人体转喻的翻译规律及其解释--《红楼梦》两个译本对比研究.pdf

南京航空航天大学 硕士学位论文 人体转喻的翻译规律及其解释-红楼梦两个译本对比研究 姓名：梁倩 申请学位级别：硕士 专业：英语语言文学 指导教师：范祥涛 2011-01 the regularities of translating body parts metonymies and their explanations iv 摘摘 要要 翻译研究在经历了经验主义方法、语言学方法和文化方法的不同发展阶段之 后，于 20 世纪 80 年代进入多视角的综合性研究阶段。至 2005 年，翻译界的研究 者发现，语言学方法应该仍然是翻译研究的基本方法，提出翻译研究领域的“语言 学转向(回归)” ，因为语言是翻译操作过程的直接对象，任何其他因素都必须通过语 言途径来承载。另一方面，就翻译过程的语言操作而言，多数难以处理的翻译难点 是由于语篇中使用了隐喻或转喻。因此，从认知语言学角度研究隐喻或转喻的翻译 策略，就成为翻译研究的一个重要方面。目前，国内外的这类研究已经发表了一些 文献，但是多数论文或著作都局限于抽象的思辨或阐释，而实证研究显得不足。转 喻的翻译研究长期以来尤其滞后， 无论是研究对象和研究方法， 还是研究材料选取、 研究过程设计等方面，都需要深入探究。本研究应用近年来在认知语言学中得到迅 速发展的转喻理论框架，通过实证方法，对比分析中国经典小说红楼梦两个英 译本中的转喻的翻译，探究转喻的翻译策略以及其中存在的某些规律性特征。 整个研究首先概述了国内外转喻研究、转喻翻译研究和红楼梦翻译研究的 现状，建立了转喻翻译研究的描写理论基础，介绍了研究的方法论。在此基础上， 实证研究部分借助统计和实例观察分析，探讨了红楼梦中人体部位“头”的转 喻性使用特征，进而考查了这些转喻的翻译策略和一般规律性特征。研究发现：(1) 以西方语言为研究对象的转喻理论并不完全适用于汉语转喻研究，汉字“头”的转 喻性使用体现出新的转喻范畴；(2)在 273 例关于“头”的转喻性用法中，西方理论 框架中没有罗列的“物体理想认知域”类型的转喻数量最大，占总数的 58.3%，其 中“物体代功能”的类型则占总数的 36.3%； “行为理想认知域”类型的转喻占总数 的 27.5%，其中“行为代另一行为”和“行为代情感”的转喻类型，也是西方理论 中没有涉及的；(3)汉语中关于“头”的转喻，其英译策略包括异化、归化和省略， 这些策略的使用频率在两种译本中都是依次递增，杨译本分别为 13.9%、42.1%和 44.0%， 霍克斯译本分别为 14.3%、 39.2%和 45.4%。 也就是说， 超过 85%的关于 “头 的”转喻在翻译中没有得到保存。(4)红楼梦中关于“头”的转喻翻译所表现出 的这些规律性特征，其直接原因是具有不同文化背景的不同语言，在使用关于人体 部位的基本概念时存在差异，其深层原因则是不同民族对人体部位的基本概念具有 不同的认知方式和认知结果。 南京航空航天大学硕士学位论文 v 关键词：关键词： 红楼梦; 转喻翻译; 翻译规律; 头 the regularities of translating body parts metonymies and their explanations ii abstract after the various stages of development from empirical approach to linguistic approach and cultural approach, translation studies have entered a stage characterized by multi-perspective integrated research since 1980s. up to 2005, researchers in the field of ts found that the linguistic approach should still be regarded as the essential one in the investigation of translation. therefore, they further claimed the “linguistic (re)turn” in translation studies. this is because of the fact that language is the direct object in the process of translation operation and any other elements must be carried by the means of language. on the other hand, as far as the language operation in translation is concerned, most translation difficulties result from the use of metaphor or metonymy. accordingly, researches on the strategies of translating metaphor and metonymy from the perspective of cognitive linguistics should be one of important aspects in translation studies. though researches of this kind both abroad and at home have led to the publication of some literature currently, most papers and works are confined to abstract speculation or interpretation with the result that empirical researches are insufficient. in particular, the research on metonymy translation has lagged behind for a long time. whether research object and research methodology or the selection of data and the design of research processall this deserves profound investigation. this research makes an application of the theoretical framework of metonymy recently developed in cognitive linguistics and takes an empirical approach in order to make a contrastive analysis of the translation of metonymies in the two english versions of the classical chinese novel hongloumeng. its purpose is to inquire into the strategies of metonymy translation and those regular characteristics or regularities within the translation. this paper first presents a general literature review of the status quo of the researches on metonymy, metonymy translation and the translation of hongloumeng. it goes on to establish a descriptive theoretical foundation for the investigation of metonymy translation and make an introduction to the research methodology. based on all this, the empirical research resorts to statistics and observation of concrete examples in order to examine the strategies of metonymy translation and the general regularities of translating body parts metonymy. major findings of this research include: (1) the 南京航空航天大学硕士学位论文 iii theories of metonymy developed on the basis of western languages do not apply well to the researches on body parts metonymy in chinese, and the metonymical uses of the chinese character tou (head) embody some new categories of metonymy. (2) among the 273 examples of body parts metonymy with the character tou, the category of metonymy within “object icm”, which is not incorporated in the western theoretical framework, accounts for 58.3% of all, the uttermost in comparison with the others, among which the category of object for function accounts for 36.3% of all the instances. the category