-character word pattern is a fixed structure consisting of three characters, often associated with culture and history. In addition to its literal meaning, the three-character structure also has a profound metaphorical derivation meaning, with vivid images and a prominent oral style. For example, the opening speech of the Boao Forum 2018 mentioned the expression “小算盘”, which is unique to China's culture and indicates a proficiency in calculation.

At the opening ceremony of the second Belt and Road Summit Forum on International Cooperation, it was mentioned: "共同绘制精谨细腻的工笔画". The term "工笔画" refers to traditional Chinese painting techniques, and it is important to grasp the meaning of words in the cultural context of the source language when interpreting.(Xi Jinping 2019a)

(2)Four-character Structure

In Chinese, the term "four-character structure" is a special lexical phenomenon - a four-character sequence of characters with a symmetrical structure. A class of four-character forms was created to keep the language coherent and rhyming. In recent years there has been a large number of idioms and quatrains used in speeches at important meetings of Chinese leaders, which are both concise and reflective of the charm of traditional Chinese culture.

Take the opening speech of the Bo'ao Forum in 2018 as an example, there is a high frequency of idioms used in the speech. For example, “众志成城”，“砥砺奋进”，“敢为人先”，“妄自尊大” and“独善其身” etc.(Du Mengxian, Shen Guorong 2018,10) For example, at the opening ceremony of the second Belt and Road Summit Forum on International Cooperation, it was mentioned that "a blueprint for cooperation in terms of policy communication, facility connectivity, smooth trade, financial flows and people-to-people contact was planned". Here the five four characters are juxtaposed, rhyming and unified, which is a very characteristic Chinese expression.

(3) Idioms

Idioms is looser and more flexible in format, and is generally passed down orally, so it is more colloquial, but the meaning of the sentence is holistic and the meaning of the whole sentence must be considered rather than (添加be） translated word by word.（Du Mengxian. Shen Guorong 2018:91-93） For example, “四两拨千斤”and“萝卜青菜各有所爱”etc.

(4) Poetry Poetry is one of the treasures of Chinese literature that richly illustrates and expresses thoughts, philosophies and emotions in a highly condensed language with relatively strict rhythm, structure and rhythm. (Li Ying 2017,419-424) In Chinese-English conference interpretation, poetry translation is quite difficult. For example, in a speech given by President Xi Jinping at UNESCO Headquarters in 2014, he quoted a poem from the Mencius Teng Wengong: “物之不齐，物之情也”.

(5)Chinese Characteristic Words

Chinese character words refer to words produced in China's cultural and social environment, such as the Scientific Outlook on Development, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and the Belt and Road.

Difficulties in the Translation of Culture-loaded Words

Every country has its own cultural origin. And “every nation has its own cultural focus. So its vocabulary always develops according to the cultural focus and becomes more and more detailed and complex.” (Liao Qiyi 2002,232）In addition to the conceptual meaning of the language itself, culture-loaded words are given a specific cultural meaning. In terms of the classification of culture-loaded words, their translation should take into account not only the historical background and ecological and geographical context, but also the habits of thought, customs and social environment that they reflect.

（1） Translation Difficulties Caused by History and Culture

"Culture plays a pivotal role in translation studies, as the cultural context determines specific communication patterns. It is therefore imperative that we understand how culture plays a prerequisite role in intercultural communication." (Xu Lisheng 2004,34) China has a long and rich history and culture, and many of its historical and traditional meanings are deeply rooted in people's minds. For example, "磕头" has been around for several years, but in Western countries it is common to hug and kiss on the cheek. (Sun Xianmei 2019,209)

（2）Translation Difficulties Caused by Customs and Traditions

The differences in customs between Western countries and China can be seen in many aspects, such as festivals, greetings and food. To a large extent, the differences in customs make it difficult to translate culture-loaded words into English. Take Chinese festivals as an example, the Lantern Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival are both traditional Chinese festivals and it is impossible to translate such cultural words without understanding their origin and traditional customs.

（3）Translation Difficulties Caused by the Social Environment

Since China's reform and opening up, its economy and society have undergone radical changes, and a number of words with Chinese characteristics have gradually appeared in official documents and on important diplomatic occasions. This type of vocabulary, which is characteristic of contemporary culture, arises from the unique social and economic environment of modern China. This kind of words are characterized by its Chinese features, which are short in form and concise in nature, such as mass entrepreneurship and innovation, "Belt and Road", the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and so on. Translating this type of vocabulary requires a good understanding of China's national conditions, political policy and foreign policy, which to some extent makes translation difficult.

Translation Strategies for conference interpreting under the Guidance of Interpretive Theory

When interpreting for important meetings delivered by national leaders, the interpreter is required to present the cultural essence, metaphor and extended meaning of the original language in the target language as much as possible. A prerequisite for this is that the interpreter can understand, analyze and interpret linguistic signs in a limited amount of time, and the trigonometric model of interpretive theory is a good solution to this problem. According to this model, conference interpreting can be divided into the following steps: first, the leader's speech is finished, the format attached to the language form (including idioms, slang, rhyming couplets of poetry, etc.) ceases to exist and the original language is presented to the interpreter's mind with ideas of semantics, connotation, cultural load implications, etc. Second, the outer form and constraints of the language are removed from the linguistic shell of the source language. In addition to retaining the formal structure of the source language, the interpreter can also break the rules of rhythm, structure and form and translate the meaning and connotation of the culture-loaded words; the third step is to re-integrate the information in the sentences and output an expression that reflects the culture of the source language and conforms to the target language. (Li Ying 2017,419-424)

Based on the characteristics of culture-loaded words, this paper summarizes the following four strategies for translating culture-loaded words in conference interpreting, based on the translated materials and data compiled from the interpreting of important meetings of Chinese leaders.

Literal translation

A literal translation is used if the original language corresponds to the expression in the translated language. A literal translation retains the format and imagery of the original text and it is easy for the audience to understand.

Example (1): “河海不择细流，故能就其深。”(Xi Jinping 2018a)

Translation: The ceaseless inflow of rivers makes the ocean deep.

Analysis: The phrase "河海不择细流，故能就其深" refers to the fact that river, lake and sea the smallest stream, so they can achieve their depth. The interpreter has adopted a literal translation strategy here, and integrated the two verses together in the translation, which not only retains the imagery of "河海" and "细流" in the source language, but also reflects the feature of hypotaxis in English language, making it more easily accepted by listeners.

Example (2) :中国人历来讲究讲求“一诺千金”。(Xi Jinping 2019a)

Translation: We Chinese have a saying that honoring a promise carries the weight of gold.

Analysis: The phrase "一诺千金" is used to describe a person who values honesty. Here, the imagery of the importance of a promise in the source language “千金” — the weight of gold—has been retained in the interpretation, which is perfectly understandable to English readers. (Zhang Mengyuan 2019,116-117)

Example (3) : “一花独放不是春，百花齐放春满园”(Xi Jinping 2013a)

Translation: A single flower does not make spring, while one hundred flowers in full blossom bring spring to the garden.

Analysis: “一花独放不是春，百花齐放春满园” refers to the fact that civilizations should flourish and develop in a way that allows a hundred flowers to bloom and a hundred schools of thought to contend. The interpretation is a literal translation, depicting the blossoming of a hundred flowers in the garden of spring, which not only conforms to the meaning of the original text, but also points out in the following metaphor that the progress and development of human civilization presents a diverse and colorful scene. It is a way of expressing and interpreting the meaning of the proverb with half the effort, as it is generally concise in meaning and easy to understand . (Li Ying 2017,419-424)

Example (4) : “聚沙成塔、积水成渊”(Xi Jinping 2019a)

Translation: Just as a Chinese proverb says, ”A tower is built when soil on earth accumulates, and a river is formed when streams come together.”

Analysis: “聚沙成塔、积水成渊” is a Chinese idiom referring a grain of sand that keeps on accumulating will become a pagoda, while water that comes together drop by drop will become an lake. Here, the interpreter used a literal translation method to convey the meaning of the idiom literally.

Semantic Interpretation

Semantic interpretation is another widely used method in interpreting. Semantic interpretation is not a word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence interpretation, but a translation that takes into account the context. Allusions are mostly derived from the the production practices of ancient Chinese people, while idioms are usually quotes from stories in ancient texts and have deep cultural connotations. The translation strategy of semantic interpretation is often used to translate these types of culture-loaded words.

Example (5) :“面向未来，我们要促进不同安全机制间协调包容、互补合作，不这边搭台、那边拆台。”(Xi Jinping 2018a)

Translation: We hat must ensure that various security mechanisms coordinate with each other in an inclusive and complementary manner rather than undercut each other.

Analysis: The phrase "not to set the stage on one side, but to tear it down on the other" is a Chinese colloquialism. Considering the different cultural contexts, translating such culturally loaded words should not only take into account the cultural connotations of the colloquialism in the source language, but also take into account the context so that the translation reflects the culture of the source language and conforms to the expression form of the target language. The word 'stage' refers to the theatre, which indicates that the members of the troupe are not united. The interpreter translates 'rather than undercut each other. The original meaning of "Taiwan" corresponds directly to "stage". （Du Mengxian, Shen Guorong 2018,10）Instead, the translation strategy of interpreting the meaning of the phrase has been adopted to grasp the context in which it was quoted by the speaker, that is emphasizing the need for countries to work together to maintain peace, and to convey the original meaning accurately.

Example (6) :“和平和发展是世界各国人民共同的心声，冷战思维、零和博弈愈发陈旧落伍，妄自尊大或独善其身只能四处碰壁。”(Xi Jinping 2018a)

Translation: Putting oneself on a pedestal or trying to immune oneself from adverse developments will get nowhere.

Analysis: Due to their connotations and fixed patterns, idioms cannot be split up and changed, and it is not easy to find words in English that are structurally equivalent and have the same semantic meaning.（Du Mengxian, Shen Guorong 2018,10）In this interpreter's translation, the phrase "四处碰壁" is translated out of the linguistic shell of the source language as "get nowhere", allowing the listener to quickly understand the meaning in context.

Example (7)："促进投资快速增长.我们发挥政府投资'四两拨千斤'的作用,引导带动社会投资"(Wen Jiabao 2010a)

Translation: We promoted rapid growth in investment. We guided and stimulated non-government investment by means of well-leveraged government investment.

Analysis: The phrase was first used in Wang Zongyue's translation of Taijiquan, which refers to the technique of Taijiquan as a kind of kung fu that does not use clumsy force to win over others; by extension, it means "to win with little effort by clever force". The translator does not directly reproduce the English expression "accomplishing a great task with little effort by clever maneuvers", but understands the above context as emphasizing how the government can reasonably guide the participation of social capital to bring about a large amount of social investment for the country. The translation of "well-leveraged" means to play the role of financing very well, which conveys the speaker's intention very well.（Guo Huiqing 2018,94-96）

Free Translation

Due to different social customs, religious beliefs, ecological and social environments, each nation has unique expressions that embody its own national features. (Guo Huiqing 2018,94-96) In the practice of interpretation, translators often adopt the strategy of free translation, breaking the rules of rhythm, structure and form of the original language and choosing to translate its meaning and connotation. This is also the central meaning of interpretive theory—to break away from the linguistic shell of the source language.

Example (8) :“物之不齐,物之情也”(Xi Jinping 2014a)

Translation: It is only natural for things to be different.

Analysis: The saying "物之不齐,物之情也" is from the Mencius Teng Wengong, which means that everything is different and has its own unique personality. This is an idea frequently quoted by Xi Jinping when talking about relations between countries and civilizations. The translation departs from the format and genre limitations of poetry and translates the connotations of ancient poetry from the theory of interpretation, which is concise and intuitive, yet captures the core meaning.

Example (9) : 中国古人说：“万物得其本者生,百事得其道者成”(Xi Jinping 2019a)

Translation: An ancient Chinese philosopher observed that “plants with strong roots grow well, and efforts with the right focus will ensure success.”

Analysis: The saying "万物得其本者生,百事得其道者成" is from Taoism by Liu Xiang of the Western Han Dynasty, and means that everything in the world can grow if it is preserved at its roots, and everything can succeed if it is morally righteous. In this sentence, "本" and "道" have a strong cultural significance in Chinese and are difficult to find suitable words to express in English. (Zhang Mengyuan 2019,116-117)

The translation therefore employs the strategy of paraphrasing to translate the meaning of the original poem and make it more comprehensible for an English-speaking audience

Streamlining Information Interpretation

In conference interpretation, interpreters need to react quickly, choose their words decisively and ensure that the listener fully understands them. Therefore, when translating culture-loaded words words, interpreters not only need to have a good understanding of the Chinese language and culture, but need to master certain translation methods and strategies. When dealing with four-character idioms or other culture-loaded words, they should streamline the information, which means omit or integrate unnecessary information.

Example (10): "40年众志成城,40年砥砺奋进,40年春风化雨,中国人民用双手书写了国家和民族发展的壮丽史诗." (Xi Jinping 2018a)

Translation: With united and determined efforts, the Chinese people have added a glorious he chapter to the development epic of the country. and the nation.

Analysis: In this sentence, the four-character structure is frequently used, but the three juxtaposed idioms "众志成城","砥砺奋进"and "春风化雨" all indicate the efforts of the Chinese people for national development.The translator has streamlined the message here by directly translating it as 'With united and determined efforts', which is both informative and concise.

Example (11): "形势稍好,尤需兢慎;居安思危,思则有备,有备无患."(Wen Jiabao 2005a )

Translation: We must be mindful of potential problems and get fully prepared for the worst. We must be sober-minded, cautious, prudent especially when the situation is getting a little better.

Analysis: The analysis of the whole sentence shows that the second sentence is a further explanation of the first sentence, in which the Prime Minister reminds people to be cautious, because when times turn better, that is when people are most likely to let their guard down. The words "兢" and "慎" convey the same meaning in the whole sentence, so the translator has streamlined the message and followed the principle of citing three examples in English.

Example (12):"两年前,我们在这里举行首届高峰论坛,规划政策沟通,设施联通,贸易畅通,资金融通,民心相通的合作蓝图."(Xi Jinping 2019a)

Translation:Two years ago, it was here that we must meet for the First Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, where we drew a Two years ago, it was here that we must meet for the First Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, where we drew a blueprint of cooperation to enhance policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity.

Analysis: In this case, "政策沟通,设施联通,贸易畅通,资金融通,民心相通" is a juxtaposition of five four-character characters, each ending with the word "通" in a unified form. This is an expression with Chinese characteristics. In this translation, the interpreter has put aside the linguistic form and streamlined the message, focusing on the main message of the four-character pane, namely "policies, facilities, trade, capital and people's heart", to achieve the translation effect of reaching the meaning.

Conclusion

The study of translation of culture-loaded words under the interpretative theory breaks away from the linguistic form of the original language and takes the semantic interpretation of culture-loaded words as its goal. All in all, the study does not stick to the formal and functional equivalence translation and reciprocity model and provides practical guidance for the successful interpretation of cross-cultural communication. This paper compares the differences between four types of culture-loaded words and their English translations, namely three-character structure, four-character structure, idioms and poetry.

Under the guidance of interpretive theory, it analyses and concludes the translation strategies of culture-loaded words based on translated materials of important speeches given by Chinese leaders. The interpretative theory not only provides theoretical support for conference interpreting, but also needs to be enriched and improved in interpreting practice. It is hoped that the research in this paper will provide a reference for interpreters to successfully translate culture-loaded words in foreign affairs conferences.

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• Xi Jinping. (2014.4.1). Keynote Speech. “China Daily”. http://language.chinadaily.com.cn/news/2014-04/01/content_17396012.htm

Study on the translation of culture-loaded words with Chinese characters from the view of cultural self-confidence 刘博 Liu Bo 202020080619 外应

刘博 Liu Bo, 202020080619

Abstract

Today, China's growing international influence is inseparable from cultural development. Without a high degree of cultural self-confidence, no country or nation can flourish. As language is an important carrier of cultural inheritance, the translation of culture-loaded words is of great significance to the spread of Chinese traditional culture development and prosperity in the context of cultural self-confidence. This chapter explores the translation of culture-loaded words with Chinese characteristics from the perspective of cultural confidence and puts forward four strategies including transliteration, literal translation, free translation and paraphrasing, which is not only helpful for English-speaking people to have a better understanding of the culture-loaded words with Chinese characteristics but also beneficial to the export of Chinese culture to a certain extent.

Key words

Culture-loaded Words; Cultural self-confidence; Translation Strategy.

题目

文化自信的视域下中国文化负载词的英译策略

摘要

如今中国的国际影响力日益提升，离不开文化的发展。没有高度的文化自信，便没有一个国家和民族的兴盛。而语言又是文化传承的重要载体,因此在文化自信的语境下，文化负载词的翻译对中国传统文化的传播具有重要的意义。本章主要探索在文化自信的视域下中国文化负载词的英译策略，主要提出了四个策略，包括音译，直译，意译以及释义法。这不仅能帮助目的语读者更好地理解中国文化负载词，同时也在一定程度上促进了中国文化的传播。

关键词

文化负载词，文化自信，翻译策略

Introduction

Now we are in an era of globalization and we are in a world of culture diversity. Inter-cultural communication is becoming increasingly extensive. People from different countries contact each other much more frequently than ever before. Cultural exchange and cultural integration have penetrated into every aspect of our life and into every participants. China is a major cultural nation, and its long cultural history gives it reason to be confident in its own culture.(Zheng Dehu. 2016(02):53-56)

As Xi Jinping said,“In today's world, if any political party, country or nation can be confident, the Communist Party of China, the People's Republic of China and the Chinese nation have the best reason to be so. With the courage to 'live a life of 200 years with confidence, we will be able to face all difficulties and challenges without fear, and we will be able to open up new horizons and create new miracles with unswerving determination.” (Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China 2016)

However, in the course of China's development, we have also absorbed Western culture while neglecting the development of Chinese culture. This phenomenon is still going on today. Social values have become more complex and diverse especially in a time when China's economic development has entered a new stage, and its reform has also entered a critical period. The mainstream and the non-mainstream co-exist, and the advanced and the backward are intertwined, presenting a pluralistic and changeable character. Under such circumstances, China needs a force to unite the complex and diverse social consciousness, and the importance of traditional Chinese culture is once again highlighted. (Fei Xiaotong 2009)

Therefore, Chinese government together with the Communist Party has proposed the concept of "firming cultural confidence", aiming to improve Chinese people's awareness of the inheritance of Chinese culture, and to promote the image of China in the World. And how to spread Chinese culture by way of translation is one of the tasks worthies to take. As Translation is an essential tool for Chinese culture to go out and for Chinese people to improve cultural confidence, English language learners in China should take on the task of communicating the cultural loaded words of Chinese culture to the world, so that the world can learn more about Chinese culture through language, and thus increasing China's international influence.（Zhang Lu, Wang Fuyin.2020(13):177-180）

The Connotation of Cultural Confidence

Firstly, confidence is a concept of phycology, and it doesn’t equal to arrogance. "The concept of self-confidence is commonly used as self-assurance in one's personal judgment, ability, power, etc. One's self confidence increases from experiences of having satisfactorily completed particular activities."（Snyder, C. R.; Lopez, Shane J. 2009）When the object of confidence turns to culture from human, there comes cultural confidence.

Cultural confidence is a country's full affirmation of its own cultural values and a firm belief in its own cultural vitality. One of the preconditions of cultural confidence is cultural conscious, which means that "people living in a certain culture have 'self-knowledge' of their culture, understand its history, formation process, characteristics and the direction of its development, without any 'cultural regression', without any 'restoration', and without advocating total westernization or total otherization "（Fei Xiaotong 2009）. That is to say that we have to be greatly familiar with Chinese culture as well as be clear about its development. It requires us to get rid of the arrogance of "total reversion" and the blind inferiority of "total westernization", and to know and evaluate ourselves objectively in a rational manner. It is only on the basis of deep and thorough self-awareness that we can build up firm confidence.

However, "cultural self-awareness is an arduous process; one must first know one's own culture and understand the many cultures one comes into contact with before one is in a position to establish one's place in this emerging multicultural world "(Fei Xiaotong 2009). So we need to be humble enough to embrace other cultures. But it is not enough just to be tolerant of other people's cultures or to import the best of other cultures. Although Chinese traditional culture has provided historical origin of cultural confidence，there is still a long way to enforce it. So, We should promote exchanges and dialogue among different civilizations and modes of development, learn from each other's strengths and complement each other's weaknesses in the process of competition and comparison, and develop together through exchanges and mutual learning.Words are the building blocks of language, and it is through words that the cultural situation of a people can be viewed. In this context, the translation of culture-loaded words is like the bricks used to build a house - small but essential.

How to interpret culture-loaded words

The definition of culture-loaded words

Culture-loaded words is defined by Hu Wenzhong as:"Culturally-loaded words and expressions are loaded with specific national cultural information and indicate deep national culture. They are the direct and indirect reflection of national culture in the structure of words and expressions." So, broadly speaking，culture-loaded words can be regarded as words, phrases or idioms used to express something unique to a culture. They are the words embedded in their distinctive culture and foreigners need to understand their cultural implications.

In Hu’s opinion, he distinguishes culturally loaded words and expressions from non-culturally-loaded ones. He contends that in the process of communication, the connotation of culture-loaded words may be extended or diminished, because a person learns a foreign language usually for the purpose of acquiring the communicative ability across cultures (Hu Wenzhong, 1999).

The other view on the definition of culture-loaded words comes from a widely-known linguist called Liao Qiyi, "Cultural load words are words, phrases or idioms that signify something specific to a culture, reflecting the distinctive and unique ways of doing things that a particular people have gradually accumulated over the course of its long history" (Liao Qiyi 2000). China has a long history, and in the course of its long development it has accumulated a large number of colorful and culturally loaded words, such as certain specialties, established customs, religious beliefs, unique architecture and so on…

To sum up，culture-loaded words are related to specific culture. For example, “端午节”，the traditional Chinese festival, embodies traditional culture. There is no English word equal to it. So, only after knowing the customs of “端午”，can we figure out that it can be translated as “Dragonboat Festival”.

The classification of culture-loaded words

Different scholars classify culture-loaded words as differently based upon their perspectives and angles. First, we can draw on Aixelá's criteria for classifying cultural vocabulary into two categories: proper nouns, which mainly include names of people, places, and specialized organizations, are specific and fixed in meaning, and are not too difficult to translate. General nouns, on the other hand, are complex, abstract, and have no specific, precise meaning, and their usage is diverse. (Aixela, J. F. 1996).

What’s more, Nida had classified culture into five types: ecology, material culture, social culture, religious culture and linguistic culture.(Nida 1964) So, based on these two kinds of classification, culture-loaded words can be divided into: proper nouns， social culture-loaded words, political culture-loaded words, religious culture-loaded words, linguistic culture-loaded words. Detailed information is as follows:

Proper nouns include the names of people and natural landscape. For example, “长江”，“黄河”.

Social culture-loaded words are closely related to daily life, and are words that people create in their productive lives, such as words related to food, clothing, traditional festivals, local customs, etc., and so on. For example, “粽子”,”青团”are Chinese traditional foods made by Glutinous Rice.

Political culture-loaded words refer to political terms that have been used since the founding of the new China and have had a significant impact on the international arena as China's international status has risen, such as "一带一路," "新常态," and so on.

Religious culture-loaded words are words that reflect the spiritual beliefs of a certain region, including various rituals, concepts, and materials related to religion, and is the accumulation of a nation's spiritual culture. Common words for religious culture include "佛祖"， "菩萨," and so on.

Linguistic culture-loaded words represent that Language is one of the most important components of culture, and linguistic culture reflects the characteristics of a language. Linguistic and cultural words include idioms, slang, sayings and slang. For example, "竹篮打水——一场空" and "八仙过海，各显神通" are all linguistic and cultural words with a strong Chinese cultural flavor.(Wang Enke 2002(04):83-85)

Different cultural loaded words are often translated by using different strategies. A general classification of cultural loaded words makes it easier for translators to choose a translation strategy based on the different lexical categories.(Tang Xiuqiong 2006(01):126-130)

The Translatability of Culture-loaded Words

Chinese is different from English in that Chinese is a kind of analytic language, in which there is no inflection, while English is a kind of synthetic language featured as inflection. As far as vocabulary is concerned, both languages possess plenty of words with cultural connotations. Because of different traditions and histories, different geographical environments, and different ways of thinking, they have different connotations, each has its own ways of expression and each has to be translated in different ways.(Li Zhaoguo (03):107-108)

Since a cultural load word is a concentrated expression of the culture of a country and a people, when culture-loaded words are used in cross-communication, there usually exist lexical gaps or cultural margins. So, are culture-loaded words translatable or not?(Li Zhaoguo (03):107-108) ~ Actually, the translation process of culture-loaded words is decoding the original words and then reconstruction the words and reproducing the ideas of original. Although there exists semantic zero in cross-cultural communication and translatability is in dispute, culture-loaded words are still translatable. (Tang Xiuqiong 2006(01):126-130.)So even though it is difficult to communicate between different cultures, there are similarities between languages and cultures.

Eugene Nida takes a closer look at this issue, suggesting that “although absolute communication between people is not possible, highly effective communication is possible between people, both within and between language areas, because of their thinking, their physical reactions, their cultural experiences and their ability to adjust to the behavior of others.” (Nida 1964:55)And Nida's view that "what can be said in one language can also be said with relative precision in another" is amply supported by the material obtained through extensive research.(Nida 1975)

For example, in English the expression “Haste makes waste” appears in Chinese as“欲速则不达”，“Strike while the iron is hot”in English，in Chinese there is a similar expression“趁热打铁”，etc.The commonality between languages therefore results in translatability between languages and the recognition of the possibility of cultural loaded words is the basis for translation of cultural loaded words.(Wang Xiaodan 2009(38(S1)):130-132)

For example, in English the expression “Haste makes waste” is rendered in Chinese as“欲速则不达”，“Strike while the iron is hot”in English，in Chinese there is a similar expression“趁热打铁”，etc.The commonality between languages, therefore,results in translatability between languages and the recognition of the possibility of cultural loaded words is the basis for translation of cultural loaded words.(Wang Xiaodan 2009(38(S1)):130-132)

However, it cannot be denied that cultural differences do pose difficulties for the translation of cultural loaded words. The translation of culturally loaded words faces two bottlenecks:

Firstly,the absence of equivalent vocabulary. The uniqueness of cultures results in the uniqueness of culturally loaded words. A word that is specific to one culture may be difficult to find a counterpart for in another culture.(Li Zhaoguo (03):107-108)

Secondly, equivalent cultural meanings are missing.In both cultures, what we sometimes think of as equivalent words are not the same in terms of sentimentality, depth of meaning, lexical bias, etc. In the other culture, the words are not the same in terms of meaning. Therefore, Eugene Nida's principle of equivalence is very difficult to be fully achieved in the translation of culturally loaded words, and the reason for this translation dilemma is culture.(Li Zhaoguo (03):107-108)

In today's increasingly globalized world, where the world is sharing more and more things, but only culture has not lost its borders, and countries are placing more and more importance on their traditional culture and national identity, it is difficult to convey cultural factors with zero loss, so the translatability of cultural loaded words is limited. It is incumbent upon translation theorists to analyze the differences between the source and target language and find ways to overcome these difficulties.(Qiu Mao-Ru 2001(01):24-27)

Translation Strategies of Culture-loaded Words

As above mentioned，culture-loaded words are translatable，but the translatability of culture-loaded words is limited. Therefore, the translator can only retain and convey the cultural information contained in culture loaded words as much as possible. In this regard, Newmark introduces the concepts of 'communicative translation' and 'semantic translation': "Communicative translation attempts to make the translation have an effect on the reader of the TL that is as close as possible to the effect of the original text on the reader of the SL. Semantic translation attempts to convey the exact contextual meaning of the original as far as the semantic and syntactic structure of the TL allows".(Peter Newmark, 1981)

Chinese scholar Liao Qiyi （Liao Qiyi，2001）also pointed out that culture should be regarded as a basic unit in the translation process, not just in the language; translation is not a simple process of decoding and reorganizing, but more importantly the communication and dissemination of culture; translation should not be limited to the simple conversion of the source language text, but should also focus on whether the text is functionally equivalent in the target language and culture; at the same time, different translation principles and norms should be used in different historical periods to meet the needs of culture. This chapter classifies the translation strategies of culture loaded words into four categories：

Transliteration

Transliteration, as the name implies, is a translation strategy of looking for English with similar pronunciation according to Chinese pronunciation when translating Chinese. It is a very common approach used in translation. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines transliteration as writing a word, name, sentence etc.This method usually makes the translation vivid and familiar by maintaining its original pronunciation and Chinese culture flavor.(Zheng Dehu 2016(02)53-56)

For example, “ma jiang”(麻将) is peculiar to Chinese only, for which usually four people are needed to play it. It has been very popular as an entertaining game in China. People play it for relaxation or for fun. Nowadays it is still welcome in China. To let English-speaking people understand it, “Majhong” is ok.“Tu hao(土豪)”，originally refers to the despotic landlord who had a lot of money, land and property. Nowadays “Tuhao” is used to ridicule the mainland Chinese people who are rich but uncultured, not having the corresponding good taste, manners to match their accumulated wealth.（Hu Weijia.2006(04):34-36.）

Followings are examples of this kind: place names such as “Hutong” from “胡同”，“Beijing”from “北京”，names of food and drink such as “Zongzi” from“粽子”, “Tofu” from “豆腐”, “jiaozi” from“ 饺子”,“Maotai” from “茅台”, and some otherterms specific to Chinese culture such as “kang” from “炕”,“yin yang” from “阴阳”, “Fengshui” from “风水”, “Kungfu” from “功夫”， “Laogai” from “劳改”，“Shuanggui”from “双规”, “Hukou” from “户口”, “Hongbao” from “红包”, “Guanxi” from “关系”, “Chengguan” from “城管”,“qipao (or cheongsa which is from Cantonese)” from “旗袍”, “renminbi” from“人民币”, etc.So far, all of the above transliterated words have been very well accepted by English speaking people. Transliteration may be employed if it works, which can better promote communication between two cultures. （ibid.2006(04):34-36.）

Literal Translation

“Literal translation refers to a method of translation from the source language into the target language that respects the syntactic structure of the target language despite changes in the linguistic environment.”（Newmark 2001））Simply put it, literal translation is word-for-word translation. That is to translate something literally.

It is another important tactic of translation, with which translators needn’t do much changes on the words, sentence sequence, or grammatical structure. This is a translation method under the strategy of foreignization. Political culture-loaded words can be translated in this way. For example, “一带一路”can be translated as “The Belt and Road”，and “新常态”can be translated as“new normal”， which refers to the newly emerging Chinese economic status. Most importantly, with this tactic, the TT and ST could be equivalent in both forms and meanings. （Tan Ping. 2017(33):170-172）

A more example: 孔子很重视美育。他说 ：“兴于诗，立于礼，成于乐。”意思是说，学习《诗》（《诗经》），可以感发人的精神，使人产生美感 ；学习《礼》（《周礼》），可以使人的行为得到规范，成为一个文明的人。

English translation：Confucius emphasized aesthetic education. He said, “Studying the Book of Songs (Shijing) inspires the spirit and helps one appreciate beauty. Studying the Book of Rites (Zhouli) enables one to behave properly as a person of enlightenment.”(Zhang Lu, Wang Fuyin,2020(13):177-180).

As we can see from this example, the first step in translating an ancient language is to convert it into modern Chinese and then to translate it. In both translations the category words "The book of" has been added. The overall translation follows the structure of the original text and retains the linguistic features of the original.

However, literal translation is not the dead translation from word to word. Hard translation should be treated according to specific conditions as a way to achieve the purpose of effective communication. For example，it is inappropriate to translate sentence like “不入虎穴，焉得虎子” as “If you do not go into the cover of the tiger，how will you get its cub”. Obviously, such translation cannot convey the meaning of the original sentence. （Tan Ping. 2017(33):170-172）

In this case, we don’t need to give up literal translation directly and turn the perspective to the target language readers, but supplement this translation with “In other words：nothing venture，nothing gained”. Therefore, translators should strengthen the study of Chinese culture when they are learning, so that they can not only master the translation strategy of culture loaded words, but also be conducive to their understanding and pride of Chinese culture(Zheng Dehu,2016(02):53-56).

Paraphrasing

This method refers to the interpretative translation of the original text when translating. Interpretive translation is a translation strategy that we always use when translating culturally loaded words and is a necessary means of cultural transfer. If only the correspondence between Chinese and English characters is taken care of in translation, the result will often be "similar in appearance but not in spirit", but in order to avoid ambiguity in the meaning of the translated text, an interpretative translation is carried out to express the meaning in its entirety so as to make it easier for the other party to understand；thus achieving the best translation effect and achieving cross-cultural communication.(Wang Yingquan,2006,27(03):74-76).

Most of social culture-loaded words can be translated in this way. For example：四大发明 The Four Great Invention ( the compass， papermaking， gunpowder， printing ). In this way, translators firstly give a complete literal translation of the source language in a different way so that target language readers can get close to the source language, feeling and remembering the culture, and then further explanations are given so that target language readers can understand the meaning of the source language.(Zhang Lu, Wang Fuyin 2020(13):177-180). Let's look at another example: 道可道，非常道( 老子《道德经》)

English translation：The Tao that can be expressed in words is not the eternal Tao．

Note：The Tao，(spelled as Dao in Chinese phonetic symbols) a philosophical term first used by Lao-Tzu ( Lao Zi) ; traditionally translated as Tao ( thus Taoism) ，logos，way，path，road，etc（Gu Zhengkun，2006).

Here,“道”are translated with a method of' transliteration because there is no equivalent words in the target language. Translators have to create a new word. In consequence, the balance between the receptors and the translators is lost to realize a balance in translation. However,Literal translation or transliteration would confuse the target language reader, who lacks a cultural background, whereas an interpretative translation using an explanatory method accurately conveys the intended meaning without losing the cultural features of the original language.(ibid 2020(13):177-180)

Free Translation

English and Chinese belong to two different language families. Not only are there huge differences in vocabulary, syntax and rhetoric, but the cultures they embody are also very different. When the first three methods fail to achieve functional equivalence between the original text and the translated text, a context-specific free translation is required. Paraphrasing is often used in literary translation，linguistic culture-loaded words can be translated in this way.(Tang Xiuqiong 2006(01):126-130)

For example：“覆水难收”can be translated as “it’s no use crying over spilt milk”, and “木已成舟” can be translated as“The die is cast”. In these examples, translation no longer seeks to unify the form of the original text, but rather shifting expressions and perspectives to fit the conventions of expression in the source language, while maintaining the same meaning as in the original.

Let's look at another example:

Original text:就是豺狼虎豹，也就是把它们赶得远远的，不让它们危害人类而已。

English translation ：Even ferocious animals like wolves and tigers should only be driven away so they cannot harm people. (Zhang Lu, Wang Fuyin,2020(13):177-180)

In Western culture, wolves and tigers have positive images, but the negative images are predominant. Wolves show a sinister, cunning and vicious image, while tigers are regarded as symbols of danger, greed and cruelty, which reflects the clash of terms between Chinese and Western cultures. Translation the Chinese words "豺狼虎豹" into wolves and tigers is more typical and helps Western readers to understand the meaning of the idioms. Another example would be that if “塞翁失马，焉知非福?” is translated as “When the old man on the frontier lost his mare, who could have guessed it was a blessing in disguise?" The listener would feel that they were listening to a story and would not be able to appreciate the meaning of the words，but if it is translated as “a loss may turn out to be gain”，it will fulfill the purpose and enable the readers to understand its meaning easier , realizing an effective cultural communication.(ibid 2020(13):177-180)

Linguistic culture-loaded words are always translated in this method, because the Chinese language is so profound that even if words are literally the same, they do not all have the same meaning. In the first book of The Story of the Western Wing , the word “好事” appears nine times, but its meaning is more ambiguous and can reflect different associations in different linguistic contexts. In this case, the use of free translation makes the meaning of the original text clearer.（Zheng Dehu.2016(02):53-56）

Conclusion

All in all，Translation is not a simply matter of seeking other words with similar meaning，but rather finding the appropriate ways of saying things in another language. In translation, especially cultural translation, a translator should be objective and faithful to the original, keeping the original form of SL cultural information as much as possible, and adjusting the way of expression according to the subject matter and genre of the original, the objective and function of the translation.(Tan Ping 2017(33):170-172)

At the same time, in today's context of cultural self-confidence, the task of Chinese translators is not just to bring in foreign cultures， according to Mr. Xu Yuanchong,“If traditional Chinese culture is to contribute to global culture, Chinese literature needs to be translated into foreign languages. In today's international world, the mostly-used foreign language is English, so if Chinese literature is to be globalized, it first needs to be translated into English.”(Xu Yuanchong,2005)

But nowadays, as international communication is becoming closer, to spread Chinese culture, not only English translators are needed, translators of other languages are also wanted. But regardless of the language, with the aim of making global cultures more glorious，we need to promote China's excellent traditional culture through translation. As an important part of China's cultural transmission, Chinese cultural load words play an irreplaceable role in the historical mission of transmitting traditional culture. The role is as important as transmitting information and spreading culture.(Zhang Lu, Wang Fuyin 2020(13):177-180)

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--Liubo (talk) 02:28, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Subtitle Translation Strategies of Cultural-Loaded Words from the Perspective of Skopos Theory——Taking A Bite of China as an Example 刘金惺琦 liu Jinxingqi 202020080620 国别与区域研究

刘金惺琦 Liu Jinxingqi

Abstract

Cultural-loaded words are words or phrases which are unique to a nation and their expressions are far more than its surface meaning. There are the unique cultural phenomena behind the words. The translation of cultural-loaded words is beneficial to a nation for culture communication. However, due to the limited time and space of film and television subtitle translation, it definitely increases the difficulty of translation. Therefore, this article focuses on the translation strategy of cultural-loaded words in film and television culture, hoping that it can be used as a reference for the translation of Chinese film and television dramas. From the perspective of Skopos Theory, this thesis uses the Chinese script and the current English translation of the popular documentary A Bite of China in recent years as corpus, analyzes and compare the Chinese and English versions of lines, and explores the translation strategies of cultural-loaded words in film and television subtitle translation, and combined with the unique feature of time and space limitation of film and television translation, finally summarized four translation methods.

Key Words

Subtitle Translation Strategies, Cultural-Loaded Words, Skopos Theory, A Bite of China

题目

目的论视角下文化负载词的影视翻译策略—以《舌尖上的中国》为例

摘要

文化负载词是一个民族所特有的词或是词组，其所表达的含义远不止表面那么简单，其背后蕴藏着这个民族所特有的也是唯一的文化现象，文化负载词的翻译有利于本国文化对外传播，但由于影视字幕翻译具有时空受限的特点，其大大增加了翻译的难度，因此本文着重研究影视文化中文化负载词的翻译策略，希望可以对中国影视剧对外传播翻译有借鉴意义。本文从目的论的视角出发，以近年来热播的纪录片《舌尖上的中国》中文台词和现有英译版本为语料，分析对比台词的中英文本，探究影视字幕翻译中文化负载词的翻译策略，并结合影视台词独有的时空受限的特点，最终总结四种翻译方法。

关键词

文化负载词、影视翻译策略、目的论、《舌尖上的中国》

Introduction

Language is the essence of a nation, and culture is the foundation of a nation. The two blend with each other and are inseparable. This makes a new challenge for translators, that is, translation cannot be limited to the language level, but more to convey the culture behind language. Every nation has its own unique culture, which is expressed as cultural-loaded words in the vocabulary level. The research on the translation of cultural-loaded words is not only conducive to the spread of culture, but also conducive to the promotion of mutual understanding among countries. This chapter introduces the research background, research methods, research significance and organizational structure.

1.1 Research Background

With the development of economic globalization, the cultural communication among countries has become more and more frequent. Films and TV series, as a comprehensive form of art, shoulder the mission of exploring overseas markets and promoting Chinese culture and Chinese national spirit. They have become the most effective way to spread Chinese culture. Because of globalization, cultural exchanges among China and other countries become more and more frequent, thus a large number of Western film and television works have poured into the Chinese market. As a result, we need not only to actively promote Chinese excellent culture in the domestic market, but also to effectively promote Chinese culture to the world. We need "Go out" to let the world hear "Chinese voice" and spread positive energy. Whether or not to promote the outstanding traditional culture of the nation largely depends on translation. Excellent subtitle translation is conducive to opening up the Western market and promoting cultural communication.

