20201102 trans
Cao Runxin 曹润鑫
On the Comparison between "Sublimation" an "Functonal Equivalence" Theories
Abstract: Qian Zhongshu and Eugene Nida are outstanding and renowned translators in the history of Chinese and Western translation respectively. It is believed that Mr.Qian’s “Sublimation” theory and Nida’s “Functional Equivalence” theories have a broad and profound impact on Chinese and Western translation theories and practices. This paper will recognize the theoretical value of these two theories from the dialectical point of view by comparing the similarities and differences between “Sublimation” and “Functional Equivalence”. It aims to better apply translation theory to translation practice, and advocate us to view Chinese and Western translation theories from a historical and contradictory perspective, and thus making Translation Studies become more systematic and scientific.
Key words: sublimation; functional equivalence; Qian Zhongshu; Eugene Nida
Chang Huiyue 常慧月
Introduction: As a famous master of literature, translation and academy, Qian Zhongshu is considered as “the Kunlun Mountain of culture” by many scholars on account of his remarkable achievements and a wide range of knowledge. His literary masterpieces include “Pipe-awl Chapters” , “Discourses on Art”, “Seven Patches”, “Selected Essays of Qian Zhongshu”, “Fortress Besieged” and so on. What’s more, he proposed “Sublimation” theory in translation field, which does great contribution to traditional Chinese translation theory and make Translation Studies more systematic. As Chinese scholar Chen Fukang said: “He (Qian) has made a great many outstanding achievements in some important fields like literature and academic research. Although the discussion on translation is only a carved railing in his academic palace, it can have a huge impact in the field of translation studies.” (Chen Fukang 2000: 417).
Chen Han 陈涵
Eugene Nida is a famous American contemporary linguist and translation theorist. He has been devoted to the translation of the Bible and has summarized a set of translation theories from his own translation practice. The core point of his translation theory is “Functional Equivalence” (initially called “Dynamic Equivalence”). From his point of view, “Functional Equivalence” is to refer to the type of equivalent reflected in a TT which seeks to adapt the function of the original to suit the specific context in and for which it was produced” (Shuttleworth & Cowie, 2004: 64).
Chen Hui 陈惠
It requires that the translation should focus on the meaning and spirit of the original text, instead of being constrained by formal correspondence. According to this theory, he deems that the translation must have four criteria: (1) conveying meaning; (2) expressing spirit; (3) natural and smooth wording; (4) similar receptor response. In his book “From one language to another”, he replaced “Dynamic Equivalence” with “Functional Equivalence” and put forward two levels of meaning, say, referential meaning and associative meaning.
Chen Jiangning 陈江宁
1.The theoretical origin of “Sublimation” and “Functional Equivalence”
1.1 The theoretical origin of “Sublimation”
The idea of Qian Zhongshu’s translation theory of “Sublimation” comes from his book “Lin Shu's Translation” written in 1963 and “The Pipe-awl Chapters” published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1979. He proposed that the process of translation is actually a process of employing “enticement”, avoiding “misinformation” and pursuing “sublimation”.
Chen Jiaxin 陈佳欣
Then he pointed out: “The highest ideal of literary translation is ‘sublimation’. When you translate the literary works from one language to another, you can not only avoid the trace of stiffness and awkward expressions resulting from the different habits of language use, but also completely preserve the flavor of the original. Then we can say, that's the realization of ‘Sublimation’ ” (Qian Zhongshu, 2002: 77). According to his explanation, it can be easily seen that the core of his translation theory is “Sublimation”.
Chen Jingjing 陈静静
What’s more, we can extract 3 levels of “Hua” (Sublimation) from his theory, the first is to transform the source text to target text, and then use the domesticating method to make the source language be naturally and smoothly expressed in target language without any transparent feeling of translation caused by the differences of culture and language. Finally, it is the ultimate goal of “Sublimation” that is to say, “the transmigration of souls”, replacing the external shell and retaining the inner spirit and style without the slightest deviation. In other words, a translation should cleave to the original with such fidelity that it would not read like a translation, for a literature work in its own language will never read as though it were through a process of translation (Kao, 1975: 8-9).
Chen Sha 陈莎
1.2 The theoretical origin of “Functional Equivalence” Nida first proposed the concept of dynamic equivalence in the 1964 book “Toward s Science of Translating”. He believed that there were two kinds of equivalence in translation, namely formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence. Specifically, formal equivalence is the “quality of a translation in which the features of the form of the source text have been mechanically reproduced in the receptor language”.
Chen Sunfu 谌孙福
On the contrary, dynamic equivalence is the quality which characterizes a translation in which “the message of the original text has been so transported into the receptor language that the response of the receptor is essentially like that of the original receptors” (Nida & Taber, 1982: 200-201). Nida’s translation theory has its origin from his own translation practice of the Bible, in which he emphasized the communicative function of translation from the perspective of semantics and information theory.
Chen Yongxiang 陈永相
What's more, he regarded translation as interlingual translation, and he stressed the importance of paying attention to the receptors' response, in order to pursue the standard that target readers could have the same response as the original readers. In his book “From one language to another”, he changed the term “Dynamic Equivalence” to “Functional Equivalence” and he emphasized that we should try to achieve formal equivalence on the basis of the accordant information conveyed from the source text to the target language. In addition, he divided the translation process into three steps, say, “analysis, transfer, restructuring and check”. Through these four steps, the original information can be accurately conveyed, the response of the target receptors is also concerned, and the purpose of communication will be well achieved.
Cheng Yusi 成于思
2.Similarities and differences between “Sublimation” and “Functional Equivalence”
2.1 Similarities between “Sublimation” and “Functional Equivalence”
(1) The same concern for the translation processes: As we mentioned above, Mr. Qian Zhongshu proposed that the process of translation is actually a process of employing “enticement”, avoiding “misinformation” and pursuing “sublimation”. To put them specifically, “enticement” refers to the role that plays in cultural exchanges by means of translation.
Deng Jinxia 邓锦霞
In this sense, translation can be regarded as a guide that will lead target readers to understand the original language and culture and to better understand foreign excellent works. This process is of great significance because If the readers have little interest in the source language culture and foreign literature; then the translation works will lose its value. So we can say that translation is not only a conversion of two languages, but also a collision between different cultures and thoughts.
Ding Daifeng 丁代凤
The so-called term “Misinformation” refers to the distortion and wrong expression of the translation. Since “Misinformation” is the inevitable shortcoming of translation, no matter how excellent a translator is and no matter how smooth his translations are, he can not avoid making mistakes of one sort or another in one way or another, but he can exhaust every means to reduce misinformation to its minimum (Yu Chengfa,2003: 43). This is due to the gap between different languages, the gap between the translator's understanding, the style of writing and the form of original content, and even the gap between the translator's comprehension and his ability of expression.
Fang Jieling 方洁玲
The final step is called “Hua Jing”; here “Hua” means “Sublimation”,which is the highest ideal of literary translation and also the ultimate goal of translation processes. A translator should try to figure out what the original writer means and ponder over what he imagines so so to immerge oneself with the writer(Luo Xinzhang, 1984: 511). Qian Zhongshu's explanation of the process of translation is the essential condition for the realization of “Sublimation” (Hua). Therefore, when doing translation practice, the translator has to make each step be well prepared, which requires a high standard of the translator's ability and quality.
Gan Fengyu 甘奉玉
Similarly, based on the theory of “functional equivalence”, Nida proposed a “four-step model” of the translation process from the perspective of linguistics, namely, “Analysis, Transfer, Restructuring and Check”. Nida and Taber claim that all languages have between six and a dozen basic kernel structures and “agree far more on the level of kernels than on the level of more elaborate structures” such as word order. First of all, “Analysis” denotes that we have to analyze the surface structure of the source text and then to master the grammatical meaning of the sentence, in other words, the referential meaning and connotative meaning of the source text.
