（英语语言文学专业论文）文化图式视角下的文化空缺及其在翻译中的应对.pdf

descriptive chinese abstract i 摘 要 文化空缺是一种语言文化异质性的极致体现。 如何处理翻译中的文化空缺实现文本 的连贯重构对译者来说一直是一个巨大的挑战。近年来，许多相关论文对该问题进行了 探讨，但大都只注重实例分析，很少从理论方面进行论证。本文的新颖之处在于从文化 图式理论的角度探讨文化空缺的可译性及其翻译技巧。 全文共分五章，各章主要内容如下： 第一章是引言，论述了语言、文化与翻译的关系并简要介绍了本文的主要内容。 第二章阐述了图式理论特别是文化图式理论的概念、特点、实质和类别。 第三章揭示了文化以及文化空缺的概念，产生文化空缺的根源，并对文化空缺因素 进行了分类。 第四章从文化图式的角度论证了文化空缺的可译性。 通过分析文化空缺与文化图式 的关系， 指出在目的语读者的理解中出现文化空缺的原因是因为他们脑海中缺乏相应的 文化图式。如果在翻译过程中能够将源语文化中的相应的文化图式转换到目的语之中， 就为文化空缺的翻译提供了坚实的基础。由于人类发展具有共同的文化氛围，人类拥有 相同的思维能力，相近的反应能力，作为思维的产物，文化的产物，不同文化中的文化 图式是可以转换的。在这个条件下，文化空缺作为某一种语言文化事实，由于语言的普 遍性，社会的共通性，也是可译的。当然其可译性是相对的，在翻译过程中会有不可避 免的文化损失。 第五章论证了文化图式理论在翻译文化空缺的过程中所发挥的作用， 并指出文化空 缺的翻译的成功与否应看相应的文化图式在多大程度上被忠实地传递了。 在已有讨论的 基础上，针对文化空缺提出了六种具体的翻译手段，包括音译，直译或音译加注，直译 或音译加解释，补偿，借用及意译。以上这些翻译手段均从文化图式的角度着眼，以期 最大限度的传递相应的文化图式，达到最佳翻译效果。 通过相关理论介绍和实例分析， 本文从文化图式的角度探析了文化空缺的可译性及 常用翻译技巧。把文化图式理论引入翻译领域，希望为解决翻译中由文化空缺所带来的 问题提供一个可供继续研究的角度。 关键词：文化图式; 文化空缺; 翻译 english abstract ii abstract cultural vacancy is the ultimate reflection of heterology of language and culture. in translation, how to deal with cultural vacancy so as to reconstruct a coherent text is always a big challenge to the translator. in recent years, many published papers have probed into this area, but they usually have focused on case study not theory. this paper researches into cultural vacancy and its translation from a new perspective of cultural schemata. the paper falls into five chapters. the following is an outline of what is presented in each of the chapters. chapter one is introduction. it introduces the relationship among language, culture and translation, and then, it discusses the main idea of this thesis. chapter two introduces “schemata theory”, especially “cultural schemata theory”. it probes into the idea of cultural schema, clarifying its notion, traits, essence and classification. chapter three expounds the concept of culture and cultural vacancy, the origin of cultural vacancy and the types of cultural vacancy factors. chapter four proves translatability of cultural vacancy from the perspective of cultural schemata. by analyzing the relationship between cultural vacancy and cultural schemata, it points out that the cause leading to cultural vacancy is lacking a corresponding cultural schema on the target language readers mind. if this kind of corresponding cultural schema in source language can be transformed into the target language, it will set down a solid basis for the translatability of cultural vacancy. because humans have some common cultural environment, the same thinking competence and similar reactive competence, cultural schemata in different languages can be conveyed. in this condition, cultural vacancy, as a linguistic and cultural fact, can also be translated because of language and social universalities. however, we must confess that the translatability is relative, and there exists inevitable cultural loss. chapter five demonstrates the role of cultural schemata in the process of dealing with cultural vacancy in translation, and then, it points out the criterion for the translation of cultural vacancy is whether the corresponding cultural schema is fully transformed. on the english abstract iii basis of the discussed ideas, the paper proposes six translating methods to deal with cultural vacancy in translation: transliteration, literal translation or transliteration with notes, literal translation or transliteration plus proper explanation, compensation, borrowing and free translation. it proposes that all these translating methods should proceed from the perspective of cultural schemata so as to excavate the cultural meaning from a deeper level. through introducing theories and illustrating with many examples, the thesis researches into the translatability and translation of cultural vacancy from the perspective of cultural schemata. by introducing cultural schemata theory into the field of translation, the paper seeks to postulate a new approach to the translation of cultural vacancy. and this new approach deserves further research. key words: cultural schemata; cultural vacancy; translation chapter i introduction 1 chapter i introduction before we start discussing the relationship among language, culture and translation, we should make clear the relationship between language and culture. we all know that there exists a close relationship between language and culture. “language is the principal way whereby we conduct our social lives. when it is used in contexts of communication, it is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways” (kramsch, 2000:3). according to kramsch, language expresses, embodies and symbolizes cultural reality. language is the carrier and foundation of culture, through which the history of human civilization and social progress are recorded. the ability to communicate through language underlies all aspects of culture. thus, morality, religion, philosophy, literature, science, economics, technology and numerous other areas of human knowledge and belief, all of which depend on the symbolic communication system, i.e. language, via which culture is transmitted. so, language contributes to the communication, transmission, continuation and evolution of culture. on the other hand, stemming from a certain cultural background, language itself is a product of culture and it is also influenced and shaped by culture. translation is a kind of bilingual activity. since language and culture are inseparably and intimately connected, nida ever said, “the role of language within a culture and the influence of the culture on the meanings of words and idioms are so pervasive the scarcely any text can be adequately understood without careful consideration of its cultural background” (nida, 