George Orwell Politics and the English Language 1946夹译注.docx
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George Orwell Politics and the English Language 1946夹译注.docx
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GeorgeOrwellPoliticsandtheEnglishLanguage1946夹译注
GeorgeOrwell,"PoliticsandtheEnglishLanguage,"1946
MostpeoplewhobotherwiththematteratallwouldadmitthattheEnglishlanguageisinabadway,butitisgenerallyassumedthatwecannotbyconsciousactiondoanythingaboutit.Ourcivilizationisdecadent衰微的andourlanguage--sotheargumentruns--mustinevitably必然地shareinthegeneralcollapse失败.Itfollowsthatanystruggleagainsttheabuse陋习oflanguageisasentimental感伤的archaism拟古主义,likepreferringcandlestoelectriclightorhansom马车cabstoaeroplanes.Underneath下面的thisliesthehalf-consciousbeliefthatlanguageisanaturalgrowthandnotaninstrumentwhichweshapeforourownpurposes.
Now,itisclearthatthedecline衰退ofalanguagemustultimately基本上havepoliticalandeconomiccauses:
itisnotduesimplytothebadinfluenceofthisorthatindividualwriter.Butaneffectcanbecomeacause,reinforcingtheoriginalcauseandproducingthesameeffectinanintensified增强form,andsoonindefinitely不确定地.Amanmaytaketodrinkbecausehefeelshimselftobeafailure,andthenfailallthemorecompletelybecausehedrinks.ItisratherthesamethingthatishappeningtotheEnglishlanguage.Itbecomesuglyandinaccurate错误的becauseourthoughtsarefoolish,buttheslovenliness邋遢ofourlanguagemakesiteasierforustohavefoolishthoughts.Thepointisthattheprocessisreversible.ModernEnglish,especiallywrittenEnglish,isfullofbadhabitswhichspreadbyimitation模仿andwhichcanbeavoidedifoneiswillingtotakethenecessarytrouble.Ifonegetsridofthesehabitsonecanthinkmoreclearly,andtothinkclearlyisanecessaryfirststeptowardpoliticalregeneration再生:
sothatthefightagainstbadEnglishisnotfrivolous无聊的andisnottheexclusive独有的concernofprofessionalwriters.Iwillcomebacktothispresently,andIhopethatbythattimethemeaningofwhatIhavesaidherewillhavebecomeclearer.Meanwhile,herearefivespecimens样本oftheEnglishlanguageasitisnowhabituallywritten.
Thesefivepassageshavenotbeenpickedoutbecausetheyareespeciallybad--Icouldhavequoted引证farworseifIhadchosen--butbecausetheyillustrate阐明variousofthementalvices恶习fromwhichwenowsuffer.Theyarealittlebelowtheaverage,butarefairlyrepresentative有代表性的examples.Inumberthemsothaticanreferbacktothemwhennecessary:
1.Iamnot,indeed,surewhetheritisnottruetosaythattheMiltonwhoonceseemednotunlikeaseventeenth-centuryShelleyhadnotbecome,outofanexperienceevermorebitterineachyear,morealien[sic]tothefounderofthatJesuitsectwhichnothingcouldinducehimtotolerate.
ProfessorHaroldLaski(EssayinFreedomofExpression)
2.Aboveall,wecannotplayducksanddrakeswithanativebatteryofidiomswhichprescribesegregiouscollocationsofvocablesastheBasicputupwithfortolerate,orputatalossforbewilder.
ProfessorLancelotHogben(Interglossa)
3.Ontheonesidewehavethefreepersonality:
bydefinitionitisnotneurotic,forithasneitherconflictnordream.Itsdesires,suchastheyare,aretransparent,fortheyarejustwhatinstitutionalapprovalkeepsintheforefrontofconsciousness;anotherinstitutionalpatternwouldaltertheirnumberandintensity;thereislittleinthemthatisnatural,irreducible,orculturallydangerous.Butontheotherside,thesocialbonditselfisnothingbutthemutualreflectionoftheseself-secureintegrities.Recallthedefinitionoflove.Isnotthistheverypictureofasmallacademic?
Whereisthereaplaceinthishallofmirrorsforeitherpersonalityorfraternity?
EssayonpsychologyinPolitics(NewYork)
4.Allthe"bestpeople"fromthegentlemen'sclubs,andallthefranticfascistcaptains,unitedincommonhatredofSocialismandbestialhorrorattherisingtideofthemassrevolutionarymovement,haveturnedtoactsofprovocation,tofoulincendiarism,tomedievallegendsofpoisonedwells,tolegalizetheirowndestructionofproletarianorganizations,androusetheagitatedpetty-bourgeoisetochauvinisticfervoronbehalfofthefightagainsttherevolutionarywayoutofthecrisis.
Communistpamphlet
5.Ifanewspiritistobeinfusedintothisoldcountry,thereisonethornyandcontentiousreformwhichmustbetackled,andthatisthehumanizationandgalvanizationoftheB.B.C.Timidityherewillbespeakcankerandatrophyofthesoul.TheheartofBritainmaybesoundandofstrongbeat,forinstance,buttheBritishlion'sroaratpresentislikethatofBottominShakespeare'sMidsummerNight'sDream--asgentleasanysuckingdove.AvirilenewBritaincannotcontinueindefinitelytobetraducedintheeyesorratherears,oftheworldbytheeffetelanguorsofLanghamPlace,brazenlymasqueradingas"standardEnglish."WhentheVoiceofBritainisheardatnineo'clock,betterfarandinfinitelylessludicroustohearaitcheshonestlydroppedthanthepresentpriggish,inflated,inhibited,school-ma'amisharchbrayingofblamelessbashfulmewingmaidens!