China is known as the country of food. Now more and more foreigners know China through Chinese food. Food has become one of the effective ways for foreigners to learn about China. "A Bite of China" is a documentary about Chinese cuisine produced by CCTV. The film not only introduces the specialties of different regions of China, but more importantly, the cultural connotation and local customs behind the cuisine. As an excellent food documentary, the film has been released in English and has been loved by overseas audiences.

1.2 Research Significance

We are in an era of social networking，most foreigners learn about Chinese culture through the information on the Internet. Film and television works as a new form of cultural communication cannot be ignored. The limited time and space of subtitle translation makes it very different from traditional literal translation. Culture-loaded words contain the essence of a country’s culture and are the carrier of a country’s culture. The translation of culture-loaded words promotes the spread of culture to the outside, but the cultural connotations behind culture-loaded words increase the difficulty of subtitle translation. In recent years, the translation of cultural-loaded words has received more and more attention from scholars at home and abroad. However, previous studies on cultural-loaded words mainly focused on literary texts, and their translation in film and television subtitles, especially documentary subtitles, was rarely involved. This article aims to explore the translation methods suitable for cultural-loaded words in film and television subtitles through the research on the translation methods of cultural-loaded words in the documentary "A Bite of China".

1.3 Research Methods

This thesis selects the English version of A Bite of China as the research object, and analyzes the translation strategies of cultural-loaded words in the English version of A Bite of China from the perspective of Skopos Theory. It mainly employs case-study methodology, literature research methodology, descriptive, methodology.

1.4 Organization of the Thesis

Subtitling Translation Strategies of Cultural-Loaded Words from the Perspective of Skopos Theory——Taking A Bite of China as an Example is the title of this thesis and it is divided into four parts.

The first part is the introduction, which mainly introduces the research background, that is, the era of social media and the “Go out” strategy. In addition, this article also introduces research significance, that is, the significance of the study of the translation strategies of Chinese culture-loaded words in film and TV series for the overseas communication.

The second part is a literature review and an introduction to the theoretical framework. It mainly introduces the current situation of culture-loaded word and domestic and foreign film and television translation research, the development and principles of Skopos Theory. Under the guidance of Skopos Theory, following its principles of purpose, coherence, and loyalty, and constrained by the unique characteristics of movie subtitles to think about translation methods of cultural-loaded words so that promote the Chinese culture.

The third part is the analysis of A Bite of China, taking the translation of cultural-loaded words in the subtitles of A Bite of China as an example. The fourth part is a summary part, which summarizes the translation strategies of Chinese cultural-loaded words in film and TV series, which guides the overseas cultural communication, improve the level of overseas cultural communication, and promote Chinese culture to go abroad.

2 Literature Review

2.1 A Brief Introduction to Culture-loaded Word

Looking through the translation of major movie subtitles, we can find that the influence of culture on translation is becoming more and more significant. Cultural-loaded words are the product of the combination of language and culture. Culture includes not only matter, but also non-material things such as customs, language, and ways of thinking. Language is the carrier of culture and an important part of culture. It only makes sense in the peculiar cultural environment. Different cultures in different regions reflect the unique activities that have developed in the process of their development and are totally different from other ethnic groups. Languages and cultures of different countries or nations usually have their own uniqueness.

Vocabulary is the basic unit of language. Under the role of language and culture, cultural-load words are produced. This kind of vocabulary carries the cultural information of the nation and is a reflection of its unique culture. The vocabulary vacancy is formed when the cultural information carried by such vocabulary cannot be found in the target culture.

With the rapid development of China's film and television industry in recent years, film and television have become a new platform for the promotion of cultural-loaded words. Although more and more scholars have begun to study the cultural-loaded words of film and television works, and have achieved certain results. However, it is undeniable that the translation of cultural-loaded words still faces many challenges. The processing of cultural-loaded words in the translation process involves the culture in both the source language and the target language. The essence of the process of translation is the exchange of culture, and the differences between Chinese and Western cultures are huge. If the translators handled it improperly, it is easy to cause misunderstandings about Chinese culture. In addition, the limitation of time and space in the translation of film and television subtitles makes it more difficult to translate.

2.2 A Brief Introduction to Subtitle Translation

In recent years, with the rise of film and television industry at home and abroad, subtitle translation has become more and more attractive for scholars. Compared with western countries, the film and television industry started late in china, and a complete subtitle translation theory system has not formed, but we still have notable achievements made by outstanding scholars.

Professor Ma Zhengqi published the article "On the Basic Principles of Film and Television Translation" in 1997, discussing the principles that film and television translation should follow, and trying to put forward theoretical viewpoints on the theoretical research and practical development of film and television translation for the first time. It can be said that Professor Ma Zhengqi is the pioneer of film and television translation research in China. In 1998, Professor Zhang Chunbai also published the article "A Preliminary Study of Film and Television Translation", in which put forward the characteristics of the language of film and television. Professor Qian Shaochang also published "An increasingly important area in the translation field of film and television translation". This article mainly compares the differences between the language of film and television dramas and other text, and summarizes the language characteristics of film and television dramas for colleagues in translation.(Ma Zhengqi 1997)

In the late 1850s, western countries have already started research on film and television translation. Although western scholars did not pay much attention on the film and television translation, many excellent research results have come out. Among them, Fodor is the main representative one. He published Film Dubbing: Phonetic, semiotic, Esthetic, and psychological aspect in 1976, which is a landmark work of dubbing translation. From 1995 to the beginning of the 20th century, it was the climax of the research of film and television translation. During this period, the European Institute of Media Research (EIM) was founded. Since the 20th century, with the rapid development of western film and television, people have paid more attention on the film and television translation. At the same time, most scholars have shifted their research direction of film and television translation from the early "dubbing translation system" to the current "audiovisual translation", focusing on the classification and selection of translation strategies in film and television translation.

2.3 A Brief Introduction to Skopos Theory

The Skopos Theory originated in German in the 1970s and was founded by Reiss and Vermeer. Its development has gone through the following four stages. The first Stage: In 1971, in her book "Possibility and Limitations of Translation Criticism", Rice first proposed the function of text as a stander for translation criticism. This view was the foundation and basis of later theory; the second stage: Rice's student Wellesley Mass inherited and developed Rice's theory; the third stage: Justa Holz Mant-tari focuses on the behaviors in the translation process, and analyzes the roles of original authors, translators, and readers, and the conditions in which they are suitable. He proposed that translation is purposeful. In the process of translation, translators should follow the customs and values of different cultures, at the same time, combine the feeling of different readers under different cultural; the fourth stage: Christiane Nord put forward the "loyalty principle" to make up for the lack of translation theory.

The Skopos Theory has begun to spread in china since 1987 and domestic scholars have also achieved a few results in the study of Skopos Theory in recent years. Gui qianyuan was the first one to introduce the Skopos Theory in the book The Three German Functionalist School translations. Then, Zhang Nanfeng introduces the Skopos Theory in a thesis. Zhong Weihe and Zhong Jue introduce it in detail in1999. From the thesis of Skopos Theory at home, we can find that many of them are introduction of the theory and there are few criticisms of Skopos Theory. As a result, the researches of Skopos Theory still need further develop.

3 Cultural-loaded Words in A Bite of China

"A Bite of China" is a documentary with the theme of introducing Chinese food and Chinese culture. The film connects food, local customs and family affection, and showcases Chinese food and long-standing national culture by introducing food from all over China. Many subtitles in "A Bite of China" involve a large number of cultural-loaded words. This is the part with the richest Chinese characteristics. At the same time, it is also the most difficult part for translators, because the connotation contained in it cannot be explained clearly in one or two sentences. It is difficult to find an equivalent in target language. In addition, the unique time and space limitations in subtitle translation make the translation more difficult. According to Nida's classification of cultural-loaded words, this chapter divides the cultural-loaded words in A Bite of China into five parts，that is, material culture-loaded words, language culture-loaded words, ecology culture-loaded words, religion culture-loaded words as well as social culture-loaded words.

3.1 Material Culture-loaded Words

Material cultural-load word refers to the material that contains local characteristic culture. This material can be food, architecture or clothing unique to a certain countries or certain regions. Different regions will form unique eating habits, clothing characteristics or architectural styles due to the influence of geographical environment, historical culture and other factors. As there are huge differences in both languages and cultures between China and the West, it is difficult to find English words that correspond or have the same meaning in English. A Bite of China contains a lot of material and culturally loaded words, such as “螺蛳粉” (Snail Rice-flour Noodles), “藕夹” (a fried lotus root sandwich),“黄馍馍” (buns) and “馕”(a kind of crusty pancake),“肉夹馍”（Chinese hamburger）,“长寿面”（longevity noodle）, “岐山臊子面”（Qishan saozi noodles）etc.

3.2 Linguistic Culture-loaded Words

The language itself already covers a lot of cultural information. Due to the influence of terrain and history, different regions or different tribes have their own languages. The language and culture itself can more or less reflect the customs and habits of a certain regional culture or the way of thinking of the local people. For example, the most common four-character expression in Chinese is very common in documentary subtitles, because the four-character expression is short and concise, satisfies the characteristics of limited time and space in subtitles, and it is also a way of expression with Chines Characteristic. For example, there are a large number of four-character expressions in A Bite of China: such as, “汤汁清爽、萝卜白净、辣油红艳、香菜翠绿、面条黄亮” (clear soup, clean white turnips, brilliant red chili oil, “肌红脂白，香气浓郁，滋味鲜美” (nice color, pleasant aroma and fresh taste), “猎杀不绝” (always leave something for the next hunt), “吃不了咱兜着走” (are in good measure), “才下舌尖，又上心头”(after passing by the tip of the tongue, the combined taste reaches deep in heart), “热腾腾” (hot), “色泽油亮” (the deep color), “酸辣可口”(hot and sour tasty),“刚中带柔”(with solidness in softness) and “家家户户”(families),etc.

3.3 Social Culture-loaded Words

Social cultural-load words cover almost all aspects of social life. Social cultural-loaded words mainly refer to traditional festivals, ways of addressing, and ways of greeting that are unique to a country or even a region. For example, there are big differences between China and the West in the way of greeting. In the West, the way to greet you is usually how are you, while the way to greet old friends in Beijing, China is "have you eaten?" The meaning of eating here is not simply eating, but it represents a greeting, which is rich in emotional connotations. There is also a large amount of social-culture loaded words in "A Bite of China", such as 老包”(Bao), “卫大妈”(Madame Wei), “石把头” (Shi), “顾阿婆”(Madame Gu), “老两口”(The senior couple), “陈师傅”(Chef Chen), “渔把头”(the chief fisherman), “老伴”(her husband), “年年有余” (it represents a wish for an annual surplus), “寿宴”(a birthday feast), “古尔邦节”(the Corban Festival), “满月”(reaches the age of one month), “寿星公”(the one who celebrates the birthday), etc.

3.4 Ecological Culture-loaded Words

Different topography, climate, water and soil have bred different ecological cultures in different regions, so each region has formed a unique vocabulary in animal, plant, geography, and climate. For example, the Qilin is a common image in ancient Chinese mythology. It is shaped like a deer, with horns on its head, scales on its body, and tail like an oxtail. In the Western world, there is no such an ideal beast as the Qilin, so it is difficult for Western readers to understand such animal. It is also difficult for translators to find equivalent words in the target language, which poses a challenge for translation. Therefore, it is very important to study the translation of ecological culture-loaded words. There is also a large amount of ecological culture-loaded words in "A Bite of China". For example, 云南，香格里拉”(Shangri-la, Yunnan), “江浙一带”(in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces), “陕北丘陵沟壑地区” (Hilly and gully areas of northern Shaanxi), “小兴安岭” (the Lesser Khingan mountain range), “河西走廊”(the Hosi Corridor), “中原地区”(the Central Plains), “西南边陲” (the south-west border), “江南” (Jiangnan, south of the lower Yangtze Valley), “松花江” (the Songhua River), “灵芝” (lucid ganoderma),etc. The translation methods of these words are worthy of our translator's thinking.

3.5 Religious Culture-loaded Words

Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism constitute the main part of Chinese religion. Although there are not many people who believe in religion in China, the influence of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism on our production, life, communication, and way of thinking is more or less manifested in language. There is also a large amount of ecological culture-loaded words in "A Bite of China" ,such as “悟性” (comprehension), “祈求湖里的神仙恩赐来年的丰收” (prays piously to the lake god for a good harvest next year), “被上天厚爱的人群” (the lucky locals), “the Mazu Temple” (妈祖庙), “滋养人的灵性和觉悟” (nourishes thespirit and mind), “中国的汉地佛教” (Han Buddhism in China), “食素” (vegetarian diet),“清寡”(plainness) and “古人称赞豆腐有和德” (the ancient people praised it, saying ‘tofu has merits), etc.

4 Adoptive Translation Methods of Cultural-loaded Words in A Bite of China

The previous chapters respectively introduced the Skopos Theory and classification of culture-loaded words. This chapter will use the theory of Skopos Theory to further analyze the translation strategies of culture-loaded words in A Bite of China. Through analysis, we found that the translation in A Bite of China adopted both domestication and foreignization translation strategies. The translation methods used under domestication include transliteration, literal translation, and transliteration. Under the foreignization strategy, omission, and literal translation are used. In this chapter, we will explain these translation methods used in A Bite of China one by one.

4.1 Omission

Omission refers to a translation strategy that reduces some of the complex words in the lines without losing the main content of the original text. In the cases where the original text is too long or complex and the limitation of the time and space, omission strategy can be adopted to deal with culture-loaded words, which ensure the audience can understand the plot smoothly.

Example1: 如今，腊味既能成为家常小菜也能登大雅之堂。

Subtitle translation:“Today, the cured food appears served at a banquet.”

In this sentence, the translators use the method of omission. The author deletes the two four-character words “家常小菜”and “大雅之堂”in the original sentence. In Chinese, “家常小菜”mean simple meals that are often cooked at home, and “大雅之堂” means meals that are often available at banquets. This sentence emphasizes that the cured food can already be used as a kind of food to serve at banquets. Therefore, the translator deleted the image of home-cooked dishes, which not only saves the space for subtitles, but also enables the audience to quickly understand the meaning of the sentence. And the translation of this selected sentence follows the main purpose of communication and consistency.

4.2Replacement

According to the Principle in the Skopos Theory of Translation, the translation must be understood by reader in the target language. In A Bite of China, in order to achieve the purpose of cross-cultural language communication, the first principle adopted is to replace, that is, to find the similar or the same words or sentence in the target language so that the foreign audience can easily understand it.

Example2: 中国人说：靠山吃山，靠海吃海。

Subtitle translation: Chinese people say one has to make use of the local resources available.”

"靠山吃山，靠海吃海" is a Chinese proverb, meaning that geographical conditions determine the eating habits of the locals. If it is literally translated, it means that those who live on the mountain eat things from the mountains, and those who live by the sea eat things from the sea. Although this method of literal translation can also enable foreign audiences to understand the general meaning of this proverb, the sentence is too long and it is difficult for the audience to understand the core meaning of the sentence. When translated into "make use of the local resources available", the images of mountains and seas in the original text have been deleted, but the translator has cleverly used replacement translation methods to present the meaning of the original text in a way that is more understood by foreign audiences which make the translation concise without losing the original meaning.

4.3 Transliteration

Transliteration refers to referring to the words in the source language with similarly pronounced words in the target language. This translation method will create new vocabulary.

Example3: 嘉兴人踏实放心的一天，就是从一个个热腾腾的肉粽子开始的。 Subtitle translation: Jiaxing natives start their day with a hot meat Zongzi, a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice with different stuffing.

Example4: 泡馍也是从馍变化出来的一种西安主食。 Subtitle translation: Paomo, another staple food in Xi'an, originated from the baked buns.

Example5: 徽菜里的腊八豆腐，虽然像铁饼那样坚硬，但保质期却可以很长。 Subtitle translation: Laba Tofu is as hard as a discus, but it can be preserved for quite a long time.

In A Bite of China, we find that many dish names are translated using transliteration based on foreignization strategies. The name of a Chinese dish is not simply representative of the variety or cooking method of the dish. It has rich meaning with Chinese culture. For example, in the first example, Laba tofu, Laba is neither the ingredients needed for this dish, nor the cooking method of this dish. Laba is a special solar term in Chinese, and Laba tofu is a traditional delicacy to be eaten during the Laba Festival in Anhui Province, so it cannot be explained clearly in a few words. Therefore, the translation strategy of transliteration is adopted, which not only retains the cultural connotation, but also does not take up too much space on the screen to affect the audience's perception. In addition, because it is the translation of documentary, the translator should also consider the sense of the picture. Because of the simultaneity of the subtitles and the picture, the audience can easily associate the name of the dish with the dish appearing on the picture, so there is no need to explain it too much. The foreginization strategy follows the Skopos Theory that ensure the foreign audiences can understand the plot smoothly.

4.4 Literal Translation

Literal translation is a translation method that preserves the content and structure of the source language. Literal translation is helpful to spread the source language culture, but it will inevitably cause understanding obstacles.

Example6: 白切鸡是粤菜的另一道看家菜。烹鸡需要慢火，水温控制在摄氏90度，这是为了保持鸡肉的鲜嫩。

Subtitle translation: White Cut Chicken is a classic of Cantonese cuisine. The chicken is simmered at around 90°C for 15 minutes.

White Cut Chicken is a traditional Chinese delicacy. The translator here uses the literal translation method, that is, word-to-word translation. Although the Chinese and Western cultures are quite different, there are still many similarities. For example, theese three Chinese characteristics "white cut chicken" represent the color, method, and ingredients of this dish. It is easy to fort foreign audiences to understand the meaning by using the literal transltion. Therefore, the translator uses a literal translation method. At the same time, it also follows the coherent principle of Skopos Theory and achieves the purpose of cultural communication.

Conclusion

As countries communicate more and more closely, cultural communication and dissemination become more and more important, and translation, as a bridge of cultural communication, plays a crucial role that cannot be ignored. At the same time, since we are in an information age, the film and television industry can be regarded as the main carrier of cultural communication. As a result, the quality of subtitle translation is directly related to the spread of Chinese culture, so the quality of subtitle translation cannot be ignored. Under the guidance of Skopos Theory, it is necessary to clarify the purpose of subtitle translation or the cultural communication, so that the foreign audiences can clearly and quickly understand the plot and character relationships when watching. This thesis summarizes three translation strategies by analyzing the subtitle translation of Chinese culture-loaded words in A Bite of China. When encountering difficulties in translating cultural-loaded words, we must first clarify the purpose of translation, and then remember the features of space and time limitation in subtitle translation to translate. If the purpose is to spread Chinese culture, the translators must regard the cultural background of the source language as the most important part and use the literal translation or foreignization strategy of translation. While if it is for cultural communication, then more consideration should be given to the feelings of foreign audiences, focusing on smoothness and simplicity, and using domestication translation strategy. In the process of film and television drama translation, the translator needs to consider the feelings of the audience of target language. The primary purpose of foreign translation of film and television dramas is cultural communication. The TV series that is not based on culture communication cannot be understood by the audience of target language. Efficient overseas communication of Chinese culture based on efficient cultural communication, however, the traditional Chinese and Chinese cultures should be preserved as well.

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Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Mao Zedong's Poems from the Cognitive View of Translation—A Case Study of Xu Yuanchong's Version 曾芳缘 Zeng Fangyuan 202020080589 语言学

曾芳缘 Zeng Fangyuan

Abstract

Characterized by profound meaning, majestic style, and concise language, Mao Zedong's poems shows the essence of his life and revolutionary experience. Mao's unique artistic charm and philosophical wisdom make him deeply respected by people around the world and translations of his poems are also widely concerned. His poems are written in the style of classical metrical verse, in which the culture-loaded words are the crystallization of Chinese culture. Because of the specificity and complexity of cultural meaning, there exists many challenges in the translation of such words. Nowadays, translation theorists both at home and abroad have gradually swerved their focus from discourse analysis and cross-cultural communication to a deeper factor—cognition ，and regarded it as a way to explain the phenomenon.

In this sense, based on Nida's classification of culture-loaded words, this chapter selects Xu Yuanchong's translated version of Mao's poems as an example to discuss the translation of culture-loaded words from the perspective of cognitive view in translation. It is concluded that Xu’s version serves for the target readers by retaining the flavor of the original text and promoting cultural communication based on his bodily experience of the world, perception of the target culture, and multiple interaction among three factors (author, reader and text), which is a realization of harmony ensured by cognitive view of translation.

Key Words

culture-loaded words; Mao Zedong's poems; cognitive view of translation; Xu Yuanchong.

题目

认知翻译观视角下毛泽东诗词中文化负载词的翻译研究——以许渊冲译本为例

摘要

毛泽东诗词意境深远，气势磅礴，语言自然简洁，是毛泽东人生和革命经历的精华，独特的艺术魅力和哲理智慧让其深受世界人民的推崇。他的诗词都用古典的中国格律诗体写就，其中的文化负载词是中华民族思想文化的结晶。但由于其文化意义独特复杂，给翻译带来了较大挑战。当下，国内外的翻译研究焦点由文本分析和跨文化交流的角度渐渐转向了一个更深层的要素——认知，可用于解释文化负载词翻译的现象。

本篇基于奈达对文化负载词的分类，选取许渊冲所译的毛泽东诗词为实例，根据认知语言学翻译观，浅谈文化负载词的翻译。结果表明，许氏译本以服务目标语读者为目的，根据自身体验与对源语文化的感知，并基于三要素（作者、读者、文本）的多重互动保留源语文本文化负载词的原有味道，实现了文化的传播。

关键词

文化负载词；毛泽东诗词；认知翻译观；许渊冲

1. Introduction

Culture-loaded words, as the name implies, reflect things, phenomenons as well as feelings and thoughts unique and specific to a culture. This special kind of words are produced in the long run of the development of a country's civilization, which contains rich cultural information, reflects distinctive national personality, its traditions and customs. And it also contains regional characteristics and historical epochal features. Thus, it is the language embodiment of a specific history, culture and customs. With a long history, vast territory and rich cultural heritage and connotation, China has given birth to a wealth of culture-loaded words in its language. (Gao Fanghui 2017: 151)

As for Mao Zedong's poetry, it contains a large number of cultural elements, which are gradually accumulated in the long run of historical development. (ibid: 151) It is known that translation is, more often than not, an exchange between different cultures. The famous American translator theorist Eugene A. Nida once said, “for a truly successful translation, knowing two cultures is more important than grasping two languages, because words become meaningful only in its effective cultural background.” (Nida 2002: 82) It is obvious that cultural differences turn out to be an obstacle in the transformation between two languages and it is even more difficult when it comes to the translation of culture-loaded words of Mao Zedong's Poems which carry rich cultural, historical or other information specific to the source language. (Yu Lixia 2016: 107) Therefore, it is of certain significance and value to study the translation of culture-loaded words in Mao's poems.

Xu Yuanchong's translation of Mao Zedong's poems is unique among many translated versions, and it is one of the most successful and prevailing versions in the English world. (Ye Jihong 1994: 109) As a representative translator in modern and contemporary China, Xu has blazed a new trail in literary translation, especially in poetry translation. And his translation thoughts or strategies can somehow be explained from the perspective of cognitive translation that “ensures harmony by considering three factors (author, text, and reader) in communication as well as by taking into account of interactivity, embodiment feature of text, translators' creativity and the distinction between objective and subjective world. (Wang Yin 2005: 15)

In terms of textual organization, this chapter, being composed of three parts besides introduction and conclusion, begins by outlining and introducing the historical research on English translations of Mao's poems and culture-loaded words. Then it describes the cognitive view of translation and its application on culture-loaded words, and ends by analyzing Xu's translation of culture-loaded words in Mao's poems.

2. Literary Review

Mao Zedong's poems are magnificent, powerful, and precise in words. Featured by natural creation, classics citation and affluent cultural connotations, his poems are not only widely praised in China, but also deeply admired by foreign readers. (Wang Ping 2007: 138) This part firstly specifies previous studies on English translations of Mao's poems, especially that of Xu Yuanchong's version. Then, previous studies of culture-loaded words in Mao's poems will be touched upon. In the end, a brief comment will be given based on aforementioned overviews.

2.1 Previous Studies on English Translations of Mao Zedong's Poems

Translations of Mao Zedong's poems have always been analyzed and studied among academic fields in China. “Xu Yuanchong is one of the scholars who have translated Mao's poems and developed his own translation theory in literary translation, making his translated version one of the most popular ones around the world.” (Zhang Mengxue 2019: 45) Here is a brief overview of their studies.

The translation of Mao Zedong's poems into English starts from the 1930s and lasts to the beginning of 21th century. Many Chinese translators such as Ye Junjian(1991), Xu Yuanchong(1978), Zhao Zhentao(1980), Gu Zhengkun(1993) and Li Zhengshuan(2010, 2011, 2018) have been devoted to translating Mao Zedong's poems. Other translators including Yuan Shuipai, Qiao Guanhua, and Qian Zhongshu and have even worked as a group and made contribution to the translation task in 1961. Still others have cooperated with a foreign partner and come out with a co-translated version, such as the version of Michael Bullock and Jerome Ch'en (1965), as well as the version of Willis Barnstone and Ko Chingpo(1972). (Li Zhengshuan, Wang Xin 2019: 10)

In addition, a number of Chinese scholars are also interested in studying the English translation of Mao Zedong’s poems in detail. They have either made comments on some English versions of Mao Zedong’s poems and put forward their own opinions or focused on the analysis of several English translated versions from different perspectives or theories. (Zhang Jiguang 2020: 88)

Taking CNKI(China National Knowledge Infrastructure) database as a corpus, the above Figure 1 shows the number of research papers, including journals, theses and dissertations, on the topic of English translations of Mao Zedong's poems from the 100th anniversary of the poet in 1993 up to 2020. It is clearly shown that the number of references has raised considerably to reach its apex in the year 2003 and another 3 climaxes in 2007, 2011 and 2015 respectively, which may result from various comments and thoughts brought up by translators while or after translating Mao's poems. As for the number of cited papers and selected papers per year, the amount of research papers on the translation of Mao's poems have increased rapidly since 2007 and reached a peak in 2013, the year of the 120th anniversary of Mao Zedong. With the occurrence of culture turn in translation and cognitive linguistics, the trend of translation theory such as Dynamic Equivalence, Conceptual Blending theory, Relevance Theory Schema Theory, Skopos Theory, Ecological Translation Theory and Receptional Aesthetic have attracted scholars and laid a foundation for studies in Mao's poetry.

Additionally, figure 2 reveals the topical or key words in related research papers, through which we can explicitly see that major studies on translation of Mao's poems concern about translators, comparative analysis and translation theories. To be more specific, among the most frequently appearing subjects in the study of English Translation of Mao's Poems, the most frequent translators are Xu Yuanchong, Zhao Zhentao, Gu Zhengkun and Yuan Shuipai. Aesthetic translation theories such as “beauty in sound”, and “beauty in sense”, and other theories like “intertextuality” and “creation for loss” have been frequently taken into account. While “target readers”, “translation style”, “translators' subjectivity”, “cultural image” and “culture-loaded words” have also been put into a heated discussion. The translation of “Ci pai”, “reduplicated words”, “alliteration” and “rhythm” in Mao's poems have always been considered either.

2.2 Previous Studies on Xu Yuanchong's Translation of Mao Zedong's Poems

The study of translators is an important part in the previous study of Mao Zedong's poetry. Different translators have different principles and methods in translating Mao Zedong's poems into English, which directly promotes the diversification of their English versions; thus, making a good preparation for the following academic research and discussion. Among various translated versions of Mao's poems, Xu's translated version and his translation thought indeed has triggered a heated discussion, which can be indicated from the frequency of his name presented in figure 2. (Zhang Jiguang 2020: 88)

Xu Yuanchong is a representative in all the modern and contemporary translators in China, best known for translating Chinese poems into English and French. His influence has spread both at home and abroad. In 1994, British publishing company Penguin published Xu Yuanchong's "300 China's immortal poems", which was the first time that the publishing company published a Chinese translation. And in the year 2010, Xu was awarded the "Lifetime achievements in translation" from the Translators Association of China (TAC). And on August 2, 2014, at the 20th World Conference of the Federation of International Translators, Xu Yuanchong was conferred the “Aurora Borealis” Prize. He is the first Chinese winner of the award. (Zhang Jiguang 2020: 87)

Xu's translation of Mao's poems remains the characteristics of traditional Chinese poems in a way that cultural needs and reading habits of target readers are fully considered. The humanistic and revolutionary thoughts and cultural connotations contained in the poems are conveyed in the target text that is “as beautiful as the original semantically, phonologically and logically”. (Chan Sin-wai 2009: 216) Many “Chinese scholars have studied Xu's translation. These studies are mainly divided into two categories: one is to compare his version with other English versions of Mao Zedong's poems; the other is to study the translation strategies and methods adopted by translators from different theoretical perspectives.” (Zhang Jiguang 2020: 88) While this chapter attempts to analyze and interpret Xu Yuanchong's English version of Mao Zedong's poems from the perspective of cognitive translation theory, and try to shed new light in translation techniques and methods of culture loaded words in Mao Zedong's poems.

After reviewing the related research on Xu Yuanchong's translation of Mao Zedong's poems, the next section will introduce previous studies of culture-loaded words.

2.3 Previous Studies on Translation of Culture-loaded Words

This section will further talk about culture-loaded words, including its definition, classification and a review on the translation study of culture-loaded words in Mao's poems. Then a brief comment will be given followed by this section.

2.3.1 Definition and Classification of Culture-loaded Words

Due to the differences in environment, geographical location, social mechanism, religious belief, life style and mode of thinking, different countries have different cultural heritages. Since language and culture are inextricably intertwined. On the one hand, language both expresses and embodies cultural reality. On the other hand, language, as a product of culture, helps perpetuate the culture, and the changes in language uses reflect the cultural changes in return. (Dai Weidong 2002: 130) Accordingly, words, as the basic meaningful elements of a language, are prone to have cultural or historical meaning in different languages. This, therefore, give rise to culture-loaded words.

In actuality, many Chinese scholars have put forward their definitions and understandings of culture-loaded words. Liao Qiyi states that culture loaded words refer to words, phrases or idioms that can mark the unique things in a culture. They reflect the unique ways of activities accumulated by a specific nation in the long process of its historical and cultural development, which are different from other national cultures. (2000: 232) Hu Wenzhong has made a distinction between culture-loaded words and non-culture-loaded ones: “Culture-loaded words or expressions load with message of specific national culture and contain deeper meaning of the national culture. They are the direct or indirect reflection of national culture in the structure of lexeme.” (1999: 64) Scholars in other countries have also come up with definitions of cultural-loaded words. For example, according to British researcher Mona Bakers, “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) So on and so forth.

As far as the classification of culture-loaded words are concerned, Nida's classification is widely accepted. Culture was divided by Nida into five categories in his book Towards A Science of Translation, which are ecological culture, material culture, social culture, religious culture, and linguistic culture respectively. (Nida 1964: 91)

Specifically, ecological culture refers to geological environment, climate and place name; material culture consists of tools, objects and other material objects created by a region or nation to meet the needs of production of life and is a representation of a culture; social culture concerns about historical background, culture customs and social behavior of a nation; religious culture relates to the aspect of religious belief and practice; linguistic culture is closely connected with specific feature of a language in the aspect of phonetics, grammar, syntax and other usage of language such as allusion and metaphor. (ibid: 91)

2.3.2 Previous Studies on Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Mao's Poems

When putting culture-loaded words in the search column of CNKI(China National Knowledge Infrastructure), there are roughly 1000 of papers related to it, a majority of which take novels and subtitles as research objects and in the perspective of skopos theory, relevance theory, memetics, schema theory, semantic translation, cross-cultural communication and functionalism, with few from the perspective of cognitive view of translation. But when it comes to the translation of culture-loaded words in Mao's poems, there are total 9 papers on this topic, which includes 4 journals and 5 theses. It can be concluded that too much attention has been given to the study of culture-loaded words in Mao's poems and Xu's translation respectively and separately.

2.4 Comments on Previous Studies

Based on above overviews, it can be noted that there still exists translation significance in the study of Mao Zedong's poems, for the latest translated version have come out a decade ago by Li Zhengshuan (Zhang Jiguang 2020: 89). Going forward, it is estimated that there be researches upon Mao's poems especially on 130th anniversary of Mao Zedong in 2023.

For the English translation of culture loaded words, it is difficult to faithfully reflect the cultural connotation of such words only through the transform of language in a superficial way, which would hinder the communication of implied information. The English translation of culture loaded words should be based on the meaning and context by fully considering the implied meaning of the original word and combining it with western culture. Then appropriate English translation methods should be applied to realize the conversion of culture and the transmission of cultural connotation as well. One point to notice is that ambiguities and disputes, cultural void and loss should be avoided in the process of translation. (Yu Lixia 2016: 106)

Since Xu Yuanchong's translated version of Mao's poems is a focal point of analysis and research. It makes sense that a good translation can always stand scrutiny and comparison. And it is in this point that the English translation of Mao's poems will be developed and cultural communication will be achieved.

3. Theoretical Framework

Cognitive translation is a new paradigm of translation studies. It advocates the application of concepts, theories and methods from cognitive linguistics to translation studies. Currently, interdisciplinary research has become a new trend in the field of translation studies. The study of cognitive perspective of translation is the result of the trend. (Guan Yingzi 2020:117)

This part will firstly give a brief introduction to cognitive linguistic view of translation. Then, it will specify the application of cognitive view of translation in the translation of culture-loaded words in Mao's poems.

3.1 Overview of Cognitive Linguistic View on Translation

Traditionally, translation was thought as a transformation between two different language systems. Translators’ role is always passive and dependent. With the application of new theories such as functionalism, hermeneutics and deconstruction applied in translation practice and translation theory research, people gradually realize that in the process of translation, whether it is the choice and understanding of the original text, or the interpretation and expression of the original text, the translator's role cannot be ignored. And a translator always embodies his/her unique subjectivity in the target text. (Cai Longwen 2010: 58)

Compared with the traditional text-based translation view and traditional linguistic translation view, cognitive linguistics highlights the performance of the subject's cognitive activities in translation. Such perspective of translation has been described and mapped by Wang Yin as follows:

“A cognitive model of translation sees translation in terms of both of multiple interactions among subjects with differently embodied backgrounds and of a good mastery of the various meanings of the original discourse. These meanings then get mapped and re-expressed in the target language, resulting in the description of the real world and the cognitive world. Taking into consideration all three factors (author, text, reader) in communication, this new model ensures the harmony in translation. (Wang Yin 2005: 15)

Such model shows six main thoughts of cognitive view of translation: (1) Translation possess embodiment feature; (2) Translation is an interactive activity; (3) Translation is creative; (4) Translation should be based on text; (5) Translation should be harmonious; (6) Translation should reproduce two worlds: objective word and cognitive world. (Wang Yin 2005: 17-18)

On the one hand, cognitive linguistic view of translation recognizes the decisive role of cognitive activities, that is, translation is the result of experience and cognition. On the other hand, translators, as one of the cognitive subjects, should be restricted by the interaction between other cognitive subjects involved in translation activities. Thus, translation should be creative in a restricted way, rather than giving play to translators' imagination. (Wang Yin 2007: 581)

In sum, cognitive linguistic view on translation emphasizes the importance of cognition, which requires the translator to reproduce the original world and cognitive world presented in the source text. Translation, thus, becomes cognition-based and interactive to facilitate the communication between the author and target readers.

3.2 Application of Cognitive View of Translation in the Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Mao's Poems

The cognitive view of translation can be applied to explain specific problems in translation. “The embodiment of cognitive categories formed based on individual's experience of the objective world, and has a cognitive psychological basis. In this sense, word translation is not only a process of code switching in form, but also a process of transplanting cognitive categories.” (Xiao Kunxue) Based on the cognitive translation model and the translator's experience and creativity, it provides a way to deal with the difficulties faced in the translation of culture loaded words in Mao's poems.

3.2.1 Translation: Its Embodiment Feature

“Translation is a cognitive activity based on perception and experience of the objective world. Basically, we human share the same objective world and general thinking, which is the prerequisite of translatability among different languages. On the one hand, the cognition of the author comes from his/her experiential activities, giving birth to his/her inspiration, On the other hand, the cognition of both translators and readers also come from their experiences, and it is only through experiential comprehension of text that the intention of the author and text can be achieved.” (Wang Yin 2005: 18)

1a. 七律·长征（一九三五年十月）:

红军不怕远征难，远水千山只等闲。(Xu Yuanchong 2015: 47)

1b. The Long March (October 1935):

Of the trying Long March the Red Army makes lights;/ Thousands of rivers and mountains are barriers slight. (Xu Yuanchong 2015: 48)

Red symbolizes passion, loyalty, honor and success in Chinese culture, while in English culture, red symbolizes passion, courage and sacrifice. Therefore, red has positive and similar cultural connotations in both Chinese and Western cultures. Here“红军”(Hong Jun), a representative words of social culture, is rendered as “red army” by Xu Yuanchong.

“As human beings live and breed in the same earth, though different culture could have different expressions for things, there are roughly three aspects of culture: objects, institution, psychology and some similar cognition. And the possibility of translation is based on the commonality of culture.” (Chen Hongwei 2002: 11-12) Embodied cognition forms the cognitive basis of mutual translation between different languages. Therefore, in the translation of Chinese culture-loaded words, literal translation is appropriate when there is a target expression that is functionally equivalent to the one used in the source language.

3.2.2 Translation: An Interactive Activity

As shown in the above cognitive model of translation, translation is a cognitive activity based on multiple interactions, i.e., reality and subjects (author, translator and reader), subjects and the source language, subjects and the target language, reader and author, as well as translator and reader. “The translator, first of all, is a reader, who has to interact with the author of the original text, and then the "creator", who interacts with the target reader through the translation.” (Wang Yin 2005: 17)

Meanwhile, Xu Yuanchong has noticed the feature of interactive activity in translation by saying:

“The world influences the author. The author reveals the world and creates works. Influenced by the world and in accordance with the work, translators create translations that influence target readers. Target readers are affected by the translation, and their reactions will also affect the world. Of course, the author and the translator will also influence the world, but that is not the main relationship between the art of translation. (Xu Yuanchong 2003: 151-152)

2a. 渔家傲·反第一次大围剿（一九三一年春）：

万木霜天红烂漫，天兵怒气冲霄汉。(Xu Yuanchong 2015: 28)。

2b. Tune: Pride of Fishermen// Against the First “Encirclement” Campaign (Spring 1931)

Under a frosty sky all woods in gorgeous red, / The wrath of godlike warriors strikes the sky overhead. (Xu Yuanchong 2015: 29)

In the example above, “天兵”(Tian Bing) , a unique religious word in Chinese culture, is a metaphorical word used to refer to the red army, which is the justice party of the revolution. The implied meaning here is to express an inviolability of the awe-inspiring righteousness of the red army. When translated as “godlike warrior”, Xu interacts with the poet and the English reader. Although the metaphorical objects are different, the reaction of the readers are the same, which shows the interactivity of translation from the cognitive view.

3.2.3 Translation: Be Creative

“As a cognitive activity of mankind, translation is inevitably subjective and creative. Fundamentally, translation is mainly a mapping of text codes formed in different cultural backgrounds and social environments, which inevitably involves different cognitive worlds. Moreover, the differences of individual language level could determine the fact that different translators will have different translations of the same text and that translation is anything but a ‘reflector’ or ‘microphone'.” (Wang Yin 2005: 17)

Such idea echoes with Xu's viewpoint that “literal translation should be done "at will" on the premise of "not exceeding the rules", with the purpose of seeking truth and beauty as well as enhancing the acceptability of the translated works among target readers. (Zhang Mengxue 2019: 48)

3a.七绝·为女民兵题照（一九六一年二月）：

中华儿女多奇志，不爱红装爱武装。(Xu Yuanchong 2015: 95)

3b. Militia Women--Inscription on a Photo (February 1961)

Most Chinese daughters have desire so strong,/ To face the powder and not to powder the face. (Xu Yuanchong 2015: 96)

Xu Yuanchong's translation of “不爱红装爱武装”has always been lauded as classical and typical. (Zhang Mengxue 2019: 48) “红装”(Hong Zhuang) and “武装”(Wu Zhuang) belong to linguistic culture with the repetitive word “装”(Zhuang). The former one refers to women makeup, while the later refers to the battle outfits. (Appreciation Dictionary 2011: 171) In Xu's rendering, “powder” is used as a verb and noun in the verse respectively, both retaining the original meaning and beauty as well as showing creative treatment of the translator.