1999:i). he thought, “for truly successful translation, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism” (nida, 1999:110). so, when we come to talk about the issue of translation, one fact we can never elude is culture. as we all know, superficially translation deals with different languages, that is, how to render whats expressed in one language (generally known as source language, shortened to sl for convenience) into another language (generally known as target language, shortened to tl for convenience). but in essence translation can never be done successfully without full consideration of the fact of culture due to the inextricable connection between language and culture. consequently, translation, seemingly a mere inter-lingual activity, is actually closely chapter i introduction 2 related to culture, which is a process of transferring linguistic ideas as well as cultural exchange because cultural elements permeate language everywhere. hence professor chen hongwei (1996:16) ever defined translation as a cultural activity which is cross-language and cross-social. it means that translation is the transferring of ideas between languages as well as the communication between cultures. because languages are diverse, the cultures they reflect are also diverse. as wang zuoliang put it, in translating, “whats self-evident in one culture has to be painstakingly explained in another culture” (郭建中，2000：20). in translation practices, many translation problems and errors derive from culture. this paper attempts to reveal the major translation problems posed by culture and find appropriate ways out through the discussion of the translation of cultural vacancy from the perspective of cultural schemata. cultural vacancy refers to the linguistic and cultural facts which exist in one national culture but default in another. cultural vacancy is a relative concept which means that it is a vacancy to the people from other cultures. so, cultural vacancy only emerges in intercultural communication. cultural peculiarity and cultural diversity are the origin of cultural vacancy. how to deal with problems posed by cultural vacancy is always a hotly debated topic among the translators. many translators have written some papers to probe into this field and put forward several methods to cope with this problem. though reasonable, these approaches are still seen from the view of the language itself. this thesis attempts to introduce the linguistic concept of cultural schema into the field of translation. cultural schemata are the products of memory which are conceptual structures that enable individuals to store perceptual and conceptual information about their culture and make interpretations of cultural experiences and expressions. from the perspective of cultural schemata, the process of understanding cultural vacancy is a process of creating a new cultural schema and revising the previous one. for example, when the readers meet a new word, they have to understand it in accordance with knowledge already stored in their mind. if these memories already exist, the meaning will be quickly grasped; if this kind of memory is absent from their memory there will be a failure of comprehension. hence a cultural vacancy is formed to the tl readers. both cultural vacancy and cultural schemata are the products of a specific culture. the chapter i introduction 3 cause leading to cultural vacancy is lacking a corresponding cultural schema on the tl readers mind. if this kind of corresponding cultural schema can be transformed into the target language, cultural vacancy will become familiar to the tl readers. accordingly, dealing with cultural vacancy in translation is a question of transforming the corresponding cultural schemata. if this kind of corresponding cultural schema can be transformed, the cultural vacancy in translation is also translatable. in the area of cultural schemata and translation, professor liu mingdong presented several papers that show a penetrating original understanding of the question. he sought to extend the notion of cultural schemata into translation which gives us a novel approach because before in china such notion was commonly used in the study of reading. translation is a cultural activity. it is also a mental activity. cultural schema theory provides an interface where the interplay of language, culture, and cognition can best be observed. the more cultural schemata translators possess, the better their translations will be. if the reader in the target language reads the translation and images a cultural schema which is the same as tat in the mind of a reader in the source language, then the translation may be judged successful. chapter ii cultural schemata 4 chapter ii cultural schemata 2.1 schemata theory schema (plural form: schemata ) theory provides a theoretical support to explain the psychological process of language comprehension in the cognitive psychology literature. 2.1.1 concept of schemata schemata theory was developed by the gestalt psychologist bartlett “.who observed how people, when asked to repeat a story from memory, filled in details which did not occur in the original but conformed to their cultural norms” (cook, 1997: 86).in remembering, sir frederic bartlett (1932:201) regards “schema” as “an active organization of past reactions or of past experiences, which must supposed to be operating in any well-adapted organic response.” in 1970s, with the development of linguistics, anthropology, psychology and artificial intelligence, the notion of schema was applied widely. and then many related notions emerged. cook (1994) regards it as “mental representations of typical instances”, minsky (1975) terms it as “frame” and schank howard, 1987): 1. schema represents knowledge at all levels of abstraction from simple knowledge about the concept of the number 1 to more complex knowledge such as knowledge about dining in a restaurant and knowledge about playing basketball. 