Gao Mingzhu 高明珠
In order to convey the original information correctly, the translator must analyze the text from surface structure to the deep structure. Then, “Transfer”, it means that the translator renders the analyzed source text to the target text. This step contains the conversion of two different language symbols and language forms, and it is also an exchange of different thinking modes. Next, “Restructuring” is the re-processing and re-creation of the original text, in which the translator will translate the original text into the target one that conforms to the expression of the target language, getting rid of the constraints of the surface structure of the original text, thus further excavating the meaning of the deep structure.
Gong Yumian 龚钰冕
Restructuring is thus defined as forward translation, or in other words the process which is the reverse of back-transformation (Shuttleworth & Cowie, 2004: 145). Last but not least, "Check" refers to the process of comparing the text of the original language with the target language so as to avoid semantic errors in the translation works, and pursue the maximum equivalence between the content of the target text and the content of the original text. Nida and Taber’s own description of the process (1969: 63–9) emphasizes the ‘scientific and practical’ advantages of this method compared to any attempt to draw up a fully comprehensive list of equivalences between specific pairs of SL and TL systems (Jeremy Munday, 2016: 63).
Gu Dongfang 顾东方
(2)The same concern for the response of the target readers: Since ancient times, the domestic and foreign translators have different opinions on the criteria of excellent translation. Yan Fu proposed his famous three-character guideline, namely, “Faithfulness, Expressiveness and Elegance” in his translation work “Evolution and Ethics and Other Essays”. Similarly, western translator Alexander Fraser Tytler put forward the “Three principles of translation”. To put it simply, that the translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work; that the style and manner of writing should be of the same character as that of the original; that the translation should have all the ease of the original composition.
Guan Qinqing 管钦清
From the analysis of Yan Fu’s and Tytler’s description of translation criteria, we can see the fact that the study of the principles and standards of translation is precisely the translator’s emphasis on the target readers, and also reflects the translator’s sense of responsibility for the target culture. Qian Zhongshu's “Sublimation” theory stressed that translators should guide our readers to read foreign literary works or let our readers be attracted by the foreign culture and introduce foreign writers to them.
Gui Yizhi 桂一枝
“Sublimation” is not only a standard for translation, but also a reflection of translators’ care for the target readers. Mr. Qian said: “The translation should be faithful to the original work, so that it does not read like a translation work, because the original work will never be read like a translation in the situation of source culture.” A good translation can stimulate the reader's curiosity about the original work and also give the reader the enjoyment of beauty. What’s more, Mr. Qian also commented the three principles proposed by Yan Fu:
Guo Lu 郭露
“Faithfulness in translation should include expressiveness and elegance. Expressiveness gives full scope to faithfulness, and elegance is not just to adore expressiveness. To convey the original in the same style---that is faithfulness. ...Many have come to understand that a translation is not supposed to beautify or polish to attain elegance. Yet few have realized that a translation has to give up the words for the spirit. A translation can be intelligible without being faithful to the original, yet can be faithful to the original without being intelligible to the reader.”(Qian Zhongshu, 1986: 1101)
Han Haiyang 韩海洋
In the meanwhile, Nida deemed that the accuracy of the translation depends on the extent to which the ordinary readers correctly understand the original text, that is, whether the target reader can obtain similar or identical feelings when reading the translation works. The purpose of “functional equivalence” is to satisfy the communication needs of the readers. In order to achieve this goal, we have to change the form of the original text if it is necessary and consider the reader's acceptance of the translation work.
Han Wanzhen 韩宛真
Nida's “Functional Equivalence” requires not only the faithfulness to the original text, but also the accountability to the target readers and the original readers. Nida describes various “scientific approaches to meaning” related to work that had been carried out by theorists in semantics and pragmatics. Central to Nida's work is the move away from the old idea that a word has a fixed meaning and towards a functional definition of meaning in which a word acquires meaning through its context and can produce varying responses according to culture.
He Changqi 何长琦
From what we has discussed above, we can see that both Nida’s “Functional Equivalence” and Qian Zhongshu’s “Sublimation” must take the reader’s reaction into consideration. Therefore, as a standard for translation, these theories avoid mechanical textual equivalence and bilingual conversion, which promotes the development of translation practice.
(3)The Domesticating tendency of the two theories: As we mentioned in the very beginning, Mr. Qian’s “Sublimation”(化) theory has three meanings, namely “Transfer”(转化), “Domesticating”(归化) and “Sublimation”(化境).
Hu Baihui 胡百辉
It can be seen easily that “Domesticating” is a bridge connecting the transformation of source text and the realization of Sublimation in target language. In the book “Seven Patches”, he wrote: “whether the target version is ‘European-oriented’ or ‘Chinese-oriented’, the translation is always based on the language system from the original country to the language system of the target country(2002: 78). Although he did not explicitly state whether the translation should be “domestication-oriented” or “foreignization-oriented”, he compared the translation to the “reincarnation” of the original and regarded that the translation was an “out form” of the original.
Hu Huifang 胡慧芳
In addition, he appreciates Lin Shu’s translation works, and comments that he would rather read Lin Shu’s translation than read Haggard’s original text. In this way, Mr. Qian Zhongshu seems to prefer the text of “Chinese-oriented” style, which demonstrates the tendency of “Domestication”. In the theory of “Functional Equivalence”, Nida advocates the use of the expression habits of the target language to transform the original text. He believes that language is the means of communication, and communication is the ultimate goal and an important role of translation, so he pays more attention to the receptors' response to the target text.
Hu Jin 胡瑾
In the book “Seven Patches”, he wrote: “whether the target version is ‘European-oriented’ or ‘Chinese-oriented’, the translation is always based on the language system from the original country to the language system of the target country(2002: 78). Although he did not explicitly state whether the translation should be “domestication-oriented” or “foreignization-oriented”, he compared the translation to the “reincarnation” of the original and regarded that the translation was an “out form” of the original.
Ji Tiantian 纪甜甜
In order to allow the target readers to accept the translation, it is necessary to make the translation correspond to the cultural traditions and language habits of the target language. At the same time, the translator has to make the translation natural and smooth under the premise of ensuring loyalty. Nida's “Domesticating” translation tendency can be seen from the above view. Please look at the following example:
Jiang Fengyi 蒋凤仪
S: “white as snow”
T: “白如木棉花” or “白如鹭毛” or “白如蘑菇”
From the point of view of traditional translation standards, the above example runs counter to the original information. However, for those who have never seen snow will never know what snow is alike, and therefore he can't understand what "white as snow" means. Through the strategy of “Domestication”, the target readers can have a similar response to the original readers, so as to better achieve the purpose of communication.
Jiang Hao 姜好
2.2 Differences between “Sublimation” and “Functional Equivalence”
(1) Different theoretical basis: Qian Zhongshu's “Sublimation” theory is based on Yan Fu’s criteria of translation “Faithfulness, Expressiveness and Elegance”, which is the development of Chinese traditional translation theory. Qian Zhongshu's “Sublimation” theory has pushed the study of translation to the extreme of art from the category of aesthetics. Eventually, the “Sublimation” theory was included in the course of the development of Chinese translation thought, say, “Case - Seeking faithfulness - Spiritual likeness - the Sublimation”.
Jiang Qiwei 蒋淇玮
These four concepts, are independent, but also interconnected. They developed gradually to constitute a whole translation system and this whole system works as an important part of our traditional translation theory (Luo Xinzhang, 2009: 20).