of metonymy within “action icm” accounts for 27%, among which action for another action and action for emotion configurations are not involved in western framework either. (3)the strategies of translating metonymies with the character tou include foreignization, domestication and omission, the frequencies of the use of which increase in turn. their frequencies in the version by the yangs are 13.9%, 42.1% and 44.0% respectively, and those in the version by hawkes are 14.3%, 39.2% and 45.4% respectively. this means that over 85% of the metonymies with tou are not preserved in translation. (4) the regularities represented in translating metonymies with tou from hongloumeng can be explained with the direct reason that different languages with different cultural backgrounds differ in using the basic concepts of body parts. the explanation can go further to the fact that different nations have different cognitive manner and results in relation to the basic concepts of body parts. key words: hongloumeng; metonymy translation; translation regularity; tou the regularities of translating body parts metonymies and their explanations viii list of tables table 1 map of translation studies by g. toury.13 table 2 map of translation studies by jeremy munday.14 table 3 whole icm and its part(s).20 table 4 parts of an icm20 table 5 statistics of metonymies on body parts of “head”28 table 6 strategies of translating body parts metonymies35 南京航空航天大学硕士学位论文 ix appendix: abbreviations in the thesis dom domestication dts descriptive translation studies ex example for foreignization h david hawkes version icm idealized cognitive model no number omi omission rt ratio sl source language tl target language ts translation studies y the yangs version 承诺书 本人郑重声明：所呈交的学位论文，是本人在导师指导下，独立进 行研究工作所取得的成果。尽我所知，除文中已经注明引用的内容外， 本学位论文的研究成果不包含任何他人享有著作权的内容。 对本论文所 涉及的研究工作做出贡献的其他个人和集体， 均已在文中以明确方式标 明。 本人授权南京航空航天大学可以有权保留送交论文的复印件， 允许 论文被查阅和借阅,可以将学位论文的全部或部分内容编入有关数据库 进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或其他复制手段保存论文。 (保密的学位论文在解密后适用本承诺书) 作者签名： 日 期： 南京航空航天大学硕士学位论文 1 1. introduction as one of the cognitive models of mankind, metonymy is pervasive in language and heavily culture-loaded. it has received more and more attention in cognitive linguistics and has recently experienced an upsurge in interest over the past twenty years. as an important part of cross-cultural communication, translation cannot be ignored. therefore, metonymy translation is worth great concern. the thesis tries to compare the two versions of translation of hongloumeng to find the regularities of translating metonymies, especially body parts metonymies, and further explores the factors underlying regularities of metonymy translation. 1.1 significance of the study since the beginning of the 20th century, the metonymy study abroad has formed a comparatively complete system. scholars have found that metonymy, one of the cognitive models of mankind, is closely related to culture and is important in cross-cultural communication. many books and papers have been published to talk about the mechanism and categories of metonymy, distinctions and continuum between metonymy and metaphor, and so on. however, studies on metonymy at home are relatively less found than those abroad, especially the researches on the translation of metonymy. hongloumeng is the masterpiece of chinese novels. its great value lies not only in the vivid reflection of the then chinese society and culture, but also in its artistic use of language. metonymies in hongloumeng include profound cultural implications; give vivid descriptions to characters, things and scenery. they help readers to gain a penetrating, thorough and easy understanding of the text and chinese culture, thus greatly enhancing the novels effects. so whether the translation of metonymy in the novel is successful or not will directly affect the quality of its translation and cross-cultural communication. the thesis chooses some body parts metonymies and studies the translations by contrasting the two versions translated by the yangs and david hawkes in order to find out the regularities of metonymy translation. the importance of this research lies both in its theoretical implications and its practical value. theoretically, it attempts to investigate the patterns of metonymy the regularities of translating body parts metonymies and their explanations 2 translation, which will be meaningful for translation operation in dealing with metonymy in the process of translation. another practical value of this research resists in the fact it can be beneficial for the successful treatment of metonymy in translating chinese texts into english, especially the translation of chinese classics which has been launched as one of the national strategies in promoting chinese culture in the western world. 