Translation and Culture.doc

translation and culturethe term culture addresses three salient categories of human activity: the personal, whereby we as individuals think and function as such; the collective, whereby we function in a social context; and the expressive, whereby society expresses itself.language is the only social institution（习俗，制度） without which no other social institution can function; it therefore underpins the three pillars upon which culture is built. translation, involving the transposition of thoughts expressed in one language by one social group into the appropriate expression of another group, entails（使承担，使成为必要，需要） a process of cultural de-coding（de-加强意义）, re-coding（re-再） and en-coding（en-使make）. as cultures are increasingly brought into greater contact（联系） with one another, multicultural considerations are brought to bear to an ever-increasing degree. now, how do all these changes influence us when we are trying to comprehend a text before finally translating it? we are not just dealing with words written in a certain time, space and socio-political situation; most importantly it is the cultural aspect of the text that we should take into account（考虑到，顾及，体谅take account of）. the process of transfer, i.e., re-coding across cultures, should consequently（作为结果地，随着发生地） allocate（分配，分派，把、拨给） corresponding attributes vis-a-vis the target culture to ensure credibility in the eyes of the target reader. multiculturalism, which is a present-day phenomenon, plays a role here, because it has had an impact on almost all peoples worldwide as well as on the international relations emerging from（出现，浮现） the current new world order. moreover, as technology develops and grows at a hectic pace, nations and their cultures have, as a result, started a merging（使）结合、合并；（使）合为一体） process whose end (-point?) is difficult to predict. we are at the threshold（门口，入门，起始点） of a new international paradigm. boundaries are disappearing and distinctions are being lost. the sharp outlines（外形，轮廓） that were once distinctive now fade （褪色；逐渐消失；变微弱）and become blurred（使）变模糊）.as translators we are faced with an alien（外国（人）的；相异的；不相容的） culture that requires that its message be conveyed in anything but an alien way. that culture expresses its idiosyncrasies in a way that is culture-bound: cultural words, proverbs and of course idiomatic expressions, whose origin and use are intrinsically and uniquely bound to the culture concerned. so we are called upon to do a cross-cultural translation whose success will depend on our understanding of the culture we are working with. is it our task to focus primarily（主要地，首先） on the source culture or the target culture? the answer is not clear-cut. nevertheless, the dominant（占优势的，支配的，统治的；临下的，居高的） criterion is the communicative function of the target text.let us take business correspondence as an example: here we follow the commercial correspondence protocol commonly observed in the target language. so estimado will become dear in english and monsieur in french, and a saludo a ud. atentamente will become sincerely yours in english and veuillez agreer monsieur, mes sentiments les plus distingues in french. finally, attention is drawn to the fact that among the variety of translation approaches, the integrated approach seems to be the most appropriate. this approach follows the global paradigm in which having a global vision（幻觉；想象（力） of the text at hand has a primary（最初的，初级的；首要的，次要的） importance. such an approach focuses from the macro to the micro level in accordance with the gestalt-principle, which states that an analysis of parts cannot provide an understanding of the whole; thus translation studies are essentially concerned with a web of relationships, the importance of individual items being decided by their relevance within the larger context: text, situation and culture. in conclusion, it can be pointed out that the transcoding (de-coding, re-coding and en-coding?-the term transcoding appears here for the first time) process should be focused not merely on language transfer but also-and most importantly-on cultural transposition. as an inevitable consequence (corollary?) of the previous statement, translators must be both bilingual and bicultural, if not indeed multicultural.the relationship between culture and language:if culture is compared to the body of a person, then language will be the heart within the body of culture and it is the interaction between the two that results in the continuation of life-energy. culture is an important component of language teaching and learning. the neglect（疏忽，玩忽） of cultural factors in the language in process of language learning cant result in a good mastery of the language because the cultural differences between target language and native language can influence not only the learners correct understanding and accurate use of target language but also the learning behavior of learner himself due to his native culture. cultural factors can directly influence the selection and application（应用） of learning strategy of learners. only when learners and teachers attach great importance to the effect of cultural factors on language learning, can the success in language learning be achieved. translation is not regarded as merely a cross-linguistic activity but essentially（本质上，基本上） cross-cultural communication.1地理环境差异与语词翻译。地理文化是指所处的地理环境而形成的文化。由于各民族生活空间不同，因而自然环境各方面的差异影响不同民族对同一事物或现象的看法各有不同。特定的地理文化赋予了语词特定的意义。2社会历史差异与语词翻译。历史文化是特定历史发展进程和社会遗产的沉淀所形成的文化，各民族的历史发展不同，因而各自都有含有特定的人物和事件的语词来体现本民族鲜明的历史文化色彩。例如，中“to meet ones waterloo(遭遇滑铁卢)是源于十九世纪拿破仑在比利时小城滑铁卢惨败一事，汉语中“败走麦城”是指古时三国的蜀国名将关羽被打败退兵麦城一事，两个语词分别来源于不同的历史事件，但喻义相同，都是指惨遭失败。因此这类语词的翻译需要了解各民族历史文化才能使译文更具文化个性。3、习俗人情差异与语词翻译。语言来源于生活，生活习俗与人情世故在一定程度上制约着语言的表达系统。例如：数词“八”在汉语中是现今最受人们喜爱的数额因为其发音与“发”谐音，迎合人们发财致富的心理，而英语中“eight则没有这种意义。4宗教信仰差异。宗教信仰对人们的生活有着重要的，特定的宗教信仰产生了语词的特定含义。中西方的宗教信仰不同，也影响着英汉语词的翻译。在西方，以基督教为主的宗教文化深刻影响着人们的语言表达，基督教产生时，欧洲大陆处于四分五裂的状态，世俗的王权只有超越一切世俗力量之上的上帝才能收服人们的“野性”，于是基督教应运而生，人们的语言也深深的打上了民族宗教色彩的烙印。如：“man proposesgod disposes(由人提议，上帝决断)“god helps those who helps themselves(天佑自救者)。在以佛教为主导的传统宗教文化中，“老天爷”成了佛教徒心目中的天神。许多语词来源于佛教、道教。如“三生有幸”中的“三生”源于佛教，指前生、今生、来生，该词语用来形容机遇非常难得，可见宗教文化是构成英汉语言各自特色的重要方面。了解了宗教文化的差异，就能更准确地表达语词的文化意义。5神话传说与经典著作的差异。不同民族的神话传说与经典作品中产生了许许多多的习语与典故，反映了民族风味、世态，使各民族的语言充满了情趣与活力，具有独特的表现力。如中：“think with the wise，but talk with the vulgar(与智者同思，与俗子同语)出自古希腊格言：“swan song是根据西方传说swan(天鹅)临死时发出美妙的歌声，用来比喻“诗人、家等的最后的作品”。又如“sour grapes(酸葡萄)出自伊索寓言，比喻“可要可不