The Influnce of Culture on Interlingual Translayion

论文总字数：31922字

摘 要

众所周知，语言离不开文化，这就意味着每一次的语言活动都与它所处在的文化息息相关。《红楼梦》，这部代表中国封建社会缩影的文学巨著，蕴涵了丰富多彩的文化因素，体现了非凡的思想深度、高超的写作技巧和独特的艺术及审美价值。然而，这些却意味着译者要面临巨大的挑战。本文将从翻译与文化的关系角度出发，通过引用和分析杨宪益夫妇和大卫.霍克斯英译本《红楼梦》中部分译例的方法，旨在阐明源语和目标语中的文化差异；东西方思维模式的不同，和译者本身的文化迥异对语际翻译的巨大影响。

关键词：语际翻译，文化差异，《红楼梦》。

Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………1
   1. Background of A Dream of Red mansions Translation……………….........1
2. Literature Review…………………………………………………………2

2.1 Views About A Dream of Red Mansions Versions of Several Scholars .2

2.2 Language Translation And Culture……………………………....3

1. The Cultural Factors In A Dream of Red Mansions ...................................7

3.1 History………………………………………………………….7

3.2 Material……………………………………………………………..8

3.3 Religion…………………………………………………………..9

1. The Influence of Culture In A Dream of Red Mansions On Translation...9

4.1 The Different Thinking Modes ……………………………………………9

4.2 Translators’ Subjectivities………………………………………………...11

4.3 Customs And Religions………………………………………………….12

5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………..12

Works Cited…………………………………………………………………...14

1. Introduction

1.1Background of A Dream of Red Mansions translation

A Dream of Red Mansions, written in 18^th century, as one of the China four classic novels, named by Yang Xianyi couple, or translated to the Stone Story by D.Hawkes, portrays a wonderful picture of the culture and customs in the end of China feudal society. In the light of its own value to be studied as the status of epitome of China feudal society, A Dream of Red Mansions has been spread widely and profoundly in the entire world. Since 1830s, it has been translated to 9 different language versions. Yang couples and D. Hawkes translated the whole book, while others only involved in translating some chapters.

Almost every person in China is familiar with the story. Born and brought up in an aristocratic environment, Cao Xueqin, the author of the novel, was very familiar with the lifestyle and customs of the feudal society. The decline of his family and bad conditions of his later years helped him to see the corruption and fadedness of the people in his young memories. Based on his personal experiences, he created this tragic story about the fall of a typical feudal family. The novel is said to be a great collection of Chinese culture, for it involves nearly every aspect of Chinese traditional culture, including marriage, religion, education, politics, food, entertainment, poetry, funerals, the role of women, and so on. Containing the very basic of Chinese culture

As such a great masterpiece, it has attracted not only Chinese readers, but also many translators to convey this through the world. Among those translated versions, two English versions are most famous: one is A Dream of the Red Mansions, translated by Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Yang, and the other is The Story of the Stone, translated by David Hawkes and John Minford (the first 80 chapters is translated by D.Hawkes). When the two versions were announced one after another in 1970s, the whole translation circle was shaken dramatically. Both versions are very successful and are highly praised by other translators and translation theorists, most importantly, by the readers at home and abroad. Professor Zhou makes his comment on the two versions as follows: "the version by David Hawkes is distinguished for its elegance, while the Yangs" is remarkable for its accuracy. If people read them together, those who are interested in this novel" appreciate the original will acquire the real and complete picture

2. Literature Review

2.1 Views on the translations of A Dream of Red Mansions by several scholars

Among those translated versions of A Dream of Red Mansions, two English versions are most influential: one is A Dream of the Red Mansions, translated by Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Yang, and the other is translated by David Hawkes and John Minford (the first 80 chapters is translated by Hawkes) The Story of the Stone,. Many scholars have carried out comparative studies of these two versions from different perspectives since they were published. The following are some of their points of view:

Ke states that the strategy employed in the Yangs" version makes the rendition more faithful to the original works. Though Hawkes" strategy makes his translation more acceptable to the target readers, it deviates from the original text, thus it is not a preferable method for the translator.

Wang claims from the perspective of cultural translation that the Yangs" version is inclined to the foreignizing strategy whereas Hawkes" version has a domesticating tendency. She points out that Hawkes" version mainly obeys the norm of western culture, westernizing almost all those Chinese national flavor.

Guo argues that both domestication and foreignization have their own merits and demerits. The two versions cater for different target readers in light of their different purposes and functions.

Cui makes a specific analysis on the general tendency of Hawkes in translating A Dream of Red Mansions. He points out that a rendition should convey three kinds of messages of the original text: thematic message, artistic message and cultural message. He asserts that Hawkes" version is prominent in successful conveyance of the thematic and artistic messages of the original, especially in terms of artistic recreation. But in the transmission of cultural message, there is a domesticating tendency in Hawkes" version, which is mainly reflected in cultural substitution and omission of culture-specific names or expressions. He objectively attributes this domesticating tendency to the inequality of cultural communication, which is "a common phenomenon between dominant cultures and weak cultures and also an embodiment of unequal power relations.