Nida’s “functional equivalence” was established on the basis of his Bible translation practice. Under the guidance of Chomsky’s transform-generating grammar, Nida’s functional equivalence requires that the translator analyze the given text from the surface structure to the deep structure; then transform it from the deep structure of the original text to the deep structure of the target text, and finally adjust the target language structure to obtain the surface structure of the translated version.
Kang Haoyu 康浩宇
From a series of steps, we can see that the hierarchical and theoretical property of translation studies, so Nida put forward his opinion that translation could be considered as a science. Qian Zhongshu thought that the translated works could surpass the original works and sometimes even should be much better than the original; while Nida did not choose the advantageous version between the original and the target text- his more emphasis goes to the equivalence between the two languages and the response of the target receptors thus more priorities were given to the communicative function.
Kang Lingfeng 康灵凤
(2)Different scopes of their application: “Huajing” (Sublimation) was proposed by Mr. Qian Zhongshu for literary translation standards; hence it may be more appropriate for the translation of literary genre. He considered that translator should “break through” the barriers of cultural differences and make the translation “surpass” the original work. However, it seems unreasonable for the translations of applied styles which relates to politics, economics, law, trade, etc. In addition, some scholars believe that Mr. Qian’s “Sublimation” has over-emphasized the mystery of art and has become a vague standard that could be hard to reach (Gao Huali, 2009: 154).
Kong Xianghui 孔祥慧
The “highest ideal” of the literary translation he described will inevitably produce the problems of “Misinformation”, which would limit the scope of application of “Sublimation”. Despite the fact that scholars and experts of one generation after another have made their fruitful efforts to shed light on “Sublimation” from various aspects, it remains theoretical unexplainable and practical unattainable, like “an attic, in the air” to many people in the translation circle (Yu Chengfa, 2003: 8)
Kong Yanan 孔亚楠
On the contrary, Nida’s translation of Bible carries religious culture with integrity and solemnity. He preached to people from all walks of life in order to spread the will of God; therefore, his translation must not only meet the needs of the aristocracy, but also the needs of ordinary people who lack knowledge of religious culture. The target readers of the “functional equivalence” theory is the masses from all walks of life in the society, and its range of application is more practical. Nida’s equivalence of translation is derived from the translation practice of the Bible.
Lei Fangyuan 雷方圆
As we know, western languages have a lot in common in culture and words of expression, so Nida’s “equivalence” is relatively easy to achieve between two European languages. In English-Chinese translation, it may be more difficult to achieve complete “equivalence”, because Chinese and English belong to different language systems, and their cultures are rather divergent. Nida strictly divides the translation steps into four, which can be used as a practical translation method to guide the translation of some scientific and technical articles, announcements, and application articles. For literary genres, such as the translation of poetry and prose, the translator's creativity may be more important. It is difficult to convey the literary nature of the original text by mechanical methods and steps.
Lei Kuangxi 雷旷溪
3.A Critical Understanding of “Sublimation” and “Functional Equivalence”
3.1 Is “Sublimation” faithful ?
According to traditional translation theory, the translator is always regarded as the "servant" of both the original and the translated text. He must be faithful to the original author while concerning the target readers. Xu Jun (2003: 321) wrote in his book “On Translation”: “Three points are often emphasized in traditional translation theory: first of all, translators should not incorporate their own subjective thoughts in translation; then they should not express their individuality in translation; in the end, translators should render the text on the basis of original message, and loyally follow the thoughts of the original writer.
Li Haiquan 李海泉
From the analysis of Qian Zhongshu’s “Sublimation” theory, it is clear to see that he is more inclined to the translation strategy of “Domestication”, which emphasizes that the target version can surpass the source text. He, himself appreciates Lin Shu’s translation works, because of their common advocacy and similar historical background. From the point of view of historical materialism, “social existence determines social consciousness, and social consciousness has an adverse effect on social existence.” For example, Lin Shu was living in a closed country and at that time , Qing Dynasty was extremely arrogant or even ignorant.
Li Lili 李丽丽
His style and characteristics of the translation were naturally influenced by this national sentiment. Therefore, his translation had tendency to “Domestication” or even an unfaithful translation. Qian Zhongshu lived in a period of prosperity in literature and art since the establishment of People's Republic of China and at that time Chairman Mao proposed the policy of “All flowers blossoming and hundreds of schools contending (百花齐放，百家争鸣). So our Chinese people were overflowing high spirit and proud emotion; some translators’ translation works are more inclined to take the advantages of “Domestication” and make the translation work more excellent than the original one.
Li Lingyue 李凌月
Such a translation strategy will be somewhat “disloyal” to the original text, and will not “sincerely imitate” the original text as Lu Xun advocates from his “Foreignization” method. It is difficult to concretely implement “Sublimation” theory, because it has become an “unattainable” goal. Whether the translation should be “Chinese-oriented” or “European-oriented”; be “faithful” or “creative”, and whether the translator should be “visible” or “invisible” in translation are all difficult standards to measure since these factors are inevitably affected by the subjective and historical objectivity of the translator.
Li Liqin 李丽琴
Is “Sublimation” really a faithful translation to the original text? Perhaps just as Mr. Qian himself said: “The translator’s ability to use his native language is more flexible and smooth than the original author’s ‘source language’ and that is what always happens in the history of translation.” We can consider that such “disloyal” is “faithful” in a certain sense.
Li Luyi 李璐伊
3.2 Problems of Nida’s “Functional Equivalence”
The questions of meaning, equivalence and translatability became a constant theme of translation studies in the 1960s and were tackled by a new ‘scientific’ approach followed by one of the most important figures in translation studies, the American Eugene Nida. Eugene Nida’s theory of translation developed from his own practical work from the 1940s onwards when he was translating and organizing the translation of the Bible, training often inexperienced translators who worked in the field.
Li Meng 李梦
As for Nida's “functional equivalence” theory, praise and opposition to his theory are always existing in the translation circle. Some people think that the theory is a representative of the science of translation science and has a good guiding role in translation practice. However, there are also some scholars who disagree with this theory and for example Peter Newmark is one of its critics. He believed that Nida’s equivalence theory takes the reader too seriously, but sometimes sacrifices the actually original thoughts of the writer. It is also doubtful whether “functional equivalence” can be applied to the original texts of various subjects.
Li Yongshan 李泳珊
If the translator partially pursue “functional equivalence”, which will makes it difficult for the target readers to fully understand the original cultural information and it is not conducive to the mutual communication between different countries and cultures. For the above example: if we render “White as snow” as “白如鹭毛”, target readers may understand the meaning of the original author, but they still have no idea of what the word “snow” actually means.
Li Yu 李玉
This has become a situation where we cannot get two things at the same time, or in Chinese “鱼和熊掌不可兼得”. However, If the original text is literally translated as “white as snow”, then the translator continues to explain what substance a “snow” is and what characteristics it may have and why we say its color is as white as egret’s feathers.
Lin Min 林敏
In this way, not only can the readers of the translation work have the same response as the readers of the original, but also it is conducive for them to learn to understand new things and new concepts, which will gradually promote the communication of different cultures and the mutual interests of different countries.
Lin Xin 林鑫
4.Conclusion
Mr. Qian Zhongshu’s “Sublimation” theory and Nida’s “Functional Equivalence” respectively represent huge progress in Chinese and Western translation studies, and they played an important role for the reference of translation studies and practice. Their theory is likened a treasure-house that requires more investigation and more exploration. Their theory is likened a treasure-house that requires more investigation and more exploration. Furthermore, we must learn their theories with a critical view, so as to strive for innovation and establishment of a new era for translation studies.
Ling Zijin 凌子瑾
Translators' Views on Translation Influence Their Translation Behavior
A translator plays an essential role in the translation process. Translators’ views on translation is their understanding of translation, embodied in their translation strategies and value orientations, which are different from each other due to their social and cultural context and also their personal experience and philosophy. And “translation behavior”, in a broad sense, includes the translators’ linguistic translation behavior and the social transcend-translation behavior. In a narrow sense, it only means the translators’ translation as a “pure” translator (Zhou 18).