1.2 objectives of the study the thesis aims to use the theories at home and abroad on metonymy, such as the definition, cognitive mechanism and classification of metonymies, and the distinction between metaphor and metonymies, etc., to define some body parts metonymies in the novel hongloumeng and then choose some types of body parts metonymies, which should be no less than three hundred, to explore the strategies of metonymy translation. by case studies of comparison and analyzing two different versions of translation produced by the yangs and david hawkes, this research intends to explore the regularities underlying the translation of metonymies and finally try to make some explanations about these regularities from the perspective of language, culture and translators individuality. all these purposes boil down to the theoretical and practical considerations which can contribute a bit to translation theory construction and translation operation. 1.3 organization of the thesis altogether there are six parts in this thesis. part 1 serves as an introduction to the study objectives, providing an account of the research background and the meaning of the research. part 2 is the literature review of the previous researches on metonymy and metonymy translation. this part is further divided into five sections: the first section is a review of the rhetoric approach to metonymy; the second a review of the cognitive approach to metonymy; the third section is review of studies on body parts metonymies; the fourth section is the literature review of the translation of metonymies; and the last section will provide a birds view of the researches on the translation of hongloumeng into english. part 3 serves as a theoretical preparation for the research in the following. it starts from the concept of descriptive translation studies and continues to investigate the basic 南京航空航天大学硕士学位论文 3 concepts and ideas of the theories of metonymy and explore their possible application to a descriptive research on the translation of metonymies. part 4 gives a detailed description of the methodology of the research, including hypothesis and questions of the study in this thesis, the tool the study will use, the possibility of the study, and data collection from the novel hongloumeng and its translations by the yangs and hawkes. part 5 is the most important part of the thesis. this part is further divided into five sections: the first section is concerned with the criteria and process of defining and confirming body parts metonymies in the novel; the second section is the collection and statistical analysis of body parts metonymies in this novel and their translations; the third section is a comparison of typical samples between the translations of the yangs and hawkers; the fourth section explores the regularities of translating body parts metonymies; and the last section focuses on the explanation of the regularities in translating body parts metonymies. the last part is the conclusion. in this part some major findings are summarized and the significance is discussed, some conclusions also being reached as to metonymy translation. then after a brief analysis of the limitations of the present study are the suggestions for further researches. the regularities of translating body parts metonymies and their explanations 4 2. literature review in this part we will do some brief reviews of relevant researches on metonymy, metonymy translation and the translation of hongloumeng. the contents of this part include the rhetorical approach to metonymy, cognitive approach to metonymy, researches on body parts metonymies, previous researches on metonymy translation, and researches on the translation of hongloumeng. 