2. schema is embedded within each other, constituting a system. a schema may, on the one side, consist of a set of sub-schemata; on the other side, be a part of another one. that is to say, schemata are hierarchical. 3. schema has slots, which can be filled with a greatly wide range of stimuli. 4. schema is formed with the accumulation of all kinds of knowledge including both generalizations derived from our personal experiences and facts we have learned. 5. schema at different levels may adjust itself actively by recognizing and interpreting new inputs. schema is activated in “bottom-up” or “top-down” fashion. the “top” refers to the mind while the “bottom” refers to stimuli from environment. the above characteristics show that schema is so inclusive that it consists of all the knowledge, which is stored in ones mind in a hierarchical way. it is activated to exert influence on what a person thinks and behaves in a situation, whose contained information may in return adjust or supplement the existing schema. 2.1.3 types of schemata many reading researchers intend to subcategorise the term schema, with the most popular categorization being the distinction between formal and content schema. nevertheless, there is no single categorization for schema. formal schemata formal schemata are “background knowledge of rhetorical structures of different types of text” (carrell, 1983:81-92). in others words, formal schemata are background knowledge about differences among rhetorical structures, such as differences in genre, differences in the structure of fables, simple stories, scientific texts, newspaper articles, poetry, and so forth chapter ii cultural schemata 6 (carrell it largely takes place in the mind. reading is also a construction process involves the process of building meaning from sounds and written symbols of language. for decades, cognitive scientists and psychologists have discussed the schema theory of human memory. the underlying idea of this theory is that humans, as they receive incoming information, organize it around their previously developed schemata, or “networks of connected ideas” (slavin, 1988:155). readers background knowledge, namely, cultural schemata on his mind are sure to affect reading comprehension. when a teacher teaches a new word “hamburger” to chinese students, he/she has to use a little time to explain what kind of food it is. the teacher inputs such information on students mind and helps them establish a certain schema, and students may understand its meaning. if students read the word again, they will easily grasp its meaning. consequently, for a reader, it is important to store cultural schemata as much as possible. applying to translating applying cultural schema to translating is a new attempt in china. according to liu mingdong, the theory of cultural schemata can be applied to translating because translation involves the reading of both the translators and the potential readers. it mainly influences three aspects in translating. before starting translating, the translator firstly should read the chapter ii cultural schemata 9 original text. if he possesses abundant cultural schemata relating to the contents, he can understand and reconstruct well, reversely, he will fail somehow. to a reader, if he has little cultural schemata about the contents that he reads, he cannot get a successful reading. the translation, to him, becomes absurd and meaningless. another problem in the process of translating involved cultural schemata is that translating is also a process of transforming cultural schemata, which will be discussed fully in this thesis. chapter iii cultural vacancy 10 chapter iii cultural vacancy 3.1 concept of culture it is undoubtedly important to mention culture and present a clear definition of culture for a better understanding of cultural vacancy. the first really clear and comprehensive definition was that of the british anthropologist e. b. tylor, who defined culture as “the complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, custom and many other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (tylor, 1871:213). a good example of an all-inclusive and descriptive definition is the one advanced by daniel bates and fred plog: culture is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning. and, of course many new definitions have appeared since. professor tang degen defines culture as the deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. (唐德根，2000：90) 3.2 concept of cultural vacancy the concept of “vacancy” was first proposed by american linguist charks hockett in 1950s. he used “random holes in patterns” to describe the language phenomenon when contrasting grammatical patterns of two languages. in 1970s, the discussion of “vacancy” aroused researchers interests and promoted the research in this field. barhudarov employed the term “unequivalent lexicon” while digging into the research of lexicon of several different languages. hull，an american cultural anthropologist found that a nation lacks the basic lexicon for color in its language which exist in most of all the other languages when he made a research to original inhabitants in australia. he used the chapter iii cultural vacancy 11 words “vacancy”, “gap” in his research papers. in 1980s, russian scholar sorokin propounded the theory of “cultural vacancy” in his research paper focusing cultural peculiarities of diverse nations. two main definitions proposed by researchers in china as follows: 1. cult