Liu Bo 刘博
The “translator behavior” in this thesis is a broad one, that is, translators’ translation behavior can be influenced by their social and cultural context, their motivations for translation, their views on translation and the linguistic translatability of the SL and their translation competence (Xu Jun 199-254). Specifically, the translation behavior we will discuss is “what to translate (what works they translated)” and “how to translate (their translation principles)”.
Liu Jinxingqi 刘金惺琦
According to A. Lefevere, ideology and poetics together dictate the translation strategy and the solution to specific problems (39). The translators’ view on translation, as a part of the translators’ ideology, exert a great influence on their translation behavior.
So how is translation behavior associated with translator’s views?
From the very beginning the research of translation was limited in a certain extent, and then there were some scholars starting to study on the relationship between translation and other systems, including Even-Zohar, Bassett, Lefevere and Venuti.
Liu Liu 刘柳
I.Some Previous Studies
A.Even-Zohar’s Polysystem
According to Introducing Translation Studies:
“Polysysten theory was developed in the 1970s by the Israeli scholar Itamar Even-Zohar borrowing ideas from the Russian Formalists of the 1920s and the Czech structuralists of the 1930s and 1940s . . . For the Formalists, a literary work was not studied in isolation but as part of a literary system . . . Literature is thus part of the social, cultural, literary and historical framework . . .” (Munday 165).
Liu Ou 刘欧
In 1978, Even-Zohar in his “The position of translated literature within the literary polysystem”, first gives a new term, the polysystem (Even-Zohar 22), emphasizing the translated literature operates as a system in itself:
(1)in the way the TL culture selects works for translation;
(2)in the way translation norms, behavior and policies are influenced by other co-systems (Even-Zohar 22).
Thus, translation is not isolated, but associated with other systems, for instance, the TL culture. And the ST that chosen by a culture correspond to the organized system rather than arbitrary decisions made by individuals. Also translation works occupies different position in different cultures and has something to do with the position of the national literature.
Liu Yangnuo 刘洋诺
B.Bassett and Lefevere
Later, “Bassett and Lefevere go beyond language and focus on the interaction between translation and culture, on the way in which culture impacts and constrains translation and on ‘the larger issues of context, history and convention (11)’ ” (Munday 192).
C.Lefevere: Rewriting and Manipulation
Furthermore, “Lefevere focuses particularly on the examination of ‘very concrete factors’ that systemically govern the reception, acceptance or rejection of literary texts; that is, ‘issues such as power, ideology, institution and manipulation (2)'.
Liu Yi 刘艺
The people involved in such power positions are the ones Lefevere sees as ‘rewriting’ literature and governing its consumption by the general public. The motivation for such rewriting can be ideological (conforming to or rebelling against the dominant ideology) or poetological (conforming to or rebelling against the dominant/preferred poetics)” (Munday 194). And translation is the most obviously recognizable type of rewriting (Lefevere 9).
Translator’s view on translation, for example, reflecting the translators’ ideology, can conform to or rebel against the social dominant ideology.
Liu Yiyu 刘怡瑜
For Lefevere, the literary system in which translation functions is controlled by two main factors, which are: (1) professionals within the literary system, who partly determine the dominant poetics; and (2) patronage outside the literary system, which partly determines the ideology. The “professionals within the literary system” include translators themselves, who decide on the poetics and at times influence the ideology of the translated text (Munday 194).
Thus, the role of translator is essential and the translator’s ideology have an great influence on the translation text and the text reader.
Liu Zhiwei 刘智伟
“For Lefevere, the most important consideration is the ideological one. In this case, it refers to the translator’s ideology or the ideology imposed upon the translator by patronage. The poetological consideration refers to the dominant poetics in the TL culture. Together, ideology and poetics dictate the translation strategy and the solution to specific problems” (Munday 197).
D.Venuti
Then Venuti insists that the scope of translation studies needs to be broadened to take account of the value-driven nature of the sociocultural framework.
Lou Cancan 娄灿灿
“Norms may be in the first instance linguistic or literary, but they will also include a diverse range of domestic values, beliefs, and social representations which carry ideological force in serving the interests of specific groups. And they are always housed in the social institutions where translations are produced and enlisted in cultural and political agendas” (29).
Munday suggests, the groups and social institutions to which Venuti refers would include the various players in the publishing industry as a whole . . . Each of these players has a particular position and role within the dominant cultural and political agendas of their time and place. The translators themselves are part of that culture, which they can either accept or rebel against (217).
Luo Weijia 罗维嘉
Therefore, being part of the culture, translators are influenced by the social and patronage ideology, and the poetics. Nevertheless, translators more or less enjoys some autonomy. For example, translators’ views on translation, i.e. the understanding of translation, can be conformed to or rebellious against the culture. And then their views on translation, influence their specific translation behavior such as the works they choose to translate and their translation principles. Next are three examples for us to discuss how the translators’ views on translation immediately influence their translation behaviors.
Luo Yuqing 罗雨晴
To narrow the differences of the social ideology down, three translators in modern period of China (after 1949) will be discussed in this thesis. However, because they are born in different climate and stage of the society, no doubt that they have distinctive world outlook from each other, resulting in their distinctive views on translation. But focus will still be on the influence exerted by their views on their translation behavior.
Ma Juan 马娟
II.Three Examples in Modern Period of China
A.Xu Yuanchong (1921-): Translation is translators’ responsibility.
For Xu Yuanchong, Chinese translators have a responsibility to translate the foreign masterpieces into Chinese and Chinese excellent works of literature into foreign languages, in order to introduce the advanced ideas to China and also bring the foreigners the splendid culture of China, during which the world will be more culturally rich and diversely civilized.
Ma Shuya 马淑雅
In this case, Xu Yuanchong further puts forward that the histories and evolution of the two cultures are very different from each other, with distinct advantages and disadvantages If they can learn the strong points from each other to offset their weakness, they can both be improved. In this respect, translation can be considered as a rivalry between two different cultures. The translation can even surpass the original work. If we make full use of the advantages of one culture to perfect another , the culture of all the humanity will be developed. This is the ultimate goal of the translator (“Surpass” 47). Based on this view, Xu Yuanchong proposed the Rivalry Theory and the Theory of Advantage.
Ma Zhixing 马智星
Therefore, in order to exchange the advantages between cultures, the foreign works Xu Yuanchong had translated are some western masterpieces includes: Madame Bovary, Le Rouge et le Noir, Jean Christophe, etc. And also some Chinese classical works especially the classical Chinese poetry: 150 Tang Poems, 100 Tang and Song Poems, 300 Poems Chinois Classiques, Selected Poems of Mao Zedong, The Romance of Western Bower, Earth-shaking Songs (the selected poems written by Chinese modern revolutionists), etc.
Meng Ying 孟莹
By translating the essence of one culture and ideology into another languages, he demonstrates our advantages and at the same time offers Chinese people the opportunities to enjoy the classics of another culture.
Xu Yuanchong’s view on translation also influences his translation principles. Take the first sentence of Jean Christophe as an example:
Le grondement du fleuve monte derrére la maison. (Jean Christophe)
From behind the house rises the murmuring of the river. (English)
江声浩荡，自屋后上升。(Fu Lei)
江流滚滚，声震屋后。(Xu Yuanchong)
Mo Ling 莫玲
The french word “grondement” means “roaring” or “murmuring” in English. The English translation seems to be coherent in the paragraph and the following content. However, as to the whole work, Xu Yuanchong considers that “浩荡” in Fu Lei’s translation is more powerful and symbolic of the spectacular river cutting through Europe, and some readers even take Fu Lei’s translation as “the classical opening sentence” of the work, which proves it a translation that surpasses the original one.