2.1 rhetoric approach to metonymy the study of metonymy has a long history both in the west and in china. metonymy originates in italian “metonumia”; the prefix “meto-”means “change” or “after” and the suffix “-numia” means “name”. therefore “metonumia” has the meaning “change of name”. for centuries, the study of metonymy has been regarded as purely a matter of style and rhetoric. it was traditionally regarded as a figure of speech that involves a process of substituting one linguistic expression for another, i.e., metonymy was viewed as a relation in which one linguistic expression “stands for” another (frey, 2001: 3). for examples, (1) the pork wants a glass of water. (2) we have some new blood in the organization. (3) proust is tough to read. the above three examples well illustrate the employment of metonymy. in example (1), the word “pork” stands for the customer that ordered it. in the restaurant, it is more easily perceived to point out what food the customer ordered than just point out the customer himself. the word “blood” in example (2) is used to refer to new people recruited in the organization. in example (3) the proper noun “proust” actually stands for the works created by the writer called proust. the earliest definition of metonymy can be found in the rhetorica and herennium, written before 82 ad by an anonymous author. in this work, metonymy is defined as a trope that takes its expression from near and close things and by which we can comprehend a thing that is not denominated by its proper word. later cicero (1967: 167) defines metonymy as follows: metonymy is a valuable stylistic ornament; metonymy 南京航空航天大学硕士学位论文 5 occurs for the sake of ornament, one proper name is substituted for another. websters new collegiate dictionary (1977: 724) describes metonymy as “a figure of speech consisting of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated.” according to oxford english dictionary, metonymy is a figure of speech which consists in substituting for the name of a thing the name of an attribute of it or of something closely related. in chinese, the figure of speech called jiedai (literally “borrow to stand for”) is an equivalent to the english word “metonymy”. cihai (1999: 833) defines jiedai as a figure of speech that makes use of the name of one thing for that of something else to which it is not similar but related. from all these definitions quoted we can find that they all claim that metonymy is the substitution or change of name of one thing for something related, neighboring, associated, close, or near. also no clear account has been given as to how the source and the target are related. aristotle distinguished among four classes of “metaphors” in chapter 21 of his poetics: (metaphor is) the application of a strange term by transference either from genus to species or from species to genus or from one species to another or else by analogy (aristotle, 1927: 27). the first two (genus to species, and species to genus) refer to what we know today as synecdoche, the third type (species to species) is what we know today as metonymy and the fourth type (analogy) applies to what we know today as metaphor. aristotles view that metonymy is a class of metaphor is widely accepted by later scholars. it prevailed until the 1950s when john jakobson pointed out that metaphor and metonymy are in fact two different figures. 2.2 cognitive approach to metonymy 2.2.1 general researches on metonymy traditionally viewed, as has been discussed in the former section, metonymy is a figure of speech in discourse used for rhetorical effect. it is a stylistic language operation that makes use of the name for one thing for that of something else. with the advert of cognitive linguistics, completely different assumptions were made about the nature of metonymy as well as metaphor (gibbs, 1994; lakoff, 1987; lakoff dirven panther panther warren, 1999, 2002), and the role of figurative language has also been dealt with in the light of language processing and understanding (see frisson gibbs, 1994, 1999; giora, 1997, 2002; giora papafragou, 1996). 2.2.2 researches on cognitive mechanism of metonymy metonymy in the cognitive literature is modeled as icms by lakoff (1987), conceptual mappings by radden and kvecses(1999), domain highlighting by croft (2002), combinations of mappings and highlighting by ruiz de mendona(2000), scenarios by panther and thornburg (1999), contiguity by jakobson(1960) and more generally as reference point activation by langacker(1999) and barcelona(2000). from the perspective of structuralism, jakobson distinguishes metonymy with metaphor by the criterion of contiguity and similarity. and this terminology and way of thinking has been accepted by cognitive linguistics in recent years (taylor, 1995; dirven, 1993, 2002; croft, 1993; radden and kovecses, 1999; panther and radden, 1999; barcelona, 2000). ronald la