3.2.4 Translation: Be Harmonious

“Author, text and reader are three factors that translators should taken into consideration. Emphasizing one at the expense of other is not a harmonious translation.” (Wang Yin 2005:18) Examples are numerous when it comes to harmonious translation, which serves as the goal of translation from cognitive perspective.

Let's take Xu's translation of “万”(Ten thousand) in Mao's poems as an example:

4a. 沁园春·雪：千里冰封，万里雪飘。(Xu Yuanchong 2015: 57)

4b. Tune: Spring in a Pleasure Garden// Snow

Hundreds of leagues ice-bound go, / Thousands of leagues flies snow (Xu Yuanchong 2015: 58)

5a. 沁园春·长沙：万类霜天竞自由。(Xu Yuanchong 2015: 5)

5b. Tune: Spring in a Pleasure Garden// Changsha

All creatures strive for freedom under frosty skies (Xu Yuanchong 2015: 7)

In Mao Zedong Poetry Appreciation Dictionary,“万”in example 4a was used by Mao Zedong to delineate the magnificence of snow scene in the northern China. (2011: 87) And in example 5a,“万”is taken as a round number. (2011: 18)

Accordingly, in 4b, “万”was rendered as “thousands of”, which not only conforms to the vague concepts of large quantities in English, but also retains the original rhythm. Nevertheless,“万”in 5a means “many” rather than “ten thousand”, because the number of creatures are impossibly as many as ten thousand. Therefore, a balance among the author, text and reader is achieved. (Xu Yuanchong 2003: 223)

3.2.5 The Objective World and the Subjective World to be Reproduced in Translation

According to Wang Yin, “translators should fully consider two worlds in the process of translation and have a thorough understanding of the overall information and meaning of the text and reproduce them correctly in the target language.” (2005: 18) One point worth mentioning is that the objective world of the text, more often than not, is the world the author subjectively understood or comprehended (ibid: 20)

Xu also assumes that the source and target text can not only express the same objective truth, but also express the same subjective thought and describe the same objective truth. (2003: 266) Although generally speaking, the translation is not as good as the original text, translators could understand the subjective world of the author to tell the exact intention of a certain expression used and sometimes make his/her translation even surpass the original text. (ibid: 266)

6a. 忆秦娥·娄山关（一九三五年二月）：苍山如海，残阳如血。(Xu Yuanchong 2015: 44)

6b. Tune: Dream of a Maid of Honor// The Pass of Mount Lou

Green mountains like the tide;/ The sunken sun blood-dyed. (Xu Yuanchong 2015: 45)

Here “海”(Hai) and “阳”(Yang) are both words from ecological culture, which expresses Mao's sadness and melancholy towards the heavy losses in the Long March. (Yu Lixia 2016: 107) After understanding the subjective world and objective world of the poet, Xu conveyed the emotional intention by applying “the sunken sun” from To a Sky-Lark written by English poet Shelley. In this sense, the translation reflects both the subjective and objective world of the author in a way catering to the target readers' reading habit and cognition.

4. Analysis of Xu's Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Mao's Poems

“The greatness feature of Xu Yuanchong's translation is that it successfully retains the characteristics of the original poem and reproduces the beautiful artistic conception of it.” (Hu Deqing 1999: 31)

In the translation of culture-loaded words in Mao's poems, Mr. Xu prefers to leaving the reader in peace, as much as possible, and bringing the author toward him/her, i.e., the target reader have less problem in understanding the real meaning of those words while savoring the cultural flavor of them. To achieve this goal, some characteristics are shown in his translation of culture-loaded words.

4.1 Faithfulness in Meaning, Style and Aesthetics

It is suggested by Xu Yuanchong that the term “faithfulness” in literary translation is not simply equivalent to the maintenance of original form of expression, but also to the preservation of artistic charm of the source text. Translators should make the best use of expression in the target language in order to better convey the content of the original work. (2001: 51)

In translating culture-loaded words, Xu would like to follow two principles to reach the goal of faithfulness. One is “do what you want without exceeding the rules” (Xu Yuanchong 2015: 03) and the other being “the kite should not be broken” (Xu Yuanchong 1998: 47), the later of which is a balance between similarity in form and spirit as well as a continuous interaction among author, reader and text.

7a. 七律·人民解放军占领南京（一九四九年四月）：

天若有情天亦老，人间正道是沧桑。(Xu Yuanchong 2015: 62)。

7b. Capture of Nanjing by the People's Liberation Army (April 1949)

Heaven would have grown old were it moved to emotions;/ The world goes on with changes in the fields and oceans. (Xu Yuanchong 2015: 62)

7c. The PLA Capture Nanjing

Were Nature sentient, she too would pass from youth to age, But man's world is mutable, seas become mulberry fields. (Translation Censorship Group 1976: 11)

In order to illustrate this, let me compare Xu’s version with the official version. “沧桑(Cang Sang)”is a material culture-loaded word, which means great changes in the natural world. (Appreciation Dictionary 2011: 105) Here, Mao used this word to imply that great changes has taken place through reform, and that the establishment of the Communist Party of China is a right way to go, just like the change from the sea to the mulberry field. (ibid: 106)

7c has rendered the literal meaning of“沧桑(Cang Sang)”at the loss of its spirit. While 7b not only has conveyed the literal meaning but also has retained the rhythm of the original poem, which makes the target language more readable and better reproduces the poetic features of the original poem. By this way, 7b is obviously a cut above 7c.

In one word, faithfulness in Xu's translation of culture-loaded words comes to meaning, style and aesthetics.

4.2 Adaptive Rewriting

In Xu's eyes, rewriting is for the purpose of adapting to the original linguistic feature, cultural connotations, ideologies and reading habits of target readers. (Zhang Mengxue 2019: 47)

To illustrate, two methods are always employed to meet the need of rewriting:

The first method is free translation of culture-loaded words, such as “华佗(the best physician)”“不周山(Mount Pillar)”“一枕黄粱(dream of reigning)”, which provides explanatory information of the original words according to the context. The second one is a replacement of images, such as “防肠断 (for fear your heart should break)”,“霸王 (the Herculean King)”and “鬼 (vampires)”.This comes to culture-loaded words that sounds strange when given the explanatory messages in translation. Thus, substitution of cultural image is adopted to “bring the author close to target readers”, combining the objective and subjective worlds of both the author and readers together as well as reaching a harmony in translation. (ibid: 47)

Moreover, annotation is also used to enable target readers to understand the original cultural connotation. For example, “不周山(Mount Pillar)” has an footnote which says, “Mount Pillar was a legendary mountain below which furious battles had been fought in ancient times. Here the poet might refer to any battlefield in the Red area.” (Xu Yuanchong 2015: 30)

4.3 Creative Violation

Xu affirms the independence of artistic texts and the subjectivity of literary translation. Because of this, his translation often has a unique personal style, which shows the translation views of "the six classics annotate me" and "there is me in translation”. (Qin Jianghua & Xu Jun 2018: 123)

As Xu supported that poetry is best words in the best order and that creative violation is preferred in poetic translation by using the best words in the best order. (2015: 14)

Especially, creative violation is employed in the situation where there is an equivalent word in the target language, but it is not the best expression. Taking Xu’s illustration in his paper as an example, (2012: 90) “一截遗欧，一截赠美，一截还东国”in Mao’s poem昆仑(Kun Lun) was translated as “I would give to Europe your crest/ And to America your breast/ And leave in the Orient the rest.” Such creative violation of the original meaning of “一截”, a word means ‘a part’ and belongs to linguistic culture, highlights the tall and majestic image of Mount Kunlun, which conveys the content of the source text in a better form.

5. Conclusion

“Poetry is known as the laurel of literature because of its concise language and rich thoughts. And culture-loaded words can be taken as the pearl of the laurel”. (Gao Fanghui 2017, 152) This chapter, based on previous researches, has discussed about Xu's translation of culture-loaded words from cognitive perspective of translation. And it is concluded as follows:

Firstly, in order to guide the target readers to accept culture-loaded words, the translator is required to understand the implied meaning of such words and have an embodied experience of the original text according to the background knowledge both historically and culturally. This is the foundation of translating culture-loaded words.

Secondly, after interaction among author, reader and text, translators are also suggested to give full play to subjectivity and creativity under the restriction of faithfulness and reader's reception. One could employ literal or free translation, adaptive rewriting or creative violation, depending on different conditions. Thus, a harmony in translation is appreciated.

Last but not least, no matter which translation principles, strategies or methods are taken, annotation is necessary to help target readers to understand the cultural connotation of the original text with more details.

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--Zeng Fangyuan (talk) 07:27, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

A Comparative Study of the translation of Buddhist scriptures of China and Bible translation 肖婷 Xiao Ting 202070080612 MIT 英语笔译

Abstract

Bible has influenced the world through its translation into many different languages,being rendered into 1400 languages.Take the English translation of Bible for example,the English language and Anglo-American culture were deeply influenced by it in all aspects.Meanwhile,in China,the Chinese translation of Buddhist Scriptures occupied a sameli importants position in the history of Chinese transaltion,not only serving as an important foundation for the spread of Buddhiam in China,but also an enrichment for the Chinese traditional culture.In this paper,I will compare the development of the two large-scale transaltion activities in history and find out their differences and similarities.Finally,I will give my own thoughts of it.

Key words

Bible translation;the translation of Buddhist Scriptures;comparison

摘要

摘要：《圣经》共有1400多种不同文字的版本，可以说它是通过翻译成多种语言不断影响世界的，其中又以历史上英译《圣经》规模为典范，英语语言和英美文化深受其影响。而与此有异曲同工之妙的是中国的佛经翻译，佛经翻译不仅是佛教在中国建立传播的重要基础之一，也极大丰富和发展了中国的传统文化，在中国的翻译史上占有极其重要的地位。本文将对两者进行对比总结并带来一些启示。

关键词

圣经翻译；佛经翻译；对比

Introduction

Bible, as the source of Western literature, feeds the fertile ground of the entire English literary world, while the Buddhist classics, as an indispensable part of Eastern culture, have played an indispensable role in the progress of translation in China. The Buddhist scriptures and the Bible, two of the most influential religious texts in the world , relied mainly on translation activities for their earlier dissemination, which not only promoted cultural exchanges and translation development at that time, including the formation of translation methods and the establishment of translation theories, but also played a very important role in their own dissemination and development. Through a brief historical introduction of the translation of the Western Bible, especially the history of the English translation of the Bible, and the translation of the Chinese Buddhist scriptures, this paper attempts to clarify these two main lines of translation, summarize the common trajectories and deviations of the two classical works in the process of translation, and thus to find out the role they played by the history of translation of religious texts in various aspects of translation practice and translation theory.(Xie Tianzheng 2009,47-69 )

An Overview of Chinese Translation of Buddhist Scriptures

The history of Chinese Translation of Buddhist Scriptures started from the end of Eastern Han Dynasty, further developing from the Eastern Jin to Sui Dynasty, and peaking in Tang Dynasty, which stretched for more than one thousand years. And it has great influence on Chinese society, culture, language, arts,religion and etc.The translation of Buddhist Scriptures is the first Chinese translation climax. With it developing, many translators and translation works come to the fore, and lots of translation theories have been put forward and perfected, which lay the foundation for later ones. (Xie Tianzheng 2009,47)

The early stage

The first period, from the late Eastern Han to the Western Jin Dynasty, is the pioneering stage. During this period, the total number of Buddhist Scriptures being translated is about five hundred and seventy, while the first Chinese Buddhist translation script is Sutra in Forty-two Chapters.This period is characterized by the fact that the translators had no original texts but relied on the oral expression of the foreign monks.The translation method is that each foreign monk recited the sutras to one or more than one interpreters who would translate them into Chinese orally and there were other translators taking notes and writing down the Chinese version. And the mainstream translation principle was faithfulness at that time. Therefore, translators mainly adopted the translation method of literal translation, which was highly proposed by An Shigao（安世高） and Zhi Chen（支谶）, who were the masters of the literal translation school. (Xie Tianzheng 2009,47-52 )

The developing stage

The second historical period, from the Eastern Jin Dynasty period to the Sui Dynasty, is the stage of development.

Shi Daoan (314-385), who was an eminent monk, set up a translation workshop, ushering in the period of translation on a large scale. And a State Translation School was founded for this purpose. Besides, he invites some translators from India as well. Famous translators in this stage included Shi Daoan （释道安）, Kumarajiva （鸠摩罗什）, Zhen Di （真谛）, Seng You（僧佑）. From then on, translation has become an organized activity. Kumarajiva was the first person in Chinese history to translate the Buddhist scriptures systematically on a large scale, and he paid great attention to preserving the style of the original language while not giving up the original meaning.As to the features of this time.First we can see the change from folk and personal translation to official and collective translation.Second,there were breakthroughs in translation theories and skills.Many famous translators concluded translation rules according to their experience and thoughts.Last,the part of sutras explanation was separated from translation.(Xie Tianzheng 2009,52-57 )

The peaking stage

The third historical period is the Tang Dynasty in which the Chinese translation of Buddhist Scriptures reached its peak. And the representative translator in this age is Xuan Zang.He tried many translation methods and developed his epoch-marking criterion that translation “must be truthful and intelligible to the populace” (既须求真，又须喻俗). In a sense, Xuan Zang, with such a formula, was trying to combine the literal translation and free translation to give the best version of the translation.(Chen Fukang 2000,32)

Xuan Zang had made great contributions to the Chinese translation of Buddhist Scriptures .In history he went to India to get the Buddhist scripture ,set up a large workshop of translation and translated 1335 fascicles of 75 volumes of Buddhist Scriptures .He also set down“five guidelines for not translating a term ”(五不翻).First, if a term partakes of the occult, it is not-translated (秘密故).Second, if a term has multiple meanings, it is not-translated(多义故). Third, if the object represented by a term does not exist in this part of the world, that term is not-translated(此无故). Fourth, if a past rendering of a term has become established and accepted, the term is not-translated(顺古故).Fifth, if a term elicits positive associations, it is not-translated(生善故). (Chen Fukang 2000,35)

An Overview of Bible Translation

Generally speaking, the classic Christian Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament and  the New Testament. The history of translation of Bible can be divided into three periods:The Greco-Roman period (2nd century B.C.- 8th century A.D.),the Reformation period (16th and 17th centuries) and the Modern era (19th and 20th centuries). These three periods were also the major periods of Christianity's spread, and the translation of the Bible played a crucial role in the spread of religious views and cultural conversions.

The first period is between 2nd century B.C. and 8th century A.D. when the history of Bible translation begun and two Bible translation versions need to be noticed.The first one is The Septuagint translated by 72 Jewish scholars with two in a group translating it at the same time which was basically the original text to be rendered into many other national languages.The Vulgate of St. Jerome was also translated from it.St. Jerome was a controversial person as well as his translation who also started the dispute between literal translation and free translation.And he referred his translation strategies as literal translation.

The second period was happened during the 16th and 17th century.The Renaissance occurred in the 16th century,thus pushing forward the translation of Bible into many other different languages. Bible being translated into other languages was hampered by the Vatican with many scholars died of it.“The Reformation in 17th century was the consequence of the autarchy”(Xie Tianzhen 2009, 64).During this period,Martin Luther’s German translation version of Bible represented people’s efforts the best.He was also in favor of St. Jerome’s literal translation.(Tan Zaixi 2004,70)

The third period is the modern era (19th and 20th centuries) of Bible translation when new versions and a lot of Revised Versions emerged as well as the versions of the third world national languages.The changeable ideology also inspired new translations,for example,Elizabeth Cady Stanton translated the first Woman’s Bible.(Tan Zaixi 2004,189)

An Overview of English Translation of the Bible

Bible translation has a long history of more than 1400 years and the English translation of Bible kept expanding,thus a great many versions was created by numerous masters.With the development of this,English as well as the culture of English-speaking countries were enriched and benefited.We can divide the history of it into fifth periods.

First, the early English translations of the Bible.

The earliest English translation of the Bible can be dated back to the 8th century, when the famous English historian Bede translated the Bible into Old English in 735 AD. He was the first person who translated the Bible into English. He translated certain sections of the Bible into poetry. Bede was a well known writer in Europe at that time. He translated the “Ten Commandments of Moses” from the Bible into Anglo-Saxon, based mainly on St. Jerome’ s The Vulgate, a popular Latin translation.(Xie Tianzhen 2009, 65).

Second, Wycliffe's translation of the Bible.

Technically speaking, Wycliffe began the English translation of the Bible. As an Oxford scholar, John Wycliffe was one of the most influential figures in England in the 14th century. He was a reformer, philosopher, writer, and theologian, and was known as “the star of the Reformation”. John Wycliffe translated the Bible for the sake of commonalty, and as such his translation became a popular tool against the power of the church. So alarmed was the Church of England that it held a Synod in Oxford in 1408, in which they banned the translation and use of the Bible. However, due to the popularity of John Wycliffe's translation of the Bible, the ban had little effect. By the 15th century, Wycliffe's translation was widely circulated, becoming the only English translation of the Bible at the time and laying the foundation for the English translation of the Bible for future generations.(Xie Tianzhen 2009, 65).

Third, the English translation of the Bible in the 16th century.

The 16th century served as the first climax in the history of English translation of the Bible, with the translation master William Tyndale (1491-1536) as its representative. William Tyndale was an English clergyman, humanist, famous writer, and leader of the Reformation. His purpose in translating the Bible was to make it accessible to common people and to make him understand the true meaning of Christianity. Tyndale devoted his life to the translation of the Bible, which occupies an important place in the history of the English translation of the Bible. First of all, it was translated directly from the Greek and was the first printed Bible. Secondly, Tyndale’ s English translation of the Bible is a perfect combination of scholarship, literature, and simplicity of phraseology, served as an ideal origin text for future English translations of the Bible. Finally, Tyndale’ s English translation has enriched the English language even more than Shakespeare, for many of today's English expressions are derived from Tyndale’ s English translation of the Bible.(Xie Tianzhen 2009, 66).

Fourth, the English translation of the Bible in the 17th century.

The 17th century was the most glorious era in the history of the English translation of the Bible. The King approved 54 scholars as translators, with Lancelot Andrewes in charge. This was the second officially supported mass translation in the western countries since The Septuagint .When translating, they were not limited to The Vulgate, which was approved by the Catholic Church, but often referred to the original Hebrew text of the Bible, so that their translation was relatively faithful to the original text. The King James Bible is the authorization among all English translations of the Bible.(Xie Tianzhen 2009, 66).

Fifth, the English translation of the Bible in the 19th and 20th century.

There were no large-scale translation of Bible in the 19th century thus making the revise of the English translation of Bible the mainstream in this period.The American Standard Version went through a large scale revision as a result.In the 20th century, science and technology changed rapidly, and the English language also made great progress. Although the King James Bible was unassailable, many translations of the Bible were produced,such as New Testament in Modern Speech,James Moffatt,New English Bible and New International Version(Xie Tianzhen 2009, 67-69).

The Differences between the Translation of Buddhist Scriptures of China and Bible Translation

1.From the perspective of translation contents,the time when it happened,the language and cultural environment ,translators to the historical background ,the differences between the English translation of Bible and the Chinese translation of the Buddhist Scriptures are significant.(Xie Tianzhen 2009, 45-69).

2.Bible translation has a long history and is still going on today. The translation of Buddhist Scriptures in China ended in the Song Dynasty. Bible translations rely mainly on the faithful believers. By the time Buddhism spread widely in China, most Buddhist scriptures were already available in Chinese, so people preferred to read the Chinese versions rather than the foreign language originals. In this way, Buddhist scripture translations faded as they became less in demand in the social and cultural environment. (Xie Tianzhen 2009, 45-69) 　　 　　 3.Unlike Buddhist translations, Bible translations are motivated not only by religious beliefs, but also by the essence of Greek culture. In addition, the Bible is a literary work of high literary value. All nations and all social classes have devoted a great deal of labor to Bible-related work. In fact, while the Bible was translated into various European languages, it was also heavily influenced by the formation of written languages in European countries. Even Bible translations became the first literary works in some European countries. In Europe, the translation of religious works is closely related to literary creation.(Ren Dongsheng 2008,49)

4.Western Bible translations promote Christian culture in Christian countries where religiosity has always been respected as the dominant or primary value of the Bible text: Buddhist sutra translations have been combined with traditional Chinese philosophy and aesthetics from the very beginning, "reconciling Confucianism and Buddhism", and philosophical and literary aspects have been respected as the dominant or primary value of the Chinese (translated Buddhist texts). The philosophical and literary aspects were revered as the dominant or primary values of the Chinese Buddhist scriptures.(Ren Dongsheng 2008,48)

The Similarities between the Translation of Buddhist Scriptures of China and Bible translation

1.Both had gone through a long time. The English translation of the Bible began around the eighth century and reached its culmination in the 17th century. The Chinese translation of the Buddhist Scriptures began in 67 AD and reached its peak in the Sui and Tang dynasties. Both had a history of more than a thousand years until their development was quite mature. In terms of the translation results ,both the translations of the culmination became the most popular ones today. To date, most of the English translations of the Bible today are from the 17th century translation of the Bible; most of the translations of Buddhist Scriptures follow the classical translations of Xuan Zang from the Tang dynasty.(Xie Tianzhen 2009, 45-69).

2. In terms of the scale and organizational methods: Both exhibit translation activities on a large scale, with the strong support of the rulers of the time, and their achievements are particularly notable. The translation of the Bible was also on a grand scale, especially in the 17th century, which is considered to be the most brilliant era in the history of English translation of the Bible. The King James Bible supported by James I,though not finalized by him, was given the authority among the English translation versions; due to the high quality of the translation itself, it eventually achieved dominance among all English translations of the Bible. The translation of Buddhist sutras was the first large-scale organized translation activity in China. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the "translation field" method was adopted, that is, many people cooperated to translate Buddhist sutras under a strict division of labor system, which showed the characteristics of having a fixed place, a strict division of labor, and leadership by the organization. The translation of Buddhist Scriptures in China reached its climax in the Tang Dynasty, both in terms of scale and quality, which was contingent on the strong support of the rulers that time. (Ren Dongsheng 2008,49)

3.In terms of translation strategies, in the early days of the translation of the Buddhist scriptures and the Bible, almost all of their translators were devout religious believers, and the religious classics were sacred in their eyes, and any arbitrary addition, deletion or modification of their contents in the process of translation would be regarded as blasphemy. Therefore, at the beginning, both Chinese translators of Buddhist scriptures and European Bible translators coincidentally adopted the strategy of word-for-word translation to show their sincere religious beliefs and to maintain the sanctity of the religious texts.(Cheng Xiaoping 2013,187)

An Shigao, a famous translator of Chinese translation of Buddhist Scriptures, adopted the strategy of literal translation while Zhi Chen was the first person elaborating the translation theory in the history .In the Preface to the Dharma Sutra, he strongly supported the view of the Vighna from Tianzhu(an ancient translation of India) that the translation of sutras should adopt transliteration. The famous Buddhist sutra translator Shi Daoan, in his Preface to the Mahabharata Paramita Sutra, put forward the idea of “five instances of losing the originals”(五失本), which would make the translation easy to change the original meaning, and the concept of “three instances of difficulties”(三不易) , the three reasons why translation is difficult, to supplement his idea of literal translation. In addition, in his Dialectic, Yan Zong proposed the principle that insists on faithfulness and prefers literal translation.(Liu Weijie 2009,62)

When the 72 Jewish scholars translated the Greek text of the Septuagint, their worship of religious texts led them to adopt a word-by-word and sentence-by-sentence translation, so that the readability of the translation was poor, and even the Greeks had difficulty in understanding it. Later Jerome believed that translations should not always be word-for-word and must be flexible, but when it came to translating the Bible, he still believed that literal translation should be adhered to , and not even the word order in the sentences should be changed, "because even the word order in the Bible is a kind of "metaphysical meaning". The main reason why Jerome adopted the strategy of literal translation was his awareness of the sacredness of the Bible(Xiong Hui 2013,68).

According to Hu Shi's judgment, the translations of Hatamarangshi and many other monks after him changed "foreign words" into "Chinese words", using simple language that was easily accepted by the general public instead of ornate parallelism or elegant literary texts, in order to satisfy the general public’s demand for Buddhist faith. At this time, the recipients of the sutras were no longer limited to a few sutra researchers or cultural figures(Xiong Hui 2013,68). From the perspective of reception aesthetics, the purpose of translating any text is not only to convey the original meaning correctly, but also to make it easy for readers to understand and accept. The purpose of translating Buddhist sutras is the same , so they changed the strategy of word for word translation to free translation. The Tang Dynasty was a prosperous period for the translation of Buddhist scriptures in China, and the main translators were Xuan Zang and Bu kong, among who Xuan Zang's translation style can be said to be a combination of various translation styles, and was no longer limited to the literal translation or the free translation.(Li Hua 2009,32)

The Authorized Version, published in 1611, is the most important translation in the history of Bible translation. It was translated collectively by 47 of the best scholars and theologians, emphasizing faithfulness to the original text and absorbing Hebrew, Greek and Latin language styles, drawing on the essence of the original text, with simple and solemn language . The greatest achievement of his translation of the Bible is that it took into account the needs of scholarship, conciseness, and literature, and integrates all three factors into one, focusing on easy understanding and embedding the characteristics of the Hebrew language, creating a unique style of Bible translation. Tyndale paid special attention to the vulgarity of the translation, using as much ‘authentic’ English vocabulary as possible and the vivid and specific forms of expression customary to the narrative expressions of ordinary people, and the text is simple and natural, without pedantry. Therefore, his translations were very influential and widely circulated.(Liu Junping 2019,100-105)

Through the above comparison between the Chinese translation of the sutras and the Bible translation , we find that both of them chose literal translation at first and later chose free translation as their translation strategies. From word-by-word translation, to mature translation, which focused on the overall meaning, and from translation, which focused on easy-to-understand language in order to make the translation suitable for the general public, to translation, which focused on "reproducing the message of the original language," both the ancient Chinese translation of the Buddhist scriptures and the European translation of the Bible reveal similar translation laws. We see a common pattern in the development of the translation theories of the Buddhist scriptures and the Bible: literal translation and free translation alternately dominate the translation activities and gradually mature until the organic integration of the two is finally achieved.(Xiong Hui 2013,78)

In this regard, translators have put forward many similar valuable translation theories and translation experiences. For example, the translation theory put forward by St. Jerome around direct translation and paraphrase includes: religious translation should be treated differently from literary translation, and religious translation should mainly adopt direct translation, while literary translation can adopt paraphrase method. Moreover, it rejrcted the idea that there is "God's inspiration" in the translation of the Bible, and that the correct understanding of the Bible should rely on extensive knowledge and proficiency in language. In terms of translation theories, history allows us to read not only the translation history and translation experience of the Bible and Buddhist scriptures, but also the development line of the whole human translation history and the evolution of translation theories.(Xiong Hui 2013,78)

4.The Influence of Bible Translation and Translation of Buddhist Scriptures (1) The King James Version of the Bible not only played a major role in the development of the English language, but also, due to the influence of the British colonization, became the original version for the translation of the Bible in many other less powerful countries,and had a definite effect on the development of languages in those countries. The King James Version was severely condemned by the opposition when it was first published, but it eventually gained dominance over all English translations of the Bible. (Liu Junping 2019,107)

The Chinese translation of the Buddhist Scriptures has had a profound impact on all aspects of Chinese culture, and has a place in China's cultural history that cannot be ignored. In certain historical periods, Buddhism was used by the ruling class as a powerful tool to consolidate its governance. Both of them contributed to the historical process, maintaining the dominant position of the rulers at the time, enabling the civilians to attain an ideological convergence and concentration. On the positive side, they made contributions to the stability of the social environment of the time; on the negative side,quoted form Marx,” the adoption of religion as a legitimate means of official propaganda was nothing more than the spiritual opium that enslaved the people”.(Mou Xiaofang,LiXiul 2009,62)

(2)Both have injected vitality and life into the target language vocabulary and have made great contributions to culture. The Chinese translation of Buddhist Scriptures has greatly enriched Chinese traditional culture. First of all, it shows its influence on Chinese phonetics. At the micro level, the translation of Buddhist Scriptures into Chinese has influenced the pronunciation of certain Chinese characters. At the macro level, Zhang Jianmu, in his article "The Influence of Buddhism on Chinese Phonetics", summarizes the influence of Chinese translations of Buddhist Scriptures in three aspects: the four sounds, the letters, and the equal rhyme charts. The Chinese translation of Buddhist Scriptures has greatly enriched the Chinese vocabulary, facilitated the communication of ideas to a great extent, and played a positive role in social and cultural life. The Chinese translation of Buddhist Scriptures has a great and far-reaching influence on Chinese literature. Kumarajiva was the first master translator who noticed the style and interest of the original text. Since that, our translation of literature has been fully established. The Bible, on the other hand, is a projection of most of the works in English and American literature, and it is impossible to fully appreciate and dismantle literary works without reading the Bible. Moreover, the Bible is also our doorway to the Western world, and our understanding of Western culture is inextricably linked with the Bible.(Li Hua 2009,31)

My Thoughts on the Comparison

A comparison of Chinese Buddhist scripture translations and Western Bible translations reveals that they have both gone through stages from literal translation, which is almost rigidly translated word by word, to high-level literal translation, i.e., phrase and structure level, to free translation, which focuses on fluent and easy-to-understand language in order to make the translation suitable for the general public, and finally to complete reconciliation of literal translation and free translation, or no longer emphasizing literal translation or meaning in translation. The emphasis is on the accuracy of the translation and the acceptability of the translated text. We use literal translations when they are appropriate, and we use free translations when they are appropriate. By analyzing the underlying reasons behind these common developments, some basic properties and laws of translation are revealed:

1.The basic nature of translation is the conversion between bilingualism and the basic contradiction is the contradiction between bilingualism;

2.Language is the carrier of culture, cultural differences and non-correspondence must be reflected in bilingualism and ultimately reproduced through language;

3.In a specific text in a specific language, form, content and style are unified, but due to linguistic and cultural differences between bilinguals, form, content and style do not correspond to each other, which constitutes the greatest difficulty in translation;

4.Translation integrates both science and art. Science is reflected in the objective regularity of language conversion; art is reflected in the translator's active selectivity and subjective creativity in the translation process;

5. A good translator should be proficient in bilingual knowledge and familiar with the translated content;

6.The improvement of translation level and ability is a process of experience accumulation;

7.An ideal translation is one that reproduces the unity of form, content and style of the original in the translated text;

8.Faithfulness of meaning is the basic requirement for translation, especially for translation of religious classics;

9.Literal translation and paraphrase are not binary opposites but complementary relationships; The specific criteria, requirements and methods of translation are determined by the purpose of translation. It is precisely because of these basic properties and laws that Chinese Buddhist sutra translation and Western Bible translation have similarities in their development process.

10.Due to the lack of bilingual knowledge, translation experience and reverence for the religious classics, the first bunch of translators had to adopt a literal translation which was almost rigid, word by word, line by line. As a result, the translations were difficult to read and follow. In order to make the translation understandable to the readers, some people embellish the text and delete what they do not understand, and adopt an almost garbled or haphazard paraphrase of the translation. As a result, the translated text is indeed understood by the readers, but what they see is not the true picture of the scriptures. With the development of that, new translators had higher bilingual level, certain linguistic knowledge and experience in translation, who realized the mistakes and inadequacies of translating randomly, and then return to the strategy of literal translation. But at this time, literal translation is no longer word-for-word or line-for-line translation. They emphasized the overall communication of the meaning and the preservation of the original form, and did not absolutely exclude the element of paraphrase.

Later, in order to make the scriptures more easily to be understood and accepted by the general public, the translators favored the strategy of paraphrasing and using the simple, concise and easily understandable language of the people. However, they do not translate randomly anymore, nor do they exclude paraphrase absolutely. The reason why there has been a long history of literal and paraphrase translations is that the translators did not realize that form, content, and style are unified in a particular language and culture, and they are not monolingual between different cultures and language systems. This is because translators are not aware of the contradiction between the unity of form, content, and style in a particular language system.It is the opposition between literal translation and free translation.

When translators have mastered these basic rules of translation at a more mature stage of development, they no longer stick to the debate of literal and free translation, but use them as complementary translation methods, and strive to achieve full faithfulness between the translated text and the original in form, content and style, to reach the ideal standard of translation. However, as Jerome argues, literary translation should use free translation, Bible translation should adopt literal translations. The specific translation standards and methods vary according to the purpose of translation, the type of translation and the translated text.For example, from the perspective of religion and the fear of God, translators will adopt the strategy of literal translation to translate religious texts; from the perspective of spreading the great meaning and transforming the public, translators will adopt the strategy of paraphrase to translate religious texts.--Xiao Ting (talk) 08:45, 12 December 2020 (UTC)Xiao Ting

References

Chen Fukang 陈福康.中国译学理论史稿（修订本）[A History of Translation Theory in China].上海 Shang Hai：上海外语教育出版社Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，2000

Ma Zuyi 马祖毅.中国翻译简史（五四以前部分）[A History of Translation Theory in China (Before the May Fourth Movement)].北京 Bei Jing：中国对外翻译出版设社 China Foreign Translation Press，1984.

Tan Zaixi 谭载喜.西方翻译简史[A Brief History of Translation in the West].北京 Bei Jing：商务印书馆 Commercial Press，2004

Xie Tianzhen 谢天振.中西翻译简史][A Brief History of Translation in China and the West].北京 Bei Jing：外语教学与研究出版社 Foreign Language Teaching and Researching Press，2009.

Liu Weijie 刘为洁. 中国佛经翻译与英国《圣经》翻译的比较[Comparison of Chinese Buddhism Translation and Bible Translation] [J]. 四川教育学院学报,2009,25(02):61-63.

Xiong Hui 熊辉. 古代中西方宗教典籍翻译策略的相似性分析[On the Similarity of Tranaltion Strategies to Ancient Chinese and Western Religious Scriptures] [J]. 西华大学学报(哲学社会科学版) Journal of Xihua University(Philosophy and Social Sciences Version),2013,32(01):67-70.

Li Hua 李华. 中国佛经翻译与英国《圣经》翻译的比较[Comparison of the Chinese Translation of Buddhist Scriptures and the English Translation of Bible] [J]. 文教资料 Cultural and educational materials,2009,(06):31-32

Cheng Xiaoping 程小平. 浅谈佛经和《圣经》的不同之处[An Introduction to the Differences between the Scriptures and the Bible] [J]. 青年文学家 Youth Lierator,2018,(18):187.

Chen Lianghui 陈亮辉. 论中国佛经翻译与西方圣经翻译的相似性与差异性[On the Similarities and Differences between Chinese Buddhist Scripture Translation and Western Bible Translation] [J]. 华中人文论丛 Central China Humanities Collection,2014,5(01):117-119.

Yi Zhimei 衣志梅. 中国佛经翻译与西方圣经翻译的相异性[ The Similarities and Differences between Chinese Sutra Translation and Western Bible Translation][J]. 安徽文学 An Hui Literary(下半月) (the second half),2009,(07):327.

Mou Xiaofang,LiXiuli牟晓芳，李秀丽.浅谈佛经翻译与《圣经》翻译的历史进程及其理论对比 [On the Historical Process and Theoretical comparison of the Transaltion to Buddhist Scriptures and the "Bible"] [J]山东广播电视大学学报 Journal of Shangdong Radio and TV University，2009，(01):62-64.

Ren Dongsheng 任东升.圣经汉译与佛经翻译比较研究[J].上海翻译 Shang Hai Translation,2008,(03):46-50 --Xiao Ting (talk) 13:35, 20 December 2020 (UTC)Xiao Ting

Analysis of the Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Vanity Fair 常慧月 Chang Huiyue

常慧月 Chang Huiyue 202020080591

Abstract

Culture-loaded words express the culture, custom, habit and so on of a nation in the linguistic way. This chapter discusses how to translate the culture-loaded words properly from perspective of domestication and foreignization. It introduces the translation strategies of domestication and foreignization and takes Yang Bi's translation version of Vanity Fair as an example to analyze Yang’s brilliant application of domestication and foreignization in culture-loaded words translation. This chapter consists of six parts. Part one gives an introduction of translation and its different definitions. Chapter two discusses definition of domestication and foreignization and their development processes. Chapter three describes the culture-loaded words and its classification. Part four analyzes Vanity Fair and its Chinese version by Yang Bi. Part five analyzes translation of culture-loaded words in Vanity Fair from perspective of domestication and foreignization. Part six gives a conclusion of the whole paper. This chapter aims to indicate the role of domestication and foreignization in the translation of culture-loaded words and attempts to combine translation techniques to find out the balance of two theories and the concrete measures of culture-loaded words translation.

Key words

culture-loaded words; Vanity Fair; domestication; foreignization

摘要

文化负载词以语言的形式展示了一个国家的文化、习俗与生活习惯等。本文讨论了如何从异化与归化的角度恰当地翻译文化负载词，介绍了异化与归化两种翻译策略并以杨必汉译本的《名利场》为例，分析了杨必在翻译文化负载词时，对异化与归化的熟练运用。本文包括七个部分,第一部分介绍了翻译及其不同的定义,第二部分论述归化和异化的定义及其发展过程,第三部分介绍文化负载词及其分类,第四部分介绍了杨必的《名利场》及翻译特点,第五部分从归化和异化的角度分析《名利场》中文化负载词的翻译,第六部分是对全文的总结。文旨在表明异化与归化在翻译文化负载词时所起的作用，结合翻译技巧尝试找出翻译文化负载词中异化与归化的平衡点以及具体的方法。

关键词

文化负载词；《名利场》；归化；异化

1.Introduction

Globalization has developed deeply and its trend will keep going further. International communication and cooperation will go far and countries in the world are interdependent. So it is necessary for each country to strengthen communication. The basis of communication is understanding, which is based on cultures, customs, habits and so on. Translation as a medium can not only solve the problem of language barrier but at the same time convey thinking patterns, behavioral modes, living ways and so on. Translation basically has five styles: practical style, science and technology style, journalese style, argumentation style and artistic style which systematically introduce other nation’s technology, culture, information and so on. This chapter focuses on the translation of literature and takes the translation of culture-loaded words in Vanity Fair, written by William Makepeace Thackeray, as an example.

As for translation, its definition has been given by many people who have been devoted to this career in modern times or ancient times, in China or elsewhere. For most people, translation is just that one language is transformed to another language. Chinese scholar Xu Yuanchong once mentioned his understanding of translation in his book The Art of Translation and defined translation as that the art of translation is to understand the content of source text through its form and then express the content in the form of target text (Xu Yuanchong, 2006, 16). He pays much attention to the process of transformation and emphasizes the surface structure and deep thinking way. Zhang Peiji, another translation expert, thinks that translation is an activity that one language is used to express another language that includes the content of thought accurately and completely. His core is conveying information correctly.

Eugene Nida comes up with the idea that "translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalence of the source language, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of the style"(Nida, 2004, 12). He points out that translators should convey the content and emotion of original language as accurate as possible, while Peter Newmark insists that "(Translating) is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way the author intended the text".(Newmark, 2001, 128). He emphasizes translation should obey the style of the original text. All these scholars express their understandings about translation, and suggest not only definitions but criteria. In fact,their translation theories happen to coincide with the theory of Liu Zhongde, who revised Yan Fu's theories which can be summarized as faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance into faithfulness, expressiveness and closeness, which are widely accepted by Chinese translators. As far as I am concerned, good translation should make it possible that target readers not only understand the content of source texts but produce the same emotion as source readers. Good translation can deal with language barrier and convey the culture and value, which is the function and significance of translation.