Mo Nan 莫南
And then Xu Yuanchong also translated this sentence (as above), replacing “浩荡” with “滚滚” for its more similar sound to “grondement”. And “声震屋后” is also a symbol of the impact of the great achievement of the musician in the work (Yang et.al 35-38). Here appears another translation principle of Xu Yuanchong: “literary translation is art (Art 20)” and “beauty in three aspects”, namely, “beauty in sense, beauty in sound and beauty in form”, having developed Lu Xun as well as Lin Yutang’s theory of beauty.
Nie Xiaolou 聂晓楼
This is the reason why Xu Yuanchong emphasizes the similar sound of “滚滚” to “grondement”. Another example is still a sentence in Jean Christophe:
Il marchait sur le monde. (Jean Christophe)
他踏着全世界直立着。（鲁迅）
他顶天立地的在世界上走着。（傅雷）
(qtd. “Re-creation” 222)
Which translation corresponds to the original best? Lu Xun’s translation is similar in from while Fu Lei’s is in style. In this case, Xu Yuanchong considers there is one solution, that is to change the question as “Which translation is more beautiful and delightful for readers?”
Ou Rong 欧蓉
He also quotes “Qu’ importe celui qui crée? Il’y a de réel que ce qu’on crée” said by Romain Rolland to indicate that the translator ought to make the translation more of art to give readers an enjoyment of beauty rather than to captiously keep the author’s style. So he is in favor of Fu Lei’s translation.
The last example goes to the translation of the last sentence of Uprising Songs (《起义歌》) written by Sun Zhongshan, collected in Earth-shaking Songs:
Ouyang Jinglan 欧阳静兰
顶天立地奇男子，要把乾坤扭转过来。(Uprising Songs)
Heroes of indomitable spirit, arise!
Let us transform the old world and reverse the tide! (previous translation)
Heroes who would move heaven and earth, arise! (Xu Yuanchong)
Xu Yuanchong suggests that in the previous translation, translating “顶天立地” only into “indomitable spirit” is in want of the image of “天” and “地”. Also, as it were, the readers cannot enjoy the beauty of the SL, which is thus a failure in the rivalry of two cultures. So he translated the sentence as above, keeping the impression of “天地” to have the readers appreciate the beauty of the original work, in other words, to win the rivalry between the ST and TT (“Re-creation” 221-222).
Ouyang Ling 欧阳玲
For Xu Yuanchong the translation is an art, a rivalry between tow cultures, so the classics works of western world and China are chosen and the feeling of beauty in the translation is emphasized. The translation not only should be faithful to the original, but also be powerful and infectious to readers, even giving an much more profound impression than the original work.
B.Liu Zhongde (1914-): Translation is a way to make foreign masterpieces to serve China.
Peng Dan 彭丹
In order to make the western masterpieces more popular in China, Liu Zhongde decided to devote himself to a career in translation. By translating the western works into Chinese, as far as he concerns, the advanced thoughts can serve Chinese intellectuals and further improve the whole country. He was the first person who introduced Jane Austin’s Emma to China. But he were not satisfied with his first translation of Emma and at last in 1990s he re-translated it and corrected the errors he had made, which reflected his spirit of improving himself constantly and his rigorous scholarship (Ten 178 ).
Peng Juan 彭娟
Thus, most works Liu Zhongde translated were the western classics such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, Emma, Darwin, etc. He seldom translated Chinese works into English.
In order to convey to the Chinese readers the exact ideas and original style and content of the ST, Liu Zhongde puts much emphasis on the “closeness” of the translation. He says the translator should always remember what he is working at is a literacy work written by somebody else and try his utmost to turn his translation into a work of art which is in conformity with the thought, feeling and style of the original.
Peng Ruihong 彭锐宏
Thus, the translation will be as moving and vivid as the original work and the reader may be aesthetically entertained as well (Ten 122-123).
Therefore he developed from Yan Fu’s three principles－“信达雅 (faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance)” into “信达切 (faithfulness, expressiveness and closeness)” as a set of principles for translation reference: “The style of your translation must correspond, or at least, be close, to that of the original you are working at . . . the ideological content, linguistic expression and stylistic characteristics of a literary work constitute a unified entity, and the translator should reproduce the three elements as a whole” (Ten 122).
Peng Xiaoling 彭小玲
Being different from Xuyuanchong, Liu Zhongde holds that “literary translation has a double nature. That’s to say, on the one hand, it is a science with its own laws and methods and on the other, it is an art” (Ten 2).
So how exactly does Liu Zhongde’s views on translation influence his translation principles? There are two examples as follows.
Here is a translation of “回乡偶书” by Liu Zhongde:
回乡偶书 少小离家老大回，乡音无改鬓毛衰。 儿童相见不相识，笑问客从何处来。 (the original poem)
Homecoming I left home quite young, and I come back very old. My accent remains the same, but my hair turns gray. Kids don’t know me when one another we behold. “Where do you come from?” with a smile to me they say. (Liu Zhongde’s translation)
Peng Yongliang 彭永亮
This translation adapts so well the style and features of TT to the ST that it seems to be an original work written by Liu Zhongde himself. We can appreciate the same meaning and emotion the original work expresses. The TT keeps the the same number of lines just as the ST: each of the sentence has 12 syllables. The rhyme pattern of ST is also kept: the first line rhymes with the third, and the second with the forth. The TT is exactly an expression of sound, form and sense of the ST (Jiang 196-197).
Peng Yuzhi 彭育志
The next two examples are from Liu Zhongde’s re-translation of Emma:
(1)The truth is, Harriet, that my playing is Just good enough to be praised, but Jane Fairfax’s is much beyond it.
事实是，赫蕊埃特，我的弹奏恰恰好到值得称赞，但简·凡凡可斯的弹奏却是神乎其技了。(Previous translation)
事实是，赫蕊埃特，我的弹奏恰恰好到值得称赞，但简·凡凡可斯的弹奏却大大超过我的弹奏。(Liu Zhongde)
“神乎其技” in the previous translation does not correspond to the plain style of “much beyond it” in ST. It is true that a Chinese four-character-word can embody a complex meaning, but the style it can be applied to is supposed to be formal and academic. In this sentence, the style of “神乎其技” is not appropriate at all, while a simpler word should be used. Thus Liu Zhongde replaced “神乎其技” with “大大超过我的弹奏”.
Qi Kai 漆凯
(2)“Just as they always do-very vulgar.”
还不是像他们平常那样——俗不可耐。(Previous translation)
还不是像他们平常那样——很庸俗。(Liu Zhongde)
(Jiang 278-279)
The four-character-word “俗不可耐” in the previous translation does not conform to the plain or colloquial style of ST, either, just like “神乎其技” mentioned above. Liu Zhongde changed it into “庸俗” to be in line with the original style.
Qu Miao 瞿淼
For Liu Zhongde, translation is a science, a way for Chinese to learn the advantages of westerners, thus the western masterpieces are selected by him and the “closeness” in translation is underlined to convey the closet meaning and style of the original.
C.Li Jihong (1980-): Translation after all is one of the material production activities of human beings.
Quan Meixin 全美欣
As to Li Jihong, translation after all is one of the material production activities of human beings. In an article called “The Literary Translation Should Keep Pace with the Times: The Translation Speed and Pay” against the view of another translator, Shi Kangqiang, he says that the pay of translation in the new period is different from that of the old times, mainly because of the translation tools which belonging to the production tools, have already been developed today into computers, digital data, Internet, etc. As a result, the translation speed is supposed to be improved. Therefore, a professional translator nowadays can definitely earn a decent life by translating 1000 words each hour, 8 hours a day. And for every 1000 words they can earn 60 yuan.