2.2 Language culture and translation

In any kind of studies, fundamental concepts must be clarified first. Language, translation and culture are the key term in the discussion of domestication and foreignization. Most researchers usually study the act of translation in a cultural background and since these two principal translation strategies, domestication and foreignization, are mainly conferred with the rendering of culture-specific expressions, the clarification of definitions and relationships of language, culture and translation are of huge help for the later researches of the translation strategies in terms of cultural elements.

2.2.1 Definition of language culture and translation

Language, according to Mary Finocchiaro, is "a system of arbitrary, vocal symbols which permit all people in a given culture or other people who have learned the system of that culture, to communicate or to interact" (p. 8). Therefore, language is of marked national quality and historic significance.

The concept of culture covers a broad range of social life such as art, literature, habits and customs, rituals, forms of etiquette, manners of speech, religion and so on. This is most evident in the following definitions of culture.

According to Modern Chinese Dictionary , culture means "civilization; the sum total of the material and spiritual wealth, especially the spiritual wealth, created by man in the course of the historical development of a society in particular, such as literature, arts, education and science and so on."

The classic definition was given by Tylor , the father of cultural anthropology, who stated in his Primitive Culture that: "Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society"(P.1).

Newark, a famous British translation theorist, takes linguistic factor into consideration in his definition. According to him, culture means "the way of life and its manifestation that are peculiar to, a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression" (p. 94).

According to the definitions above, it can be said that culture is almost everything and everywhere because there is not one aspect of human life that is not touched and altered by culture.

As for the term translation, the scholars have proposed various definitions without reaching an agreement, each of which reflects a particular underlying theoretical model. For example, Jacobson defines translation in terms of semiotics as "an interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language"; Tory’s definition, from the perspective of target text orientation, takes translation as "any target-language utterance which is presented or regarded as such within the target culture, on whatever grounds"; Nida gives his definition with emphasis on preserving the effect of the original: "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"(Shuttleworth amp; Cowies, p. 182). According to Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, translation is "the process of rendering written language that was produced in one language (the source language) into another (the target language), or the target language version that results form this process"(Richards, Schmidt, Kendrick and Kim, P, 723)

2.2.2 Culture and language

Nida, a famous American translator and translation theorist, points out "Since culture is defined succinctly as totality of beliefs and practice of a society, nothing is of greater strategic importance than the language through which its beliefs are expressed and transmitted and by which most interaction of its members takes place. When it is used in contexts of communication, it is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways"(P.105). Accordingly, language and culture have a very close relationship and restrict each other"s existence and development.

Bassnett also provides a vivid description of the interrelation between language and culture. She compares language to "the heart within the body of culture", and points out that "the surgeon, operating on the heart, cannot neglect the body that surrounds it, so the translator treats the text in isolation from the culture at his peril" (p. 2). In fact, any language can be regarded as a sign system representing a particular culture. As an indispensable component of culture, language plays such an important role that language and culture are always studied together.

On the one hand, language and culture are closely interrelated in the sense that language is the carrier of culture and directly reflects and transmits cultural messages. People express experience, ideas and emotional feelings through language, verbally or non-verbally. In addition, members of a community or social group identify themselves and others through their use of language, since they regard their languages as a symbol of their social identity. And the prohibition of its use is often considered by its speakers as a rejection of their social group as well as their culture. So we can say that language represents cultural reality. What is more, it is through the form of language that culture exists in translation. Without language, the representation of culture in translation becomes impossible.

On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture. As Nida points out, "changes in language inevitably tend to lag behind changes in culture"(P. 155). For one thing, language only has meanings in terms of culture in which it functions. This is especially true of culture-specific expressions. Next, since language evolves and develops in response to people"s needs in social cultural activities, culture is bound to be reflected in the linguistic practice of the speakers. In other words, cultural orientation has exerted a great influence, though explicitly or implicitly, on the ways language is used to describe experience, express emotions, present opinions and construct reality. Furthermore, culture is a social phenomenon of nationality. People from different social environments are all influenced and conditioned by their own social cultures in every respect of life, including living styles, manners of expressing emotions, patterns of communicating, ways of thinking and behaving. Therefore, the language, which deeply embedded in its national culture, usually reflects feelings, thinking and beliefs of its own nation. This inevitably results in the phenomenon that people from different cultural. Backgrounds often come across barriers in communicating and understanding. "We take these cultural problems contained in language for cultural elements" That means people from different cultures express their culture-related concerns in varied ways, and accordingly, react to or make sense of information in the communication activity from diverse cultural perspectives.