2.Domestication and Foreignization

2.1 Definition of domestication

According to Schleiermacher, Lawrence Venuti defined "leaves the reader in peace as much as possible, and moves the author towards him"(Venuti, 2004, 19-20) as domestication. However, Venuti holds the view that domestication has a pessimistic meaning because the term is seen as universal principle in dominant cultures which are "aggressively monolingual, unreceptive to the foreign", he also points out that these cultures are "accustomed to fluent translations that invisibly inscribe foreign texts with (target language) values and provide readers with the narcissistic experience of recognizing their own culture in a cultural other" (Venuti, 2004, 15). The concept of invisibility is very significant for it is used to depict translator's function in the process of creating the target texts that can be accepted by society in a culture that regards domestication as translation criteria. As a matter of fact, it is the invisibility of translator which simultaneously “enacts and masks an insidious domestication of foreign texts” (Venuti, 2004, 16-17).

The translation method of domestication includes several procedures: choosing carefully of the text which contributes to this way; being conscious of using fluent and pleasant style of target language; rearranging target language to accord with the type of target language; adding to interpretive material; deleting special features of source language and using orientation of target language to make target language generally harmonious. Venuti believes that domestication possesses characteristic of dominance; that is to say, it covers source language's cultures and features and disseminates target language's cultures and dominant position.(Venuti, 2004, 16-20)

2.2 Definition of foreigniztion

According to Venuti, foreignization is a term to designate the type of translation in which a target language is produced and deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreignness of the original. He views foreignization as an "ethnodeviant pressure" and regards its role as to "register the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad"(Venuti, 2004, 20). The translation method means that it is not completely necessary to obey the rule of the target language and text and that it is acceptable to choose languages that lacks smoothness and uniformity and unintelligible style in some appropriate situations. It also helps collect realia of source language and archaisms of target language. These features provide target language readers with an "alien reading experience" (Venuti, 2004, 20). However, foreignization "depends on domestic cultural materials" (Venuti, 2004, 20). Venuti admits that foregnization is "equally partial (as domesticating translation) in their interpretation of the foreign text", yet disposes that they "tend to flaunt their partiality instead of concealing it".(Venuti, 2004, 34)

2.3 Development of domestication and foreignization

Domestication and foreignization proposed by Lawrence Venuti are based on the speech On the Different Methods of Translating given by Friedrich Schleiermacher. He points out that there are two ways which can help target text readers understand source text completely and correctly in the situation that is not separated from target text, 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. According to the speech, Lawrence Venuti defines the first way as foreignizing strategy and the second domesticating strategy. Either of these two translation methods has advantages and disadvantages so they stir a wide discussion. In western translation circle, Eugene Nida is the representative of domestication, whose translation theory is “dynamic equivalence”. He claims that source text should be translated in the most natural way, making readers find the most appropriate understanding in target language culture. However, Lawrence Venuti is regarded as the representative of foreignization, who believes that domestication is based on ethnocentrism and imperialist cultural values. In order to resist this doctrine and value, he supports the application of foreignization.

Besides, Israel scholar Even-Zohar created polysystem theory, expanding domestication and foreignization from the perspective of sociology. He thinks that selecting between domestication and foreignization is determined by the specific state and status of a particular time rather than conscious choice of translators. When translated literature plays a dominant role in a multi-cultural system of a nation, it is better to use foreignizing translation; otherwise, it is better to use domesticating translation. In Chinese translation circle, Liu Kaiying criticizes drawbacks of domestication and advocates foreignization, which first leads to the discussion of two translation methods in China. While, Sun zhili is the representative of foreignization, who analyses literary translation from late 19th century to 20th century and comes up with the assertion that literary translation in 21th century will step forward foreignization from domestication. There are scholars who disagree with the first two views such as Cai Ping and Guo Jianzhong, considering into use domestication and foreignization depends on various factors and they need to be looked at critically. In general, discussion of application of the two translation methods still exists and choice of translating methods is up to the translator, the reader and the style of translation works.

3. Culture-loaded Words

3.1 Definition of Culture-loaded Words

Culture is a complicate social phenomenon, which carries hundreds or even thousands of years' development of a nation and contains the nation's customs, values, knowledge, experience, politics, economy, religion and so on. Culture has the characteristics of region and nationality and uniqueness. Besides, culture is interactive with society, which increases its comprehensibility and complexity. Therefore, comparing to the translation of pure language, language with cultural meaning is more difficult to translate. The culture-loaded word is one case. As the name implies, culture-loaded words are full of culture. Because of its uniqueness, these words usually can not find equivalences in another language. So it is called cultural gap. But there is not unified definition about it. Different scholars give different definitions and they have something in common. Bao Huinan defines culture-loaded words as that source language carrying cultural information have no equivalent or corresponding words (Bao Huinan, 2004, 10). Hu Wenzhong thinks that culture-loaded words are included in a specific cultural scope (Hu Wenzhong, 1999, 64).

Another widely accepted definition is that in the language system, culture-words are those that can best represent the language that bears cultural information and expresses the social life of human and also refer to those words or phrases which deliver a certain kind of cultural connotative and associative meanings that may be found or may be not found in another language or culture. Mona Baker describes 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 as “cultural-specific” (Baker, 2000, 21). In conclusion, from all these definitions above, culture-loaded words are unique and have no complete equivalents.

3.2 Classification of culture-loaded words

Eugene Nida divides cultural factors into five groups from the perspective of physical form and ideology, including social culture, material culture, ecological culture, religious culture and linguistic culture (Nida, 2004, 91). These five factors become the basic classification of culture-loaded words, that is, social culture-loaded words, material loaded-words, ecological loaded-words, religious culture-loaded words and linguistic loaded-words. Based on the classification of Nida, Peter Newmark also divides culture-loaded words into five types: ecology; material culture; social culture; organizations, customs, activities, procedures and concepts; gestures and habit (Newmark, 2001, 135). This chapter mainly analyzes Nida’s classification.

3.2.1 Social Culture-loaded Words

Social culture-loaded words involve a lot of aspects. They mainly refer to people’s life, which consists of habits, customs, values, lifestyle, historical background, salutation, political features, social activities, etc. They can reflect the development of society, express the characteristics of the times under the specific background, and have distinct sociality. For example, in China, there are many different salutations about relatives, such as “叔叔”、“伯伯”、“舅舅”、“姑父”和“姨夫”while the west simply use a word of “uncle” to cover all these salutations.

3.2.2 Material-loaded Words

Material loaded-words refer to those which can meet people's basic living needs and satisfy their basic development needs, such as food culture, clothing culture, transportation culture, construction culture, and means of production. Chinese food culture is different from the west’s. For example, when celebrating traditional festival like the Spring Festival and the Mid-autumn Festival, Chinese family will reunite to enjoy “团圆饭”, that is, to enjoy a reunion dinner. “Cakes and pies and beaten biscuits” are special food in the west, so there are not corresponding foods in China, which increases the difficulty of translation.

3.2.3 Ecological-loaded Words

Ecological loaded-words are related to nature, which is composed of geographical conditions, climate and season, plants and animals and so forth. Because of different geological positions, different cultures have different ecological loaded-words. For example, In China, when it comes to "Yellow River", it is natural for people to think of the term "mother of rivers" because in ancient times, the Yellow River district boasted mild and humid climate, distinct seasons, adequate water and moderate temperature, which were conductive to the growth of crops. Therefore, our ancestors settled in the Yellow River district. In other words, it is the Yellow River that nurtured Chinese people and Chinese civilization. However, western culture does not have such concept just as China does not have the connotation of west wind. Britain locates in low-lying British Isles and is harassed by west wind. Besides, Britain is near the sea, which increases wind force. So in winter, Britain’s west wind is very strong, thus being an image in the Ode to the West Wind written by Shelly.

3.2.4 Religious-loaded Words

Religious loaded-words concern religious beliefs and values. Religious culture is a part of human development. In western culture, most people believe in Christianity and make Bible as their codes of conduct. Many words in Bible have become proverbs and are widely used in daily conversations. For example, “forbidden fruit” is a phrase originating from Bible that has been known to every household. The phrase is usually used to describe something that is enjoyable but illegal or immoral. In China, buddhism is one of the major beliefs and there are plenty of proverbs about it, such as “天花乱坠”、“普度众生”、“西方净土” etc.

3.2.5 Linguistic-loaded Words

Linguistic loaded-words are refer to linguistics, comprising phoneme, syllable, intonation, word and grammar, etc. For example, Chinese language structure has its special rhythm, and four-character phrases and idioms are the dominant one, such as “刻舟求剑”、“愚公移山”、“项庄舞剑意在沛公”etc. These words are not only four-characters but also full of culture connotations. English also has abstract nouns that do not have equivalents in Chinese like “brinkmanship”, “decontextualization”.

4.Vanity Fair and Its Chinese Version

4.1 Introduction of Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair's full name is Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a hero, written by William Makepeace Thackeray. The name of Vanity Fair derives from the masterpiece The Pilgrim’s Progress, written by John Bunyan. The author altered the original name A Novel Without a Hero as subtitle. Vanity Fair is an illusory place in Bunyan’s work where everything can be dealt with and the place expresses people’s vanity and ugliness of human nature.

The story is draw from life. In the nineteenth century, Britain was strong and the industry and commerce were flourishing. The wealthy businessmen got rich by exploiting colonies and laborers and used money to control the society. At the same time, the war for power between Britain and France was broke out. All kinds of people in the upper and middle strata of society were busy striving for power, fame and position. Under this kind of social background, Thackeray created the book.

The book mainly tells a story about two girls, one is Becky Sharp who is beautiful and brilliant but born from poverty, and the other is Amelia Sedley who is gentle and born from a rich family. The two girl's lives form a contrast and build up the book. Both girls are studying at Pinkerton Girls’ School. In this school, Becky from a poor family suffers from neglect and discrimination, while Amelia, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, is loved and welcomed by everyone. After graduation, Becky begins her struggling in the world. She first goes into Amelia’s house to stay for a period time, while she tries to court Amelia's brother, Joseph, and manages to marry a wealthy person and change her destiny. However, Joseph looks down upon her and does not accept her. Because of the reject of Joseph, Becky has to leave his house and comes to Sir Peter, who is old and sophisticated and becomes a governess. Here, she goes out of her way to please Sir Pitt and his elder son, and then she curries favour with Miss Crawley who is a virgin and possesses a lot of money, living an extreme luxurious and decadent life.（Yang Bi,2012,2）

Miss Crawley’s favorite person is Rawdon, a cavalry officer, who is worthy of the name of the buck and likes all the things that noblemen like, such as drinking, gambling, fighting and so forth. Even though Rawdon is a buck, Miss Crawley still regards him as her heir. Becky tries to please everyone and catches all people’s hearts including Sir Pitt, Miss Crawley and Rawdon. The moment Sir Pitt finishes his wife’s funeral, he makes a proposal to Becky. At this time, Becky has married Rawdon, which irritates both Sir Pitt and Miss Crawley. Under such situation, Sir Pitt and Miss Crawley both decide to break off relations with Rawdon. Miss Crawley even deprives of his right to success her fortunes. Becky also regrets for losing the chance to be a lady.

In the meantime, Amelia's father who used to be wealthy goes bankrupt in the fierce business competition. Amelia has been engaged to a youth officer George Osborne for many years. George is brilliant and handsome but is also a buck. Amelia is totally enamored of George and regards him as her hero. But after the bankruptcy of the Sedley family, father of George, old Osborne adds to the misfortunes to the Sedley family and forces his son to conceal the engagement with Amelia regardless of their friendship. Dobbin, George’s classmate and comrade-in-arms, is always crush on Amelia and does not have the heart to look at Amelia’s suffer from pains and torment. Through Dobbin’s repeated persuasion, George finally disobeys his father’s order and marries Amelia. During honeymoon period, the troops in which George, Rawdon and Dobbin are staying are ordered to fight at the front. Two newly married couples join the army in Brussels, Belgium.

On the eve of the battle of Waterloo, unfaithful George is tempted by Becky and has a love affair stealthily with her. They even decide to elope together, but it does not happen because of George’s death in the war. After the war, Becky continues her journey to step into upper class of society. She makes full use of her beauty and wisdom to please magnates and defraud their money at the price of fame and chastity that most woman cherish. At last, Becky’s behaviors are found by her husband Rawdon. Even though Rawdon is on his last pins and gains extreme notoriety, he is not willing to taint his family's fame. In order to keep his dignity and that of his family, Rawdon firmly breaks up with Becky. The end of Becky is drifting from place to place and spending her rest time pointlessly and alone.

Meanwhile, after the death of her husband, Amelia is immersed in the pain of losing her husband. Over the next ten years, she consistently loves her husband and lives in a tough life. She can not be admitted by old Osborn and raise her little child and her old parents on her own. During the time, Dobbin, having been promoted to major after the war, always helps poor Amelia. Amelia has to give up her son for a living, from which she gets a sum of money from the old Osborn in return. Her life has improved. Ten years later, Dobbin comes back to Britain from India. Despite her gratification to Dobbin, Amelia can not accept Dobbin's love because of her admiration to her husband. Until Becky shows her husband’ letters about elopement, Amelia gives up her illusion to her husband and marries Dobbin. But all things have changed a lot. In the vanity fair, everyone has payed much price for their vanity, selfishness and indulgence, greediness and foolishness.

Thackeray was a critical realist of 19th century. He used ironical method to depict the ugly faces of various figures and deceit and dishonesty in high places with vivid writing. Vanity Fair expresses the vivid story as if it happened in front of the readers, thus forming a unique artistic style. The book's structure is extensive enough to hold the whole society, making people realize the influence of environment on human beings.(Yang Bi,2012,5）

4.2 Characteristics of Chinese Version of Vanity Fair by Yang Bi

The famous translation of Vanity Fair is the version translated by Yang Bi. Yang Bi is an outstanding translator and a representative in literary translation circles. Her translation is flexible in expression and is not limited by the original sentence pattern. Her audacious adjustment about sentence structure makes language more fluent. The characters’ emotions in the book and the author’s attitudes towards characters are presented by this translator. The translated version expresses original meaning perfectly, faithfully and vividly, reproducing the style of the source text, which can be comparable to the original one.

Firstly, a successful translation that gives expression to the language and language beauty is mainly reflected in the flexibility and appropriateness of choosing words. In English, a word or a phrase has many different meanings. The adoption of the exact meaning depends on translator’s language level both in English and Chinese. The appropriate choice is determined by the translator's deep language skills. Besides, whether dialogues of characters or descriptions of persons and objects are both translated in plain words will make reader feel understandable, clear and lively.

Secondly, Yang Bi fully understands the original style and determines her translation style on the base of emotions and tones of the source text. Her style is not only steady, simple, humorous but also full of beauty. Recreation is also based on complete understanding and faithfully conveys information and artistic conception. Li Duanyan once commented “Ms. Yang Bi’s translation not only grasps the essence of translation, but also dares to recreate, thus achieves the highest level of translation, faithfully and lively”. (Li Duanyan,1980,44-45)

Thirdly, the translation embodies excellent translation skills such as division, combination, addition, deletion and so on. The application of these skills improves translation text's fluency and puts it in the situation that does not change the original meaning and make the translation more close to Chinese text, which is easier to be accepted for Chinese readers. In general, this translation version not only conforms to both English and Chinese language skills, reproduces the style of source text and is also intelligible for readers as well. The translation is regarded as the model of the translation circle. From the perspective of translation aesthetics, her translation is mainly characterized by cultural beauty, the use of four-character sentences, the use of reduplicated words and the flexible expression of spoken language. Her translation style is simple, readable and funny and this translation version has great influence on the whole translation circle.

5. Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Vanity Fair

5.1 Application of Domestication

5.1.1 Ecological Culture-loaded Words

Example1:

Only I wish you had sown these wild oats of yours, George. (Thackeray, 2012, 198)

希望你干完了这些荒唐事就算过了瘾。

“Wild oats” grew only in Europe and the Mediterranean region in history and then become an idiom in English culture. “Sow ones wild oats” means to do wild and foolish things in one’s youth” (often assumed to have sort of sexual meaning). Yang’s translation does not mention the background of the idiom and delete the cultural meaning of it. Yang uses “荒唐事” to translate the idiom, which is more close to Chinese readers.

Example 1:

Only I wish you had sown these wild oats of yours, George. (Thackeray, 2012, 198)

希望你干完了这些荒唐事就算过了瘾。

“Wild oats” grew only in Europe and the Mediterranean region in history and then become an idiom in English culture. “Sow ones wild oats” means to do wild and foolish things in one’s youth” (often assumed to have sort of sexual meaning). Yang’s translation does not mention the background of the idiom and delete the cultural meaning of it. Yang uses “荒唐事” to translate the idiom, which is more close to Chinese readers.--Ji Tiantian (talk) 14:32, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Example 2:

The fellow has not pluck enough to say Bo to a goose. (Thackeray, 2012, 371)

那家伙真是老鼠胆子。

The sentence can be translated into “那家伙胆小得连对鹅‘呸’一声都不敢” by literal translation. It is no doubt that this sentence expresses the fellow’s cowardice. In Chinese, there is a phrase “胆小如鼠”. So the translation of “老鼠胆子” conveys the information of the original sentence vividly and is familiar to Chinese readers.

Example 3:

Mrs. Bowls cautioned her lodger against venturing into the lion’s den”. (Thackeray, 2012, 452)

叫她切不可轻易住到老虎窝里去。

In the west, “lion” is the symbol of power, representing the king of all animal just as the image of tiger in China. So the “lion” is translated to the corresponding cultural image of China, that is “老虎”, which both reflect that Mrs. Bowls thinks that it is dangerous for Briggs to live with Mrs. Rawdon.

Example 4:

Poor Brigs can no more play than an owl, she is so stupid. (Thackeray, 2012, 533)

可怜的布立葛斯蠢得要死，哪里会玩牌。

In the western culture, there is an idiom “as wise as an owl”. So in westerners’ view, owl is the symbol of wisdom. Here, “no more play than an owl” means foolishness. In China, traditional people are superstitious and believe that looking at an owl or hearing its sound is unlucky and bad luck is coming. So there is not the same implied meaning about owl between the west and China. Therefore, the translation deletes the owl and keeps its implied meaning.

5.1.2 Material Culture-loaded Words

Example 5:

He insisted upon having a bowl of rack punch. (Thackeray, 2012, 56)

他又要了一碗五味酒。

“Rack punch” is a kind of drink. The translator chooses a substitution of “五味酒”to fill in the cultural gap and is easier to understand for readers.

Example 6:

I have no taste for bread and butter. (Thackeray, 2012, 710）

有些人乏味的就像白开水煮豆腐，我可不喜欢。

“Bread and butter” are common food in western countries and not rare or interesting for the western people. When it comes to food that is light and tasteless, Chinese people will think of “白开水” and “豆腐”which are white and dull. The source text uses metaphor “bread and butter” to describe boring people. The translator also uses simile to describe this kind of people. Besides, the division of translation version reads leisurely in mood and emphasizes the attitudes of speaker.

Example 7:

It is the duty of great intellects to be content with a bread-and-butter paradise. (Thackery,2012, 908)

只求能得到这样家常的乐趣。

As mentioned above, bread and butter are common food for the west people and exist in every family. The two kinds of food are homely and accord with the meaning of “家常”. The translation deletes the meaning of original sentence and embodies the connotative meaning.

5.1.3 Social Culture-loaded Words

Example 8:

In a CURTAIN LECTURE, I say, Mrs Sedley took her husband to ask for his cruel conduct to poor Joe. (Thackeray, 2012, 49)

正在对他训话。

“Curtain lecture” is a phrase in English, which means a private lecture to a husband by his wife. “Ask for his cruel conduct” implies a blaming tone. Two phrases are just the meaning of “训话”. The several small sentences are translated into one short sentence, which is precise and concise.

Example 9:

But he said Sir has numbered every “man Jack” of them. (Thackeray, 2012, 130)

花匠说毕脱先生可是一串串都数过了。

“Every man Jack” is an informal expression which means a single individual. The translation of “一串串” not only shows the meaning of the phrase but accords with the context.

Example 10:

He came home and looked out his history in the Peerage. (Thackeray, 2012, 207）

他回家之后，立刻拿出《缙绅录》来把这个人的身世细细看个明白。

“Peerage”means the peers of a kingdom considered as a group. Here, according to the context and the capitalization of the word, “Peerage” refers to a register or a book. The translator chooses Chinese book 《缙绅录》which has the same meanings to translate the book, which replaces cultural meaning of the original sentence.

Example 11:

Lord Steyne treated his “Hareem” whenever symptoms of insubordination appeared in his household. (Thackeray, 2012, 758)

每逢他的“后宫”里的女人有不服管束的行为。

The sentence expresses Lord Steyne’s dignify. Lord Steyne is a central figure in upper class. In order to reveal his social status,“household” is translated into “后宫”. In China, the word of “后宫” is full of cultural meaning used to a man’s power. Yang finds a cultural word in China to replace one in the western culture.

There are some other examples about Yang’s translation of social culture-loaded words by means of domesticating method in Vanity Fair.

Old Nick 魔鬼老爹

The little artful minx 诡计多端的狐媚子

Whop my second keeper! 把我的看狩猎场的打了吗？

A second wife 填房

Off the hooks 翘了辫子

O brother wearers of motley 同行的小丑们

5.1.4 Religious Culture-loaded Words

Example 12:

Osborne was Sedley’s godson. (Thackeray,2012,54）

奥斯本是塞特笠的干儿子。

“Godson” is a male godchild in religion, and its relevant opposite is Godfather or Godmother. Parents will invite one of their good friends to be godfather of their kid. Godfather or godmother plays a key role in kid’s baptism. China has no such concept but has a concept that parents will invite their good friend to be “ 干爹” or “干妈” of their kid. Two concepts of godfather and “干爹” have similar social background. They both are people who are the best friend of the parents and are chosen to be by the parents, but they have different cultural background, that is, one is out of religion, the other is just in the folk.

Example 13:

What a little harpy that woman from Hampshire is. (Thackeray, 2012, 308)

汉泊郡来的那个女人真是个贪心辣手的家伙。

“Harpy” is a cruel creature with a woman’s head and body and a bird’s wings and feet also represents a cruel woman. The translation of “贪心辣手” conforms to connotative meaning of religion and is equal to cruelty.

Example 14:

So Jos’s tents and pilau were pleasant to this little Ishmaelite. (Thackeray, 2012, 1044)

同样的，蓓基一向被放逐在外面，现在住在乔斯的帐篷里面吃他的比劳，觉得真是高兴。

In the Bible, Ishmaelite is the descendant of Ishmael. According to Bible, Ishmael is the eldest son of Abraham. His mother is Hagar, maid of Abraham’s wife, Sarah. After the birth of Sarah’s son the second year, Ishmael is evicted. In English, Ishmael refers to social outcasts. Ishmael is translated into “一向被放逐在外” in the way of domestication. If using foreignization, the translator must add many notes of names which are unimportant and unnecessary, and these complex names will enhance the difficulty to understand the content.

5.1.5 Linguistic Culture-loaded Words

Example 15: She spelt satin satting, and Saint Jame’s, Saint Jams. (Thackeray, 2012, 324)

她把“缎子” 写成了 “团子”, “圣·詹姆士”写成了“生申母事”。

In the original sentence, the author takes advantage of pronunciation and form of English to express the error. The translator also uses the pronunciation and near-tone characters in Chinese to translate the sentence. Both sentences skillfully exploit the characters of two languages, making the sentences vivid.

5.2 Application of Foreignization

5.2.1 Ecological Culture-loaded Words

Example 16：

He could sing no better than an owl. (Thackeray, 2012, 92)

因为他实在跟猫头鹰一样不会唱歌 。

This sentence is complete literal translation. In the western culture and Chinese culture, owl’s sound is unpleasant. So the translator uses foreignization method, which is not only faithful to source language but conforms to Chinese people’s cultural identity. (Thackeray, 2012, 201)

Example 17:

When the present writer went to survey with eagle glance the field of Waterloo. (Thackery2012, 431)

用他那双鹰眼细细的把战场看了一遍。

The original sentence describes the “glance” with eagle. The translated version adopts foreignization. For Chinese people, eagle’s eyes are incisive and acute. So the literal translation completely conveys emotions of source text.

5.2.2 Material Culture-loaded Words

Example 18:

Her fingers were like so many sausages, cold and lifeless. (Thackeray, 2012, 646)

摸上去就像五条小香肠。

“Sausage” is a kind of food in the west that is highly seasoned minced meat stuffed in casings. Chinese“香肠”is similar to the food and such translation is vivid and will not cause misunderstandings.

5.2.3 Social Culture-loaded Words

Example 19:

I have nourished a viper in my bosom. (Thackeray, 2012, 27)

我这真是在胸口养了一条毒蛇。

Miss Pinkerton borrows the story that farmer saves a snake but is bit to death by the snake in Aesop’s Fables to rebuke that Becky is ingratitude. China has the similar expression such as “养虎为患 ”. The reason why Yang did not adopt such expression maybe is that she did not want to destroy the association that snake is related to bad woman both in China and in the west. There is Medusa in the west while there is “蛇蝎美人” in China. This literal translation is not so fluent but keeps the associative meaning of the original sentence.

Example 20:

“Figs” was the fellow whom he despised most. (Thackeray, 2012, 70)

他最瞧不起“无花果”。(加注：无花果“figs”这字有傲慢的意思)

This sentence is literal translation plus note. “Figs” has different meanings in English. One refers to “a soft candy”, the other is “not to care all about something”. The original sentence uses “figs” to express an emotion. Yang translates one meaning of the word, which is humor and interesting. The note explains another meaning, which completely displays the meaning that the original sentence coveys.

Example 21:

Though he is not Adonis, certainly. (Thackeray, 2012, 83)

当然啰，他不是阿多尼斯. (加注释）

“Adonis” is a name and is transliterated. He, the divine of the plants of spring, is always young and worshipped by woman in Greek mythology. Names and place names always adopt transliteration. Adding annotation can make readers know more about cultural background. So the translation method is simple in the text and also help the readers understand the text better.

Example 22:

About as elegantly decorated as a she chimney-sweep on May-day. (Thackeray, 2012, 333）

活像扫烟囱的女孩子穿戴了准备过五月节。

There a job called chimney-sweep in the west and William Black also writes two poems about the job. Children who devote themselves to the job are poor. Though China does not have such kind of job in the history but readers can imagine that children who do the job many become black because they always stay in the chimney. May-day is Labor Day that Chinese readers are familiar with. So according to imagination and cultural background, it is possible for Chinese readers to understand the meaning of the sentence.

5.2.4 Religious Culture-loaded Words

Example 23:

He was never known during eight years at school to be subjected to that punishment, which it is generally thought none but a cherub can escape.

在学校读书的八年里头，他从来没有给老师打过屁股。普通说起来，只有天使才能躲过这种惩罚。(注释：天使是没有屁股的，十九世纪英国散文家兰姆（Lamb）在《母校回忆录》一文中就曾提到“只有头部和翅膀的小天使”）

The sentence depicts the image of model student of Mrs. Crawley. The original sentence uses the word of “cherub” but does not explain clearly what “that punishment” is because English readers will produce corresponding association when reading “cherub”. This implied meaning improves humor. Yang translates “cherub” into “天使”, which is familiar to Chinese readers and is more acceptable. It is worth mentioning that Yang Bi explains what the punishment is and cites other books to explain the reason, which tells cultural background, enhances reader’s understanding and receives a comedy effect.

5.2.5 Linguistic Culture-loaded Words

Example 24:

Buty and the Beast I call him, ha ha! (Thackeray, 2012, 123)

我说他一半是别镝一半是野兽，哈哈! (加注:指童话“美人与獣”，美人（Beauty）和别镝（Buty)同音）

“Buty”and beauty are homophones. Beauty and Beast is a fairy tale. “别镝” is a transliteration of “Buty”. If only looking at the translation of “Buty”, readers can not understand the meaning of the sentence. So the translator adds a note to explain such translation.

Example 25:

Miss ah-Miss Blunt! (Thackeray, 2012, 127）

白伦脱小姐!（外文加注释）

The sentence is translated according to the original sentence. “Sharp” means acuity and “Blunt” means purity. Mr. Crawley has a poor memory and mixes two meanings. The translator explains the real meaning at the foot of the page. This literal translation plus annotation can help readers understand implied meaning.

6.Conclusion

Culture-loaded words are full of cultural background. Translation not only conveys information of them but also their implied meaning. Vanity Fair is famous for its significance of the times and witty language and bearing cultural information. Yang Bi’s translation is intelligible and gives a feeling that readers are reading local books. The praise in criticism circle and its popularity among the readers both indicate the excellence of Yang’s translation.

Yang applies much of domestication and foreignization in her translation of Vanity Fair and receives wide welcome and acceptance among Chinese readers. Although controversy still exists, the fact has proved that a good translation text need both of them. Combination of domestication and foreignization is a corollary. Because of different geographical condition, history and society, the west and China have different cultural background, thus causing culture gap. Because of the resemblance of these conditions and the result of wide communication between the west and China, they also have something in common in the culture. So in the process of translation, domestication and foreignization can make up for each others’ deficiencies. In order to obtain a good translation text, it is important for translators to find a balance between domestication and foreignization when using translation strategies.

References

Nida, E. A, Charles R. Taber. The Theory and Practice of Translation [M]. 上海：上海外语教育出版社. 2004.

Newmark, Peter. A Textbook of Translation [M]. New York: Prentice Hall, 1988, 39-44.

Venuti, Lawrence. The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation [M]. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社. 2004, 15-20, 34.

Mona, Baker. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation [M]. 北京: 北京外语教学社. 2000, 21.

Shuttle, Mark＆ Cowie, Moria. Dictionary of Translation Studies [M]. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社. 2004, 43-44, 59.

Tharkery 萨克雷著. 名利场 [M]. 杨必译. 北京：人民文学出版社. 2012.

Xu Yuanchong 许渊冲. 翻译的艺术[M]. 北京：五洲传播出版社. 2006.

Tharkery 萨克雷著. 名利场[M]. 北京：中国宇航出版社. 2012.

Li Duanyan 李端严. 杨必译《名利场》技巧举例[J]. 兰州大学学报. 1980, 4: 45-46.

Bao Huinan, Bao Ang 包惠南, 包昂. 中国文化与汉英翻译[M]. 北京：外文出版社. 2004, 10.

Liao Qiyi 廖七一. 当代西方翻译理论探索[M]. 南京：译林出版社. 2000, 232.--Ji Tiantian (talk) 14:32, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Skopos and Functional Equivalence

On the Relationship among Translation Theories, Strategies and Techniques ——From the Perspective of Skopos Theory 谌孙福 Chen Sunfu

谌孙福 Chen Sunfu 202020080597 英语语言文学

Abstract

One fact known to be existent in the learning of translation is students' ignorance of the discrepancy between translation studies and translation practice. Bluntly speaking, central to translation studies are diverse translation theories. However, some strategies, methods and skills accordingly applied are at the core of translation practice during the process of translation. Given the fact that translation theories, strategies, methods and skills are always misunderstood as concepts in the same level, this paper aims to expound the relationship among them on the basis of Hans Vermeer's Skopos Theory as well as the exhaustive analysis of examples of pragmatic translation. With the citation of several examples of pragmatic translation, including those of tourism translation, literary translation and business translation, this paper elucidates the principal points vividly.

Key words

Translation theories; Translation strategies; Translation techniques; Skopos Theory; Pragmatic translation

题目

论目的论视角下翻译理论、翻译策略与翻译技巧之间的关系

摘要

学生翻译学习过程中普遍存在的一个现象是混淆翻译学研究和翻译实践的区别。简言之，翻译学研究的核心是形形色色的翻译理论。相比之下，翻译实践关注的重点则是翻译过程中运用的翻译策略、方法和技巧。鉴于翻译理论、策略、方法和技巧常被误认为是同一层面的概念，基于汉斯•弗米尔的功能目的论和对实用文本译例的详尽分析，本论文旨在阐明翻译理论、策略、方法和技巧之间的关系。文中出现的实用文本译例清楚展现了论文要点，如旅游文本、文学类文本以及商务文本的翻译等。

关键词

翻译理论；翻译策略；翻译技巧；目的论；实用类文本翻译

Introduction

Skopos Theory

Skopos Theory, one of the most profound contributions made by German Functionalist School, is put forward by Hans Vermeer as a new way to deal with translation, especially the relationship between ST (the source text) and TT (the target text). Here, the original German word "Skopos" refers to "purpose" in English, indicating that Skopos Theory can be also interpreted as "the principle of purposes". According to Vermeer, there are mainly three rules to be abided by, namely skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule, among which the skopos rule is of overriding importance. Now an exhaustive explanation will be given in the following text with regard to those rules. (Dong Xiaobo 2012,17)

The first one to be illustrated is the overwhelmingly significant skopos rule. In the eyes of Hans Vermeer, "each text is produced for a given purpose and should serve this purpose. The skopos rule thus reads as follow: 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).

Seeing from his remarks, what matters most in the process of translation is not so much the equivalence between ST and TT as the manifold purposes. These purposes encompass those of the translator and the text, the latter one of which is greatly highlighted. That is to say, the translator need not obstinately stick to the form and style of ST but rather give top priority to what the TT actually wants to convey and transfer to TT readers. Hence, the adoption of pertinent translation strategies and techniques is by no means haphazard but in accordance with the skopos rule. Moreover, Skopos Theory also provides translators an efficacious way to free themselves from the restraint of ST. Their obligation lies in tailoring TT rendered by them to the ultimate goals of the translation activity, such as informing TT readers about something new, persuading them or so.(Dong Xiaobo 2012,17)

Then, here comes the second rule, coherence rule, also called the intra-lingual rule. It has been widely held that this rule lays much emphasis on the readability and acceptability of TT for TT readers. Imaging there are two translation version of a text, one of which is transparent and intelligible whereas another one of which is rigid and eccentric for people to understand, then which one will be the ideal version for TT readers? The answer is the latter one. The case is that readers are more prone to read TT which conforms to their expressive habits and conventions. This is why the translation strategy, domestication has been frequently adopted when translating some exotic or foreign texts, with a view to catering to TT readers' knowledge. (Dong Xiaobo 2012,18)

The last but not least one rule to be demonstrated is the fidelity rule, or the well-known inter-lingual rule. Here, the loyalty of TT to ST cannot be overstated any more. Bearing a resemblance to Yan Fu's "faithfulness" or Nida's Functional Equivalence Theory, TT must be rendered in conformity with ST. Quite different from Yan Fu's and Nida's standpoints, such a kind of fidelity, however, is determined or constrained by the purposes of TT and the translator's comprehension of ST to a great extent. (Dong Xiaobo 2012,18)

To conclude, in spite of the respective roles played by the above-mentioned three rules in translation practice, the coherence rule and the fidelity rule are outshined by the skopos rule for purposes of TT and translators are the most crucial elements to be considered when we view translation practice from the unique perspective of Skopos Theory.

Translation theories,strategies and techniques

Translation theories are the fruitful outcomes yielded thanks to our predecessors'assiduous and relentless work in terms of translation studies. Broadly speaking, translation theories are some guidelines and benchmarks used to facilitate translation practice. They are quite abstract notions but informative and enlightening knowledge to be relied on. (Xiong Bing 2014, 83)

With the elapse of time, translation theories also take on historical characteristics, each one of which can be attributed to a certain school, such as the literary school, the linguistic school, the translation studies school and the deconstructionism school. In our modern translation studies, the linguistic school has been deeply rooted in students'minds, including Nida's Functional Equivalence Theory, Vermeer's Skopos Theory, Catford's Translation shift theory, New Mark's semantic translation and communicative translation. Given the limited space in this paper, other prominent translation theories will not be delineated here. (Xiong Bing 2014, 83)

The interpretation of the word "strategy" by Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary reads as "a careful plan or method for achieving a particular goal usually over a long period of time." Applying this word to translation studies, the definition of translation strategies can be defined as a series of principles and plans used to address difficult problems emerging in the process of translation practice. They are subordinate to and influenced by certain translation theories.(Xiong Bing 2014, 83)

In translation studies, some prominent dichotomies of translation strategies can be found if viewing from various angles, like the contrast between literal translation and free translation, the juxtaposition of domestication and foreignzation, as well as the comparison between semantic translation and communicative translation. One thing to be underscored here is how to make a rational decision when it comes to the selection of various translation strategies. The aforementioned sentences remind us of the fact that translation theories will exert more or less impacts on our preferences toward some translation strategies.(Xiong Bing 2014, 83)

In translation studies, some prominent dichotomies of translation strategies can be found if viewing from various angles, like the contrast between literal translation and free translation, the juxtaposition of domestication and foreignization, as well as the comparison between semantic translation and communicative translation. One thing to be underscored here is how to make a rational decision when it comes to the selection of various translation strategies. The aforementioned sentences remind us of the fact that translation theories will exert more or less impacts on our preferences toward some translation strategies. (Xiong Bing 2014, 83)

In order to clarify this point, the translation theories of the linguistic school are taken as an example to corroborate the effect of theories on translation strategies. Nida's Functional Equivalence Theory and Vermeer's Skopos Theory are none other than two epoch-making monuments in the translation theories of the linguistic school. In spite of their belongings to the same school, their core concepts and values are distinct from each other to a large extent, thereby offering translators different channels to select translation strategies. Since Functional Equivalence Theory attaches great importance to the natural and exquisite equivalence between TT and ST, the translation strategies of free translation and domestication are often the optimal choice to evade clumsiness and opacity of TT when the literal translation or the word-for-word translation does not work out. Another thing to note is how Vermeer's Skopos Theory helps to elaborate translation theories' function on translation strategies. The purposes of TT and translators are integral factors to decide which translation strategies will be chosen. For example, the translation strategies of foreignization will be considered if the TT aims to promulgate exotic and overseas culture. (Xiong Bing 2014, 83)

An authoritative concept of the word "technique" given by Collins describes it as "a particular method of doing an activity, usually a method that involves practical skills." Therefore, translation techniques are quite a few concrete methods and skills helping facilitate and polish the process of translation practice. (Xiong Bing 2014, 83)

A list of translation techniques includes amplification, omission, conversion, division, combination, negation and so on. For the reason that English and Chinese are different from each other in terms of lexicon, syntax and culture, the emergence of translation techniques is exceedingly necessary to transfer information from ST to TT by means of translation. Specifically speaking, English and Chinese are unique in their dictions in that English allows more freedom for the usage of nouns while Chinese is a verb-oriented language. This accounts for the plausibility of applying the translation technique of conversion. Besides, the discrepancy between English and Chinese also lies in their respective thinking modes and expressive conventions, thus making the technique of negation come into being. (Xiong Bing 2014, 83)

The relationship among translation theories, strategies and techniques

Now that clear and vivid definitions of translation theories, strategies and techniques are provided in the preceding paragraphs, it is high time that the relationship among them should be manifested. Here, the relations among them will be unveiled from two respects. One is the mutually restraint relation among translation theories, strategies and techniques while another is the relationship between the macroscope and the microscope. (Xiong Bing 2014, 84)

On the one hand, the intricate relationships among those three entities can be said to mutually restrain and complement each other. (Xiong Bing 2014, 84)

Translation theories are the most inclusive and macroscopical because of their guiding effects on the application of translation strategies and techniques. They are the overriding important benchmarks around which many other translation strategies and techniques should revolve. It is imperative to note that diversified translation theories beget diversified strategies and techniques. Examples proving this point are innumerable. The theories of deconstructionism promote the use and spread of foreignization. Nida's Functional Equivalence Theory justified the necessity of adopting pertinent translation strategies and techniques to achieve the most natural equivalence between ST and TT, like domestication, literal translation and so on. (Xiong Bing 2014, 84)

Translation strategies and techniques are none other than the extension and embodiment of translation theories. For example, the translation strategy of domestication can be only realized with diversified translation techniques. While translating culture-loaded words, the translator can resort to translation techniques of transliteration, amplification to put the domestication into practice. (Xiong Bing 2014, 84)

To sum up, translation theories are guidelines for translation strategies and techniques, and those strategies and techniques are in turn the true reflection of theories. It is likely that translators are not aware of this fact for all those theories and strategies have been deeply etched into their mind. Imaging such a situation that a translator is fatuous about translation theories, how could he render high-quality translation? What he will do is to translate a text word for word from beginning to end, ultimately producing crude translation. Without exaggeration, it is the collaboration and complementation among translation theories, strategies and techniques that help translators perfectly fulfill their missions. (Xiong Bing 2014, 84)

On the other hand, another noteworthy relationship among translation theories, strategies and techniques can be regarded as the dichotomy between the macroscope and the microscope. (Xiong Bing 2014, 84)

Translation theories are the most high-levelled concept, just like a notion occurring in English linguistics, the superordinate. Thus, certain strategies and techniques are derivations and products of translation theories. Almost for every translator, their translation practice, including the selection of translation strategies and techniques, is always reliant on translation theories.(Xiong Bing 2014, 84)

Translation strategies, a concept lying between the two extremes of translation theories and translation techniques, are contained by theories but pave the way for using extraordinary translation techniques. Just like the above-mentioned contents, the most commonly found translation strategies of domestication and foreignization must be guided and restrained by translation theories, like Skopos Theory or Functional Equivalence Theory. (Xiong Bing 2014, 84)

But the selection of translation techniques is more or less limited by translation strategies. A good example of that is the application of transliteration to consolidate the effect of foreignization. Ultimately, translation techniques seem to be the most low-leveled concept lying beneath translation theories and strategies. But it is the existence of those techniques that offered translators and scholars a definite direction to conduct translation studies. (Xiong Bing 2014, 84)

But the selection of translation techniques is more or less limited by translation strategies. A good example of that is the application of transliteration to consolidate the effect of foreignization. Ultimately, translation techniques seem to be the most low-levelled concept lying beneath translation theories and strategies. But it is the existence of those techniques that offered translators and scholars a definite direction to conduct translation studies. (Xiong Bing 2014, 84)

Case Analysis

The translation of tourism texts

Tourism texts are one of the most typical genres of pragmatic texts, which are characterized by meticulous depiction of the certain scenery, brilliant dictions and sentence patterns as well as attractive or compelling informative messages for potential tourists. They consist of several pervasive types in people's daily life, such as the introduction to scenic spots, commentaries of tourist guides, tourist pamphlets, tourist contracts, monographs and thesis concerning tourist investigations. Viewing from a much more professional and functional perspective, all those enumerated above can be included into three types: tourist reception, tourist administration and tourist investigations. Accordingly, the translation of tourism texts also revolves around those three kinds. Albeit the diverse classification of texts, central to people's commonplace life are doubtlessly some tourists brochures, also known as a branch of tourist promotional materials (TPMs). "TPMs are described as the collection of media, such as brochures, leaflets, posters, flyers, postcards and websites, used to support the sales of tourism products." (M. Zain Sulaiman & Rita Wilson 2019,17)

Since this paper manages to unfold relationships among translation theories, strategies and techniques from the perspective of Skopos Theory, the case analysis of tourism translation in the following is not an exception.