Sagara Seydou
The article aims to oppose to Shi Kangqiang’s opinion that the appalling pay translators receive influence the quality of the translation, but it also reveals Li Lihong’s view on translation from his borrowing lots of economic theories and activities, numbers, calculation of the pay to support his opinion, his favors to the publishers’ increasing reward on the sales of the translation work and his announcement that he have translated The Kite Runner (written by Khaled Hosseini), 195190 words, for only 10 days, 15 hours a day.
Shi Diwen 石迪文
In this article he also says: “Any responsible translators will not translate for the personal income,” but he adds next, “ In fact, the support for his translation is the letters from readers, in addition to the high income.” Although the total contradiction in his saying is confusing, it still can be inferred that money is an important motivation for his translation, if not the most important one.
Shi Haiyao 石海瑶
The works Li Jihong translated are foreign classics such as Le Petit Prince, The Old Man and the Sea, Animal Farm, The Great Gatsby, Walden, The Moon and Sixpence, Pride and Prejudice and The Sound and Fury. However, all those works and the values of them have already been well received in China, with several translations in market.
To begin with the work that he have translated “for only 10 days, 15 hours a day” as he says, The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini:
Si Yu 司妤
(1)We left the old man on the steps of that building. I meant to take him up on his offer, come back and see if he’d unearthed any more stories about my mother. But I never saw him again (Hosseini 251).
我们离开了坐在那座房子台阶上的老人。我原想带他到他的办公室去，看看他能否想起更多关于我妈妈的事情。但我再也没有见到他 (Li 243)。
Song Jianru 宋建茹
In this text, “take somebody. up on something” means “to accept an offer, an invitation that somebody has made 接受（提议或邀请）” in Phrasal Verbs Dictionary (438). Also according to the whole context, the old man, a beggar, had been a colleague of “my” mother who I had never met. He told me a story about “my” mother and promised me more details about her: “ The old man smiled. ‘I’ll try to remember and that’s a promise. Come back and find me ’ (Hosseini 250).” It can be inferred that the old man offered the narrator a chance to know more about his mother. Thus, the “offer” means “邀请” instead of “办公室 (office)”. What’s more, It seems like the word “offer” is misread as “office” by the translator. Perhaps the translator is too busy translating as fast as possible to check his translation carefully.
Su Lin 苏琳
(2)“Your job today is to pass gas. You do that and we can start feeding you liquids. No fart, no food.” He laughed again (Hosseini 297).
“你今天的工作是排便。你完成之后我们才能开始喂你吃流食。不见粪便，不给食物。”他又哈哈大笑 (Li 287)。
The speaker was a staff in hospital, and he was asking the patient who had just come to himself from a surgery “to pass gas”. The relevant meaning of “gas” in The New Oxford Illustrated English-Chinese Dictionary is “[物理]气体、瓦斯” (726), of “pass” is “通过” (1338). And “fart” as a noun means “放屁 (emit wind from the anus)” (632). In conclusion, “排便” does not correspond to the original meaning of the ST. So the translation can be righted as “你今天的工作是排气。你完成之后我们才能开始喂你吃流食。不放屁，不给食物。” This is also a very small and simple mistake. The translator should be more cautious about translating.
Tan Xingyue 谭星越
This summer holiday I have read another book translated by Li Jihong: The Moon and Sixpence written by William Somerset Maugham, and also find some odd translation and neglect. Here are two examples:
(1)“Do you think it’s likely that a man will do any good when he starts at your age? Most men begin painting at eighteen.”
“I can learn quicker than I could when I was eighteen (Mauguam 48).”
Tan Xinjie 谭鑫洁
你认为一个人从你这个年纪开始学画能学得好吗？大多数人从十八岁就开始画了。”
“如果我今年十八岁，我可以学得快一些 (Li 54)。”
The second sentence, a very simple one, means that even if “I” am old now, I can learn even quicker than I could when I was at eighteen. In Chinese it can be translated as, for instance, “我能比我十八岁的时候学得还快.” But Li’s translation “如果我今年十八岁，我可以学得快一些” means “I can learn quicker if I were eighteen,” which has a totally different meaning from the ST.
(2)...for they felt themselves freemen of a country whose frontiers include them all, the great country of Cockaigne (Mauguam 169).
因为他们觉得大家都是自由民，同属于想象中的天堂之国 (Li 203)。
Tan Yuanyuan 谭媛媛
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “Cockaigne, also spelled Cockayne, imaginary land of extreme luxury and ease where physical comforts and pleasures are always immediately at hand. References to Cockaigne are especially prominent in medieval European lore. These accounts describe rivers of wine, houses built of cake and barley sugar, streets paved with pastry, and shops that gratuitously give goods to everyone. Roast geese wander about inviting people to eat them, and buttered larks fall from the skies like manna.” Being ignorant of the rich meaning of this word, Li Jihong translated it to “天堂之国” without any explanation. In fact, in this book, Li Jihong adds 206 explanatory notes for the words like “Shakespeare (莎士比亚)”, “Balzac (巴尔扎克)” and “Footnote (生丁)”, however, “Cockaigne” is not included.
Tang Bei 汤蓓
Li Jihong’s translation is popular for his elaborate introduction of the work and explanatory notes, which as he says, can help readers to understand the work easier. And some famous people also recommend his translations for his translation is more understandable than others. However, as far as I am concerned, being understandable is not the essence of a translation.
Tang Ming 唐铭
From Xu Yuanchong and Liu Zhongde we know there are various translation principles, for instance the former’s “beauty in three aspects: sense, sound and form” and the latter’s “faithfulness, expressiveness and closeness”, nevertheless, the “faithfulness” to the original is emphasized.
III.Conclusion
This is how the views of translation influence the translators’ behavior, specifically the translation work choosing and their translation principles demonstrated by the translation examples of the three translators.
Tang Yiran 汤伊然
For Xu Yuanchong the translation is an art, a rivalry between tow cultures, so the classics works of western world and China are chosen and the feeling of beauty in the translation is emphasized; while for Liu Zhongde, translation is a science, a way for Chinese to learn the advantages of westerners, thus the western masterpieces are selected and the “closeness” in translation is underlined to convey the closet meaning and style of the original. In fact, for both of them translation should be a responsibility that should be treated serious by translators, while as for Li Jihong, translation is just a production activity, a tool to make money or to gain the population, fame and the sense of superiority. Therefore, the economic effect and the speed is highlighted, the minor mistakes were made, and the translator’s personality was manifested so much that it even overshadowed the style and meaning of the original work.
Tao Ye 陶冶
For those responsible translators, their translations, imprinted all their individual ideology, experience and reflection, almost like an original work, are supposed to be a special thing. As Thomas C. Foster puts at the end of his How to Read Literature Like a Professor, “My favorite was the apology to the poem itself: ‘Well, little book, you’re not that much but you’re the best I could make you. Now you’ll just have to make your way in the world as best you can. Fare thee well.’” (129), a lot of care and attachment will be taken to the work you made, whatever it is, a poem, a fiction or a translation work. Only if you devote yourself to the translation with painstaking effort, can the translation be respected and appreciated by your readers.
Wang Meiling 王美玲
Fu Lei had ever said, “translation should be based on the knowledge of art: without a sensitive soul, earnest sympathy, appropriate appreciation, relative social experience or sufficient common sense (i.e. broad knowledge), a translator neither will understand the original work thoroughly nor grasp the essence of it” (qtd. Xu Jun 253). Because that translators’ views on translation have a great influence on his translation, he should first be earnest to “translation”, and then be diligent, especially when the translation work is carrying the weight of the original work. For translators, translation is never a individual activity, but a responsibility to the author, the SL culture, the reader, the TL culture and eventually themselves.