In short, the relationship between language and culture is just as what Lotman says, "No language can exist unless it is steeped in the context of culture; and no culture can exist which does not have at its center, the structure of natural language". The development of language often embodies the change of culture. It reflects the historical and cultural backgrounds as well as the ways of living and thinking of its speakers. To fully comprehend a language, one must know well about its culture and vise versa. So it is quite reasonable for us to say that learning a language is, in a sense, learning its culture.

2.2.3 Culture and Translation

The use of language cannot be separated from social environment. The close relationship of language and culture indicates that of culture and translation. Therefore, translation between Chinese and English is not just a transformation of the two language systems but an intercourse of the two cultures too.

Recently, many scholars and translators have studied translation theories and practice in the background of culture. Bassinet and Lefebvre were the first to suggest that translation studies should take the `cultural turn". They argue in Constructing Cultures that "the study of translation is the study of cultural interaction". The cultural turn places emphasis on the relationship between translation and such aspects as politics, culture and ideology of the target system. Then, people"s understanding of translation has been further deepened: translation is no longer considered as merely an inter-lingual activity restricted at the linguistic level, it is more of an act of cross-cultural communication.

As the world develops unto a global village, cross-cultural communication is becoming more and more frequent and urgent. However, the use of different languages seems a big barrier to the exchange of different cultures. Then translation can be used as an effective means to solve this problem. In this sense, we can say that it is the objective necessity of cross-cultural communication that requires the birth of translation and encourages its development. Just as Wang says, "culture and cultural exchange are the origin of translation; translation is the outcome of cultural exchange. The activity of translation cannot exist without the participation of culture"(P.2).

In fact, the activity of translation itself involves a problem of cultural communication, since it actually takes place in concrete situations that involve different cultures. Generally speaking, where there is a cultural focus, there is a translation problem. As far as the purpose and features of translation are concerned, it is an exchange of ideas; with regard to its function, translation takes on a responsibility to spread cultural information, since language itself carries certain characteristics of social culture. Guo asserts that in the field of translation studies, scholars’ understanding of traditional sense has shifted from literal translation to cultural translation. Therefore, the research on translation is actually a problem of cultures especially with regard to comparative studies between two cultures.

It is now commonly accepted that the difficulty in translation mainly comes from two aspects. One is the difference between the source language and the target language at linguistic level; the other is the difference between the two cultures contained in them respectively. And with the deepening of cultural studies, more and more researchers have recognized that the most difficult problem in translation is the cultural barrier rather than the linguistic barrier. Something self-evident in one culture deserves much energy to expound in another one. The reason lies in that people in one culture are prone to interpret and judge other people and their behavior through their own framework of cultural norms. Therefore, the task of translation should focus on the successful communication between the source-language culture and the target-language culture.

3The cultural factors in A Dream of Red Mansions

3.1 History

No one doubts that the long history of China has impacted its people with a profound culture label that contributes to this ethic’s glory and numerous culture treasures. Regarding this as a reason, people who lived in this kind background possess a unique conscience that it is rooted closely in their blood. Therefore, the source language translator is born with the conscious of the culture. Obviously, the version of Yang’s has its own advantages when it comes to the history linking to translation. Just as following example:

宝玉笑道:“古人云，‘千金难买一笑’，几把扇子能值几何!”

(第31回)

Hawks" version:

Baoyu laughed. "The ancients used to say that for one smile of a beautiful woman a thousand taels are well spent. For a few old fans it"s cheap at the price!"

The Yang’s" version:

"You know the ancient saying," put in Baoyu. ""A thousand pieces of gold can hardly purchase a smile." And what are a few fans worth?"

The example can also be linked to feng huo xi zhu hou. King You of Zhou Dynasty was said to have a concubine who is very beautiful, but never smiled. So King You puted an announcement which said that those who were able to make his beauty smile would be awarded numerous gold. Then a flatterer offered an idea called feng huo xi zhu hou. At that time, the signal fire is the only way to alarm an emergency to each vassal state far away. So when the vassals saw the signal fire they all hurried up there to rescue. When they got there, they found themselves befooled. But their fluster made the woman smiled at last. However, the smile cost him his life, for no reinforcements come to rescue him when the country was really invaded. People often use this allusion to mean trying to gain a beauty"s favor at all costs. In dealing with this allusion, the Yangs choose to foreignize it by retaining the original form and images so as to provide the foreigners a chance to experience the exotic cultural flavor.

But we know that allusions are usually of unique national cultural flavor, especially those with a historical background. Sometimes if they are rendered only by means of foreignization, the target language readers can hardly understand. In such cases, the strategy of foreignization plus explanation will be helpful in that it guarantees the smooth communication. That is the reason why Hawkes adopts this strategy by adding an attributive of a beautiful woman to modify smile.

剩余内容已隐藏，请支付后下载全文，论文总字数：31922字