CULTURALDEFAULTINTRANSLATIONANDTHEANALYSISOFTHESTRATEGIESFORITSCOMPENSATION.doc

cultural default in translation and the analysis of the strategies for its compensationapplicant: number: class: supervisor: faculty: 10摘要文化的交流是翻译很重要的任务和目的之一, 然而正是由于文化以及其它方面的种种差异常常会导致翻译中文化因素的失落或曲解。文化缺省指交际过程中对双方共有文化背景知识的省略,这种现象在文学作品中大量存在，这给译者带来了极大的困难，因为译者在翻译过程中很难达到完全对等的效果。所以在翻译实践中,译者应认真审视原诗中的文化因素,根据具体情况采取灵活有效的补偿策略，并且要培养一种文化意识和创造力。关键词：翻译，文化，文化缺省，对等，补偿策略，文化意识和创造力abstractcultural exchange is one of the most important tasks and purposes of translation, however, cultural differences and other factors have caused the loss of culture elements in translation. cultural default is defined as the absence of relevant cultural background information shared by the two sides in communication. this phenomenon exists widely in literary works ,which causes great difficulty to translators, for it is hard to achieve complete equivalent effect. translators should attach importance to the cultural default in translation and adopt flexible and effective compensation strategies, also, translator should know what he is doing and has his cultural awareness and creativity in the actual operation of cultural elements.key words: translation; culture; culture default; equivalence; compensation strategies; cultural awareness and creativitycontents1. a brief introduction of culture, translation and their relationships12. reasons of culture default.22.1 the translator himself22.2 culture-loaded words22.3 idioms and allusions22.4 words of respect and humility32.5 nonverbal language33.strategic methods of cultural compensation33.1 literal translation,43.2 annotation43.3 contextual amplification53.4 paraphrase53.5 compensation of rhythm or sound pattern, structure in poems (huwen cheng 2007)54. several requirements for the translators65. conclusion7bibliography81. a brief introduction of culture, translation and their relationships translation and culture are closely related to each other, for translation is not only the transfer of one language to another, but also an important means ofcommunication across cultures. culture is an ambiguous and intriguing concept (jing liao guoyuan tu, 2004) what has been termed the classic definition of culture was provided by edward burnett tylor, the father of cultural anthropology, in his primitive culture(1871): “cultureis that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of a society.” this definition, continually being the basis of modern anthropological conceptions of culture, clearly shows that culture regulates peoples life in every possible way. “culture can be approached from many perspectives and understood both in its broad sense and in its narrow sense”( jingliao, 2004) .in recent decades, whenever the question of principles of translation is under discussion, the three principles (faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance) formulated by yan fu are thought of and supported as the one and the only maxim all translators must observe. various definitions have been given to translation. “translation is a science; translation is an art; translation is a craft; translation is skill; translation is an operation; translation is a language activity; translation is a communicating” (liu zhong-de, 2000). however, the process of conveying information can not entirely overcome language barrier sand cultural barriers, culture default emerges.because culture and translation are closely connected translation itself is a language behavior, accompanying with culture, transmitting one national culture to another. the “message conveyer” is rewriting and representing the source language.2. reasons of culture default.2.1 the translator himselfthe translator himself may be in deficient in the cultivation of culture knowledge,a limited horizon, thus will lead to some misunderstanding and loss in information. for instane,some basical concepts in the annlect of buddism, 无 常( anitya) 、无 我( anatman) 、空( sunyata) 、禅( dhyna; dhgaya; transcendental meditation) “和 佛”( buddha),all of these words have never fully involved in western ideas. in a number of cases, a receptor language may not have a feature that exists in the sl, and vice versa. while translating such items, translator may find the particular difficulty in relating the various terms that have no linguistic or referential equivalents in the target language culture to the readership.(wang xiao-hui)2.2 culture-loaded words2.3 idioms and allusions in most, if not all, languages, people embellish their speech or writing with references to characters or events from their history, legends, literature, religion, etc. such referencesallusionsnot only make the languagericher, but also make communication much more vivid and often easier. but they are both highly culture-specific, and in particular if they are peculiar to source language culture, the target language readers are unlikely to understand. “守株待兔” and “塞翁失马，安知非福” are both originated from these historical stories full of national cultural background information. although the two translations can be well understood by english-speaking readers, they cannot get the cultural background information lying behind the expressions.2.4 words of respect and humilitychinese language possesses a great number of self-depreciating expressions: 鄙人(my humble self), 寒舍 when addressing ones elders or superiors, chinese often use certain “polite” termsexpressions of respect or humility. for example, when we refer to a friends father, we respectively call “令尊”, and we call our father “家严”. however, no such prefixes or equivalents are used in english, where speaking to ones superiors might call for more respectful tone, but not for any special expressions.2.5 nonverbal languagedifficulties encountered in the process of translation are also brought about by nonverbal language, including gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, spatial signals, touching behavior and so on. by our expressions, gestures and other body movements we send messages to those around us. but different people have different ways of making nonverbal communication. that is to say, nonverbal language does not always mean the same thing in different cultures, thus posing a great obstacle to intercultural communication.2.6poem sentenceloss of rhythm or sound pattern, structure, ideas is more or less unavoidable3.strategic methods of cultural compensation eugene nida once said, “in anytranslation there will be a type of“ loss”of semantic content, but the process should be designed as to keep this to a minimum”.3.1 literal translation, it can generally maintain the source language,including its dictation, sentence structure, rhetoric feature, as well as the writers emotional colour.such as hot dog ( 热狗) ; black humour( 黑色幽默) ; to lose face( 丢脸) ; blood is thicker than water（ 血浓于水) ; more haste, less speed( 欲速则不达) ; 春卷( spring roll) ; 三天打鱼, 两天晒网( one day fish and two days to dry ones net) ; 路遥知马力, 日久见人心 ( a long road tests a horses strength and a longtask proves the character of a man.) 