LetterinTribune
Eachofthesepassageshasfaultsofitsown,but,quiteapartfrom更何况avoidableugliness丑陋之物,twoqualitiesarecommontoallofthem.Thefirstisstaleness陈腐ofimagery比喻;theotherislackofprecision精度.Thewritereitherhasameaningandcannotexpressit,orheinadvertently非故意的sayssomethingelse,orheisalmostindifferent漠不关心的astowhetherhiswordsmeananythingornot.Thismixtureofvagueness模糊andsheer绝对的incompetence无资格isthemostmarkedcharacteristicofmodernEnglishprose散文,andespeciallyofanykindofpoliticalwriting.Assoonascertaintopicsareraised,theconcrete实在的meltsinto消散在...中theabstract抽象andnooneseemsabletothinkofturnsofspeechthatarenothackneyed陈腐的:
proseconsistslessandlessofwordschosenforthesake理由oftheirmeaning,andmoreandmoreofphrasestackedtogetherlikethesectionsofaprefabricatedhenhouse.Ilistbelow,withnotesandexamples,variousofthetricksbymeansofwhichtheworkofproseconstructionishabituallydodged:
Dyingmetaphors隐喻.Anewlyinventedmetaphorassists帮助thoughtbyevoking引起avisualimage,whileontheotherhandametaphorwhichistechnically"dead"(e.g.ironresolution)hasineffectreverted回复tobeinganordinarywordandcangenerallybeusedwithoutlossofvividness生动.Butinbetweenthesetwoclassesthereisahugedump垃圾场ofworn-out磨破的metaphorswhichhavelostallevocative引起的powerandaremerelyusedbecausetheysavepeoplethetroubleofinventingphrasesforthemselves.Examplesare:
Ringthechangeson,takeupthecudgelfor,toetheline,rideroughshodover,standshouldertoshoulderwith,playintothehandsof,noaxetogrind,gristtothemill,fishingintroubledwaters,ontheorderoftheday,Achilles'heel,swansong,hotbed.Manyoftheseareusedwithoutknowledgeoftheirmeaning(whatisa"rift,"forinstance?
),andincompatiblemetaphorsarefrequentlymixed,asuresignthatthewriterisnotinterestedinwhatheissaying.Somemetaphorsnowcurrenthavebeentwisted扭曲的outoftheiroriginalmeaningwithouththosewhousethemevenbeingawareofthefact.Forexample,toethelineissometimeswrittenastowtheline.Anotherexampleisthehammerandtheanvil,nowalwaysusedwiththeimplicationthattheanvil铁砧getstheworstofit.Inreallifeitisalwaystheanvilthatbreaksthehammer,nevertheotherwayabout:
awriterwhostoppedtothinkwhathewassayingwouldavoidpervertingtheoriginalphrase.
Operatorsorverbal言语的falselimbs四肢.Thesesavethetroubleofpickingoutappropriateverbsandnouns,andatthesametimepad填补eachsentencewithextrasyllables音节whichgiveitanappearanceofsymmetry对称性.Characteristicphrasesarerenderinoperative,militateagainst,makecontactwith,besubjectedto,giveriseto,givegroundsfor,havetheeffectof,playaleadingpart(role)in,makeitselffelt,takeeffect,exhibitatendencyto,servethepurposeof,etc.,etc.Thekeynoteistheelimination消除ofsimpleverbs.Insteadofbeingasingleword,suchasbreak,stop,spoil,mend,kill,averbbecomesaphrase,madeupofanounoradjectivetackedon附添tosomegeneral-purposeverbsuchasprove,serve,form,play,render.Inaddition此外,thepassivevoiceiswhereverpossibleusedinpreferencetotheactive,andnounconstructionsareusedinsteadofgerunds动名词(byexaminationofinsteadofbyexamining).Therangeofverbsisfurthercutdownbymeansofthe-izeandde-formations,andthebanalstatementsaregivenanappearanceofprofundity深刻bymeansofthenotun-formation.Simpleconjunctionsandprepositionsarereplacedbysuchphrasesaswithrespectto,havingregardto,thefactthat,bydintof,inviewof,intheinterestsof,onthehypothesisthat;andtheendsofsentencesaresavedbyanticlimax虎头蛇尾bysuchresoundingcommonplacesasgreatlytobedesired,cannotbeleftoutofaccount,adevelopmenttobeexpectedinthenearfuture,deservingofseriousconsideration,broughttoasatisfactoryconclusion,andsoonandsoforth.
Pretentious自命不凡的diction.Wordslikephenomenon,element,individual(asnoun),objective,categorical,effective,virtual,basic,primary,promote,constitute,exhibit,exploit,utilize,eliminate,liquidate,areusedtodressupasimplestatementandgiveanairofscientificimpartiality公正tobiased有偏见的judgements.Adjectiveslikeepoch-making,epic,historic,unforgettable,triumphant,age-old,inevitable,inexorable,veritable,areusedtodignify使高贵thesordid肮脏的processofinternationalpolitics,whilewritingthataimsatglorifyingwarusuallytakesonanarchaic古代的color,itscharacteristicwordsbeing:
realm,throne,chariot,mailedfist,trident,sw
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