Considering that tourism texts, particularly TPMs, are destined to captivate tourists and accomplish lucrative goals, sensible decisions must be made so as to cater to tourists' tastes. Therefore, sometimes considerable superfluous information should be deleted and sometimes other complementary information that is conducive to customers' comprehension should be added. This calls for consideration of Vermeer's Skopos Theory for its overemphasis on functions and purposes of TT. Furthermore, the translation theory just decided will influence and constrain the adoption of translation strategies and techniques. Usually, whether to use amplification or omission will be pondered over by the translator to achieve goals of TT. Apart from the restraint on translation strategies and techniques imposed by translation theories, the former is also an authentic and lengthy reflection and extension of the latter. To say more simply, translation strategies and techniques are selected according to translation theories but also conversely embody or represent notions and connotations of translation theories. Several representative examples are shown here to illustrate the relationship among those concepts pertaining to translation. (焦炭, 张辉 2019, 43)

Example 1

ST:这里三千座奇峰拔地而起，形态各异，有的似玉柱神鞭，立地顶天；有的像铜墙铁壁，巍然屹立；有的如晃板累卵，摇摇欲坠；有的如盆景古董，玲珑剔透……神奇而真实，迷离又实在，令人叹为观止。（《武陵源风景》画册）

TT 1: 3000 crags rise in various shapes. They are like whips or pillars propping up the sky; or huge walls, solid and sound; or immense eggs piled on an unsteady border; or miniature rocky or curious… Fantastic but actual, dreamy but real! One cannot help marvelling at the acme of perfection of Nature's creation.

TT 2: 3000 crags rise in all shapes——pillars, columns, walls, shaky egg stacks and potted landscapes——conjuring up fantastic and unforgettable images.

Analysis: The ST in example 1 is abridged from a tourism brochure informing tourists of the spectacular, imposing and captivating landscapes of Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area. Adjectives and images abound in here to intensify the mystery and solemnity of this renowned scenic spot. There is no doubt that Chinese readers of the ST will take it for granted that the usage of all those idiomatic expressions added more melodious and semantic beauty to the ST. On the contrary, the TT, if rendered by translating the ST word for word, is bound to baffling a great majority of TT readers whose native languages are not as abstract as Chinese. Compared with TT 1's awkward literal translation, TT 2, instead of retaining all sentences of the ST, boldly obliterated adjectives and figures of speech, including "立地顶天", "摇摇欲坠", "玲珑剔透" and etc. Only some essential elements can be found there to indicate principal messages of that tourist attraction, which not only reduced TT readers' burden of comprehension but also achieved the goal of the TT. For satisfying TT readers' requirements, the translation theory, here represented by Skopos Theory, played a leading role in selecting relevant translation strategies and techniques to eliminate the clumsiness and rigidity of version 1. The translation technique of omission is also an extension and reflection of Skopos Theory. The relationships among translation theories, strategies and techniques are overt.

Example 2

ST:被誉为“童话世界”的九寨沟位于中国四川省阿坝藏族羌族自治州境内的九寨沟县中南部，是长江水系嘉陵江中上游白水河源头的一条支流，因景区内有荷叶、书正、则查洼等九个藏族村寨而得名。 （九寨沟风景名胜区简介）

TT: Jiuzhaigou, known as the "Fabled World", is located in the mid-south of Jiuzhaigou County of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. A Jialing tributary of Yangtze River, Jiuzhaigou is named for the nine Tibetan settlements in the mountain valley.

Analysis: Similar to Example 1, this ST is also a tourism text whose aim is to spread enough information of the resort to approaching tourists. Taking tourists' stances, a brief introduction of major scenic spots in Jiuzhaigou enjoys more popularity than its geographical location. Here, the translator, in dealing with TT, should distinguish the basic from the secondary, which is the reason why the names of villages like "荷叶", "书正" and "则查洼" in the ST disappeared in the TT. Apart from the emphasis on the most important message, other factors also account for the deletion of the redundant words, such as the limited space of tourist brochures, the succinct and simple writing style of travel guides and so on. Actually speaking, it is all those functions and demands of tourism brochure that regard Skopos Theory as the ideal translation theory to be taken into consideration. Under the guidance of the Skopos Theory, the translation technique of omission makes it possible to underscore more key information about Jiuzhaigou rather than some background information serving no function in helping tourists. The complementary relations among translation theories, strategies and theories are also suggested.

Example 3

ST:刘备章武三年病死于白帝城永安宫，五月运回成都，八月葬于惠陵。（《成都武侯祠》折叠式导游图）

TT: Liu Bei died of illness at 233 at present day Fengjie County, Sichuan Province, and was buried here in the same year.

Analysis: Despite the fact that this ST is also part of a tourist brochure, there are some nuances among it and the above two examples for this is a pamphlet about historic sites whereas the other two are concerned with natural sites. Given this difference, some words and phrases suggestive of cultural elements peculiar to China resulted in the selection of appropriate translation strategies. Here in example 3, "章武三年", "白帝城永安宫" and "惠陵" are all closely associated with ancient Chinese culture. If translated literally as "the third year of Zhangwu", "Yongan Palace in Baidi City" and "Hui Mausoleum", these phrases will leave TT readers an obscuring impression because of foreign readers' loopholes in learning about Chinese culture. Under this circumstance, the translation strategy of domestication applied increased the lucidity, intelligibility and simplicity of the TT. "章武三年" is translated into "233" which is applicable and comprehensible to TT readers from all countries. "白帝城永安宫" is flexibly treated as "Fengjie County, Sichuan Province", a present place known to reduce TT readers' strangeness towards it. After all, one cannot deny the fact that the adoption of domestication is due to the influence of Skopos Theory whose ultimate aim is to live up to the expectations of TT readers. This is also in line with the main point of this paper that translation theories are standards and guidelines of translation strategies and techniques, and translation strategies or techniques are an authentic reflection of translation theories.

2.2The translation of literary texts

Literary texts are materials having to do with literature. Genres like poems, novels and dramas can be all classified into this category. Unlike applied translation whose principal subject is characterized by austere, transparent and common dictions, literary texts, represented mainly by prose, are always hard to explore their implicit connotations, let alone translating them in an ideal way. This is because literary works are often a medley of rhetorical devices, beautiful words and phrases as well as some abstract sentences without too much logic. It is this exceedingly difficult trait that requires the translator to rationally inspect translation theories.

In the case of translating literary texts, two translation theories will come to translators' minds, which are Skopos Theory and Functional Equivalence Theory. Making a detailed comparison between them, one will attach great importance to Skopos Theory rather than its counterpart. After all, Functional Equivalence Theory pays more attention to dynamic or functional equivalence between ST and TT, which is a little bit unrealistic to be materialized for the translator sometimes cannot find perfect substitutes to replace the opaque ST. Nevertheless, Skopos Theory can be a plausible translation theory to better balance ST and TT by means of omitting some unrelated information provided that the purposes of the TT can be ensured.

This is also indicative of the point that translation theories play a significant part in restraining the adoption of translation strategies and techniques. Then translation strategies and techniques are in the same way a reflection or a microcosm of translation theories. For example, the appearance of omission during the process of translating literary texts must be the outcome of Skopos Theory since only that theory will take the bold action to omit lots of sentences in an article, which is impossible when the translator complies with the credence of Functional Equivalence Theory.

Example 4

ST: One of the parties, however, when critically examined, didn't seem, strictly speaking, to come under the species. He was a short, thick-set man, with coarse, commonplace features, and that swaggering air of pretension which marks a low man who is trying to elbow his way upward in the world. He was much over-dressed, in a gaudy vest of many colors, a blue neckerchief, bedropped gaily with yellow spots, and arranged with a flaunting glass tie, quite in keeping with the general air of the man. His hands, large and coarse, were plentifully bedeckeded with rings; and he wore a heavy gold watch-chain, with a bundle of seals of portentous size, and a great variety of colors, attached to it--, which in the ardor of conversation, he was in the habit of flourishing and jingling with evident satisfaction. His conversation was in free and easy defiance of Murray's Grammar, and was garnished at convenient intervals with various profane expressions, which not even the desire to be graphic in our account shall induce us to transcribe.(Harriet Beecher Stowe 1999,1)

TT:其一人狞丑，名曰海留，衣服华好，御金戒指一，镶以精钻，又配一金表。状似素封，而谈吐鄙秽，近于伧慌。

Analysis: The TT is rendered by one of the most distinguished translators in Late Qing Dynasty, Lin Shu, whose major contribution is his translation of voluminous foreign novels, such as Ivanhoe, Uncle Tom's Cabin and so on. Against the backdrop of the depraved and backward Qing Dynasty, What Lin Shu emergently wanted to do is to learn from foreign literature and culture, thus arousing people's awareness of national rejuvenation. For this reason, Lin Shu's translation seems to be infidel to the ST for his deletion of a plethora of dictions but can be rational if viewed from the perspective of Skopos Theory. With the consciousness that Linshu's translation aims to transferring the most outstanding information conveyed in the ST, one will not consider it eccentric to translate in that way although the translator omitted so many elements in that short paragraph, including the typical portray of the environment, the descriptive sentences about the outfit and accessories of the protagonist together with some other summary expressions. In a word, the aim of the TT justified Skopos Theory and then, decided the translation technique of omission to take the essence and discard the dross of the ST. And the translation technique of omission is in turn an embodiment and representation of Skopos Theory.

Example 5

ST: 宝玉忽想起来辞黛玉，因又忙至黛玉房中来作辞。彼时黛玉才在窗下对镜理妆，听宝玉说上学去，因笑道：“好，这一去，可定是要‘蟾宫折桂’去了。我不能送你了。”(Cao Xueqin 1996,129)

TT1: Pao-yu, remembering that he had not say good-bye to Tai-yu, hurried to her room. She was sitting before her mirror by the window and smiled when he told her that he was off to school. "Good," she said, "So you are going to 'pluck fragrant osmanthus in the palace of the moon.' I am sorry I can't see you off." (Yang Xianyi 1994,160)

TT2: Bao-yu suddenly remembered that he had not yet seen Dai-yu and hurried to her room to say good-bye. He found her by the window making herself up at the mirror. Her answer to his announcement that he was off to begin school was smiling but perfunctory: 'Good. I wish you every success. I'm sorry I can't see you off.'(David Hawkes 2004,178)

Analysis: The ST is a small part excerpted from A Dream of Red Mansions written by an extremely eminent novel writer named after Cao Xueqin in Qing Dynasty. This abridgement delineated the scene that Jia Baoyu went to say goodbye to Lin Daiyu for he was to off to school. Accordingly, there are two deceivingly similar but different versions of the TT rendered respectively by Yang Xianxi, a renowned Chinese translator and David Hawkes, a world-famous sinologist specializing in translating Chinese classics.

At the core of this case analysis must be the translators' rendition of the specific Chinese phrase "蟾宫折桂".

Yang translated it literally and directly as "pluck fragrant osmanthus in the palace of the moon", maintaining the exclusive Chinese images "osmanthus". In contrast, Hawkes transformed the ST into "I wish you every success", exquisitely circumventing words which may be difficult to understand for foreign TT readers. Frankly speaking, the superiority and inferiority of the two versions cannot be arbitrarily dealt with.

Now that Skopos Theory states that "aim justifies end", the TT can be produced to tailor the purpose and need of TT readers. In the first version, the translation strategy of foreignization retained the exotic Chinese plant name and increased strangeness of TT readers. This strategy is an advisable one to disseminate some certain cultures to foreigners. Nonetheless, Hawkes's translation is easier to be accepted by foreign TT receptors for he applied the translation strategy of domestication to make the translator get accustomed to TT readers' reading habits and multiple cultures. Now the phenomenon that translation theories serve as a guide for translation strategies and techniques is corroborated once again. Similarly, translation strategies and techniques are the best representation of translation theories, just like domestication and foreignization are the representation and extension of Skopos Theory in this example.

Example 6

ST: 她像是受了炮烙似的缩手，脸色同时变作灰黑，也不再去取烛台，只是失身的站着。(Lu Xun 2004, 20)

TT: She withdrew her hand as if scorched, her face turned ashen-grey, and instead of fetching the candlesticks she just stood there dazed.

Analysis: The ST is abstracted from Blessings written by Lu Xun. This long novel takes country life in West Hunan as the writing material to display the seemingly mediocre but specifically meaningful human nature. It is known to all that the novel Blessings is brimmed with cultural-loaded words in order to deeply extract hidden mysterious things of the human nature. Of course, this source text is not an exception. In example 6, the Chinese word "炮烙" is a ruthless penal created by King Zhou of Shang Dynasty to fasten people on a large pillar heated by strong fire so that people will be scalded gradually until to their death. But if the translator translates this word literally, foreign TT readers will at loss especially when they are not familiar with the history of the Shang Dynasty. Consequently, the translator here just converted "炮烙" into “scorched” by adopting the translation strategy of domestication, assuaging TT readers' fatuity and strangeness towards the ST. This translation strategy is also impacted by Skopos Theory but in turn validates and broadens the usage of the translation theory. Seeing from this, the entangled relationships among translation theories, strategies and techniques cannot be overemphasized.

The translation of business texts

Business English, an increasingly inevitable term for people to encounter in today's world, has permeated into almost every corner of people's daily life. As for its definition, scholars of different eras vied with each other to illustrate it. For example, Wang Xingsun defined business English as "English used in the business context". "It is also English for Special Purposes (ESP)." (王兴孙 1997,24) Nowadays, researches about business English have been formalizing and standardizing the definition and application of business English. A relatively precise and comprehensive concept of business English reads as "Business English refers to a certain type of English emerging along with the advancement of economic globalization. It is used in various fields, ranging from economic to public and societal affairs." (陈准民 王立非 2009,17)

Then business texts must be carriers of business English, with their type encompassing business logos, business advertisements, business contracts, business letters and the brief introduction of corporations. A subtle but unavoidable thing to note is that business English is by no means the simple combination of "business" and "English". Instead, it brought out a multitude of new features to showcase its complexities, including its utility in professional domains and its highly functional usages. So the most tenable translation theory is more apt to be Skopos Theory in consideration of the functional characteristics of business texts. Subsequently, the restraining and guiding translation theory will work out to match proper translation strategies and techniques to the translation practice to meet the requirements of both TT readers and the TT itself. What is more, the reflective translation strategies and techniques appearing during the process of translation help people better understand Skopos Theory. On account of that, there is no denying that the interplay among translation theories, strategies and techniques is further proved.(郭晓燕 2017,36)

Example 7

ST: Fresh food and fresh air. The perfect recipe for a healthy life. I've chosen. It's Candy. (Candy冰箱广告词)

TT1:新鲜食物和新鲜空气。健康生活的最佳处方。我已经做出选择，它就是Candy冰箱。

TT2:新鲜食物+新鲜空气。健康生活的绝妙处方。我选定了Candy冰箱。

Analysis: This is a task of translating an English business advertisement into Chinese. Notwithstanding this short sentence, a satisfying and applicable translation is hard to be rendered for so many limitations imposed by business advertisements. Business advertisements, known for their adherence to the "economic principle" of expressing the most detailed information with the least words and sentences, are doomed to pose several challenges for translators. To translate those advertisements near perfectly, translators must recourse to Skopos Theory to transfer the information conveyed by the ST to the TT readers in a succinct way. Here come to those two translation versions. TT 1 is doubtlessly the outcome of literal translation, which not only increased the cost of issuing that advertisement for many words of it but also left TT readers an impression of redundancy. Compared with TT1, TT 2 dexterously omitted "我已经做出选择" and superseded the Chinese word "和" with the punctuation of "+", taking on the creativity and agility of the translator. At this time, the relationship among translation theories, strategies and techniques can be reaffirmed. The former offered a reasonable direction to the latter two concepts, and the latter two also reinforced the existing functions of the former.

Example 8

ST: Next is Now. (三星S6系列手机广告词)

TT1:未来即现在。

TT2:让未来，现在就来！

Analysis: The ST in example 8 is also a business advertisement attentive to the selling of Samsung cellphones. This one justly accorded with all the remarkable traits of business advertisements, namely the conciseness, lucidity and catchiness. Generally speaking, both the two versions of translation are acceptable. But to delve into more details, version 2 is overwhelmingly greater than version 1 because of the fact that it can better cater to the future developing trend of Samsung cellphones. Through this advertisement, the advertisers want to do is to give top priority to the future. The translation version of "未来即现在" will easily lead people to be engrossed in the present while the version of "让未来现在就来" paid more attention to the future of Samsung cellphones. Also, TT 2 sketched a scene of early approaching of the future, suggesting the fact that the cellphones invented now can anticipate some of high-ended functions of future electronic products. Without doubt, Skopos Theory is the main driver of this translation practice. The translation technique of adaptation can be found here by changing the sentence pattern of the TT, thus achieving some unimaginable effects. Here, it is Skopos Theory that decided and guided the selection of the translation technique of adaptation. Also, that technique will exert counter-effects on Skopos Theory to expose the functions and purposes of the TT.

Example 9

ST:三元产品设计工作室虽然身处竞争激烈、你死我活的商业环境之中，但是我们对完美、创新设计的追求却一如既往、不折不扣。我们的作品风格总是别具一格、独一无二。(《三元产品设计工作室简介》)

TT: 3 Elements Product Design Studio works in a highly competitive market. Our pursuit of perfection and innovation is as ever. Our design is always unique.

Analysis: The ST in example 9 is excerpted from the introduction of a corporate named after 3 Elements Product Design Studio. The key point in the TT is the translation of Chinese four-character phrases into single English words. On the one hand, such an action is in line with J.C. Catford's translation shift theory, especially the unit shift theory. On the other hand, it is also Hans Vermeer's Skopos Theory that underlies that transformation. Idiomatic expressions, like proverbs, four-character expressions, are known to abound in Chinese, which bewildered countless western Chinese learners. What translators are obligated to do is to change the complex into the simple. Then several four-character expressions in the ST, including "一如既往", "不折不扣", "别具一格" and "独一无二" have been translated into " as ever" and "unique".

More specifically, the translation techniques of adaptation and division are also adopted here just like that in example 8. As for the translation technique of adaptation, the phrase structures of the TT have turned into word structures. About the translation technique of division, the 2 sentences in the ST have been divided into 3 sentences in the TT with a view to underlining topic of each sentence. This opened up a new world for TT readers that the same translation technique can be guided and constrained by different translation theories. Hence, translators have to be sensitive and acute enough to perceive differences among translation theories, strategies and techniques so that the translation practice can yield fruitful outcomes. To conclude, translation theories still guide translation strategies and techniques. Those strategies and techniques still complement translation theories.

Summary and conclusion

This paper is persistently talking about the relationships among translation theories, strategies and techniques, aiming to solve more puzzles haunting translators when they are engaged in relentless translation practice. With so many spaces left to the elaboration of such a complicated issue, this paper thus concluded that the relationships among translation theories, strategies and techniques lie in two respects. One is the relationship between the macroscope and the microscope, translation theories being the most inclusive and translation techniques being the most subordinate, with the translation strategies lying between those two extremes. Another is the relationship of guiding and complementing. To be honest, translation theories bear a resemblance to the lighthouses, which are always offering clues for the selection and adoption of translation strategies and techniques. Of course, translation strategies and techniques are also indispensable to translation theories for they can put translation theories into practice. Lacking those strategies and techniques, the connotation, significance and function are just the illusion.

This paper starts with the introduction of Vermeer's Skopos Theory, the definition of translation theories, strategies and techniques, and the interpretation of the relationships among those three concepts. After all those preparatory steps, the case analysis part analyzed the relationships among translation theories, strategies and techniques from the perspective of three different kinds of texts, embracing tourism texts, literary texts and business texts. Almost all the translation of those texts are on the basis of Skopos Theory, with many other translation strategies and techniques applied, such as domestication, foreignization, omission, adaptation and so on. Finally, here comes the concluding and summary part of this paper, in which the rough structure and the motif of this paper have been clarified again.

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--Chen Sunfu (talk) 13:15, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

On the translation of Chinese Animal Idioms from the Functional Equivalence Theory - 彭娟 Peng Juan

彭娟 Peng Juan 202020080632 English Language and Literature

Abstract

Idioms can vividly reflect the cultural connotations of a language. Animals play a very important role in people’s daily life. Therefore, people often use vivid animal images to explain the complex and changeable social phenomena, so vivid animal idioms come into being. In Chinese and Western cultures, animal idioms are commonly found in various languages.

First of all, these animal idioms have some similarities in some aspects, but there are also inevitably some differences. Because of these differences, translating animal idioms has become a very difficult task. The functional equivalence theory, proposed by Eugene Nida, a famous American translator, has a great influence on the translation of English and Chinese animal idioms. Nida thinks that the reaction of TL readers to the target text（TT）should be the same to that of the SL readers to the source text（ST）.

Guided by Nida's theory of functional equivalence and in the light of the cultural differences between China and the West , this paper discusses and summarizes four translation methods that are suitable for animal idioms. They are literal translation, borrowing, free translation, literal translation with annotation. The purpose of summarizing these four translation methods is to make the target language keep its equivalence with the source language both in form and content.

However, the meaning of each animal idiom varies in different cultures. Therefore, in the translation of these animal idioms, the translators need to choose different translation methods according to different circumstances to maximize the reproduction of the true meaning of idioms.

Key words

Function Equivalence Theory; Animal idioms; the cultural implications; Translation methods

题目

从奈达功能对等理论探究动物习语翻译

摘要

习语能生动地反映出语言中的文化内涵。在人们的日常生活中，动物扮演着十分重要的角色。因此，人们常常采用动物形象来阐释复杂多变的社会现象,所以生动形象的动物习语应运而生。在中西方文化中，动物习语普遍存在于各种语言中。首先，这些动物习语在某些方面有相似之处，同时也不免会存在一些差异。由于这些差异的存在,翻译动物习语便成了一项十分困难的任务。著名美国翻译学家尤金·奈达提出了“功能对等”翻译理论，此理论对翻译英汉动物习语影响甚大。 奈达的功能对等理论旨在于让目的语读者对译文能产生与源语读者对原文产生的最相近的反应。此篇论文以奈达的“功能对等”翻译理论为指导,同时 根据动物的文化含义在中西方的差异,探讨并总结了四种适合动物习语的翻译方法，即意译法,借用法,直译法,直译加注释四种翻译方法。之所以总结这四种翻译方法，是为了使目的语在形式与内容上最大程度地保持与源语的对等。但是,每个动物习语的含义在不同的文化背景下也有所不同。所以,在翻译这些动物习语时，译者需要根据不同的情况选择不同的翻译方法,从而最大程度地再现动物习语的真正含义。

关键词

奈达功能对等理论；动物习语；动物文化内涵；翻译方法

1.Introduction

Many theorists and scholars have conducted a lot of researches on equivalence in the past from its definition and relevance to its application in various fields of translation. Some famous theorists have studied equivalence in the translation process and have provided further study on equivalence with many points of view. Idioms are regarded as an crucial and fundamental part of languages which directly reflect the culture of a nation. Individuals have employed idioms for several centuries, which are the products of cultures with distinguishing cultural features and special denotations. There are countless animal idioms in Chinese and Western cultures. These idioms could reflect the cultural features of the languages profoundly and make the languages colorful. Therefore, when translating, translators should understand idioms completely and focus on various cultural connotations of different animal idioms.

In the past, many theorists and scholars have done a lot of research on equivalence from its definition and association to its application in various fields of translation. Some famous theorists have studied the problem of equivalence in the process of translation and made a thorough study of it from many aspects. Idioms are an important part of a language and directly reflect the culture of a nation. Idioms are the product of culture and have distinct cultural characteristics and special meanings. There are countless idioms about animals in Chinese and Western cultures. These idioms can profoundly reflect the cultural characteristics of the language, making the language rich and colorful. Therefore, translators should fully understand idioms and pay attention to the cultural connotations of different animal idioms.--Tao Ye (talk) 14:39, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

2.Literature Reviews

Studies abroad mainly involve four perspectives, namely syntactic, semantic, pragmatic and cognitive approaches. For instance, the grammarian Fernando (1996) has focused on the generative nature of idiom structures from the perspective of syntactic way. In his opinion, his researches has mainly applied the transformational-generative grammar. Having conducted many researches in the semantic way, researches mainly paid much attention to the meanings of idioms.Zhang QingJuan（2015:7）

For instance, Makkai (1972: 122) has thought that idioms are fixed terms with two or more words and the meaning of the whole term is different from that of the individual word if you take them as a group of words. As for the pragmatic linguists, they have studied idioms of their usages or the functions they bear. The linguist Fernando’s work, idioms and idiomaticity was a breakthrough for it has broken the ontological method of previous studies on idioms. It has also linked the usages of idioms with their contexts and discussed the role idioms played in the process of language acquisition.Zhang Qingjuan（2015:7）

What is more, from the perspective of Fernando, it was the encyclopedic knowledge that has finally decided the meaning of idioms. Fernando has also applied the three language functions proposed by Halliday in his systematic-functional grammar to idioms. And he classifies idioms into ideational idioms, interpersonal idioms as well as the relational idioms by replacing the term textual with relational. Cognitive linguists have also done a lot of researches on idioms. For example, the construction theory has its basis on the analyses of idioms. Zhang Qingjuan（2015:7）

Kovecses and Lakoff (1987) have proved the analyzability of idioms in their works by probing into sufficient linguistic evidences and they have found out that the way people analyze and understand idioms also reflect the metaphorical nature of human cognition. And Kovecses together with his students has also made summaries on the metaphorical usages of idioms relating to the human body. From the four perspectives mentioned above, studies on idioms also involve in the classification of idioms. Nunberg (1994) has identified three sub-categories of idioms, namely non-decomposable idioms, decomposable idioms as well as abnormally decomposable idioms.Zhang Qingjuan（2015:7）

In every life, animals have played an essential role in the improvement of people. When they exert a crucial function in the society, languages reflect the culture and contain deep animal idioms. Therefore, there are lots of animal idioms naturally containing rich cultural senses. Some researchers have mainly analyzed idioms as their research objective in various areas because idiom is a crucial verbal form, like intercultural communication, pragmatics and contrastive linguistics. Mr. Liao Guangrong in 2000 has done a comparison to an average number of animal idioms and culturally-loaded animal vocabulary through many examples in detail.Zhang Qingjuan（2015:7）

The research on idioms from cultural perspective was done by Wang Dechun (2003) and Hu Wenzhong (2000). Some great achievements had been gained by some younger researchers. Animal idioms had studied by Dong Tao in 2010 in the comparing way between English and Chinese cultures. Besides, comparative methods were employed by an increasing number of scholars. For instance, comparative analysis method was used by Chen Wenbo(1982) and Jiang Lei (2000) for English and Chinese idioms. To sum up, the importance of idioms has been understood by many language researchers particularly the importance of animal idioms and a lot of researchers have made or will make further researches on idioms.Zhang Qingjuan（2015:7）

3.The Definition and Characteristics of Idioms

The definition of idiom is presented as well as cultural connotation and characteristics of idioms.

3.1 The Definition of Idioms

According to New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998), idiom refers to a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words. In general, Chinese idioms contain six types: character phrases, proverbs, allusions, common sayings, colloquialisms and slang. The scope of English idioms is not fixed, which can usually be divided into “proverbs, sayings, allusions, slang, etc”. At home, the Ci Hai definite the idiom as “one kind of idioms and phrase of convention ” . Because of the cultural differences, there are various standards on idioms. In Chinese, idioms are very common that often are seen in many cases, such as in four words forms, proverbs, idiomatic phrases, allegorical sayings, etc. In Western culture , the scope of idioms is wider than in Chinese. The proverbs, sayings and other colloquial phrases are all idiomatic.

3.2The Characteristics of Idioms

According to the definition of idioms, individuals could know that idioms are different from common words. They have some unique features, which can be concluded as the single unit, institutionalization and irreplaceability. The induction is very brief but too abstract. Some more specific analysis will be done from their structural features and semantic features to better understand the features of idioms.

To begin with, for structural features of idioms, words making up idioms cannot be replaced freely, which will result in the loss of the meanings. For instance, “make haste” cannot be written as “make hurry” and “dark horse” cannot be substituted by “black horse”. Idiom is not the simple plus of each word, such as: let the cat out of the bag, know the ropes, and rain cats and dogs. From the whole, the real meaning of them cannot be known.

4.The Introduction of Functional Equivalence Theory

Eugene A. Nida, an outstanding translation theorist and lecturer in America, was born in November, 1914 and was dead in August 2011. Some translation theories were proposed by him. These theories have brought about great influence on the translation studies not only in western countries but also in Asian countries,especially in China. As is known to all, he is regarded as the most influential one among all the contemporary translation theorists. Functional Equivalence Theory is advanced by Eugene A.Nida.

In English culture, some animal idioms not found in Chinese culture can be used to express metaphorical meaning, such as "flea", "cuckoo", "albatross", "bumblebee" and so on. For example, "a white elephant", "worthless or worthless", "a elephant's memory", "a flea in one's ear", "as mad as hornet". The metaphorical connotations of these idioms are not found in the corresponding Chinese. Yuan rainbow (1999-30-32)--Tao Ye (talk) 14:33, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

His research of translation theory has significantly affected many translators. Concentrating on what a translation does or performs, the introduction of the idea of“functional equivalence”provides a sound basis for discussing translation as a form of intercultural communication. In comparison with many other theories, Nida’s functional equivalence theory has been widely accepted and applied in translation research and translation.

His theoretical research on translation has exerted a profound influence on many translators. The introduction of the concept of "functional equivalence" provides a good basis for discussing translation as a form of cross-cultural communication. Compared with many other theories, Nida's functional equivalence theory has been widely recognized and applied in translation studies and translation.--Tao Ye (talk) 14:33, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

4.1The Definition of Functional Equivalence Theory

Nida defined functional equivalence between minimized and maximized effectiveness based on cognitive and experiential aspects in his book Language, Culture and Translating. The minimal connotation of functional equivalence is “The reader of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it.”（1993） The maximal definition of functional equivalence could be stated as“The readers of a translated text should be able to understood and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as the original readers did.” According to Nida’s view, translating is not to get fully adequate translating, but to reproduce the closest natural equivalence to the source text. A good translation always lies in between in the two levels.

In his book "Language, Culture, and Translation," Nida defines functional equivalence between minimizing and maximizing effectiveness based on cognition and experience. The minimal meaning of functional equivalence is that “the reader of the translated text should be able to understand it so that they can imagine how the original reader of the text must understand and appreciate it.” (1993) Functional equivalence can be expressed as “the reader of the translated text should It can be understood and appreciated in the same way as the original reader.” According to Nida, translation is not about obtaining sufficient translation, but about reproducing the closest natural equivalent to the source text. Good translation is always between two levels.--Tao Ye (talk) 13:24, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

4.2The Development of Functional Equivalence Theory

Early 1960s, Nida first put forward the idea of“form equivalence”which required the source language should keep the correspondence with the target language as same as possible. In the book Toward a Science of Translation（1940）, he put forward “dynamic equivalence”. This theory meant that the react of source language must as same as the react of target language.

Since some translators often understood it as“anything which might have special impact and appeal for receptors”，he changed the dynamic equivalent into functional equivalent in his work from One Language to Another. In 1993, in language Culture and Translating（1993），he defined functional equivalence that means the readers of target language could understand the translation content as the readers of source language. Nida（1993:32）

4.3The Core of Functional Equivalence Theory

In the Functional Equivalence Theory, Nida puts the“receptor’s response”as the nucleus of the Functional Equivalence. It is easy to find that Nida pays great attention to the receptor’s response, which has been ignored by earlier theorists.

In functional equivalence theory, Nida regards "receptor response" as the core of functional equivalence. It's easy to see how much attention Nida pays to the receptor response, which was overlooked by early theorists.--Tao Ye (talk) 13:40, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

Unlike the traditional translation theories that mainly stress the correspondence between the SL and TL, Nida’s functional equivalence theory emphasized the importance of receptor’s response. “The receptor’s response”serves as a vital measurement of the success in translating.

An adequate translation should make sure that readers of the TL have the same response as the readers of the SL. That is to say, a translation should be judged not by the verbal correspondence between the two texts, but by the way that SL and TL receptors’ response.Then, the aim of translation is to make the TL readers have the same response on the TT as that of the SL readers to the ST.

This principle focuses on the functional equivalence of information instead of the formal equivalence of lexical in translation. Therefore, translation should keep the meaning and style of the source language functionally equivalent to that of the target language as much as possible. Nida points out that for the purpose of realizing the ideal translation, it is necessary to find the closet naturalequivalence.This effect can only be approached rather than reached completely. Nida’s functional equivalence theory begins a new angle to the research of translation.

Different from traditional translation theories, Nida's functional equivalence theory mainly emphasizes the correspondence between target language and target language, and it emphasizes the importance of receptor response. "Receptor response" is an important criterion to measure the success of translation. A qualified translation should ensure that the response of the target reader is consistent with that of the source reader, that is to say, the quality of a translation should not be judged by the linguistic correspondence between two texts, but by the way the source language and the target language receptor react. Therefore, the purpose of translation is to make the target reader become the target reader. --Tao Ye (talk) 13:40, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

This principle emphasizes the functional equivalence of information in translation rather than the formal equivalence of words. Therefore, translation should try to make the meaning and style of the source language functionally consistent with the meaning and style of the target language. Nida pointed out that in order to achieve the ideal translation, the most appropriate natural equivalence must be found. This effect can only be approximated but not fully achieved. Nida's functional equivalence theory opens up a new perspective for translation studies. --Tao Ye (talk) 13:40, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

5.Comparing English and Chinese Cultural Connotation on Animal Idioms

5.1Corresponding to Animal Images and Connotations

In western and Chinese culture, the animal images is not totally same because of the cultural differences. But after all people around the world live on the earth, they more or less use some same animal images to express their feelings and transmit their culture. Therefore, when translating the animal idioms, it is important to distinguish different animal images in different cultures. There are some animal images that are same in both English and Chinese.

In Chinese and Western cultures, animal images are not the same due to cultural differences. But after all, people all over the world live on the earth, and they more or less use some of the same animal images to express their feelings and spread their culture. Therefore, when translating animal idioms, it is particularly important to distinguish different animal images from different cultural backgrounds. Some animal images are the same in English and Chinese.--Tao Ye (talk) 14:07, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

For example: 黑马 black horse 披着羊皮的狼 a wolf in sheep’s clothing 动如脱兔 as fast as hare

The metaphorical objects and connotation of these animal idioms in Chinese are completely equivalent in English. Therefore, the metaphorical objects can be maintained during the process of C-E translation. That is to say, literal translation can be used directly because of the same animal images. However, this kind of images only counts for a small proportion and many other animal images are not equivalent and even do not exist in another languages. So literal translation is not suited for this situation. Yi Xuming（2014:21）

The metaphorical objects and connotations of these animal idioms in Chinese are exactly the same in English. Therefore, metaphorical objects are preserved in chinese-English translation. In other words, since the animal images are the same, it can be directly translated. However, such images make up only a small proportion, and many other animal images are not equivalent or even do not exist in another language. So literal translation is not appropriate in this case. Yi Xuming (2014:21)--Tao Ye (talk) 14:07, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

5.2 Semi-corresponding to Animal Images and Connotations

That is to say, in Western and Chinese culture, some animal images can achieve equivalence in terms of pattern but are totally different in meaning. For example, the animal image ‘dragon’ exist in both western and Chinese culture. But, in Western culture, the connotation of ‘dragon’ is extremely contradictory compared with Chinese culture. Dragon is vicious monster and connotes evil and terror. This image is also demonstrated in many western movies.

On the country, in China, the dragon is often seen as a symbol of happiness and a symbol of the Chinese nation and Chinese culture. The dragon symbolizes the rising sun in the east. "Descendants of the Dragon" , "Legend of the Dragon", these titles, often make us excited and pride and have the cultural identity. Many ancient emperors take the dragon seat to symbolize their power and authority. Yi Xuming（2014:21）

That is to say, in Chinese and Western cultures, some animal images are equivalent in form, but completely different in meaning. For example, the animal image "dragon" exists in both Western culture and Chinese culture. However, in western culture, the connotation of "dragon" is extremely contradictory compared with that of Chinese culture. The dragon is an evil monster, symbolizing evil and terror. This image is also reflected in many Western films.--Tao Ye (talk) 14:12, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

In China, the dragon is often seen as a symbol of happiness, a symbol of the Chinese nation and culture. The dragon symbolizes the rising sun in the East. "Descendants of the Dragon", "Legend of the Dragon" these titles, often make us excited and proud, with cultural identity. Many ancient emperors sat on the dragon chair to symbolize their power and authority. Yi Xuming (2014:21)--Tao Ye (talk) 14:12, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

5.3Non-corresponding to Animal Images and Connotations

Because of the cultural diversities, some animal idioms in SL do not have the equivalent counterparts in TL. That is to say, non-corresponding means that some English animal idioms are translated into Chinese without animals image, or vice versa. Notwithstanding, “functional equivalence” can be also achieved. So translators should make some adjustments in translation strategies to achieve the highest degree equivalent.

Due to cultural differences, some English animal idioms have no corresponding relationship in the target language, that is to say, some English animal idioms have no animal images when translated into Chinese, and vice versa. Nonetheless, "functional equivalence" can be achieved. Therefore, translators should make corresponding adjustments in translation strategies in order to achieve the highest degree of equivalence.--Tao Ye (talk) 14:15, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

There are some examples Like cow,like calf 有其母必有其女 Rain cats and dogs 倾盆大雨 Go to law for a sheep,you lose a cow 捡了芝麻，丢了西瓜 Above all the examples, there are no equivalent animals images.

5.4Semantic Vacancy to Animal Images and Connotations

As a semantic unit, semantic vacancy in a language does not have counterparts for the same sense in another one. That is to say, animal idioms in SL have no equivalent expression in TL or such kind of animal images do not exist in TL because of the diversity and uniqueness of the geographical environment, the norms of the institution and the customs of people. Basically, it is a cultural vacancy. That is to say, there are some animal idioms with rich cultural senses in English but they have no such sense in Chinese culture.

