翻译理论知识

1 翻译理论与实践 考试理论部分复习提纲 一 翻译定义 1 张培基 翻译是用一种语言把另一种语言所表达的思维内容准确而完整地重新表达出 来的语言活动 3 刘宓庆 翻译的实质是语际的意义转换 4 王克非 翻译是将一种语言文字所蕴含的意思用另一种语言文字表达出来的文化活动 5 泰特勒 好的翻译应该是把原作的长处完全地移注到另一种语言 以使译入语所属国 家的本地人能明白地领悟 强烈地感受 如同使用原作语言的人所领悟 所感受的一样 6 费道罗夫 翻译就是用一种语言把另一种语言在内容与形式不可分割的统一中所有已 表达出来的东西准确而完全地表达出来 7 卡特福德 翻译的定义也可以这样说 把一种语言 Source Language 中的篇章材料 用另一种语言 Target Language 中的篇章材料来加以代替 8 奈达 翻译就是在译入语中再现与原语信息最切近的自然对等物 首先就 意义而言 其次就是文体而言 Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style Eugene Nida 纽马克 通常 虽然不能说总是如此 翻译就是把一个文本的意义按作者所想的方式移 译入另一种文字 语言 Translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and or statement in one language by the same message and or statement in another language Peter Newmark 10 Translation is the expression in one language or target language 译入语 of what has been expressed in another language source language 原语 preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences Dubois 12 13 Translation or translating is a communicative activity or dynamic process in which the translator makes great effort to thoroughly comprehend a written message or text in the source language and works very hard to achieve an adequate or an almost identical reproduction in the target language version of the written source language message or text 二 翻译标准 1 翻译的标准概括为言简意赅的四个字 忠实 faithfulness 通顺 smoothness 忠实指的是忠实于原文 通顺指的是译文的语言必须合乎规范 通俗 易懂 2 2 严复对翻译曾经提出 信 faithfulness 达 expressiveness 雅 elegance 的标准 译事三难 信 达 雅 求其信已大难矣 顾信矣不达 虽译犹不译也 则达尚焉 3 泰特勒三原则 1 That the Translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work 2 That the style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original 3 That the Translation should have all the ease of original composition 1 译作应完全复写出原作的思想 2 译作的风格和手法应和原作属于同一性质 3 译作应具备原作所具有 的通顺 谭载喜 2006 泰特勒指出 这三项原则是好的翻译所必备的条件 它 们次序的排列是恰当的 自然的 是按重要顺序排列的 如果在不得已的情况下要牺牲某 一个原则就要注意到它们的次第和比较上的重要性 决不能颠倒主次 以牺牲思想内容的 忠实来求得译文的优美和流畅 5 奈达提出了著名的 动态对等 他对翻译所下的定义 所谓翻译 是在译语中用最 切近而又最自然的对等语再现源语的信息 首先是意义 其次是文体 Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style Nida all questions of semantics relate to translation theory Newmark 1982 1988 5 2 Cultural Views on Translation In the cultural approach translation is regarded not only as a transfer of linguistic signs but also as a communication of cultures i e translation is an intercultural communication hence the terms of intercultural cooperation acculturation and transculturation 翻译不仅涉及语言问题 也涉及文化问题 译者不仅要了解外国的文化 还要深 入了解自己民族的文化 不仅如此 还要不断地把两种文化加以比较 因为真 正的对等应该是在各自文化中的含义 作用 范围 感情色彩 影响等等都是 相当的 翻译者必须是一个真正意义的文化人 人们会说 他必须掌握两种语 言 确实如此 但是不了解语言当中的社会文化 谁也无法真正掌握语言 王佐 良 1989 4 Semantic Views on Translation This view focuses on the semantic equivalence between the two languages as well expressed by Eugene Nida 1986 Translating means translating meaning 6 Translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text Newmark 1988 5 Semantic translation the translator attempts within the bare syntactic and semantic constraints of the target language to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the author Newmark 1982 22 In semantic translation greater attention is paid to rendering the author s original thought processes in target language than to attempting to re interpret source text in a way which the translator considers more appropriate for the target setting Shuttleworth 达如其分 to be as expressive as the original 切合风格 to be as close to the original style as possible 浑金璞玉集 1994 9 7 许渊冲许渊冲 三重标准 三重标准 three levels of criteria 翻译的艺术翻译的艺术 1984 26 标准低标准中标准高标准 内容忠实 信 明确准确精确 三似 意似形似神似 三化 浅化等化深化 形式通顺 达 易懂通顺扬长 雅 或传神 8 Alexander Fraser TytIer 泰特勒泰特勒 Three Principles of Translation Alexander F Tytler a famous British translation theorist put forward the classical criteria in his Essay on the Principles of Translation 1790 1 The translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work 译作应该完全传达原作的思想 2 The style and manner of writing in the translation should be of the same character with that of the original 译作的风格与笔调应当与 原作保持一致 10 3 The translation should have all the ease of the original composition 译作应当和原作一样流畅 Tytler further points out that the above said three principles are arranged and ranked according to the order of their significance and that when they are not simultaneously attainable the first should be held to at the sacrifice of the third principle then the second 9 Eugene A Nida 奈达奈达 Functional Equivalence 功能对等功能对等 Eugene A Nida a famous American