。3.2 annotation annotation is a commonly used strategy to make up cultural loss in translation. an annotation usually takes two forms. one is transliteration supplemented with explanatory parts. especially when the host language has no lexical equivalents for most of the culture-specific terms, translators have to make use of transliteration to deal with lexical deficiencies. for example, “气功” (qigong, a system of deep breathing exercise) and “清明” (chingming, a traditional chinese holiday to commemorate the dead observed in late spring).the other form of annotation is literal translating with footnotes. the purpose is to introduce relevant knowledge of the sc to the tl readers, thus compensating for the cultural loss through literal translation as well as improving the readers understanding of the st. for example:(1)遥知兄弟登高处，遍插茱萸少一人。 (wangwei)i know my brothers would, with dogwood spray in hand,climb up the mountain and miss me so far away. (by xu yuan-chong)notes: a dogwood spray arrived on mountain-climbing day, the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, which was supposed to drive away evil spirits.(2)montage( 蒙太奇: 电视、电影中的一种镜头组接手段) ; hooverville( 胡佛村: 指 20 世纪 30 年代初期美国经济大萧条时期所搭建的失业工人的收容村). 3.3 contextual amplificationamplification from implicit to explicit status takes place when “important semantic elements carried implicitly in the sl may require explicit identification in the receptor language” (nida, 1964, p. 228). that is to translate the culture-specific element literally, and then bring the footnote into the text to compensate for the tl readers culture default. for example, “:三个臭皮匠, 顶个诸葛亮”( three cobblers with their wits combined equal zhugeliang, the master mind. ) here “ with their wits combined “and” he master mind” are amplified to implement the meaning.3.4 paraphraseparaphrase means that the translator explains to the tl readers the meaning of cultural elements of the original text. when two cultures involved in translation are very close or the source cultural elements are very important, it is necessary to keep adherence to the forms of the culture-specific expressions or images of the original. however, if the source cultural element is so linguistic or history- and culture-specific that it largely defies attempts to put it into another language, the translator should not force the form of the original on the tl.3.5 compensation of rhythm or sound pattern, structure in poems (huwen cheng 2007)关雎关关雎鸠, 在河之洲。窈窕淑女, 君子好逑。参差荇菜, 左右流之。窈窕淑女, 寤寐求之。merrily the ospreys cry, on the islet in thestream.gentle and graceful is the girl, a fit wife forthe gentleman,short and long the floating water plants, leftand right you may pluck them.gentle and graceful is the girl, awake helongs for her and in his dreams.(yangxianyi )obviously, yangxianyi adopted the skill of alliteration and .gentle、grace、girl, stream、gentleman、them、dreams, are well chosen to represent the beauty of rythme and rhythm.4. several requirements for the translatorstranslation is no doubt a long-standing tradition dating back to the ancient world. from time immemorial, human beings felt the need to communicate with others. once exposed to different cultural contexts, they are naturally engaged in intercultural communication.(jing liao)stephen straight (rose, 1981) presents “outline of knowledge” which he thinks “translators must have”:1. ecology2. material culture, technology3. social organization4. mythic patterns5. linguistic structuresthe match of nidas cultural categorization and straights outline of knowledge of the translator is definitely no pure coincidence. when people say that translation is a sort of za xue(杂学)，this za（杂）is supposed to find best expression in culture, for translation is simply a matter of culture. this suggests that the translator have his cultural awareness and cultural activity in doing his work.although “cross-cultural awareness may be one of the most difficult dimensions to attain”, hanvey thinks that cultural empathy, which means the capacity to imagine oneself in another role within the context of ones own culture, is still within reach. as a cultural mediator, the translator is destined to be equipped with cultural awareness. however, it is one thing for the translator to know something, and it is another thing for him to know how to operate it. a qualified translator should have not only cultural awareness but also something that the author of this thesis has termed as “cultural creativity”. this creativity does not mean that the translator can “create new things” in his job but that he can overcome the to-be-or-not-to-be dilemma by applying either alienation or adaptation, i.e., he knows what he is doing in his operating cultural elements. cultural awareness is the prerequisite for cultural creativity, and cultural creativity finds expression in the choice of translation strategy. the term “strategy” has many different senses in psychology, sociology, linguistics and applied linguistics, and translation theory. e. nida divides translation strategy into four classes: change of order, omission, change of structure, and addition.anyway , translation is a process of art creativity, and translators play a very important role in conveying the original information, both of formak, content and of the culture integrity. translators should take great pains to enrich themselves in