中西文化差异与翻译.docx

中西文化差异与翻译.docx

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中西文化差异与翻译

PartOneIntroduction

1.1ResearchBackground

Translationisanactoftranslatinginformationfromalanguageintoanotherlanguagewithaccuracyandfluency.Translationistheprocessoftransformingarelativelyunfamiliarexpressionintoarelativelyfamiliarformofexpression.①Itinvolvesthelanguage,thetext,thegraph,thesymboltranslation.Amongthem,“Fan”referstothelanguageofconversationconversion,“Yi”referstotheone-waystatementofthelanguageconversion.“Fan”referstotheconversationofthetwolanguagesintheimmediate,onesentencetotheconversion,thatis,afirstsentenceintoasecondsentence,andthenthesecondsentenceintoaword.Thisisarotating,alternatinglanguageorinformationconversion.“Yi”referstoone-waystatements,thatis,thespeakeronlysaidnottoask,thelisteneronlylistennottoanswer,themiddleforbilingualpeople,onlyforspeakerstomakelanguageconversion.

Cultureisthesoilinwhichlanguagecanexistanddevelop.Themostbasictaskoftranslationistospreadandcommunicatetheculture.Inthe1970s,Westerntranslationstudiesbegantofocusontheinfluenceofcultureontranslation.Translationiscalled“InterculturalCommunication”and“cross-culturalcooperation”.People’sunderstandingoftranslationgraduallydeepened.Peoplerealizedthattranslationisnotlimitedtolanguage-levelcross-languageactivities,butalsoinvolvestwokindsofculturalactivities.Thedifferencesinhistoricalbackground,geographicalenvironment,religiousbeliefsandvalueshaveledtothedifferencesbetweenChineseandWesternculture,whichhascausedthebarrieroftranslation.ToachieverealcommunicationbetweenChinaandtheWesttranslatorsshouldcombinecultureandtranslationnaturally.

1.2SignificanceandObjectives

Theresearchofthispaperisofgreatsignificance.Firstofall,languagelearnerscangetadeeperunderstandingoftheculturaldifferencesbetweenChinaandtheWest,whichisveryhelpfultoourtranslation.Inaddition,learninginthisareafacilitatesourinterculturalcommunicationandenhancesourcross-culturalawareness.ThepurposeofthispaperistopromoteculturalexchangesbetweenChinaandtheWest,andtopromotecross-culturalcommunicationwithothercountriesbyunderstandingtheculturaldifferencesbetweenChinaandthewestandtranslatingstrategies.

1.3StructureoftheThesis

InordertosystematicallyanalyzetheculturaldifferencesbetweenChinaandthewest,thispaperwillbedividedintofourparts.Thefirstpartisacomprehensiveintroductiontothisresearch.Thesecondpartintroducestherelationshipbetweencultureandtranslation.ItalsointroducesthefactorsthatinfluencethedifferencesbetweenChineseandWesterncultures,includinggeographicalenvironment,socialcustoms,religionsandvalues.Thethirdpartwillintroducethetranslationofmethods,includingforeignization,domestication,transformationandannotation.Inthisorder,Iwillanalyzetheinfluenceofculturaldifferencesontranslation.

PartTwoTheRelationshipBetweenCultureandTranslation

2.1DefinitionofCulture

Firstly,inthebroadestsense,cultureisthemixtureofmaterialwealthandspiritualwealthcreatedbyhumanbeingsinthepracticeofsocialhistory.However,beingviewedfromanarrowstandpoint,thencultureisthesocialideologyandtherelatedsystemandorganization.②Cultureinthenarrowsenseisthereflectionofthecorrespondingsocialpoliticsandeconomy,anditcanalsoreacttothecorrespondingsocialpoliticsandeconomy.Inviewoftheemergenceandprogressofthenation,culturehasanationalnature.Nomatterwhichideologyaculturerepresents,ofcourse,theculturewillbeaccompaniedbytheadvanceofsocialmaterial.Thecontinuityofthesocialmaterialadvancemeansthattheculturaladvancealsohasthecontinuityandthehistoricalinheritance.Secondly,culturereferstotheabilityofwritingandgeneralknowledge.Culturehasanunusuallycloserelationshipwithallscienceandart.Translationisakindofart,soofcourse,itshouldalsobesupportedbyculture.Thescopeofthecultureinvolvesanunusuallybroadrange,encompassingnotonlyhistoryandcustoms,butalsoidiomscloselyrelatedtolanguage.

2.2CulturalDifferencesBetweenChinaandtheWest

2.2.1GeographicalDifferences

Thegeographicalenvironmenthasagreatinfluenceonthelocalclimateandalsohasasignificantimpactonthelanguageusedbythepeople.Forexample,thedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishregionalculturesareveryprominentintheirorientationandtheircorrespondingobjects.InChina,sinceancienttimes,therehavebeenthetraditionof“南面为王,北面为朝”“南为尊北为卑”.Peopleoftensay“从南到北,南来北往”“南”isoftenplacedinthefront.TheEnglishcultureistheopposite.TheEnglishandAmericanpeopleunderstandtheChineselanguage“从南到北”fromtheEnglishregionalculture,whichis“fromnorthtoSouth”.And“北屋”is“aroomwithasouthernexposure”.Suchazimuthwordsas“西北”,“西南”,“东北”and“南”aretheoppositeofChineseculture.Theyare“northwest”,“southwest”,“northeast”,“Southeast”,respectively.Inaddition,althoughtheword“东风”inChineseandtheword“eastwind”inEnglishareliterallyrelative,theirconnotationsarecompletelydifferent.ThecharacteristicsofChina’sterrainare:

inthewestliethemountains,buttheeastisthesea.IntheChineseconsciousness,“东风”refersto“spring”,symbolizingthe“warmth”.ButinBritain,the“eastwind”isblowingfromthenorthernpartofthecontinent.IntheheartsoftheBritish,itissignsof“cold”.Andthe“westerlywind”isblowingfromtheAtlantic,andChina’s“东风”hasthesamesymbolicmeaning.Therefore,theBritishlovethe“WestWind”.ThelastverseofthefamousBritishpoetShelle’sOdetotheWestWindexpressesthegoodmeaningofthewesterlywinds:

“O,wind,ifwintercomes,canspringbefarbehind?

（啊，西风，假如冬天已经来临，春天还会远吗?

）”③Ofcourse,withoutcomment,Chinesereaderscannotunderstandorwillmisunderstandtheexpression.

2.2.2DifferencesinSocialCustoms

Customsrunthroughthedailylifeandcommunicativeactivities.④Differentnationalitiesshowdifferentnationalculturestatutesandcustomsingreeting,appellation,complimentandtelephone.Ingreeting,theChineseoftensay“Haveyoueaten?

”“Whereto?

”“Whatareyoudoing?

”whentheymet.TheChinesethinkthisisaneasy-going,cordialgreeting.Ifthoseexpressionsareliterallytranslatedinto“Haveyouhadyourmeal?

”“WhereAreyougoing?

”“Whatareyougoingtodo?

”Itwillbehardforwesternerstoaccept.BecauseintheviewofWesterners,thesearepersonalprivacy,andshouldnotletothersknow.Suchgreetingsshouldbetranslatedinto“hello!

”“OKmorning!

”“Howare?

”Intermsofappellation,themeaninganduseofthesameconceptindifferentlanguagesvaries.Themeaningof“姐姐”and“妹妹”,“哥哥”and“弟弟”inChineseareveryclear.Thewordsthatdenotethekinshipofthecousinsareentirelydistinct.“表哥”,“表弟”,“表姐”and“表妹”,“堂兄”and“堂弟”areallspecificwords,butEnglishisveryvague,general,allknownascousin.ModestyisthevirtueoftheChinesenation,sotheChinesepeopleusedtospeak“self-deprecating”toshow“humble”.Westernersdonotunderstandthis.Forexample,theChinesewilloftensay:

“Preparationisnotgood.”“Myunderstandingisverysuperficial.”“Ifthereisanywrongplace,pleasecorrectit.”Whenfacingatableofrichdishes,thehostoftensay:

“Thereisnogoodfood,pleasefeelfreetoeat.”Westernersdonotunderstandtheconnotationsoftheexpressing.Again,Chinesepeoplewillalwaysbehumbleandpolitewhentheyhearcompliments,theywillsay:

“哪里,没有,没有.”ItisverydifficultforThewesternerstounderstand.Theywilluse“Thankyou”toexpressacceptanceofeachother’spraiseandapproval.WhenTheChinesemakeacall,theywillsay:

“Hello,whoareyou?

”“Whoareyoulookingfor?

”“What'syoursurname?

Iamso-and-so.”InWesternculture,thecustomarytelephoneusageis“Who'sthisspeaking,please?

”

2.2.3DifferencesinReligiousBeliefs

Thegenerationoflanguageisboundtobecloselyrelatedtoreligion.Itisalwaysinfluencedbythelongdevelopmentoflanguage.Theshadowofreligionhasbeenprojectedintoeveryfieldoflanguageandculture.ThenumberofwordsrelatedtoReligioninChineseandEnglishishugeandspectacular.Forexample,“天公”,“阴阳”,“菩萨”,etc.Languageisthedirectreflectionofthought.Thetwototallydifferentreligiouswordsarethetrueportraitureoftwoethnicgroups.BeforetheSuiandTangDynasties,ConfucianismandTaoismdominatedthetworeligionsinChina.ManyChinesewordsrelatedtoreligionwererelatedtothis,suchas“太极”,“道”,“尊天命”,“行孝道”,“听天由命”.DuringtheSuiandTangDynasties,alargenumberofBuddhismcamein,andalargenumberofBuddhistwordscamealong.TheideaofrecurrentretributionwasacceptedanddigestedbyConfucianismandTaoism.SoConfucianism,BuddhismandTaoismoccupiesthedominantpositioninChina.InBritain,Christianityisthemainreligion.TheteachingwasintroducedintoBritainin597years.Foralongtime,alargenumberofrelatedwordscameintoEnglish.TherearewordsfromLatintoEnglish,suchasangel（天使）,monk（僧侣）,aswellasthewordsborrowedfromFrenchinthemiddleages,suchasreligion（宗教）,dean（教长）andsoon,aswellasthelargeamountofwordsborrowedfromotherforeignlanguagesinthemodernEnglishperiod.It'smuchmorethanotherlanguages.Forreligiousculturaldifferences,weshouldpayspecialattentiontotranslation,otherwiseitwillcausemisunderstandingorevencausedisputesandcontradictionsbecauseofimpropertranslation.⑤

2.2.4DifferencesinValues

Thevaluesofeastandwestared