Wang Xuan 王轩
Work Cited（文献不需要翻译）
胡塞尼· 卡勒德. (Hosseini, Khaled). 《追风筝的人》 (The Kite Runner). 李继宏译 (Tran. Li Jihong). 上海: 上海人民出版社, 2008.
蒋坚松 (Jiang Jiansong) 彭利元 (Peng Liyuan), ed. 《刘重德翻译思想及其他》(Liu Zhongde’s Tanslation Theories and Others). 长沙(Changsha): 湖南师范大学出版社 (Hunan Normal University Press), 2003. Print.
李继宏 (Li Jihong), 《文学翻译也需与时俱进：谈谈翻译速度和稿酬问题》 (“The Literary Translation Should Keep Pace With the Times: The Translation Speed and Pay”). 豆瓣网 (douban). 13 Jan. 2013 <https://site.douban.com/179084/widget/articles/10191245/article/23864139/?dt_dapp=1>
刘重德 (Liu Zhongde), ed.《文学翻译十讲》(Ten Lectures on Literary Translation). 北京(Beijing): 中国对外翻译出版社 (China Duiwai Translation Press), 2000. Print.
毛姆·威廉. (Maugham, William). 《月亮和六便士》 (The Moon an Sixpence).李继宏译 (Trans. Li Jihong). 天津 (Tianjin): 天津人民出版社 (Tianjin Renmin Press), 2018. Print.
许钧. (Xu Jun).《翻译论》(Translation Theory). 武汉 (Wuhan)： 湖北教育出版社 (Hubei Education Press), 2003. Print.
许渊冲. (Xu Yuanchong). 《译文能否胜过原文》(“Can the Translation Surpass the Original”). 《教学研究》(Teaching Method Research), no. 2 (1982): 39-47. ---. ed.《再创作与翻译风格》(“Re-creation and Translation Style”). 《文学与翻译》 (Literature and Translation). 北京 (Beijing)：北京大学出版社 (Beijing University Press), 2016. 221-229. Print.
---.《翻译的艺术》(The Art of Translation). 北京 (Beijing): 五洲传播出版社 (Wuzhou Chuanbo Press), 2006. Print.
杨绛(Yang Jiang), 李文俊 (Li Wenjun, et al.) 等. 《一本书和一个世界》(A Book and A World). 北京 (Beijing): 昆仑出版社 (Kun Lun Press), 2005: 35-38. Print. 周领顺. (Zhou Lingshun). 《译者行为批评：理论框架》(A Theoretical Framework for Translator Behavior Criticism). 北京 (Beijing)：商务印书馆 (The Commercial Press), 2014. Print.
Bassnett, S. and A. Lefevere. Translation History and Culture. London and New York: Pinter, 1990. Print.
Cockaigne. Encyclopedia Britannica. 27 Jun. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2019 <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cockaigne >
Even-Zohar, Itamar. The position of translated literature within the literary polysystem. Papers in Historical Poetics. Tel Aviv: The Porter Institute, 1978. 21-7. Print.
Fart. The New Oxford Illustrated English-Chinese Dictionary. Beijing: Renmin University of China, 2004. Print.
Foster. C. Thomas. How to Read Literature Like a Professor. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc. 2003. Print.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2003. Print.
Lefevere, A. Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame. London and New York: Routledge, 1992a. Print.
Maugham, William. The Moon an Sixpence. London: Pan Books Ltd, 1974. Print.
Munday, Jeremy. Introducing Translation Studies. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print.
Take sb. up on sth.” Phrasal Verbs Dictionary. 2013. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd, 2017. Print.
Venuti. L. The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference. London and New York: Routledge, 1998. Print.
Contemporary Translation Studies An Analysis of the Book of Contemporary Translation Theories and Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications
摘要：爱德温·根茨勒的《当代翻译理论》和杰米里·芒迪的《介绍翻译理论：理论与实践》被视为翻译史上不可多得的巨作。本文通过对两本巨著的介绍之后，节选了其中有名的翻译理论即尤金·奈达的形式对等理论和功能对等理论以及亚历山大 弗雷泽·泰特勒和严复的翻译原则进行比较，来阐述了翻译的基本准则。通过对比尤金·奈达的形式对等和功能对等理论，找出其优缺点并结合适当的例子，有利于读者把握奈达的翻译思想来更好地指导其翻译实践。同时，通过分析亚历山大 弗雷泽·泰特勒的翻译原则的优缺点再将其与严复的翻译理论做比较，有利于读者理解中西方翻译的差异，来更好地理解在跨文化的语境中如何做好翻译。
关键词：爱德温·根茨勒、《当代翻译理论》、杰米里·芒迪、《介绍翻译理论：理论与实践》、尤金·奈达、形式对等、功能对等、亚历山大·弗雷泽·泰特勒、严复、翻译原则
Wang Yu 王煜
Abstract: Edwin Gentzler’s Contemporary Translation Theories and Jeremy Munday’s Introducing Translation studies: Theories and Applications are both regarded as the masterpieces in the discipline of translation. After giving a brief introduction of these two great works, this paper tends to select the famous translation theories from the book namely Eugene Nida’s formal equivalence and functional equivalence and the translation principles of Alexander Fraser Tytler and Yan Fu to define the basic principles of translation.
Wang Yuan 王源
After analyzing the Nida’s theories of formal equivalence and functional equivalence, it is better for the readers to understand the Nida’s translation ideas to better guide him in the translation practice by combining the concrete examples to illustrate its advantages and disadvantages. In the meantime, by analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of Tytler’s translation principles and the comparison between the translation principles of Tytler and Yan Fu, it’s better for the readers to understand the influence of difference in the eastern and western cultures on translation. In such a way, it’s better for the translators to do the translation practice in the cross-cultural situation.
Wei Honglang 韦洪朗
Key words: Edwin Gentzler; Contemporary Translation Theories; Jeremy Munday; Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications; Eugene Nida; Formal Equivalence; Functional Equivalence; Alexander Fraser Tytler; Yan Fu; Translation Principles
'Introduction:
In this essay, it presents the author’s understanding of the two books: Contemporary Translation Theories and Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications. After a brief introduction of these two books, this paper tends to concentrate on the discussion of four important translation theories.
Wei Yafei 魏亚菲
This paper will be divided into three parts. Firstly, after a brief introduction of the great book: Contemporary Translation Theories, and then it will focus on the analyzing of the Eugne Nida’s two famous translation theories namely formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence. By giving out its definition, it’s easier to find the advantage and disadvantage of these two concepts. Then, this paper will go on introducing briefly the Chomsky’s translation studies. And then it will find some commonness and distinction in Nida’s and Chomsky’s opinions in translation.
Wen Sixing 文偲荇
This paper will be divided into three parts. Firstly, after a brief introduction of the great book: Contemporary Translation Theories, and then it will focus on the analyzing of the Eugne Nida’s two famous translation theories namely formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence. By giving out its definition, it’s easier to find the advantage and disadvantage of these two concepts. Then, this paper will go on introducing briefly the Chomsky’s translation studies. And then it will find some commonness and distinction in Nida’s and Chomsky’s opinions in translation.
Wen Xiaoyi 文晓艺
I Analysis of the book Contemporary Translation Theories
Recently, it is a great pleasure to read a very famous book called Contemporary Translation Theories whose author is called Edwin Gentzler. The second edition of this book has received great success. The publication of this book is significant to the global translation study academia. “Since the mid-19th century, translation theory has maderapid progress, Edwin Gentzler finds out what is useful and rejects what is useless on the translation of today's theories in this book”(Li 2014:111).