Due to cultural differences, some animal idioms in English have no corresponding relationship in the target language, that is to say, some animal idioms in English have no animal images in Chinese translation, and vice versa. Nonetheless, "functional equivalence" is achievable. Therefore, translators should make corresponding adjustments in translation strategies in order to achieve the highest degree of equivalence.--Tao Ye (talk) 14:23, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

In English culture, metaphorical meanings can expressed by some certain animal idioms which Chinese culture never happens, like“flea”“cuckoo”“albatross”“hornet”，etc. For example,“a white elephant”（something with little or no value）,“an elephant’s memory”（there is good memory）,“a flea in one’s ear”（uncomfortable words）,“as mad as hornet”（very angry）.It cannot be searched for the metaphorical connotations of these idioms in the corresponding Chinese language.Yuan Caihong（1999:30-32）

In English culture, some animal idioms not found in Chinese culture can be used to express metaphorical meaning, such as "flea", "cuckoo", "albatross", "bumblebee" and so on. For example, "a white elephant", "worthless or worthless", "a elephant's memory", "a flea in one's ear", "as mad as hornet". The metaphorical connotations of these idioms are not found in the corresponding Chinese. Yuan rainbow (1999-30-32)--Tao Ye (talk) 14:23, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Tao Ye

6.Approaches for Animal Idioms Translation based on Functional Equivalence Theory

Because of the different animal connotations in Chinese and Western cultures, when translating animal idioms, translators should carefully choose translation methods. There are four translation methods as literal translation, literal translation with annotations, borrowing and free translation.

6.1 Literal Translation

Based on the common understanding of some animals in English and Chinese, if the images and the connotations of some animal idioms are the same in both English and Chinese, the literal translation is used to translate animal idioms with the complete equivalence of form and meaning. To illustrate this translation, there are some typical examples. 动如脱兔——as fast as hare 坐山观虎斗—to sit on a hill and watch the tigers fight 老虎头上扑苍蝇—Only fools catch flies on a tiger’s head

In both Chinese culture and Western culture, the natural characteristics of rabbits are related to speed. Therefore, in both English and Chinese, a rabbit is regarded as the symbol of agility and swiftness. So “动如脱兔” is translated into “as fast as hare”. Likewise, the tiger is a symbol of power and strength in Chinese and Western culture. Thus, the literal translation is the most effective translation method. For example, “坐山观虎 斗” can be translated into "to sit on the hill and watch the tigers fight"; “老虎头上扑苍蝇”is translated into “only fools catch flies on a tiger’s head”. Besides, we all think s fox is sly in Chinese and Western culture, so “as sly as a fox”is directly translated into “像狐狸一样狡猾”.

English idiom“barking dogs seldom bite”has the same meaning with the Chinese translation“吠犬不咬人”.The other idioms should be translated this way are in the following: “as ugly as a toad”is directly translated into(像癞蛤蟆一样丑).“fish in troubled water”（浑水摸鱼） ，“a bird’s eye view”（鸟瞰），“dark horse”（黑马），“as foolish as a donkey”（蠢得像一头驴），“a rat crossing the street is chased by all”（老鼠过街人人喊打）should be translated in this way. Therefore, according to Nida's functional equivalence, in order to maintain equivalence between the source language and the target language to such a large degree, the translators should give priority to literal translation, on condition that neither misunderstanding nor cognition gap will be incurred thereby.

Briefly speaking, applying the method of literal translation can produce the equivalence of the four aspects: forms, meanings, styles, and images. In this way, the translation of animal idioms can achieve the closest natural equivalence. This method can not only make the image of the animal image more vivid, but also maintain the style of the SL to satisfy the TL readers’ expectation. To some degree, literal translation is a good and effective strategy to realize equivalent translation. Liang Yanmei（2011:147-148）

6.2 Borrowing Translation

Although some Chinese and English idioms have different animal images, their meanings are the same. Due to the cultural differences between the Chinese and English , the same figurative meaning is given to different animals. At this time we can apply similar animal idioms in Chinese to translate, that is, to transform one animal image into another animal image. On the surface, they are different in form, but they are equivalent in meaning and style. That is to say, sometimes, there are no metaphors in some Chinese animal idioms, but there are similar meanings for them in English. When it is easy for the metaphors in the English language but the national atmosphere is not able to become strong; the people may employ the borrowing way for translation.

胆小如鼠——as timid as rabbit 力大如牛——as strong as a horse 虎口——lion’s mouth 养虎为患——warm a snake in one’s bosom 害群之马——a black sheep 像热锅上的蚂蚁—like a cat on the hot bricks 杀鸡取卵—kill the goose that laid golden eggs

Sometimes the images of animals in English differ in that in Chinese animal idioms while they have the identical connotation. Therefore, borrowing is the most proper way for translating text. For instance, in English, the animal image “rabbit” is used to describe people who are too timid , that is, “as timid as a rabbit” . While in Chinese“mouse”is used as an the animal image, such as“胆小如鼠”.

But they are the same in the ultimate transmission of meaning. Therefore, “胆小如鼠” is translated directly into “timid as a rabbit” rather than "timid as a mouse" . Although both rabbits and mice may exhibit the physiological trait of timidity in some cases, the borrowing translation method is more effective in avoiding misunderstanding and achieving the successful equivalence of meaning. Besides, in Western countries, the horse is regarded as the beast for burden and can produce milk and provide meat for people.

Therefore, horse has more important social status in Western society than ox to show its power. However, ox are the main beast for burden in Chinese rural area, so there are of course some sayings as“力大如牛”“壮得像头牛”rather than“壮得像头马”“力大如马”. Because of the differences , it also directly produces the difference in animal idioms, so“力大如牛” is translated into English as "as strong as a horse" . Obviously, although their animal images are different, the substantive meanings are completely equal. In addition, “虎口”is translated into “lion’s mouth”because tigers and lions have the identical meanings in Chinese and Western culture.

In Western countries, people are more familiar with lions than tigers. Chinese idiom“养虎为患”expresses the same meaning in the story between the farmer and snake. Thus it can be translated into “warm a snake in one’s bosom”. “害群之马”is translated into “a black sheep”instead of “a black horse”. Because the Chinese idiom is derogatory while horse in Western cultures is a positive animal and sheep is a negative animal. So“a black sheep”is much more proper.

Above all, once animals have positive images in one language and negative images in another language, in translating, we can not translate the animals directly into another language, but use other animals to replace them.Lei Hua（2010:136-137）

6.3 Free Translation

Sometimes, the associative meaning of the same animal is very different in the two languages and cultures. There is also no other animal with similar associative meaning in the target language. When such idioms are translated, the best way is to abandon animal images of source language and mainly focus on the translation of meaning itself.

The translation method sacrifices the animal images in the original text, but it retains the metaphorical meaning relatively and achieves functional equivalence. That is to say, free translation mainly expresses the original meaning and the style of the SL instead of transferring strictly its words, sentence patterns or figures of speech of the ST. Therefore, in order to achieve the equivalence in idiom translation, free translation is the better and suitable way to translate these idioms and reproduce them in the TL. By doing this way, the connotative meaning of idioms in the ST can be thoroughly understood by the readers of TT.

There are examples. To have a bee in one’s bonnet— 胡思乱想 To come like a dog at a whistle—一呼即来 Let the cat out of the bag—泄露秘密 牛鬼蛇神——monsters and ghosts 虎头虎脑——looking dignified and strong 强龙难压地头蛇——powerful outsiders can hardly afford to neglect local bullies 马首是瞻——follow somebody’s lead 效犬马之劳——serve somebody faithfully

The Chinese idiom“牛鬼蛇神”means various bad people in Chinese. In English, there is no other animals of similar associative meaning to express its meaning. Therefore, it is translated into “ monsters and ghosts ” by using free translation method. Another example is “虎头虎脑”which means one is strong and honest. In Western cultures, the animal idiom does no exist. So the best method is to use free translation method. Besides, the animal idiom“强龙难压地头蛇”，in which the images of dragon in Chinese and Western cultures are totally different, is translated into “ a filthy mouth cannot utter decent language ” . By applying free translation method, the meaning of animal idioms is clearly shown and the same effect as that of the SL is given to the target readers, which can achieve the functional equivalence to the source language. Besides, individuals also better understand the meanings of various animal idioms.Lu Yi（2018:130）

6.4 Literal Translation with Annotation

There are also many animal images in another language that cannot arouse the reassociation of readers at all. Because readers cannot understand the meaning of literal translation of image and free translation will lose its original image，for this kind of animal idiom, literal translation with annotation is the best translation method. That is to say, this kind of translation method can translate the literal meaning of animal idioms and then provide further explanation to idioms, such as backgrounds, figurative meanings, contexts and sources. Then the deep meaning can be pointed out to make the translation vivid, reflecting the charm and style of original text and achieving the maximum functional equivalence. There are some examples. 画蛇添足——draw snakes and add a feet to it-ruin the effect by adding something superfluous 羊质虎皮——a sheep in tiger’ s skin-outwardly strong, inwardly weak 杀鸡儆猴——kill the chicken to frighten the monkey-punish somebody as a warning to others Fish begins to stink at the end—鱼要腐烂先烂头—上梁不正下梁歪 挂羊头，卖狗肉—hang up a sheep’s head and sell dog’s meat-try to palm off something inferior to what it purport to be

In the animal idiom“画蛇添足”, the cultural meaning of snake between two languages is similar, but it is not enough to simply use literal translation method. Because it is a traditional animal idioms , Chinese are familiar with it. But SL readers never hear about it. Therefore, it is much better to add annotation based on literal translation to make foreigners better understand the meaning of the idiom. Likewise, “ 杀 鸡 儆 猴 ” should also add annotation to stress figurative images in English. Therefore, by using the strategy of literal translation with annotation, we need to add some annotation to make the TL readers understand better and make the translation version more faithful. In conclusion, according to functional equivalence, translators can best preserve the national flavor of this kind of idioms by employing this method.Lu Yi（2018:130）

7.Conclusion

English and Chinese are rich in animal idioms. Animal idioms are rich in cultural connotations and national color, which brings many difficulties to the translation of animal idioms. We must master the four translation methods mentioned above . Besides, to be familiar with the cultural connotations of animals under different cultural backgrounds is the key to accurately grasp the translation. All in all, in the process of translating animal idioms, translators should adopt different translation methods in different situations and not only keep the cultural characteristics in the original text; but also at the same time, translators can not arbitrarily impose Chinese cultural idioms on the target text. Only in this way, the translators can translate animal idioms more originally to achieve the cultural communication .

8.References

• Nida, E. A. &Taber, C.R. The Theory and Practice of Translation [M]. Leidon Netherlands: EJ Brill, 1969.

• Nida, Eugene A. Language and Culture-Contexts in Translating [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press,2002.

• Nida, Eugene A. Toward a Science of Translation [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1998.

• Lu Yi吕艺.(2018).论功能对等理论在动物习语翻译策略中的应用.[J]. [On the Application of Functional Equivalence Theory in Translation Strategies of Animal Idioms].试题与研究 Questions and Research(12):130.

• Liang Yanmei梁燕媚.(2011).英文动物习语的汉译方法浅析.[J]. [An Analysis of the Methods of Translating English Animal Idioms into Chinese].科教文汇(中旬刊) Education and Culture (mid-century)(04):147-148.

• Lei Hua雷花.(2010).以功能对等理论浅析英汉动物习语的翻译.[J]. [Translation of English and Chinese Animal Idioms from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence]. 科教导刊(中旬刊) Journal of Science and Education (mid-century)(06):136-137.

• Yuan Caihong袁彩虹.（1999）.英汉动物词汇的象征意义[J]. [The Symbolic Meaning of English and Chinese Animal Words]. 外语教学Foreign Language Teaching(03):30-32.

• Zhang Qing张琴.(2019).英汉成语对比与翻译[J]. [Contrast and Translation of English and Chinese idioms]. 智库时代Think Tank Times (18):194-195.

• Ying Xiaohong印晓红.(2001).英汉动物习语比喻形象的文化差异.[J]. [ Cultural Differences of Figurative Images in English and Chinese Animal Idioms]. 重庆大学学报(社会科学版)Journal of the Chongqing University (Social Sciences Edition)(01):66-69.

• Zhu Lehong, Chen Kepei朱乐红,陈可培.(2000).英汉谚语文化差异与翻译策略.[J]. [Cultural Differences between English and Chinese Proverbs and Translation Strategies].外语教学Foreign Language Teaching(03):65-68.

On the Translation of Chinese Culture-Loaded Words in Lin Yutang's Six Chapters of a Floating Life: From the Perspective of Skopos Theory - 彭小玲 Peng Xiaoling

彭小玲 Peng Xiaoling 202020080633 English Language and Literature

Abstract

With the improvement of China's international status, the dissemination of Chinese culture is becoming more and more important. Translation of literary works plays a determining role in spreading culture, among which culture-loaded words often bring many difficulties to translation work. Therefore, studying on the translation of culture-loaded words is of great significance in the development of our country's translation cause as well as in the promotion of Chinese culture.

This paper, guided by the three rules of Skopos theory, make researches on the translation strategies of culture-loaded words in Lin Yutang's Six Chapters of a Floating Life with Nida's classified approaches to culture. Through the research, the author finds that Lin flexibly employs various translation methods to deal with different types of culture-loaded words in order to realize the purpose of spreading Chinese culture to the westerners. In conclusion, this paper provides certain references for the translation practices of culture-loaded words in literary works and provides evidence that Skopos theory plays an instructive role in the translation of culture-loaded words.

Key words

Skopos theory; Lin Yutang's Six Chapters of a Floating Life; culture-loaded words; translation methods

摘要

随着中国国际地位的提高，中国文化的传播变得日益重要。文学作品的翻译对文化传播起着决定性的作用，文化负载词作为文学作品的重要组成部分，其翻译工作常常面临诸多困难。因此，研究中国文学作品中文化负载词的翻译方法对发展我国翻译事业，弘扬中国文化有着重大的意义。

本文将以目的论的三原则作为理论指导，并采用奈达对文化分类方法来研究林语堂英译本《浮生六记》中一些文化负载词的翻译策略。通过本次研究发现，林语堂为了实现向西方读者传播中国文化的目的，灵活采用各种翻译方法来处理不同类型的文化负载词。总的来说，本文的研究对于文学作品中文化负载词的翻译实践能够起到一定的借鉴意义，并佐证了目的论对于文化负载词的翻译具有指导意义。

关键词

目的论；林语堂《浮生六记》英译本；文化负载词；翻译方法

Introduction

The cultural transmission of our country is especially important under the background of economic globalization. Literary translation plays an indispensable part in spreading Chinese culture, among which a lot of culture-loaded words are contained in literary works. So learning to apply appropriate strategies and methods to handle these words is of great significance in translation work. However, translation of culture-loaded words is absolutely not an easy job.

Among many translation strategies, how to choose the suitable one is a big problem. Under this kind of situation, it is more effective to refer to the excellent translations on the specific translation methods of various culture-loaded words. Thus, this paper intends to take some examples in Lin Yutang's (1895-1976) Six Chapters of a Floating Life to analyze the translation of culture-loaded words from the perspective of Skopos theory, which was initiated by Hans. J. Vermeer in the 1970s and then systematically introduced to China in the 1990s, so that some general translation methods can be concluded for reference.

Skopos theory is developed from the functionalist theory and takes translation as a purposeful action under a particular situation. To be more specific, it emphasizes the translation process and takes various factors into consideration, which is a breakthrough of traditional translation theories. By adopting Skopos theory, the aim of spreading culture can be achieved as much as possible. As a result, through dividing culture-loaded words into five types, the paper will give specific examples in the third chapter on how Skopos theory is respectively applied to them in Lin's translation of Six Chapters of a Floating Life.

I Literature Review on Six Chapters of a Floating Life

As a famous autobiography, Fu Sheng Liu Ji enjoys a wide population among writers and readers. But why the book is so widely accepted? There must be some reasons behind it. And as a famous Chinese translator, Lin translated Fu Sheng Liu Ji into English and was highly appreciated by many scholars out of his in-depth affection for the work,his proficiency in both Chinese and English language, and his intention to spread Chinese culture to the westerners.

1.1 Previous Studies on Lin Yutang

Born in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, Lin was the fifth of six sons in his family. His father, a Presbyterian pastor, was a passionate zest for all that was new and modern from the West. He believed that his sons must learn English and receive western education (Lin Taiyi, 1998, n. d.). So Lin was sent to attend St. John's University in Shanghai, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1917. And then he received a master's degree in Comparative Literature at Harvard University in 1922 and a doctoral degree in Linguistics at the University of Leipzig, Germany in 1924. From his rich studying experience, we can see that Lin is a master of Chinese literature and western literature, which laid a solid foundation in his later creation of literary works.

Lin's informal but polished style in both Chinese and English made him one of the most influential writers of his generation, and his compilations and translations of classic Chinese texts into English were bestsellers in the west. The China Times of Taiwan said, "For some in the west who were not well-informed, they heard about Lin before they heard about China, and heard about China before they heard about the glory of Chinese civilization" (The China Times of Taiwan, 1950). In his 80 years, Lin wrote and translated more than 50 books, his distinguished works include My Country and My People (1935), The Importance of Living (1937), Moment in Peking (1939), Six Chapters of a Floating Life (1936), etc.

1.2 Previous Studies of Fu Sheng Liu Ji and Lin Yutang's English Version

Fu Sheng Liu Ji is a popular and influential autobiography written by Shen Fu (1763-1825), who is a Chinese writer in Qing Dynasty. The book is a distinctive classical literature about Ming and Qing dynasties. Differing from the verbose vernacular language used in lengthy novels and dramas, it was written in a creative style of the literary language of poetry, essays and official histories. In affectionate and unequivocal tone, Shen presented the reader with all aspects of his everyday life with his wife whose mane is Chen Yun. The Original book includes six chapters, which are "Wedded Bliss," "The Little Pleasures of Life," "Sorrow," "The Joys of Travel," "Experience," and "The Way of Life." However, now the last two chapters are missing, only four chapters survive. Fu Sheng Liu Ji was highly praised by many scholars and has been translated into many languages of other countries.

Lin highly appreciated Chen, and considered the woman as one of the loveliest woman in Chinese literature and Chinese history. Therefore, as a person of great attainments in both Chinese and English language, Lin translated the book into English to show his admiration for the moving love story of the couple as well as to introduce Chinese culture to the Western world. Among three English translations, Lin's translated version is the most famous one, for he applies many appropriate strategies when translating the culture-loaded words in the source text. Besides, being modified over 10 times, Six Chapters of a Floating Life became his best translated work and was also published on the British magazine, receiving a wide population from the local people.

II A Brief Introduction to Skopos Theory

The Functionalist approaches can be traced back to the translation practice of the Bible, which emerges in Germany in 1970s. It places emphasis on "functions of the texts and translations" (Nord, 2001, p. 1) and goes through four main developing phrases, including Katharina Reiss's functional category of translation criticism, Vermeer's Skopos theory, Justa Holz-Manttari's theory of translation action and Christiane Nord's theory. Among these theories, Skopos theory plays the most important role in directly applying to every translation project. Skopos was a Greek word standing for "aim" or "purpose" (Nord, 2001, p. 27). Hans Vermeer applied this concept into the field of translation and proposed Skopos theory.

2.1 Basic Concepts of Skopos Theory

Based on the idea that translation should primarily take into consideration the function of both the source and target text, Hans Vermeer develops his general theory of translation, which is Skopos theory. In his opinion, "translation is a kind of human action, which is an intentional, purposeful behavior that takes place in a given situation; it is part of the situation, at the same time as it modifies the situation" (Nord, 2001, p. 11). Within the framework of Vermeer's theory, one of the most factors determining the purpose of translation is target readers, who have their own knowledge of cultural backgrounds, expectations for the translation and some communicative needs.

Every translation is targeting at certain audiences, therefore, to translate means to produce a target text in a target setting for a target purpose and target addressees in target circumstances. As a breakthrough of traditional translation theories, Skopos theory is target text-centered which even can be independent of the source text. That is to say, the status of the source text is lower than it is in the equivalence-based theories of translation. In Vermeer's opinion, the source is an "offer of information," which the translator turns into an "offer of information" for the target audience (Reiss and Vermeer, 1984, 119).

2.2 Three Basic Rules of Skopos Theory

The Skopos rule is the top-ranking rule for any translation, which means that a translation action is determined by its Skopos, which is "The end justifies the means"(Reiss and Vermeer, 1984, p. 101). Vermeer explains the Skopos rule in this way: "Each text is produced for a given purpose and should serve this purpose. The Skopos rule thus reads as follows: translate or write in a way that enables your 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 it to function" (Nord, 2001, p. 29). Therefore, a translator must define their given purpose within the translation context and determine what strategies they should take in conformity with the purpose.

The second rule of Skopos theory is coherence rule, which means that a translation should conform to the standards of intratextual coherence. Namely, the translation is acceptable and readable and it makes sense for receivers to understand under their communicative culture of the target language. Therefore, as a translator, they should take account of the cultural backgrounds and circumstances of the target receivers and make the translation understandable to them. Besides, there is intertextual coherence, it can also be interpreted as "fidelity rule" (Reiss and Vermeer, 1984, p. 114). It means there should be intertextual coherence or fidelity between the source text and the target text, in other words, translation must be in accordance with the source text. While the faithful degree and forms to the source text are dependent on the translators' understanding of the source text and their translation Skopos.

The three above-mentioned basic rules of Skopos theory are used to govern the whole process of translation. However, it is common that the three rules cannot be applied at the same time, so the translator should conform to certain principles as follows. The Skopos rule is the predominating rule, intratextual coherence the second and the fidelity rule the lowest; the fidelity rule is in conformity with the coherence rule, and the two rules are considered subordinated to the Skopos rule of the translation. So in the next chapter, the paper is going to briefly introduce some basic knowledge of culture-loaded words, and to explore how they are properly translated by guiding from the three above-mentioned rules in Lin's Six Chapters of a Floating Life.

III Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life Guided From Skopos Theory

Being a popular autobiography that describes a Chinese writer's daily life with his wife, Fu Sheng Liu Ji contains a large number of culture-loaded words. Whereas culture-loaded words possess its unique characteristics of Chinese people, so it is not an easy job to translate them properly and correctly into English. In this chapter, the paper will briefly explain what culture-loaded words is and how it is formed, and by taking specific examples in Six Chapters of a Floating Life, the translation of culture-loaded words will be further studied from the perspective of Skopos theory.

3.1 General Studies of Culture-loaded Words

In this section, the author will have a general introduction to the definition and causes of culture-loaded words as well as to provide a brief categorization of culture-loaded Words in Lin's Six Chapters of a Floating Life.

3.1.1 Definition of Culture-loaded Words

In language system, the words which can best embody the language carrying cultural information and reflecting the social life of human beings are defined as culture-loaded words. Culture-loaded words is also described as lexical gap, which means the cultural information of the source texts' words carried have no equivalents in target text (Bao Huinan and Bao'ang, 2004, p. 10). As the production of a country or a nation's cultural development, every language has its long history and abundant cultural connotation.

Since each country or each nation differs in their developing history, social system, ecological environment, religious belief and ethnic customs, so there are many characteristic words, idioms and allusions in every language. All of them are the reflection of their conventions, values, aesthetic standards and way of thinking. Namely, culture-loaded words signify a certain kind of cultural connotation or association which may not be found in other languages or cultures.

3.1.2 Causes of Culture-loaded Words

A famous British translator Newmark (1988) hold the view that culture-loaded words have internal and unique relationship with the culture it refers, which makes it difficult to have them translated (p. 94). And it is obviously that all of the culture-loaded words carry the typical national characteristics. But what is the cause of culture-loaded words between Chinese and English? To a large extent, it relates to the differences of geography and climate between China and other English countries.

For example, as a coastal city, the British is rich in fish, so a lot of words are developed in relation to fish such as "a dull fish," "a big fish," and "a queer fish" and so on. While China is a country with advanced agricultural culture, a large number of words are tightly connected with its agriculture. Secondly, due to great differences in each country's history, there has no equivalent regarding to certain historical phrases like dynasty. Of course there must be many other contributing factors to culture-loaded words.

3.1.3 Categorization of Culture-loaded Words in Lin's Six Chapters of a Floating Life

A Chinese translator Wang Zuoliang (1989) points out that the biggest difficulty of translation lies in the differences of two cultures. Perhaps in a cultural environment, there exists something that is no need to explain, but once it is in another cultural environment, it takes a lot of efforts to make it clear for the foreign people (p. 34). Therefore, in order to effectively explore the general rules in translating culture-loaded words and apply them to other translation works, classifying culture-loaded words is of great necessity. The transmission and communication of culture is the fundamental purpose of language translation, accordingly, the categorization of culture-loaded words should be classified on the basis of culture.

Although there are several common methods to classify culture-loaded words, a clear and definite categorization of culture is definitely needed in Lin's Six Chapters of a Floating Life since the author is about to analyze the translation strategies according to the classification of culture-loaded words. Next the author will adopt Eugene A. Nida's (1964) classification and categorize culture-loaded words into five types as ecological culture-loaded words, material culture-loaded words, social culture-loaded words, religious culture-loaded words and language culture-loaded words (p. 91).

3.2 Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life From the Perspective of Skopos Theory

When Liao Qiyi (2000) explore the translation strategies of culture-loaded words, he believes that under quite different cultural backgrounds, translator should employ many translation methods such as literal translation (transliteration) plus annotation, literal translation plus free translation and free translation (p. 33). Considering substitution is also applied in Lin's English version Six Chapters of a Floating Life, the paper will analyze why and how to choose these strategies to translate each type of culture-loaded words in light of Skopos theory in the following parts.

3.2.1 Translation of Ecological Culture-loaded Words

Ecological culture-loaded words in Lin's Six Chapters of a Floating Life amount to 299, in terms of the translation methods, free translation 122, literal translation (transliteration) plus free translation 87, literal translation (transliteration) 69, literal translation (transliteration) plus annotation 19. It shows that free translation are mainly adopted in the translation of ecological culture-loaded words. Since Lin's English version has a full consideration of the differences between Chinese and western culture, and through the method of free translation, English readers tend to be easier to receive the translation. Some typical examples are listed below.

Example 1: 余生乾隆癸末冬十一月二十有二日。I was born in 1763, under the reign of Ch'ienlung, on the twenty-second day of the eleventh moon. (p. 2)

Example 2: 每逢朔望，余夫妇必焚香拜祷。On the first and fifteenth of every month, we burnt incense and prayed together before him. (p. 48)

Example 3: 廿四子正，余作新舅送嫁，丑末归来。After midnight, on the morning of the twenty-fourth, I, as the bride's brother,sent my sister away and came back towards three o'clock. (p. 10)

As is known to all, in ancient feudal society, Chinese people adopted the reign title of the emperor (lunar calendar) to count years while the English readers are accustomed to employing the Gregorian calendar. The ways that Chinese used was so sophisticated that even some local people could not understand them completely, not to mention the westerners. Therefore, Lin employs free translation to translate the time, for example, translating "乾隆癸末" into the year of "1763", "朔望" into "the first and fifteenth of every month" and "丑末" into "towards three o'clock". Apparently, employing Arabic numerals here make it easier for westerners to understand the time sequence, on the contrast, using the times with hard explanations are inclined to confuse them. In a word, Lin's translation has taken the target reader's circumstances into consideration, which is in conformity with the coherence rule of Skopos theory.

Example 4: 结构之妙，予以龙井为最，小有天园次之。石取天竺之飞来峰，城隍山之瑞石古洞。I regard Lungching (the Dragon Well) as the best in point of general plan and design, with the Hisiaoyut'ien Garden (Little Paradise) coming next. For rocks I would prefer the Flying Peak of T'ienchu and the Ancient Cave of Precious Stones on the City God's Hill. (p. 208)

Ecological culture-loaded words mostly represent the unique Chinese scenic spots or geographical names. Although employing literal translation (transliteration) here may be helpful for target readers to know about Chinese regional culture characteristics, but due to great culture differences, apply this method mechanically will decline the interests of the translation. After all, many ecological culture-loaded words have their own charms. So like the translation of "龙井" and "小有天园", Lin adopts transliteration and literal translation here, which not only helps target readers to understand the connotation of these words, but also make them become familiar with their Chinese names. In short, when handling the place names, Lin bears in mind the purpose of spreading Chinese culture, which is in lines with the Skopos rule.

Ecological culture-loaded words mostly represent the unique Chinese scenic spots or geographical names. Although employing literal translation (transliteration) here may be helpful for target readers to know about Chinese regional culture characteristics, but due to great culture differences, applying this method mechanically will decline the interests of the translation. After all, many ecological culture-loaded words have their own charms. So like the translation of "龙井" and "小有天园", Lin adopts transliteration and literal translation here, which not only helps target readers to understand the connotation of these words, but also makes them more familiar with their Chinese names. In short, when handling the place names, Lin bears in mind the purpose of spreading Chinese culture, which is in lines with the Skopos rule.

3.2.2 Translation of Material Culture-loaded Words

Free translation and literal translation (transliteration) are mainly employed in Lin's translation of material culture-loaded words. Guo Jianzhong (1999) mentioned that material culture-loaded words are national colored words carrying distinct Chinese characteristics, and it refers to all the products of manufacture (p. 57). Since in some occasions, only by free translation, the cultural connotation of the material can be shown to target readers. Some examples in Lin's English version are as follows.

Example 5: 余曰:"坊间有蝴蝶履，大小由之，购亦极易"。I told her there was a kind of shoes called "butterfly shoes," which could fit any size of feet and were very easy to obtain at the shops. (p. 58)

Example 6: 其每日饭必用茶泡，喜食芥卤乳腐，吴俗呼为"臭乳腐"。She always mixed her rice with tea, and loved to eat stale picked bean-curd, called "stinking bean-curd" in Soochow. (p. 40)

Lin translates "臭腐乳" and "蝴蝶履" respectively into "butterfly shoes" and "stinking bean-curd" by taking the method of free translation, which can help target readers to form some concrete images in their mind about what the food tastes and what the shoes looks like. To conclude, Lin introduces Chinese material culture in this way so that the foreigners can feel the exotic flavor to some degree. In this sense, Lin abides by the Skopos rule.

Example 7: 街头有鲍姓者，卖馄饨为业。There was a wonton seller by the name of Pao. (p. 118)

Example 8: 于腰间折而缝之，外加马褂。She tucked it round the waist and put on a makua on top. (p. 58)

The two examples above show that when handling the words with particular Chinese culture, Lin employs transliteration, translating "馄饨" into "wonton" and "马褂" into "makua". Since it is hard for the target readers to know about the cultural backgrounds, and it is also difficult to find their equivalents in the target text, so Lin's purpose of introducing the Chinese culture to the target readers is more inclined to be achieved. Here Lin's translation complies with the Skopos rule.

3.2.3 Translation of Social Culture-loaded Words

Lin's Six Chapters of a Floating Life is aimed at introducing an ordinary couple's daily life to the westerners, so undoubtedly it includes many Social culture-loaded words. Under Chinese social background, people will develop a corresponding distinctive system of social conventions differing from other nations. When handling these words, Lin also mainly adopts free translation, complemented by literal translation (transliteration). The examples are listed as follows.

Example 9: 识张兰坡，始精剪枝养节之法。When I know Chang Lanp'o, I learnt from him the secrets of trimming branches and protecting joints. (p. 86)

Example 10: 芸生一女，名青君。Yun had give birth to a daughter, named Ch'ingchun. (p. 138)

Here Lin uses transliteration to handle the person names above such as "Chang Lanp'o" for "张兰坡" and "Ch'ingchun" for "青君". As Chinese names have no equivalents in English, in order to make westerners know about Chinese names, Lin's translations maintain the Chinese culture successfully. Here Lin observes the Skopos rule by putting his purpose of spreading Chinese culture first.

Example 11: 李太白是知己，白乐天是启蒙师。So Li Po is your bosom friend, Po Chuyi is your first tutor and your husband's literary name is San Po. (p. 22)

Since the ancient Chinese litterateur have literally names besides their formal names. Without the basic knowledge of Chinese culture, Chinese names like "李太白" and "白乐天" are not easy to be understood. But the westerners may know their given names or family names, so take this into account, Lin substitute the two names with formal names "Li Po" and "Po Chuyi" so that the westerners will not confused about their identities. By taking the target readers' situation into consideration, Lin complies with the coherent rule of Skopos theory.

3.2.4 Translation of Religious Culture-loaded Words

Every nation has its own religious belief, as Chinese believe in Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism while the westerners believe in Muslim and Christianity. The religious belief penetrates into people's daily life and plays an important role in establishing a set of value and moral system that restrict their conducts. Because of the differences in religion, Lin mostly uses free translation when translating religious culture-loaded words in Six Chapters of a Floating Life. Some examples are shown below.

Example 12: 七月望，俗谓鬼节。The fifteenth of the seventh moon was All Soul's Day. (p. 28)

Example 13: 天之厚我，可谓至矣。So altogether I may say the gods have been unusually kind to me. (p. 2)

Example 14: 回煞之期，俗传是日魂必随煞而归。According to custom, the spirit of the deceased is supposed to return the house on a certain day after his death. (p. 180)

Apparently, applying free translation, Lin translate "鬼节," "天" and "魂" respectively into "All Soul's Day," "gods" and "spirit of the deceased" in order to make them easier for target readers to comprehend. Since as we all know, these words are peculiar to Chinese culture. Like the word "天", it is translated into "gods" which is a much more familiar word for the westerners and it will not bring obstacles for their understanding. The meanings of the translation above express the similar cultural connotation to both source-text readers and target readers. So all in all, Lin's translations observe the coherent rule of Skopos theory.

3.2.5 Translation of Linguistic Culture-loaded Words

Linguistic culture-loaded words involve every aspect in Lin's Six Chapters of a Floating Life, such as proverbs, couplets, poems and idioms and so on. Since Chinese and English derive from different linguistic systems, both of which have their own special grammatical features. So Lin adopts free translation as the leading means to express the main meanings to the westerners, which can be shown in the following examples.

Example 15: 因思《关雎》冠三百篇之首，故列夫妇于首卷；余以次递及焉。Since the Book of poems begins with a poem on wedded love, I thought I would begin this book by speaking of my marital relations and let other matters follow. (p. 2)

As we can see from the example，because of the word "关雎", Lin knows "三百篇" means "The Book of Songs", while he translates it into "the Book of poems" which is a well-known name to westerners. Besides, "关雎" is considered as a symbol of beautiful love in nowadays, Lin translates it into "a poem on wedded love" makes it easier to understand. In conclusion, all of the three sentences employ the strategy of free translation, which considers the target readers' circumstances and also spread the Chinese cultural connotation. Therefore, Lin's translations abide by skopos rule and coherence rule of Skopos theory.

Example 16: 惜萍水相逢，聚首无多日耳。Unfortunately, we met only a short time and then parted like duckweed on the water. (p. 238)

"萍水相逢" comes from a poem written by Wang Bo, who is a famous poet in Tang dynasty. "萍" in English refers to duckweed, which is a kind of fern gathering and parting indefinitely. The duckweed has a cultural connotation in Chinese, it compares to two strangers meet by accident. Here Lin retains the metaphor used in the source text which fully and vividly reproduces the internal and external images of "萍水相逢" to target readers so as to make them feel the same as what the local people do to the source text. As a result, Lin's translation complies with the coherence rule of Skopos theory.

3.3 Reasons Behind the Choice of Translation Strategies

Through the analyses in 3.2, we can see that the choice of translation strategies during the process of translating culture-loaded words is determined by three main factors as translator, the readership and the translation purpose. In other words, the reasons behind the choice of translation methods can be found in the three factors mentioned before.

3.3.1 Translator

The status of the translator is becoming more and more important in recent years. Clearly, whether the level of a translation is high or not lies in the translator's proficient degree of both source language and target language. As what mentioned above, Lin received a good education both in Chinese and English language. Lin got more comprehensive knowledge of Chinese and western culture, which laid a solid foundation for his later translation work. Intend to introducing Chinese culture, Lin considered the situation of target readers first, which makes his translation version the most widely accepted by the westerners. In a word, translator plays an essential part in the choice of translation methods and strategies.

3.3.2 Readership

Besides, readership is also a key factor determining the choice of translation methods and strategies. The target readers' cultural background, knowledge and expectations are tightly in relation to the translation process. Therefore, translator must take the target receivers' situation into account. Besides, the coherent rule of Skopos theory itself places emphasis on the importance of the readership. As for Lin's Six Chapters of a Floating Life, his target readers were mainly westerners who carried deep prejudices towards Chinese people at that time. But they also wanted to know the real China and Lin's translation met their needs. Lin's translation narrows the cultural gap to a large extent which can be verified in 3.2 of the paper.

3.3.3 Translation Purpose

In addition to the two mentioned, translation purpose is also a decisive factor for the choice of translation strategies. As mentioned before, Skopos theory regard translation as a kind of human action and every translation has a purpose. Besides, among Skopos theory, the skopos rule is considered as the principle rule. Like Lin Yutang, besides his deep love towards the story of Shen Fu and Chen Yun, he has an intention to introduce the Chinese culture and spirits through Six Chapters of a Floating Life. Thus, free translation is widely employed in Lin's translation of culture-loaded words.

Conclusion

As an excellent representative of successfully spreading Chinese culture, Lin's Six Chapters of a Floating Life received a wide population among the western readers. Nowadays, Chinese culture is stepping out into the world, so the translation of culture-loaded words plays an indispensable role in spreading the fine aspects of Chinese culture. And researching on the translation strategies of culture-loaded words is of great importance in leading the development of translation work and promoting international cultural communication.

In a word, by referring to three basic rules of Skopos theory, the paper generally analyzes how the five types of culture-loaded words are appropriately translated in Lin's translation. Taking into account the readership and translation purpose, Lin adopts various reasonable translation methods when tackling with different types of culture-loaded words, which is of great referential significance for us. As a result, through the above researches on the translation strategies of culture-loaded words in Lin's Six Chapters of a Floating Life, the author expects to provide some references for the translation of the five types of culture-loaded words in Chinese literature works as well as to further promote the development of Chinese culture in the international community.

References

Bao, H. N. [包惠南] & Bao. A. [包昂]. (2004). 中国文化与汉英翻译. [Chinese Culture and Chinese-English Translation]. 北京: 外文出版社. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.

Guo, J. Z. [郭建中]. (1999). 文化与翻译. [Culture and Translation]. 北京: 中国对外翻译出版公司. Beijing: China Translation & Publishing Corporation.

Liao, Q. Y. [廖七一]. (2000). 当代西方翻译理论探索. [General Information]. 南京: 译林出版社. Nanjing: Yilin Press.

Nord, C. (2001). Translation as a Purposeful Activity. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

Nida, E. A. (1964). Toward a Science of Translating. Leiden: E.J.Brill.

Newmark, P. (1969). A Textbook of translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Press.

Reiss, K. & Vermeer, H. J. (1984). Grundlegung Einer Allgemeinen Translations theorie. Tubingen: Niemeyer.

Shen, F. [沈复]. (2009). Six Chapters of a Floating Life. (Ling, Y. T. [林语堂]. ). Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. (Original work published 2008).

Wang, Z. L. [王佐良]. (1989). 翻译: 思考与试笔. [Translation: Experiments and Reflections]. 北京: 外语教学与研究出版社. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.--Peng Xiaoling (talk) 04:00, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Comparison of Skopos Theory with Functional Equivalence on the Translation of English Film Title - 杨悦 Yang Yue, 202070080617 英语笔译

杨悦 Yang Yue

Abstract

A film title is an audience’s first and direct impression on a film, and has functions of delivering a film’s subject and aesthetics, attracting audiences, conducting cultural exchange and furthermore, a business function--increasing box office sales. Therefore, the importance of a film title translation’s quality is self-evident. Guided by skopos theory and functional equivalence, this paper explores translation strategies of English film title. Theoretically based on skopos theory and functional equivalence and combined with practical cases, this paper analyses film title translation. Through examples and contrast, this study shows that skopos theory and functional equivalence can play an effective role in guiding a translator to gain wonderful translation text of film title. And through comparison of Skopos Theory with Functional Equivalence on the Translation of English Film Title, we can have an in-depth understanding of the English film title translation. It is hoped that this paper is able to be helpful to better display the artistic charm of a film.

Key words

Skopos theory; functional equivalence; English film title; translation

题目

浅谈目的论和功能对等理论在英语电影片名翻译中的差异

摘要

电影片名是观众对一部电影的第一直接印象，具有传递电影的主旨与美感、吸引观众、交流文化的作用以及进一步的增加票房的商业作用。因此，电影名翻译好坏的重要性不言而喻。本文主要以目的论和功能对等理论为指导，研究西方英语电影片名的汉译策略,以目的论和功能对等为理论基础，结合实际案例，分析电影名的译文。通过例证与对比，证明了目的论和功能对等理论能够有效指导译者完成精彩的片名翻译。同时，通过分析目的论和功能对等理论在电影片名翻译中的差异，我们能对英语电影片名翻译有更深入的了解，以期更好地展现电影的艺术魅力。

关键词

目的论；功能对等理论；英语电影片名；翻译

1. Introduction

Film is a combination of motion photography and slide show. Through development, it has become a sort of continuous video images, a visual and auditory modern art, and also a synthesis of modern science, technology and art. It can accommodate tragicomedy and literature, photography, drama, sculpture, music, dance, painting, architecture and other art form. However, it has its own characteristics; it has features of all other art forms in artistic expression and its ways of expression are beyond all other art forms. (He Ying 2001, 13)

Film title plays an eye-catching role in attracting audiences to theaters, thus film title translation is essentially important. Since its birth at the end of 19th century, film has always had commercial feature. For its production process, film is a creative activity in artistic and aesthetic realm; but for the purpose of film production, film is a product produced from highly industrialized flow line. Film must have economic value and exchange value at first; its production purpose is to maximize producers’ economic benefit. Take Hollywood as an example, in 2016, the total global film box office sales is 38.1 billion US dollars, of which American Hollywood’s revenue is 28.9 billion, accounting for 76% , almost becomes a monopoly of film market. (Tartaglione 2017)

Film is a purposeful commercialized art, and film title translation is also a purposeful act. The author believes the translation process should be guided under skopos theory hence, whose core concept is “the main factor in the translation process is the purpose of the overall translation” (Nord 2001, 27). This paper deals with the title translation from English to Chinese. (Nord 2001, 27)

2.1 Brief Introduction to skopos theory

Functionalist Translation Theory is proposed by German scholars Kantharina Reiss, Hans J. Vermeer, Justa Holz Mantari, Christiane Nord and others in the 1970s. Nord has given a clear definition to what “functionalist” means, which means focusing on function or functions of texts and translation (Nord 2001, 1). Functionalist translation theory is a broad term used in a variety of theories arising from such research methods. Apart from skopos theory, the theoretical core of functionalist translation theory, functionalist translation school also include a group of scholars who approve functionalist translation theory and are inspired by German skopos theory, although they never call themselves “skopists” (Nord 2001, 1).

Therefore, besides German functionalist translation school, there are a number of scholars’ views can be incorporated in the range of functionalist translation theory, certainly including English scholar Peter Newmark and American scholar Eugene A. Nida’s studies about language functions and translation (Jia Wenbo 2004, 40).

“The term skopos usually refers to the purpose of the target text” (Nord 2001, 28). From this point of view, in translation process a translator can definitely base on “expected communicative function of TT (target text), and combine with TT readers’ sociocultural background, expectations to TT, sensitivity or world knowledge and communicative needs etc. to determine the specific translation strategy” (Nord 2001, 12) in specific target language context, and doesn’t have to rigidly adhere to the “equivalence” to ST (source text) when TT’s communicative function in target language’s cultural context is affected. (Nord 2001, 12)

Skopos theory advocates that translation is a kind of communicative action, and “the prime principle determining any translation process is the purpose (skopos) of the overall translational action” (Nord 2001, 27). Namely, “the translation purpose justifies the translation process. …’the end justifies the means’” (Nord 2001, 124). Translators deal with translation for specific purposes and for specific recipients in particular circumstances. (Nord 2001, 124)

2.2 Brief Introduction to Functional Equivalence

In the 1960s and 1970s, Nida proposed "dynamic equivalence", emphasizing information equivalence rather than formal correspondence, highlighting the translation idea of "content first, form second", which caused many misunderstandings. Therefore, in his article From One Language to Another: On Functional Equivalence in (Bible) Translation, he changed the original dynamic equivalence into functional equivalence, which means that the translation requires not only information content equivalence, but also equivalence in form as far as possible (Guo Jianzhong 2000, 68).

Functional equivalence means that the translation produces basically the same feeling under the cultural background of the target language as the original text does under the cultural background of the source language. In other words, the effect of a translation on the reader or audience of the target text is generally the same as that of the original text on the reader or audience of the target text. (Wang Yanping, Wang Jianwu 2005, 72-75)

Nida's explanation of functional equivalence is based on the comparison between the way that the target reader understands and appreciates the target text and the way that the reader of the original text understands and appreciates the source text. Functional equivalence no longer focuses on mechanical formal equivalence, but conveys the information and content of the source language in the linguistic form of the target language, emphasizing the equivalence of readers' response to the target language (Wang Yanping, Wang Jianwu 2005, 72-75).

3.1 Functions of Film Title Translation

Domestic scholar He Ying summarizes functions of film title into four types: informative function, expressive function, aesthetic function and commercial function. The most important functions are commercial function, informative function, and aesthetic function. Skopos theory provides a theoretical framework for Chinese translation of English film titles in a variety of flexible forms. The application of skopos theory in the translation of English film titles is mainly reflected in the realization of the three functions mentioned above. (He Ying 2001, 57)

3.1.1 The commercial function

Film is a cultural and commercial art. Born in Western countries, film has commercial feature at the beginning. It is not simply created for film creators’ entertainment, but for the ultimate goal of production and exchange; it must have economic value and exchange value at first. Whether a film is a success or not depends largely on its box office. According to skopos theory, translation skopos is decided by the initiator, and in terms of film title translation, the initiator is film producers and investors, whose production purpose is to maximize economic benefit. Therefore, translators should endeavor to make TT attractive and appealing to audiences in order to arouse their desire to buy tickets to watch the film, so as to realize the commercial purpose. (Yang Wanqiu 2011, 13)

For example, in 2016, the film Zootopia was a great success. It was translated into “疯狂动物城” in Mainland China, and “优兽大都会”, “动物方城市” in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Comparatively, the author deems that the first translation is more intuitive, the audience can imagine the picture of a hilarious story about a city full of noisy animals. It can be cheerful, thus arousing people’s desire to watch it. The latter two translations also have the same effect; they all achieve the commercial purpose very well. (Yang Wanqiu 2011, 14)

In contrast, the literal translation “动物乌托邦” seems to lack a little bit of conflict. Another successful translation example which better fulfill commercial purpose is Now You See Me (《惊天魔盗团》). The film tells a story about several magicians of high intelligence using cutting-edge technology and ornate stage as a cover to accomplish grand larceny under the watchful eyes of people. If it’s literally translated into “现在你看到我了”, then it’s unattractive and the audience can’t know anything from the title. After winning global box office, Now You See Me deserves sequels, and its second film was shown in 2016. In light of former success, the second one’s translation follows the first one, which is translated into “惊天魔盗团2”. (Yang Wanqiu 2011, 14)

3.1.2 The informative function

According to skopos theory, “a target text is an offer of information in a target culture and target language concerning an offer of information in a source culture and source language” (Munday 2001, 79). Informative purpose is the basic one among the three purposes; any text’s purpose is to convey information. For film title, it needs to send messages about the film’s content or genre or both, so is its translation. “Accurately describing the content of the source film and avoiding misunderstanding is a very important criterion of realizing the information value of the film title” (Yang Wanqiu 2011, 27).

The animated film Nine tells that in near future, human-made machines launches an attack to humankind. Buildings are destroyed and society’s falling apart. Eventually, the machine will kill the human race. A team of troop begins a war with the machine to protect the last human civilization. If Nine is translated to “九”, then audience will have no idea about what this film is and perhaps lots of consumers won’t watch it. (Yang Wanqiu 2011, 23)

Fortunately, the translation “机器人九号” adds the information “robot”, so we know from the title that it’s about a robot whose number is nine, and this story centered on robots. The Chinese characters “机器人” adds missing information and ensures its box office, for lots of boys and adult fans love robots. (Yang Wanqiu 2011, 23)

3.1.3 The aesthetic function

On the basis of fulfilling commercial and informative purpose, a vivid and aesthetic title can be more appealing and attractive. According to skopos theory, translation should be fit for the receivers in target language. Translation receivers need TT to be readable and even beautiful; moreover, translators can have more freedom and room in selection of translation methods considering form, rhyme, rhetoric, etc. so as to create graceful or even poetic TT. (Yang Wanqiu 2011, 25)

For example, Chinese people have a preference for four-character words and even idioms or proverbs; we can find expression in film title translation: Ordinary People (《凡夫俗子》), Fake Identity (《双重身份》), Intouchables (《触不可及》), Catch Me If You Can (《逍遥法外》), Hail, Caesar (《凯撒万岁》), Some Like It Hot (《热情似火》), The Finest Hours (《怒海救援》), Always (《天长地久》), Brick Mansions （《暴力街区》）. Through the usage of these four-character Chinese idioms, these title translations become catchy and dainty. (Yang Wanqiu 2011, 25)

3.2 Three main methods of English film titles’ translation

According to skopos theory, “the end justifies the means” (Nord 200, 124), that is, translation strategies and methods are determined by translation skopos. The author has discussed the functions above, which are equally film title’s purposes; this section is about the translation methods. The author summarizes predecessor's research results in recent years, and generally categorized three commonly used methods guided by skopos theory: literal translation, addition and omission. (Nord 200, 124)

3.2.1 Literal translation

Literal translation, which means transferring source language to target language directly, is a translation method which maintains both the original content and the original form. Literal translation requires fidelity to the content of the original film title; when a film title can be easily understood or can reflect its main content and theme, literal translation can yet be regarded as the best choice, since in this circumstance, it not only conforms to the informative function, but also accords with skopos theory’s fidelity rule and coherence rule perfectly. (He Ying 2011, 25)

Example 1. Mr. Brooks (《布鲁克斯先生》) Example 2. The Sound of Music （《音乐之声》） Example 3. Pirates of the Caribbean （《加勒比海盗》）

Mr. Brooks revolves around the hero Mr. Brooks, and the literally translated title “布鲁克斯先生” is easy for the audience to know that the film mainly tells a story about a man whose name is Brooks. This faithful translation conveys enough information as the original title does, which realizes informative function perfectly, and it doesn’t add any unnecessary information or omit important elements, which conforms to skopos theory’s fidelity rule. Both native language audience and Chinese audience won’t know who Mr. Brooks is until they watch the film. Large parts of audience love such simple and informative titles and want to satisfy their curiosity by watching the film, and thus the opportunity of their buying tickets increases. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 21)

Its commercial function can thus be achieved. Similar examples are Jane Eyre (《简爱》) and Romeo and Juliet (《罗密欧与茱丽叶》). To sum up, literal translation can be adopted in biographical film’s title translation, which can create a feeling of suspense to audience and thus be attractive to audience. In this way, title translation is able to achieve both informative function and commercial function, achieving satisfactory result. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 21)

The Sound of Music’s literal translation “音乐之声” is a simple title, and it represents the theme and conveys information about the content of the film. Whatever English and Chinese title conveys the same information to the audience, who can naturally guess that the film is of musical play form, because music is all over the world, and there is no specific cultural connotation in the translation. “The end justifies the means” (Nord 2001, 124), and for this film, the purpose and commercial function of its title is obvious: to attract fans who love film of musical play type, so a simple literal translation can achieve the effect by attracting such audience.(Cai Dongdong 2000, 23)

Pirates of the Caribbean is familiar to Chinese audience as “加勒比海盗”, for Captain Jack’s hilarious acting leaves a deep impression in audience’s minds. Most people know that Caribbean is an area sited in central America, so there is no need to translate it as “美洲加勒比海盗” or “加勒比地区的海盗”. The purpose of the original title is to indicate that the film is an adventurous story about some Caribbean pirates led by Jack, so according to skopos rule, here the adoption of literal translation is suitable, for Chinese audience can get the same connotation from the translation. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 25)

Similar examples are Wall Street （《华尔街》）and Pearl Harbor (《珍珠港》). To summarize, literal translation can be adopted for a title named after a place. If added with another information, the title could be lengthy and burdensome, and audience won’t be able to remember a lengthy title. But according to skopos theory, skopos goes first. A title’s first purpose is to make audience remember a succinct title. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 25)

3.2.2 Addition

As English and Chinese have their own characteristics in vocabulary, syntax and expression methods, coupled with differences in Chinese and Western cultures, some film titles cannot be literally translated, otherwise may lead to loss of information or misleading the audience. In order to make the target audience really understand the connotation of the source title, according to skopos theory’s coherence rule, in such cases, we need to base on literal translation, judge the source title, and combine with film’s plot, theme, style, cultural connotation, etc. to adopt the method of addition to complement and better convey the film’s content. Generally, addition includes addition of nouns, addition of verbs and addition of adjectives. (He Ying 2011, 27)

Addition of nouns is quite common. For example, the 43rd Oscar Best Picture owner Patton (《巴顿将军》) is formed of literal translation “巴顿” (the hero’s name) and addition of noun “将军”, which points out that the hero is the legendary figure General Patton in Second World War. It follows the coherence rule and better achieves informative function, for it makes audience more clear about what “巴顿” is: “巴顿” is a name of a General. Rather, a simple “巴顿” will be confusing to Chinese. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 28)

The purpose of the title is to show the film is about this General and this period of history, so here the addition works as an explanation, better conveying information. Once informative function is achieved, audience can thus choose whether to watch the film to know about this history or not, and commercial function is embodied here. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 28)

Another example is the 55th Oscar Best Picture owner, an epic work Gandhi （《甘地传》）, which narrates Mahatma Gandhi’s great life. The original title Gandhi （甘地）and an addition of “传”, a character rich of Chinese biography characteristic, makes the translation purpose obvious: the purpose is to tell audience that Gandhi is a person, and this film is about Gandhi’s life story. Here, informative function is reflected in the word “传”, and only when audience know what this film is about will they buy tickets to see what Gandhi’s life is like. Commercial function is realized ultimately. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 29)

In light of semantic or expressive needs, addition of verbs exists. The most popular science fiction movie in 2014, Interstellar, is translated into “星际穿越” in mainland China. “Interstellar” means “星际的” and “恒星的”, but if literally translated to “星际” or “恒星”, it’s lack of expressive force neither in words nor in voice. An unattractive title can’t be appealing to audience, thus can’t realize film title’s ultimate purpose—increasing box office sales. But the addition of the verb “穿越” makes it a four-character title, more dynamic and more easy to spread. In terms of voice, it’s more readable and catchy. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 32)

For aesthetic function, “穿越” can create a sense of space and time, obviously more attractive than a simple “星际”. For commercial function, the audience can know it’s a sci-fi spectacular full of imagination, attracting more potential audience. The three functions are thus realized. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 32)

Similarly, The Notebook （《恋恋笔记本》）is also a perfect translation. The additional doubled verbs “恋恋”not only reflects its theme—a love story, but also makes the Chinese title a witticism, leaving a long-lasting tender feelings in audience’s minds that an ordinary “笔记本”can never be comparable. The film’s huge success in China owes largely to its title translation, which directly attracts lots of Chinese audience. It is a good example of realizing all the three functions of film title and realizing film title’s skopos rule perfectly. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 33)

The addition of adjectives gives life to film titles which originally are composed of nouns. Mr. Bean （《憨豆先生》） is another example. Its literal translation “豆先生” cannot highlight the leading role’s characteristic, while an addition of “憨” makes audience know it is a comedy, and meanwhile makes the title itself more charming. Actually, this film is also charming and wide-spread in China. Most comedy lovers can’t help watching the film on hearing the title. Its translation fits with its style and content, and attracts more audience, which contributes to box office. Film title’s commercial function is thus realized. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 34)

3.2.3 Omission

Due to cultural differences similar to the case of addition, such circumstance often occurs that some characters in original title should be omitted and not be translated, because the target text contains original meaning although it doesn’t have the very character. The aim of omission is to ensure target text is clear, concise, and refining. Omission does not mean missing in translation, and omitted translation text should be as complete as the source text both in meaning and in connotation. Omission is often the outcome of consideration of aesthetic function, and it often occurs along with addition. (He Ying 2011, 30)

A typical example is Kramer vs. Kramer. It narrates a story about Billy, a boy from a single-parent family, and his father depending on each other for life and finally reconciling with his mother. The Taiwan and Hong Kong version “克莱默对克莱默” is confusing, lengthy, and of no aesthetic function. (Wang Ying 2016, 67)

Few audiences can have interest in such translation, so it doesn’t conform to skopos rule. “对” usually means confrontation and is used in games and matches, so it’s not appropriate here. The Chinese meanings of “vs.” like “相对”, “对抗” are also improper. Mainland China’s translation “克莱默夫妇” does not embody the lifelike word “vs.”, but it explicitly points out what the film is about, simple and forthright. Here omission and addition are both adopted, better conveying the film’s information. (Wang Ying 2016, 67)

Here are some other examples. When Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass was shown in 2016, most translations on cinema posters were “爱丽丝梦游仙境2”, while its official translation was “爱丽丝梦游仙境：镜中奇遇记”, which audience may wonder whether it’s the famous film Alice in Wonderland’s continuation or it’s an imitation work made by other film makers. (Wang Ying 2016, 68)

Causing misunderstanding does not conform to skopos theory’s coherence rule, which can be realized more directly by the usage of omission of the subtitle and highlight of this film’s continuation role. Once the film’s reputation increases, cinema’s goal of attracting more audience can thus be realized. (Wang Ying 2016, 68)

The comedy Home Alone (《小鬼当家》) is popular in China. If literally translated, “独自在家” will be confusing to audience, who may wonder who is at home alone and may think that this film is about some pathetic man’s boring daily life who lives alone or may even deem it as a thriller film, namely, the informative function is not realized. However, the omission of “alone” can fix the problem, eliminating audience’s feeling of solitude.(Wang Ying 2016, 72)

Besides, the addition of “小鬼”, an affectionate form of address, further complement information about the film. By pointing out that it’s a story about adorable children happened at their home, it’s easy for audience to infer that it’s a comedy, and the translation successfully achieves coherence rule. As long as the translation can arouse comedy fans’ interest, its skopos rule is achieved. (Wang Ying 2016, 72)

In short, omission is corresponding to addition. It is to delete some words that are inappropriate in target language considering thinking habit, language habit and expression, etc. in order to avoid unnecessary translation. (He Ying 2011, 31)

4.1 Two main methods of English film titles’ translation

4.1.1 Transliteration

Transliteration is a process or a result of using one character symbol to represent the character symbol of another character system. When there is a huge difference between the original language and the target language or there are semantic gaps, the translation cannot start directly from the form or semantics. In this case, transliteration can be used. Most of the audience are familiar to many British and American films and television titles or have a knowledge of their historical and cultural significance, so transliteration is adopted. Such as: Casablanca "卡萨布兰卡", Mulan "花木兰", etc. (Chen Huaiyan 2009, 15)

However, there are some situations that require flexible translation. For example: If The Thelma and Louise were transliterated into "塞尔玛与路易斯", the audience would think that it was just two female males in the film. However, this movie talked about they began to fight back under unbearable circumstances after experiencing a series of sexual violence and harassment on their simple journey, and finally flew to the world. (Chen Huaiyan 2009, 15)

The film portrays the story of two hostesses fighting with their fate in order to maintain the dignity of women. The film was paraphrased as "末路狂花" (Cai Dongdong 2000, 176). This translation not only basically expresses the content of the film, but also appropriately conveys the meaning of the original film without being restricted by English. (Cai Dongdong 2000, 176)

4.1.2 Free Translation

Some English film titles have specific cultural connotations, and it is difficult to express them in literal translation. Such film titles must be non-literally translated based on the film content and the original name. That is so-called free translation. It means that the translation can accurately express the original thought content while it is not limited to the form of language expression. Gouadec's free translation is named restructuring translation, which refers to the translation that retains the entire content of the original text without considering the form of the target text. Its purpose is to convey the content of the original text in a language that is as clear and understandable as possible, so that all the original text information is directly accepted by the target reader (Fang Mengzhi 2004, 57).

Therefore, free translation is generally based on the literal meaning of the original topic, and then a new topic is created. For example, the movie Gone with the Wind is translated as "乱世佳人". The title vividly conveys the rough life of the heroine. Another example is the film The Bridges of Madison County, which was paraphrased as "廊桥遗梦", which tells about the extramarital affair of two middle-aged people. The translation clearly shows the theme of the film, and also leaves the audience ample room for imagination. (Fang Mengzhi 2004, 57)

The free translation method demands that the translation must be concise and vivid, embodying the theme, and at the same time conforming to the Chinese language norms and the aesthetic appeal of the audience as much as possible. Free translation is not restricted by the language form of the original text so that it can better reflect the essence of functional equivalence. For example: Best Friend's Wedding, there are two different translations: "我最好朋友的婚礼" and "新娘不是我". In contrast, the latter is more in line with the idea that Nida put forward. Therefore, free translation of the title can attract the audience's attention and leave the audience with suspense. (Fang Mengzhi 2004, 60)

5. Conclusion

Film, as a commercial art form, has to consider its cost and income, so our concept of translation and translation theory itself should keep up with the development of times and change. Unlike other text translations, the reader of film titles is a larger group, so the translation should take into account vast majority of readers’ aesthetic preferences, value orientation, etc.. (Chen Huaiyan 2009, 28)

This paper studies the application of skopos theory and functional equivalence in Chinese translation of English film titles. Skopos theory has three guiding rules: skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule, among which skopos rule is the dominating rule, because in skopos theory, translation action is determined by the skopos of target text. In addition, the application of skopos theory in film title translation is reflected in realizing film title’s three functions: commercial function, informative function and aesthetic function, among which commercial function is the most important function, because to film makers, their skopos of title translation is to maximize the sales for high profit. (Chen Huaiyan 2009, 28)

In order to better achieve film title’s three functions, the author promotes three commonly used methods in title translation: literal translation, addition , omission, transliteration and free translation. To the audience, they buy tickets and enter cinemas for entertainment and mental enjoyment. Only attractive titles can be more appealing to audience; thus the purpose of title translation is to deliver the charm of the film to audience in an appropriate way; this in turn can realize film maker’s purpose. Title translators should give an overall consideration about the balance of the functions and freely choose them under the guidance of skopos theory and functional equivalence. (Chen Huaiyan 2009, 29)

All in all, under the guidance of skopos theory and functional equivalence, this paper has listed examples, judged their merits and suggested what translation method to be adopted and intended to explain these two theory’s guiding function in film title translation. (Chen Huaiyan 2009, 29)

6. References

• He Ying 贺莺. (2001). 电影片名的翻译理论和方法 [Translation Theories and Methods of Film Titles]. 外语教学 Foreign Language Teaching (1) 57.
• Jia Wenbo 贾文波. (2004). 应用翻译功能论 [Applied Translation Functionalism]. Beijing: China National Translation and Publishing Company] 北京：中国对外翻译出版公司.
• Wang Ying 王英. (2016). 目的论与电影片名翻译 [Skopos Theory and Film Title Translation]. 科技视界 Horizon of Science and Technology (2) 158.
• Yang Wanqiu 杨惋邱. (2011). 目的论视角下英文电影片名的汉译问题探究 [A Study on The Chinese Translation of English Film titles from the perspective of Skopos Theory]. 西华大学硕士论文 27.
• Zhong Hewei, Zhong Yu 仲伟合、钟钰. (1999). 德国的功能派翻译理论 [German Functionalist Translation Theory]. 中国翻译 Chinese Translator Journal (3).
• Guo Jianzhong 郭建中. (2000). 当代美国翻译理论 [Contemporary American Translation Theory]. Hubei: Hubei Education Press 湖北：湖北教育出版社.
• Wang Yanping, Wang Jianwu 王燕萍, 王建武. (2005). 略论翻译对等与翻译策略 [Translation Equivalence and Translation Strategies]. 陕西理工学院学报 Journal of Shaanxi University of Science and Technology (3) 72-75.
• Cai Dongdong 蔡东东. (2000). 当代英美电影赏析 [Appreciation of Contemporary British and American films]. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press 北京：外文出版社.
• Fang Mengzhi 方梦之. (2004). 译学词典 [The Dictionary to Translation Studies]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press 上海：上海外语教育出版社.
• Chen Huaiyan 陈怀彦. (2009). 电影名翻译的现状及方法 [Current Situation and Methods of Film Name Translation]. 韶关学院学报(社会科学) Journal of Shaoguan University (Social Sciences) (8) 30.
• Munday, Jeremy. Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications. London and New York: Routledge, 2001.
• Nord, Christiane. Translating as a Purposeful Activity--Functionalist Approaches Explained. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001.
• Reiss, Katharina. Translation Criticism: The Potentials and Limitations. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2004.
• Nida Eugene. Language, Culture and Translating. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1993.
• Tartaglione, Nancy (2017.1.5). “Intl Box Office Sees Projected 3.7% Drop Amid Currency Shifts & China Dips-Studio Chart". http://deadline.com/2017/01/highest-grossing-movie-studios-of-2016-international-box-office-1201878861/.

--Yang Yue (talk) 07:59, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Comparison Between Chinese and English Resume from the Perspective of Skopos Theory 肖双玲 Xiao Shuangling 202070080611

Xiao Shuangling 肖双玲， 202070080611 MTI 英语笔译.

Abstract

With the rapid development of China’s economy and the deepening of reform and opening up, more and more foreign-funded enterprises are coming to China to invest and set up factories, and more and more Chinese are going to work in foreign companies or abroad. For foreign job seekers, English resumes are often more important than Chinese ones. Many job seekers think that the English resume is verbatim translation into English, however, the result not only fails to reflect their own English level, but also brings obstacles to the job search, leading to the opposite effect. By analyzing the differences between Chinese and English resumes, this paper attempts to solve the problems in the translation of Chinese resumes based on Skopos theory, so as to improve the quality of the translation and make the job-seeking process more successful. Skopos theory is the basic principle of translation activities. Based on the differences of the object, role and emphasis between Chinese and English resumes, analysis of the differences and the problems that arise in the translation process are necessary. This essay tries to find out effective methods for C-E translation of resumes under Skopos theory approach and thus makes job-hunting easier for applicants.

Key words

Skopos theory; resume; translation

摘要

中国经济的快速发展和改革开放的深入，越来越多的外资企业来中国投资建厂，越来越多的中国人去外企或国外工作。对于外国求职者来说，英文简历往往比中文简历更重要。很多求职者认为英文简历就是自己的中文简历逐字翻译成英文，然而，这样的结果不仅不能反映自己的英语水平，还给求职带来了障碍，导致了相反的效果。本文通过分析中英文简历的差异,试图从目的论的角度来解决中文简历翻译中存在的问题，从而提高翻译质量，使求职过程更加顺利。目的论是翻译活动的基本原则。基于中英文简历的对象，作用和重点的差异，分析翻译过程中出现的差异和问题是必要的。本文试图找到在目的论理论方法下简历英译的有效方法，从而使求职者更容易找工作。

关键词

目的论；简历；翻译

Introduction

For job seekers, when applying for foreign-funded enterprises, a standardized English resume is essential, which not only reflects the applicant's personal information, ability and qualifications, but also reflects the applicant’s English level and awareness of cross-cultural communication to a certain extent. This paper focuses on the English translation of Chinese resumes and the characteristics and norms of English resumes, and puts forward solutions to the above problems. This paper suggests that the translation of resumes should be oriented towards the communicative purpose. By studying the characteristics and functions of resumes, the author discusses the C-E translation of resumes from three aspects: words, sentences and texts. The study has found that simplicity and clarity are the two criteria for resume translation. In addition, when translating resumes, translators should give priority to free translation with literal translation as a supplement. This paper can be divided into three parts. Chapter one is an overview to resumes, including linguistic features and qualities of translators. Then in the second chapter, the development and basic principles of Skopostheory will be discussed. In the last chapter, the application of Skopostheory on the translation of resumes will be explored at lexical, syntactic and stylistic levels.

Chapter 1 Introduction of Resume

A resume is a written communication document that shows to prospective employers in which you have the skills, attitude, qualifications, and confidence to meet specific job requirements. In order to attract employers' attention and interest, a qualified resume is definitely indispensable. In this part, definition and features of resume and differences between Chinese and English resume are going to be explored.

1.1 Definition of Resume

According to the explanation from the noted and authoritative encyclopedia—Wikipedia, a résumé or resume is a document used by a person to present his background and skills. Resume can be used for a variety of reasons, but most often it is used to secure new employment. A typical resume contains a “summary” of relevant job experience and education. The resume is usually one of the first items, along with a cover letter and sometimes an application for employment, which is typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview.(Zhu Liping,11)

1.2 Features of Resume

Resume needs to be optimized and the connotation is more important. Before the resume is submitted, it must have a clear career direction. This is the key to the success of the application. However, many people do not know their job search direction before writing a short calendar. Most people are confused about it, so it is not advisable to write a job search intention or write too much on the resume. Just as you can see a wide variety of advertisements every day, hiring managers also face a variety of resumes every day. How can a resume stand out? How do you let the recruiter notice you at a glance? How do you let the recruiter believe that you are the “talent” they are looking for and generate ideas for further interviews? In fact, as long as you follow the following features when you create your resume, you will get an interview.（Hu Tingting,12）

1.2.1 Conciseness

When you’ve done with your resume, weigh it and see whether you can read all the things that you think are important in ten seconds or not. Generally speaking, the length of a resume should be limited to 1 page of A4 paper. The longer a resume is, the less likely it is to be read carefully. High-end talents can sometimes prepare resumes of more than 2 pages, but they also need to have a brief and clear overview of the qualifications at the beginning of the resume, so that readers can grasp the basic situation in a short period of time and have the desire to read further.（Hu Tingting,12）

1.2.2 Clarity

The purpose of clarity is to make the resume easy to read. Just like making a print ad, the layout of the resume needs to take into account factors such as font size, line and segment spacing, and highlighting of key content.（Hu Tingting,13） 1.2.3 Authenticity

Don’t try to fabricate work experience or achievements, lies will not let you go too far. Most of the lies will be identified during the interview process, not to mention the fact that many large companies, especially foreign companies, conduct background checks based on their resumes and related materials before providing OFFER. But the truth is not to put out our shortcomings.（Hu Tingting,13）

1.2.4 Pertinence

If you submit the same resume for different industries, different companies and different positions, then what is deficient in such a resume is pertinence. If Company A requires you to have relevant industry experience and good sales performance, you clearly stated the relevant experiences and facts in your resume and put them in a prominent position. This is targeted; if Company B requires you to have good oral English ability, you described your experience in an amateur foreign-related business translation in your resume. That is targeted; if Company C explicitly requires candidates to have Shanghai hukou, you indicate in your resume that you are a resident of Shanghai Pudong District, so this is targeted. It is not only a resume, but also a very important principle when writing job letters, follow-up letters, and thank-you letters.（Hu Tingting,14）

1.2.5 Objectivity

I am a person who is rigorous and responsible, and I have a very good job performance in my past work. Similar sentences can often be seen in many people's resumes. Perhaps it is true, but the wise human resources director will never believe in such subjective confession. Therefore, the resume should provide objective proof or facts and data supporting your qualifications and abilities. For example, in 2008, I was awarded by the company for ranking the first in sales performance or I was praised by the manager for my good coordination and organization ability in an exhibition activity. The latter is obviously less objective than the former. Also, to be as objective as possible, first-person “I” should be avoided in your resume.（Xiang Yang，打造优秀简历的七大原则）

1.3 Differences between Chinese and English Resumes

Although resumes in both Chinese and English are basically the same in forms and contents, English resumes are not hard copies of Chinese resumes. Recognizing the differences between the two is the first problem to be faced in the translation work. HRs point out that the Chinese and English resumes have the following differences.

1.3.1 Role of Resume

If you apply for domestic enterprises and institutions, the submission of Chinese resumes is the first step of the job, English resumes play supplementary roles to the Chinese resumes; But for the foreign capital enterprise and the multinational corporation's candidates, the English curriculum vita is a stepping stone for job hunting, and will reflect the candidates' ability and the quality, which is the key to obtain the interview opportunity.(Huang Lu, Wu Qiying,2013)

1.3.2 Reading Target of Resume

According to the different reading objects, the Chinese resume should conform to the Chinese reading habits, and the English resume should meet the reading habits of English-speaking people. An introduction to job hunting at the Harvard Career Center said: “The US resume does not include information on age, gender, weight, height, nationality, health, marital status, number of children, etc. Employers are prohibited by law from referring to this information when evaluating whether a candidate meets the job requirements.”(Huang Lu, Wu Qiying,2013)

Chinese enterprises, especially state-owned enterprises, will require applicants to attach personal information, while English resumes without special needs generally do not involve gender, age, marital status and race and other relevant personal privacy contents. Companies are accused of hiring in violation of the law involving appearance, gender, age or race pay huge compensation. Many foreigners believe that whether a job applicant meets the requirements of a certain position mainly depends on the individual's professional experience and skills, and has nothing to do with personal information.(Huang Lu, Wu Qiying,2013)

1.3.3 Focus of Resume

In order to attract attention in the fierce competition, the design and packaging of some resumes of Chinese job seekers are extremely beautiful and long, more than 2 pages or even 3 pages, all of which are not obvious, and some are accompanied by art photos and various certificates. Pieces make the resume as thick as a magazine. English resumes are often only one page long, concise, relevant, personal, and focused on key words and action words. The keywords describe the practical experience and professional skills necessary for doing a good job.(Huang Lu, Wu Qiying,2013)

Today, when the computer screening resume system is widely used, the specific keywords appear in the resume is the only rule for job seekers to successfully obtain interviews with foreign companies. Behavioral verbs are mostly transitive verbs, indicating a specific action required to complete a task. Behavioral verbs play a behavior-oriented role in resumes. The so-called behavior-oriented meaning is to use facts to speak, not just to present results. (Huang Lu, Wu Qiying,2013)

Here are examples:

①expressing personal accomplishments:accomplish, achieve , improve, promote, etc.; ②indicating administrative capabilities: arrange, administer, execute, decide, etc; ③representing interpersonal communication skills:negotiate, persuade, present, etc; ④expressing innovation:create, develop, design, launch, etc.

Using behavioral verbs is essential for job seekers to demonstrate the core competencies and personal talents that companies require. For example, manage a group of 20 employees and motivate the whole sales team are more attractive than in charge of 20 employees, responsible for the whole sales team, giving a kind of action-like impression and enabling candidates to quickly get the attention of HR and stand out from the crowd.

Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework

Skopos theory, unveiled by German functionalist scholar Vermeer and Christiane Nord, is a theory that applies Skopos concept to translation. Its core concept is that the main factor of translation process is the purpose of overall translation behavior. In this context, the translator should adopt strategies or methods appropriate to the translation purpose. This theory represents an innovation compared with the existing translation theories and defines translation as a creative activity. In this chapter, the author of the dissertation focuses on the introduction of Skopos, which involves the background information and principles of Skopos theory.

2.1 Overview of Skopos Theory

In the 1970s, functionalist translation theory emerged in Germany. Its development has gone through the following stages.

The first stage: Katharina Reiss introduced functional categories into translation criticism for the first time, which connected language functions, discourse types and translation strategies, developed a translation criticism model based on the functional relationship between source text and target text, and thus proposed the rudiments of functionalism. Reiss thought that the ideal translation should be a comprehensive communicative translation. That is to say, the translation should be equivalent to the original in terms of conceptual content, language form and communicative function, but the functional features of the translation should be given priority in practice.

The second stage: Hans Vermeer put forward Skopos theory, which freed translation studies from the bondage of original source-centered theory. This theory holds that translation is a purposeful and resultful behavior based on the original text. Translation must follow a series of rules, among which the law of purpose takes a leading role. In other words, the translation is dependent on the purpose of the translation. In addition, translation should follow the “law of intra-linguistic coherence” and “law of inter-linguistic coherence”. The former implies that the translation must be internally coherent, which is understandable in the eyes of the recipient, while the latter means that there should be coherence between the translation and the original.

After these three principles are put forward, the criterion for judging translation is no longer “equivalence”, but the adequacy of the translation to achieve the desired goal. Vermeer also put forward the concept of translation commission, that is, the translator should decide whether, when and how to complete the translation task. That is to say, translators should adopt corresponding translation strategies according to different translation purposes, and have the right to decide what content of the original text can be retained and what needs to be adjusted or modified according to the translation purpose.

According to Vermeer, the supreme law in translation should be the law of purpose. That is to say, different translation purposes, translation strategies, methods are also different. In other words, the purposes of translation determine the strategies and methods of translation. “Skopos theory” has given a good explanation of the disputes between domestication and foreignization in the history of translation between China and the west, as well as the widely discussed formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence in the translation field in the past 20 or 30 years.

Whether to adopt domestication or foreignization in translation depends on the purpose of translation. Since functional translation theory takes “the principle of purpose” as the highest criterion and any translation activity is a purposeful act, the ultimate goal and main function of film title translation is to help people understand the main content of the film and stimulate the audience's desire to watch. Therefore, we need to have a brief understanding of functional translation theory, especially Skopos theory.

The third stage: Justa Holz Manttaridrew on the theory of communication and behavior, proposed the theory of translation behavior, and further developed the functionalist translation theory, which regarded translation as the interaction between people driven by purpose and oriented by translation results. This theory and teleology have a lot in common, and Vermeer later merged the two.

The fourth stage: Christiane Nord comprehensively summarized and improved the functionalist theory. For the first time, Christiane Nord systematically elaborated the internal and external factors to be considered in text analysis in translation, as well as how to formulate translation strategies suitable for the purpose of translation based on the functions of the original text. Christiane Nord sorted out various theories of functionalism and proposed that translators should follow the guiding principle of “function plus loyalty”, thus improving the theory.

2.2 Principles of Skopos Theory

Skopos rule, coherence rule, fidelity rule and loyalty rule are four principles of Skopos theory, among which there exists inter-relationships. In the following part, Skopos theory will be explained in a detailed way.

2.2.1 Skopos Rule

From the perspective of Skopos theory, the primary principle followed in all translation activities is the “purpose principle”, that is, translation should be able to function in the context and culture of the target language in the way expected by the recipient of the target language. The purpose of the translation behavior determines the process of the entire translation behavior, that is, the method of decision-making. (Hu Tingting,6)

However, translation activities can have multiple purposes, which can be further divided into three categories :(1) the basic purpose of the translator (such as making a living); (2) the communicative purpose of the translation (such as enlightening the readers); (3) the purpose to be achieved by using a particular means of translation (such as literal translation according to the structure of a language in order to illustrate the special features of the grammatical structure). (Hu Tingting,6)

In general, “purpose” refers to the communicative purpose of the target text, that is, “the communicative function of the target text in the socio-cultural context of the target language for the target language reader”. Therefore, the translator should make clear his specific purpose in a given translation context, and decide which translation method to adopt-- literal translation, free translation or something in between.(Hu Tingting,6)

2.2.2 Coherence Rule

Coherence rule, also known as intra-textual coherence rule, holds that the target text should meet the criteria of textual coherence. In other words, the translator should understand the reader’s cultural background and social environment when translating the text. Under the guidance of coherence rules, the comprehensibility of the target text is prior to the authority of the original. That is to say, the recipient’s feelings must be taken into account.(Hu Tingting,6)

When the translator applies the coherence principle, the target language must be coherent enough to make the recipient understand the whole text. In other words, the translator should follow the principle of coherence and properly adjust the syntactic structure or words in the target language, so as to maintain the coherence of the original text.(Hu Tingting,6)

2.2.3 Fidelity Rule

According to the fidelity rule, the relationship between source text and target text can be regarded as the fidelity of source text to target text. However, the degree of fidelity depends on the translator, because it is important for him or her to translate and understand the purposes of the original text. At the same time, the translators should be faithful to both the original author and the intention of the author. Therefore, faithful teleology attaches great importance to and tries to determine the relationship among the translator, the author and the receiver.(Hu Tingting,7)

2.2.4 Loyalty Rule

This was put forward by Nord. She found two major defects in Skopos theory. Firstly, people from different cultural backgrounds have different views on a good translation due to the differences in cultural models. In addition, if the communicative purpose of the translation required by the principle of purpose is just opposite to the intention of the original author, then we will abide by the principle of purpose and violate the principle of fidelity. Therefore, Nord proposed the loyalty principle to solve the cultural differences and the relationship between the participants in translation.