Wu Kai 吴恺
He also makes a Detailed description in detail several major schools of translation:The North American Translation Workshop, the “Science” of Translation, Early Translation Studies, the Polysystem Translation and Deconstruction. In this book, it presents what is happening in different parts within the discipline. “Gentzler uses his provoke thinking viewpoint to trace the development of literary translation studies from the American translation workshop program, through the polysystems research to deconstruction and postcolonial translation theory and beyond”(Xu and Wang 2000:42).
Wu Qi 吴琪
This book not only provides us with a deep way of theorizing the translation but also is effectively a translation practice . At the end of this book, he also points out the future of translation and sends his positive attitude about the translation’s future. The author turns a whole number of the complex theoretical material into accessible language, so that everyone who doesn’t read any books about translation can read this book freely. Apart from that, each chapter in this book is separated so you can read each chapter alone without relying on your understanding of the other chapters. By this way, it is more convenient for us to find the topic of translation that we are interested in to read and find valuable informationfor us. Gentzler’s book provides us with a precise analysis about what the translation school achieved so far and gives his insight into the future of translation.
Wu Qiong 吴琼
“This book stands as a continuing translation textbook with some of the most important theories in the field such as “the same aesthetic experience, dynamic equivalence, corresponding literary function, or the deconstruction theory of Derrida”(Li 2014:112). Despite distinct focus, each theory is completed by a conceptual framework that thinks original existence and an understanding of it in the target society. At present, “all translation theories have kept rigid distinction between original texts and their translations text”(Xu and Wang 2000:43).
In the chapter 2, this book introduces the American translation workshop. In this chapter, it mainly introduces the A. Richard’s new criticism and translation, Ezra Pound’s theory of luminous details, Frederic Will’s the paradox of translation and Lawrence Venuti’s rethinking translation.
Wu Xiang 邬香
In it workshop, “it emphasizes that translation is a marginal activity, not considered as a proper field of study”(Gentzler 2001:5). However, as time goes by, the process of growth and acceptance of translation boost when many translation courses and workshops were being offered at many universities. There appears many works about this translation workshop but it does not have many books about the translation theories. “In this workshop, the personal opinions may offer some help, but it still lacks the consistent theory to support translation”(Gentzler 2001:44).
Wu Yilu 吴一露
Therefore, it needs urgently a classified theory for the translation and it yields the coming of the “science” of translation. In this book, it mainly introduces Eugene Nida’s formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence and Noam Chomsky’s syntactic structure and generative-transformation grammar. Here, it will illustrate my understanding of these two concepts about formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence. Edwin Gentzler illustrated the concept of dynamic equivalence in his book Contemporary Translation Theories, 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. The relationship between the target language receptor and the target text should generally be equivalent to that between the source language receptor and the source text(2001:48).
Wu Zijia 吴子佳
In the dynamic equivalence, Nida focus on the correspondence of the feeling between the target language and the receptor and the source language and the learner. By his understanding, these two feeling should be the similar. More specifically, “dynamic equivalence considers more about the relationship between the reader and the information, which means that the target reader's response to the target text should be the same as that of the source reader's response to the source text”(Liu 2012:242). “Any foreignness and translationese should be avoided in the target text”(Ju 2000:203). Now, it will list the advantages of dynamic equivalence.
Xiao Shuangling 肖双玲
“On the one hand, the dynamic equivalence is “somewhat like the free translationwhich emphasizes the translation should achieve the same effect instead of being limitedin the content and form” (Li 2014:112). “It concentrates on the correct way of translating the content of the original text”(Shakernia 2013:2). On the other hand, “it focuses on readers' reaction and analyzes the translation process from the viewpoint of target readers”(Nida 1995:225). In this way, translation is not a single activity, but more social elements are added to make the translation concrete and specific. Moreover, in the dynamic equivalence, due to its classified translation principle it is more suitable to the translation of technology and science essays. The dynamic equivalence provides us a detailed rule of translation during our process of translation so when we translate, we can find the reasonable principles to rely on. These essays should be more formal and official.
Xiao Ting 肖婷
However, although the dynamic equivalence has gained a lot of praises it still deserves some limitations. Firstly, “it is just a language conversion and ignores the cultural information taken by the language, resulting in cultural domestication”(Liu 2012: 245). In fact, cultural differences are objective and can not be inevitable, and no one can avoid them. If you have to maintain a dynamic equivalent translation, it will definitely have a negative impact on cultural communication. For example, “‘dongfeng’ is a positive image in Chinese culture while in western society it thinks the west wind is goodmorality”( Shakerni 2013:2) Therefore, it is strange that Shelley's singing of the west wind is translated into "ode to the east wind", because it will hinder the Chinese readers' understanding of the western world.
Xiao Xi 肖茜
What's more, to judge whether the target readers have similar effects is uncertain and unpractical because they are different in gender, age,educational background and life experience, etc. Strictly speaking, the reader's response is a variable that cannot be regarded as equivalent to the standard effect. Finally, dynamicequivalence information in the text does well, just like the Bible, but it is difficult to realize literary translation, text language is different from general language. Dynamic equivalence, as a concept, puts an .an overly narrow focus on the response of the active hearers, perhaps sometimes at the expense of other factors which are also crucial to adequate translation, such as the accuracy of the message, the uniqueness of the original historical setting.
Xiao Yining 肖伊宁
Next, it will list the definition of formal equivalence. “Formal equivalence is simple and source-oriented. It is like a word for word literal translation”(Shakernia 2013:2). Formal equivalence concentrates on the message itself, in both form and content. “One is concerned that the message in the receptor language should match asclosely as possible the different elements in the source language”(Shakernia 2013:3).The use of formal equivalents might at times have serious implications in the target text since the translation will not be easily understood by the target readership. For example, “in the translation of the sentence of greet others with a holy kiss, these two different equivalence can have distinctly different translation”(Shakernia 2013:3).
Xie Fan 解帆
In the formal equivalence translation, we need to translate it into the translation of saying hello to others with a holly kiss. But it seems strange to others because what’s the meaning of holy kiss. Then, we need to add one explanation of holy kiss which is in the old testament the holly kiss is usually treated as a usual way to greet others. However, in the dynamic equivalence, we need not to take the correspondence of the structure into consideration. We only need to pay attention to the reaction of receptorsof language. We can translate it into the translation of shaking hands with others enthusiastically. From the above example, it’s clear to find the focus of these two equivalences is very different therefore the translation can be different.
Xie Ziyi 谢子熠
Here, it will try to figure out the advantages and disadvantages of formal equivalence. One of the most distinguished advantage of the formal equivalence is that in this translation, “the formal equivalence is keenly oriented towards the source language structure, which exerts strong language influence in determining accuracy and Correctness”(Nida 1995:223). Because the formal equivalence emphasizes the completetranscript of the original text’s content and form so it will have the consistent structure of the original text.Another advantage of formal equivalence is that it put much focus on the accuracy.Because in such translation theory, the target language will try to find a equivalent in the source language.
Xu Jia 徐佳
For example, in the sentence of “Please fetch me a glass of water” when translating it into Chinese, we will try to find each word equivalent in Chinese. We will try to find each word such as “please”“fetch”“me” and so on. Then we can find the equivalent in Chinese which can be transliterated into Chinese as “Qing gei wo yi bei shui”. Apart from that, let’s move on to the disadvantages of formal equivalence. One of the obvious disadvantage of the formal equivalence is that sometimes it will neglect the intent of the original text. Because the formal equivalence isreferred as to the literal translation and in such way it may overlook the author’s intent. For example, we often hear Chinese people say:“Ni chi le ma?” In fact, it’s a way to greetpeople in Chinese custom while we cannot translate it into English as “Have you eat your dinner or lunch?”. Instead we should translate it into English as “Hello!”or “Hi!”