According to Nord, translators have a moral responsibility to the recipients of the translated text and must explain to them what they have done and why. This is one aspect of the loyalty principle. Another aspect of this principle is that the translator should be loyal the original author. The translator should respect the original author and coordinate the target language of the translation with the intention of the author. Therefore, the principle of loyalty mainly focuses on the relationship between the translator and the original author, the client, the recipient of the translation and other participants in the translation process. Nord proposed that translators should follow the guiding principle of “function plus loyalty”, thus improving the theory.

In a word, these four principles constitute the basic principles of Skopos theory of translation, but the principle of coherence, the principle of loyalty and the principle of loyalty must be subordinated to the principle of purpose, which is the primary principle of Skopos theory.

Chapter 3 Application of Skopos Theory in C-E Translation of Resume

From the above, the author has studied some basic knowledge of resume and Skopos theory. In this chapter, the applied of Skopos theory on C-E translation of resume will be discussed, especially, we are going to analyze the translation from lexical, syntactic and textual level respectively. And it is the most crucial part in the dissertation.

3.1 Application of Skopos Theory in Lexical Translation

The selection of English words plays an important role in the translation of resumes. On the one hand, the choice of a good English word can help shorten long sentences and make the resumes more convenient and comfortable to read; on the other hand, due to the ambiguity of English words, correct choice of words can solve the ambiguity problem. In order to solve the above problems, using a large number of action verbs, terms and abbreviations are recommended. Next, the above contents will be introduced separately.(Zhu Liping,22)

3.1.1 Action verbs

A resume shows the author’s education and work experience. There are lots of action verbs used in resume translation. And most of the sentences that describe job duties and self-evaluation begin with action verbs, such as负责、开发、管理、提出.

Example 1:

1.提出新的流程，在减少工作压力的同时，提高了员工的生产能力，成功的向潜在的购买者解释并演示了技术产品的相关科技

2.开发了销售和市场项目，使购物中心的利润提高了33个百分点

3.负责华东地区的23家商店的销售和损益

4.为新华出版社管理23家生产厂家的代表公司的国际和国内销售力量

Translation:

1. Proposed a new process to reduce the work pressure, improved the production capacity of employees, and successfully explained and demonstrated the technology related to technical products to potential buyers.

2. Developed sales and marketing programs that increased shopping center profit by 33 percent.

3. Took charge of sales and profit and loss of 23 stores in East China

4. Managed the international and domestic sales force of representative companies of 23 manufacturers for Xinhua Publishing House

These examples are selected from job hunters’ resumes. For those who want to apply for a job on sales, it is common to see the action verbs like “propose”, “develop”, “take charge of” and “manage” in their resume. Through those action verbs, it is conspicuous for readers to know the achievement the job seekers have done during their previous job experiences.

When we are translating something, in order to make each sentence start with an action verb, the job hunters should adjust the words order. In this way, it not only gives HR a kind of visual beauty, but also shortens the sentence of translated resume. In addition, frequently using action words shows a more effective, organized and positive job hunters. Obviously, Skopos rule works here since the main purpose of the job hunters is that readers can grasp the core information in a few second so as to add the opportunity of getting an interview among thousands of them.

Recombination and omission are the vital translation skills here. And the above parts also employed omission translation skill so as to delete a lot of qualifiers which may cause disturbance for reader to get useful information. However, such a kind of English resume is simple and clear which is convenient for readers to grasp the significant parts. In addition, it is in accordance with the conciseness feature of resume as well.(Zhu Liping,23)

3.1.2 Terminology and Abbreviation

Different fields have different terminologies, which are the products of the advancement of science and culture. With the emergence of the concept of the new things, people adopt a variety of approaches to make appropriate words in their language to label them which can be easily understood by employers. Thus it can be seen that terminology has great impact on resume translation.(Zhu Liping,24)

Example 2:

负责宝马5系，5系混动，1系认证：协调试验工程师，环保申报工程师完成工作，确保认证按节点完成

Translation:

Take lead of BMW 1 series, 5 series and 5 PHEV models homologation process; coordinate the cooperation of test engineer and EPA specialist to achieve the target on time

From the example above, we can see that abbreviations in some resumes are sometimes frequently employed, such as PHEV(Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), BMW(Bavarian Motor Works) and EPA(Environmental Protector Agency). Abbreviations will make the translated resumes look more concise and clear and will not hinder employers to understand what job seekers try to convey.

Under the Skopos theory, the purpose of a resume is to provide HR with the key information about whether a candidate is suitable for the target position or not, so as to get an interview. Therefore, long and complex sentences should be avoided. Terms and abbreviations are necessary. In this way, the author also proves the use of action verbs, which makes the translated resume more attractive because the reader can immediately get the main information.（Hu Tingting，25）

3.2 Application of Skopos Theory in Syntactical Translation

It usually takes about 30 seconds for an HR to read a resume in English, so neither long sentences nor compound sentences are frequently used in a resume, as this may pose a barrier for HR to attain the key information. Similarly, English resumes should be concise. In order to achieve this goal, non-subject sentences and unified sentences are generally used. Through analysis, the author found that declarative sentence is the most commonly used question, negative sentence. In addition, present and past tense are generally used to introduce personal information and work experience.

3.2.1 Non-subjective Sentence

Example 3:

担任加油站项目开发经理，负责加油站项目的实地调研、车辆分析、投资回报分析及项目可行性报告的完成；对外与政府进行沟通协调、各类准建文件和营业证照的申办等；对内督促工程部门推进站体建设、质量、安全管理等工作。

Translation 1:

As the project development manager of the gas station, I was responsible for the field research, vehicle analysis, investment return analysis and the completion of the project feasibility report of the gas station project. Externally, I communicated and coordinated with the government on the application of various kinds of construction documents and business licenses, and internally urged the engineering department to promote the construction, quality and safety management of the station.

Translation 2:

1. Served as the gas station project development manage 2. Was responsible for the field research, vehicle analysis, investment return analysis and project feasibility report of the gas station project 3. Communicated and coordinated with the government to apply for all kinds of construction documents and business licenses 4. Urged the engineering department to promote the construction, quality and safety management of the station

In translation 1, since the language of the resume is complimentary, the use of “I” gives people a sense of pride. In addition, it does not conform to western culture, because westerners are used to simple and direct description. By contrast, translation 2 is much simpler and clearer by omitting the subject “I”. Usually, a non-subject sentence is an elliptical sentence that omits the subject, while the omitting subject is usually the applicant himself.

In conclusion, the non-subjective sentences conform to the Skopos theory, and the translated resumes are shorter. It increases the chances of the interviewee getting the interview. Therefore, ellipsis plays an important role in resume translation. By omitting the first person "I", the sentence becomes more concise and to the point. Therefore, it doesn’t take much time for the reader to grasp the key information.

3.2.2 Syntactic Unity

When translating resumes, we should pay attention to the unified sentence structure to reflect the professional qualities of job seekers, and also meet the requirements of reading fluency. In order to achieve this, translation transformation will be used. For example, verbs in the original text can be converted into adjectives or nouns instead of adjectives. By complementing this sentence structure, the translated resume looks more standardized and attractive because it stimulates HR’s desire to read.

Example 4:

1.能熟练操作财务软件，能很好的与人交往，同时学校的生活使我锻炼了团队合作精神

2.责任心强，工作效率高，认真仔细，具有创新意识，善于分析和解决问题

3.熟练掌握MATLAB， MS office software。 计算机二级VB，三级数据库。

Translation:

1. Proficient in operating financial software, good at communicating with others, stronger in teamwork spirit in school life

2. Strong sense of responsibility, high efficiency, careful, innovative and good at analyzing and solving problems

3. Skilled at MS office software and MATLAB. Passed National Computer Rank Examination Grade 3(database) and Grade 2(VB)

From the translation of examples above, each sentence is begun with a phrase led by an adjective or the past participle of a verb which is consistent with the principle of syntactic unity. Considering the background of western culture, as well as the convenience for readers, such an approach seems practical in resume translation. Syntactic unity not only makes the translated resume more attractive, but will also let our resumes stand out among thousands of competitors. Because for one thing, it provides readers with a sense of visual beauty, and for another, more information will be attained.（Zhu Liping，25）

Under Skopos theory, the unification of non-subjective sentences and syntax is an effective means of Chinese-English translation. Moreover, the author also finds that English resumes use declarative sentences because of their narrative usage. Sentences such as questions and negatives are rarely used. In addition, the present and past tenses in English resumes are widely used for their objectivity. Generally, a job seeker will present his or her personal information and experience objectively, which is the reason why the above tense is used.（Zhu Liping，27）

3.3 Application of Skopos Theory in Textual Translation

In previous parts, the author of the essay has studied application of Skopos theory in lexical translation and syntactical translation. And in the following part, application of Skopos theory in textual translation will be further analyzed, which includes translation of personal information and concise style.(Zhu Liping,27)

3.3.1 Translation of Personal Information

There is a big difference between the English resume, because the use of the English resume for the international environment, such as multinational companies, so the Chinese resume English translation should follow the principle of alienation, and the English resume should be easy to be accepted by the reader. Here is an example.

Example 5:

姓名：张三

性别：男

年龄：25

身高：185

政治面貌：团员

婚否：已婚

地址：湖南省长沙市岳麓区

电话：1337658xxxx

电子邮件：Zhangsan2008@163.com

Translation:

Zhang San

Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan Province

Tel:1337658xxxx

Email:Zhangsan2008@163.com

By comparing the above resumes in both Chinese and English, we can clearly see that English resumes are much simpler than Chinese resumes. And there are a lot of private information that has been deleted, such as date of birth, political status, marital status, height and photos, etc. The purpose is to avoid discrimination. In addition, the writing of addresses in Chinese and English resumes is also very different, so the author adopted a translation method of word order adjustment.

3.3.2 Concise Style

As we know, simple and concise are two core principles of resume translation, because they achieve the purpose of high efficiency. Therefore, job seekers do not have to repeatedly emphasize the various scholarships or grades they have achieved between school or work. This not only makes people feel that job seekers have limited work experience, but also seem boring. Next, the author will give an example of the above.(Zhu Liping,28)

Example 6:

2016.9湖南师范大学2015~2016年度“校三等奖学金”、“校三好学生”及“优秀学生干部”

2017.9湖南师范大学2016~2017年度“国家励志奖学金”、“校三好学生”及“优秀共青团员”

2018.9湖南师范大学2017~2018年度“校二等奖学金”、“校三好学生”及“优秀学生会干部”

Translation 1:

2016.9 Third-class Scholarship、 Excellent Student and Fine Student Leader in Hunan Normal University

2017.9 National Scholarship for Higher Motivation、Excellent Student and Outstanding League Members in Hunan Normal University

2018.9 Second-class Scholarship、Excellent Student and Fine Student Union Leader in Hunan Normal University

Translation 2:

Third-class and Second-class Scholarship

National Scholarship for Higher Motivation

Excellent Student(2 Times)

Fine Student Leader and Fine Student Union Leader

Outstanding League Members

The above example is taken from the resume of an undergraduate student. The first version was translated by the applicant himself, and the second version was modified. By comparing the two versions above, we can know that the second version is more concise and clear compared with the first one. It uses ellipsis and combination of translation skills to describe the academic achievements and honors of the applicants, without repeating the name and time of the school as the first one did. It's easier to stand out.(Zhu Liping,29)

Conclusion

When translating Chinese resumes into English, Chinese people often copy and ignore the habits of English resumes in terms of format, language and cultural traditions. Therefore, in the process of translating Chinese resumes into English, we must pay attention to the format characteristics of English resumes and the key points of language writing, as well as the cultural differences between China and the West, and the awareness of cross-cultural communication.

When translating Chinese resumes into English, Chinese people often ignore the habits of English resumes in terms of format, language and cultural traditions. Therefore, in the process of translating Chinese resumes into English, we must pay attention to the format characteristics of English resumes and the key points of language writing, as well as the cultural differences between China and the West, and the awareness of cross-cultural communication.--Wang Xuan (talk) 14:56, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Wang Xuan

A resume is an indispensable application style for job application. It is a written introduction showing the image, expertise and experience of the job seeker. No matter what kind of briefing, the purpose is to seek job interviews for job seekers and get the job opportunities. Therefore, in order to reduce the obstacles encountered in job hunting and achieve a smooth job search, in the process of translating Chinese resumes, it is necessary to use the translation teleology as a guide, and according to the reading habits of English readers, the necessary arrangement and reorganization can be used to maximize the role of resumes.

Resume is an indispensable application style for job application. It is a written introduction showing the image, expertise and experience of the job seeker. No matter what kind of briefing, the purpose is to seek job interviews and get the job opportunities for job seekers. Therefore, in order to reduce the obstacles encountered in job hunting and achieve a smooth job search, in the process of translating Chinese resumes, it is necessary to use the translation teleology as a guide, and according to the reading habits of English readers, the necessary arrangement and reorganization can be used to maximize the role of resumes.--Wang Xuan (talk) 14:56, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Wang Xuan

Although this paper can provide some inspiration for job seekers, there are still limitations in the paper. The biggest limitation is that there are too few samples of resumes cited in the article, so the cases may be less than typical and comprehensive. Taking into account the limitations of the paper, the author believes that in the future research, the cases should be involved in a wider range and more numbers, so as to make a more comprehensive and convincing analysis.

Although this paper can provide some inspiration for job seekers, there are still limitations in the paper. The biggest limitation is that there are too few samples of resumes cited in the article, so the cases may be less than typical and comprehensive. Taking into account the limitations of the paper, the author believes that in the future, the cases should be involved in a wider range and more numbers, so as to make a more comprehensive and convincing analysis.--Wang Xuan (talk) 14:56, 18 December 2020 (UTC)Wang Xuan

Reference

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[2] Bhatia, K. Analysis Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings[M]. London: Longman, 1993.

[3] Nida, E.A. The Theory and Practice of Translation[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2004.

[4] Nord, Christiane. Skopos, Loyalty, and Translation Conventions[J]. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: Benjamins, 1991(4).

[5] Nord, Christiane. Translating as a Purposeful Activity: Functionalist Approaches Explained[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001.

[6] Peter, Newmark. A Textbook of Translation[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Education Press, 2001.

[7] Reiss, Katharina and Vermeer, Hans J. Groundwork for a General Theory of Translation[M]. Tubingen: Niemeyer, 1984.

[8] Swales, M. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

[9] Chu Tianshu 楚天舒. 求职简历不容忽视的九大细节[Nine details that cannot be ignored in a job resume ][J]. 中国大学生就业Employment of Chinese University Students, 2008,(8).

[10] Hu Tingting 胡婷婷. 目的论指导下的简历英译[A Study of the C-E Translation of Resume Under Skopos Theory][D]. 吉林: 吉林财经大学Jilin University of Finance and Economics, 2018.

[11] Lian Shuneng 连淑能. 英汉对比研究[Comparative Study of English and Chinese ][M]. 北京: 高等教育出版社Higher Education Press, 2010.

[12] Gao Lin 高琳. 跨文化视角下中英文简历的语类分析[Genre Analysis of Chinese and English Resume from the Intercultural Perspective][D]. 天津: 天津商业大学Tianjin University of Commerce, 2015.

[13] Zhang Peiji 张培基. 英汉翻译教程[English-Chinese Translation Course ][M]. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1980.

[14] Zhu Liping 朱理萍. 求职简历汉英小译[Chinese-English translation of Job Resume][D]. 上海: 上海外国语大学Shanghai International Studies University, 2008.

[15] Zhuang Yichuan 庄绎传. 英汉翻译简明教程[A Short Course in English-Chinese Translation ][M]. 北京: 外语教学与研究出版社Foreign Language Teaching and Researching Press, 2002.

--Xiao Shuangling (talk) 11:40, 20 December 2020 (UTC)Xiao Shuangling

The Comparison between Lexical Gap in Linguistics and It in Translatology From the Perspective of Skopos Theory 孟莹 Meng Ying 202020080626 外国语言学及应用语言学

Abstract

Because of globalization, the cross-cultural communication becomes more and more important. The lexical gap causes difficulty in mutual understanding between two cultures. Even though the lexical gap is borrowed from semantics to translatology, they are different. The paper compares the definition, the classification in lexical gap in linguistics and in translatology and find that the lexical gap in linguistics mainly concerns the unlexicalized concept within one language, while the lexical gap in Translatology mainly focus on the culture-specific words and denotation and connotation divergence between equivalents in two languages. Besides, the paper also analyzes the causes of lexical gap from cognitive perspective. The experiential and perceptual causes are the main causes of lexical gap. Besides, to solve the lexical gap in linguistics and in translatology respectively, the paper provides different translation strategies for the two kinds based on Skopos theory.

Keywords

Lexical Gap, Culrure-loaded Words, Skopos Theory

摘要

由于全球化的发展，跨文化交际变得越来越重要。词汇的差异导致两种文化之间难以相互理解。虽然词空缺是从语义学借用到翻译学，但两者互不相同。本文从定义,分类比较了词汇空缺在语言学和翻译学中的不同，发现语言学的词汇空缺主要关注在同一语言中没有被词汇化的概念，而翻译学的词汇空缺主要指文化造成的概念空缺和两个语言中对应词汇在外延和内涵上的不同。此外，本文还从认知角度分析了造成词汇空缺的原因。经验缺失和认知差异是造成词汇空缺的主要原因。此外，为了解决语言学和翻译学上的词汇空缺，本文基于目的论为这两种词汇空缺提出了不同的翻译策略。

关键词

词汇空缺；文化负载词；目的论  

Introduction

Word is a basic unit of language. “The vocabulary of a particular language is not just a random list of words. As a matter of fact, the vocabulary is organized in terms of lexical fields.” (Wang Quanzhi, 2017, 748) In a lexical field, if a concept exists, but the word that represents the concept is absent, so the lexical gap within a language will occur, which is the meaning of lexical gap in linguistics.

The term of "lexical gap" is originated from a French word "lacuna". (Qian Jing, 2013:11-12) . The “lacuna” means vacancy, therefore, the lexical gap means word vacancy. Researchers in linguistic and researchers in translatology defines lexical gap differently. In translatology, the lexical gap is defined across two languages. The lexical gap in translatology is mainly caused by culture and society difference. However, no researchers until now tries to compare the difference between lexical gap in linguistics and in translatology. Therefore, the paper will try to compare them form definition, classification, translation strategy. (Wang Quanzhi, 2017, 748)

Besides, some reseachers equates the lexical gap with the culture-loaded words, but the paper does not agree. Therefore, the paper tries to compare them. (Tian & Yang, 2005: 55)

Nowadays, the cross-cultural communication become more and more important because of the globalization. To break the language barrier, the translation become very significant. However, the lexical gap confuses the translator in a large scale. Therefore, to know it clearly and to grasp its translation strategy is urgent for the successful communication and culture spreading. The skopos theory provides us a new way to see translation. With different purposes, different translation strategies should be applied. translation for successful communication and translation for culture spreading should apply different strategies. (Qian Jing, 2013:11-12)

The structure of the thesis is given below. Section 1 introduces the three rules of skopos theory. Section 2 introduces the difference between definitions, classifications of lexical gap in linguistics and in translatology and also discusses the causes of lexical gap. Section 3 put forward different translation strategies for the two kinds of lexical gap based on the skopos theory. Section 5 concludes the whole paper.  

Introduction of Skopos Theory

Development of Skopos Theory

The origin of Skopos theory can be dated back to Katharina Reiss’s book Possibilities and Limitations in Translation Criticism in 1971. In Skopos theory, translation is considered as a human behaviors with certain purposes rather than translating processes. The judgement of a successful translation is whether the translation accords with the intended purpose. (Zhao Xiuxing, 2015, 14)

The development of Skopos Theory can be divided into three phases. In 1971, Katherina Reiss firstly proposed the base form of functionalist approach to translation. On one hand, Reiss suggested that the perfect translation should be translation “in which the aim in the TL is equivalence as regards the conceptual content, linguistic form and communicative function of a SL text”. Reiss defines this kind of translation as “integral communicative performance”; On the other hand, she admits that the absolute equivalence is impossible, besides, in some situations, is not required. The translation should have its own translation brief. In some cases, the different function of the original text is different with the target one, so Reiss proposes that the translator is supposed to pay attention to the function not the equivalence. (Zhang Jinlan, 2004, 35-36)

Hans Vermeer puts forward Skopos theory based on the ideas of his teacher Katherina Reiss. Vermeer believes that translation is a kind of transformation, that is, the transfer of communicative linguistic signs and non-linguistic signs from one language to another. Translation is also a kind of human action. According to the action theory, Vermeer considers translation as the intentional and purposeful behavior under specific circumstances. Translator should translate the original text selectively based on the intentions of translation and the requirements of target readers. Vermeer also emphasizes that translation is not a one-to-one language transformation activity because the human behaviors take place in culturals context and different cultures have different customs and values. (Zhang Jinlan, 2004, 35-36)

Based on action theory, Justa Holz Manttari (1984) develops the ideas of Vermeer Manttari believes that translation designed to satisfy a particular intention with the coverage of all forms of intercultural transfer, including textural material, pictures, sounds, body movements and so on. Therefore, he emphasizes translating process, the roles of the participants and the situation in which the activities occur. (Zhao Xiuxing, 2015, 14-15)

Principles of Skopos Theory

There are three rules in Skopos Theory including skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule. Actually, the skopos rule is the primary rule among the three rules.

The Skopos theory means that the translational purposes of the target text determine the translation process. The skopos rule can be explained as translate or express the original text in a way that admits your translation to satisfy the function the target readers or you clients want. The rule indicates that the translator may use the free or faithful translation or combination of the two extremes depending on the purposes that the target text requires. That is to say, there is no better way between free translation and faithful translation. The point is how to use them properly. ( Nord, Christiane, 2001, 29)

By Coherence rule, the standard of “intratextual coherence” should be conformed in the target language (Reiss and Vermeer 1984: 109). That is to say, that the target text that a translator translates should be understood by the receivers. Besides, the words and expressions in the target text should be meaningful and understandable in the culture and communicative situation where target language is used, which means that the target reader can easily comprehend the purposes of the target text quickly. (Tian Xiaoqin, 2006, 23)

Therefore, the translators have to grasp the the social and cultural knowledge of the target receivers and the original text. based on the absolute understanding of the two culture, the translator can comprehend the inherent meaning of the original text, select the useful message that should be translated in the source text and find or create proper expressions in the target language for the better understanding of target text to make sure the successful cross-culture communication. (Zhao Xiuxing, 2015, 16-17)

Fidelity rule, also called intertextual coherence between source text and target text. As we have discussed above, the purposes that the target text want to satisfy is the most important in the translation, which means the translator may subordinate the faithfulness to the source text to the satisfaction of the purposes. However, it does not mean that the faithfulness is not required. The translators should try their best to be faithful and achieve the purposes at the same time. The degree of the fidelity actually relies on the purpose the translator’s understanding of the source text. (Zhao Xiuxing, 2015, 16-17)

As mentioned above, it is doubtless that skopos rule is the core of Skopos theory. The coherence rule is more important than fidelity rule. If the skopos changes, the degree of inter-textual coherence between source text and target text will change. If the skopos does not require intratextual coherence, the coherence rule is not needed (Nord, Christiane, 2001, 33).

Introduction of Lexical Gap and Culture-loaded Words

The Definition of Lexical Gap in Linguistics and Translatology

By reading different papers, the paper finds that the different definitions of lexical gap in Linguistics and Translatology. Therefore, the paper discusses the difference between the two definitions and the problems caused by the biased understanding of the lexical gap in Translatology.

In 1957, Lado R (cf Tan Zaixi, 1982: 6-10) first proposed the concept of "Lexical gaps" in Linguistics across Cultures. In Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, the definition of the lexical gap is “the absence of a word in a particular place in a lexical field of a language.” (Richards et al, 2002: 305). Besides, the lexical gap is also defined “a lexical item which has the potential to be lexicalized, but is not actually lexicalized, in the vocabulary according to the rules governing the phonological system, the morpheme combination and the sememe combination of the language in question.” (Wang Qianzhi, 2017, 749-750)

Though the lexical gap is firstly appeared in the field of the linguistics, the term is also used in the study of translation. The basic idea “the absence of a word” in the definition of lexical gap is used to describe the phenomenon that “the absence in the target language of a word, an expression that exists in the target language.” (Delisle, Jean et al, 1988,77)

Therefore, in Translatology, the concept of lexical gap is always infused with the concept of culture, especially in China. The concept of lexical gap is firstly applied by Tan Zaixi (1982). (Qian Jing, 2013, 11-12). As the researcher proposes, the unique characteristics of a culture will be embodied in the language. When the culture uniqueness is reflected in vocabulary, the lexical gap will arise between two languages. (Tan Zaixi, 1982, 6)

Guo Aixian( 1998) sums up three definitions of lexical gap according to the previous researches, firstly, it refers to unique words of each culture. Secondly, they are the words of the source language that are easily misunderstood in the target language. Thirdly, they are culture-loaded words and expressions. (Guo Aixian, 1998: 42)

In Sum up, the Lexical gap in linguistics is discussed with a language and the component of culture is not considered, while the lexical gap in Translatology is studied from the perspective of interlanguage and is infused with culture.

The Classification of Lexical Gap in Linguistics and Translatology

The Classification of Lexical Gap in Linguistics

Wenxu (2003) believes that the lexical gap is caused mainly by the hyponymy, antonymy, synonymy and part-whole relation. He puts forward to use the three lexical semantic relations that are proposed by Cruse (1986) to classify the lexical gap, which includes proportional series, hierarchies and opposites. (Wen Xu, 2003, 81)

Wen also illustrate the three classification of the lexical gap.

For the proportional series, he gives an example like human—corpse, animal—carcass, plant—?. In this example, human and corpse as well as animal and carcass constitute an intact minimal unit, while the vacancy in the place that express the concept of “dead plant” is a lexical gap in English. (ibid) By hierarchies, Wen suggests that the hyponymy is a kind of hierarchies. His example is that no hypernym in the category of verbs that express moving in the ground, but there are “swim”, “fly” to express moving in the water and sky, so a lexical gap occurs. By the opposites, Wen proposes that there may exist lexical gap in antonymy. For example, blind, deaf, dumb have no lexicalized antonyms. (ibid)

From the three classification of the lexical gap in linguistics, it is found that the lexical gap in linguistics mainly occur in the lexical sematic relations within a language. (ibid)

The Classification of Lexical Gap in Translatology

However, when the “gap” is used to refer to the difference between two languages.

Therefore, Han (2009) classifies the lexical gap in translatology into two categories and four subcatergories. The two categories are lexical gap including concept vacancy and expression vacancy as well as semi-lexical gap including denotation divergence and connotation divergence. (Han Luan, 2009, 4-6)

A. Lexical Gap Proper—No Equivalent

Lexical gap proper means that there exists no equivalent of the words or expressions of the source language in the target language. Lexical gap proper is manifested by two kinds: concept vacancy and expression vacancy. (Huan Luan, 2009, 6-12)

a. Concept vacancy

Concept vacancy is a kind of lexical gap that is related to the difference of culture because of the culture difference. The present concept in source language may be absent in the target language. For example, the concept of “土地庙” does not exist in English, and the concept of “Lazy Susan” cannot find equivalent in Chinese. Those words are created based on the unique characteristics of the culture. That is to say, the culture uniqueness causes the absence of concepts in a language. (Huan Luan, 2009, 6-12)

b. Expression Vacancy

Expression Vacancy refers to the non-lexicalized concept in the target language, which means that a concept may be represented by a lexicon but by a free combination of words in the target one. For example, Chinese people may use “笔” to refer to the general name of a category, while there exists no such a general name in English. There is no doubt that the English speakers know what is “笔”. They just have no such a word for reference. (Huan Luan, 2009, 6-12)

B. Semi-lexical Gap—Partial Equivalent

Actually, semi-lexical gap means partial equivalence. That is to say, even though words and expressions in source language can find equivalents in target language, but they are not totally same. The divergence may occur in the denotation and connotation of the concept. (Huan Luan, 2009, 6-12)

a. Denotation Divergence and Connotation Divergence

Here the paper gives examples to illustrate the kind of lexical gap. For example, the “龙” in Chinese and “dragon” in English. They are always translated as each other, but they have difference in denotation and connotation. The “龙” in China represents power and goodness, while the “dragon” in English represents evil and badness.

The color “red” in Chinese and English may have same denotation, but they are difference in connotation. The “neighbor” and “邻居” also different in denotation. The range of “neighbor” is much greater than that of “邻居”. To compare the lexical gap in linguistics and in translatology, we can find that the denotation of lexical gap in translatology is richer than that in linguistics. In linguistics, the lexical gap only refers to the absence lexicon or expression that is admitted to exist according to the structure of a language. That is to say, the concept has existed in the language but not be lexicalized. However, in translatology, the lexical gap can not only refer to the lexical gap in linguistics, but also refers to any kinds of lexical vacancy between two languages. The vacancy may be caused by concept absence based on culture difference or caused by semantic difference in the corresponding concept. (Huan Luan, 2009, 6-12)

The Relation and Difference between Lexical Gap and Culture-loaded Word

It can be found that the definition of lexical gap in Translatology adds the components of culture. Actually, some researchers including Xu Guozhang even equate the lexical gap with culture loaded words. (Tian Xianzhi & Yang Jinxue, 2005, 55). However, the paper believes that the lexical gap is not equivalent to the culture-loaded words.

The Overlap Between Lexical Gap and Culture-loaded Words

Tang (2006) defines culture-loaded words as “the words or expressions that carry the meaning of a cultural trait to a certain socio-cultural community, and their referent also exists in other communities, but doesn’t overlap the one in other community completely in semantic category, and therefore that just has, to some extent, a corresponding equivalent when used in cross-cultural communication.” (Tang Xiuqiong, 2006: 126-127)

Li & Guo & Yuan (2008) defines the culture-loaded words as words and expressions that carries culture connotation in a specific culture of a nation or a region. The culture connotation of a culture-loaded word is culture-specific and conventional abstract and concrete concept. (Li Yingyu & Guo Jirong & Yuan Liling, 2008, 64)

From the definition of culture-loaded words, we can find that the culture-loaded words has some similarities with lexical gap in the category of semi-lexical gap. The concept exists in the source language and target language, while the denotation and connotation of the concept in the two languages are not same. Based on the definition of Tang (2006), the concept vacancy does not belong to the category of culture-loaded words. However， the definition of Li & Guo & Yuan (2008) admits that the concept vacancy is a kind of culture-loaded words.

Therefore, the part of denotation of culture-loaded words overlaps with part of denotation of lexical gap, but their connotations are totally different.

The difference between Lexical Gap and Culture-loaded Words

Even though there are some similarities between the denotation of lexical gap and that of culture-loaded words, but some difference can also easily found. For example, in China, we use “出轨“ to refer to ”have an affair“ in English, while we also use “戴绿帽子” to represent the same concept. However, the “戴绿帽子” cannot be considered as lexical gap according to the definition of lexical gap, because the concept of “戴绿帽子” has an equivalent expression in English, which means the concept has been filled in English, but Chinese creates another expression to represent the concept based on its culture. Therefore, the “戴绿帽子” is a culture-loaded words but not lexical gap.

In sum up, there exists some conventionalized expressions that carries culture traits in a language to represents the lexicalized concept. Because the concept has been lexicalized, so there is no lexical gap that need to fill. That is to say, the conventionalized expressions as “戴绿帽子” is just a culture-loaded words but not a lexical gap.

The Causes of Lexical Gap

Experiential Causes

There is no such experience in a culture. Therefore, corresponding concept does not exist in the language. For example, most English speaker never know what the “醪糟” is，while most Chinese never know what the Macaroni and Cheese is. (Han Luan, 2009, 39-40)

Psychological Causes and Perceptual Causes

The death of an animal may evoke emotions of human, while the death of a plant may not, which may be caused by construal of human. Human always pays their attention to the animate and movable entity as figure firstly, while the unmovable entities are considered as ground. That is why the plant is ignored. (Han Luan, 2009, 39-40)

In conclusion, the psychological causes is always combined with the perceptual causes because human’s perception is subjective, which causes the conscious and unconscious absence of an expression. (Han Luan, 2009, 39-40)

Translation of Lexical Gap

Translatability and Untranslatability

Translatability and untranslatability are a famous and still unsolved paradox. “Translatability is mostly understood as the capacity for some kind of meaning to be transferred from one language to another without undergoing radical change” (Baker, 1998/2004: 273). Wilss (1982/2001: 49) put forwards that translatability of a text can “be measured in terms of the degree to which it can be recontextualized in the TL, taking into account all linguistic factors”. Untranslatability is defined as “impossible to build functionally relevant features of the situation into the contextual meaning.” (Catford, 1965, 94) “Translatability is more like a continuum than a well-defined dichotomy. The text or unit of the primitive is more or less translatable, not absolutely untranslatable. (ibid, 93)”.

From the definition of the translatability and untranslatability, it can be concluded that untranslatable phenomenon definitely exists in language if we see translatability as a continuum. Because of the difference in culture and lexicalization in different languages, the lexical gap in linguistics may not be translated but can be borrowed. However, lexical gap in translatology can be translated in various ways.

The Translation Strategy of Lexical Gap Between English and Chinese Based on the Skopos Theory

Because lexical gap in linguistics is caused by the concept vacancy and non-lexicalization of concepts. Based on the Skopos theory, the purpose of translation determines what kinds of strategies are selected in translation. In translation of Lexical gap, different translation strategies should be applied while facing different purpose.

If the purpose is successful communication , we may choose not to translation the lexical gap if it will not influence the success of the communication. However, if the purpose is to introduce the culture of source language to the target one, the translation is necessary. Of course, there are lots of purposes of translation and the purpose depends on the genre of source text. If the translation of lexical gap is necessary, several strategies are provided below.

Translation Strategy of Lexical Gap in Linguistics

The translation strategies of lexical gap in linguistic includes mainly borrowing. As we have discussed above, the lexical gap in linguistics can be divided into three categories including proportional gap, hierarchies and opposites.

For the translation of the three kinds, borrowing is the main methods. English borrows lots of words from French to fill the lexical gap years ago. For example, beef for the meat of cow, loot for war trophies from India. These concepts exist in the mind of English people, but these concepts are not lexicalized, so English loans words from other languages.

Translation Strategy of Lexical Gap in Translatology

As we have given Above, the lexical gap in translatology is separated into four kinds: concept vacancy, expression vacancy, denotation divergence and connotation divergence.

a. Concept Vacancy

For concept vacancy, the first purpose of translation is to introduce the concept to the target readers and let them understand what the concepts are. Therefore, there exists four strategies to translate it.

For concept vacancy, transliteration are easily used.

For example, “豆腐”, “饺子”, “混沌”, “叉烧”, “炒面” are translated into “tofu”, “jiaozi” “won ton”, “char shiu” and “chow mein”. (Shun Kaixi, 2013, 30-31). In E-C translation, AIDS is translated into “爱滋病”, “gene” into “基因”, “Internet” into “因特网”, “clone” as “克隆”. This kind of strategy pays attention to the formal fidelity because the concept is absent in the target language. So introducing concept is main purpose in the strategy. (Zhang Lei, 2008, 35-36)

The literal translation is also applied in translating concept vacancy. For example, we translate “孩奴” as “child slave”, “四书” as “Four Books”. In E-C translation, Ten Commandments is translated into “十诫”, “fast food” into “快餐”，hot dog into“热狗”, “bubble economy” into “泡沫经济”, “e-mail” into “电子邮件”, “honeymoon” into “蜜月”. (Wu Leya, 2019, 45)

The free translation also can be used. In the process of using literal translation, misunderstandings sometimes occur due to the cultural gap. For example, a famous Sichuan dish “夫妻肺片” is literally translated as "Husband and wife's lung slice". Then foreigners would never dare to taste it. Therefore, it is translated as “sliced beef and ox tongue in chili sauce”. (Wu Leya, 2019, 62)

In addition, westerners' love of cheese has led to the development of many expressions using cheese, for example, “get the cheese”, “the big cheese”. If these expressions are translated literally as “得到奶酪”, “大奶酪”，nobody will understand what the expressions mean. Therefore, they are translated as “碰钉子”, “重要事物”. (Wu Leya, 2019, 62) In fact, the free translation is for easy understanding. If the easy understanding is the purpose of the translation, the fidelity of meaning prevails.

Besides, by using notes, we can explain the concept vacancy in translating. Sometimes, due to the limitations of transliteration and literal translation, the target language readers may misunderstand the transliteration and literal translation and fail to understand its loaded cultural connotation. However, we still want to keep some original things to introduce cultures. Therefore, we can improve the transliteration by adding explanatory notes. “风水” is translated into Fengshui (a traditional Chinese practice of determining the location of a house, tomb, etc.). “阴阳” is translated into Yin and yang (the two opposite principles/forces existing in nature and the human world). (ibid)

Sme literal translation is hard to understand for target language reader, so somenotes should be added to explain it. For example, “Big Apple” is translated as “大苹果”（纽约的别称）; “裹足” is translated as “bound feet: a vile feudal practice which crippled women both physically and spiritually.” (ibid) From these examples, it can concluded that strategies like transliteration, literal translation, free translation and using notes.

b. Expression Vacancy

For expression vacancy, the main strategy is using general or specific words to replace the lexical gap. For example ,“笔” is usually translated into “pen”. In fact, “笔” is the general name of the category including things like “pen”, “pencil” that function as tools for writing. However, “pen” is just a kind of “笔”. Here, the translator uses a more specific word to translate. In many occasion, the translation does not influence the understanding of the readers according to the theory of Skopos, which emphasis purpose than faithfulness.

In English, pineapple is used to refer to the two kinds of Chinese fruits “凤梨 (fengli)” and “菠萝 (boluo)”. However, in translation, the pineapple is just translated as “凤梨” or “菠萝”.

c. Denotation Divergence and Connotation Divergence

For semi-lexical gap, finding its equivalent expression is a good way for purpose of easy understanding. For example, from “邻居” to “neighbor”, from “龙” to “dragon”, from “red” to “红色”. In fact the denotational meaning and connotational meaning between lexical pair is different. The relation of Chinese “邻居” is closer than English “neighbor” and the range of the “邻居” is narrower than “neighbor”. The image of “龙” and that of “dragon” is different in a large scale. Besides, the Chinese “龙” is kind and good, while the English “dragon” is evil. The “红色” in Chinese is a symbol for happiness and enthusiasm, while the “red” in English means violence and damage. These words can be translated into each other because of the existence of context.

If the context is absent and the purpose is to introduce the source culture more definitely, the transliteration with notes can be used to translate these words.

Conclusion

The paper compares the meaning, the classification, the translation strategy of lexical gap in linguistic and translatology.

It is found that the definition of lexical gap in linguistics is reflected within one language. it refers to the unlexicalized concepts in a language. That is to say, the word should have existed in the language. However, the definition of lexical gap in translatology is based on the difference between two languages. The lexical gap in translatology is much broader than that in linguistics. the lexical gap in translatology can refer to lexical difference totally because of the difference of culture and some word equivalents that has not only similarities but also divergence in denotation and connotation.

Based on the definition, the classification of the two kinds of lexical gap is discussed. Because of the lexical gap in linguistics is defined within a language, the classification of this kind includes proportional gap, hierarchies and opposites because the lexical gap can occur in the three sematic relations. However, the lexical gap in translatology is classified based on the reason why the lexical gap exists. The category of the lexical gap in translatology includes concept vacancy, expression vacancy, denotation divergence and connotation divergence.

Based on the classification of the two kinds of lexical gap, the translation strategies of the two kinds are different. The translation strategy of the lexical gap in linguistics is mainly borrowing. However, the translation strategies of lexical gap in translatology includes transliteration, literal translation, free translation, adding notes and using general and specific words.

Besides, the overlap and difference between lexical gap and culture-loaded words is discussed. The culture-loaded words include kinds of words that can find definite equivalents in target language, while the lexical gap does not include.

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