translation theorist put forward his recent interpretation of functional equivalence in his Language and Culture Context in Translating 2001 87 1 A minimal realistic definition of functional equivalence The readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it 最低限度而又 切合实际的功能对等定义 译文读者对译文的理解应当达到能够想像出原文读 者是怎样理解和领会原文的程度 2 A maximal ideal definition of functional equivalence The readers of a translated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as the original readers did 最高限度合乎理想的功能对等定义 译文读者应当能够 基本上按照原文读者理解和领会原文的方式来理解和领会译文 3 Classification of translation 1 Jakobson 1896 1982 1 Intralingual translation or rewording is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of other signs of the same language 2 Interlingual translation or translation proper is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language 3 Intersemiotic translation or transmutation is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of nonverbal sign systems e g 1 原文 原文 子曰 学而时习之 不亦乐乎 有朋友自远方来 不亦乐乎 人不知 而不愠 不亦君子乎 11 译文一译文一 孔子说 学习了而时常温习 不也高兴吗 有朋友从远方来 不也快 乐吗 别人不了解我 我并不怨恨 不也是君子吗 徐志刚 译 译文二译文二 The Master said To learn and at due times to repeat what one has learnt Is that not after all a pleasure That friends should come to one from afar Is this not after all delightful To remain unsoured even though one s merits are unrecognized by others Is that not after all what is expected of a gentleman Waley 译 点评点评 原文同译文一之间的转换属于语内翻译 intralingual translation 即用 同一语盲的其他语言符号对原文迸行阐释或者重述 rewording 原文同译文二 之间的转换属于语际翻译 interlingual translation 即两个不同语言之间所进行 的转换 2 原文原文 A What does your watch say B It says five past three 点评点评 在这一对话中 B 实际上是在迸行一种翻译 这种翻译叫做符际翻译 intersemiotic translation 即语言同非语言符号之间的代码转换 当 A 询问 B 几点钟的时候 B 只能看钟或者看手表 而钟或者手表并不能说话 B 只能根 据钟表的时针和分针来确定具体儿点钟了 而 B 所言实际上是言语传达一个非 言语信息 non linguistic message 将非言语信息用言语传达出来是翻译的一种 方式 这不是从一种语言到另一种语言的转换过程 而是从非语言交际系统到 语言交际系统的过程 非语言交际系统和语言交际系统的共同特征是两者都属 于 符号系统 即用于交际的系统 雅可布逊 Jakobson 将这种由非语言交际系 统到语言交际系统的转换过程称为符际翻译是恰当的 其实 我们每个人每一 天 每一刻都在迸行着符际翻译而不自知也 从这个意义上说 我们每个人都 是某种意义上的译者 Hervey et al 1995 8 9 2 Peter Newmark 纽马克纽马克 Communicative and Semantic Translation 交际翻交际翻 译与语义翻译译与语义翻译 Peter Newmark a famous British translation theorist put forward his concepts of communicative and semantic translation in his Approaches to Translation 1982 1988 39 1 Communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original 交际翻译力图对译作读 者产生尽可能接近原作读者所获得的效果 2 Semantic translation attempts to render as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow the exact contextual meaning of the original 语义翻译力图在译作语言的语义结构和句法结构允许的情况下 译 出原作在上下文中的准确意义 12 4 Nature and Scope of Translation What is translation Some people believe it is a science others take it as an art and yet many consider it a craft or rather a skill Of these varied opinions which one holds true for our purpose The answer depends on how we understand or interpret the word translation for the very word translation itself is ambiguous and the Chinese equivalent fanyi sounds even fuzzier Fanyi in Chinese may either stand for a subject of the curriculum a job people engage in a piece of literary work or the translating or interpreting work itself Sometimes fanyi may even refer to the translator or interpreter himself herself If the word translation refers to a subject namely the study of translation theory and skills it is no doubt a science just as any subject is with its own rules laws and principles for the translators to abide by however if it refers to some specific pieces of translation then it is more like an art with each piece manifesting its own charms and style in the creative hands of the translator whereas if it refers to a process in which something is translated then we may regard it as a craft or skill For unlike any branch of natural science the process of translation has its peculiarity and none of its rules and principles are universally applicable Besides it entails a lot of practice particular craftsmanship and skills are displayed by the touches of different translators Translation covers a very broad range In terms of languages it can be divided into two categories from native languages into foreign languages and vice versa in terms of the mode it can be divided into oral interpretation written translation and machine translation in terms of materials to be translated there is translation of scientific materials translation of literary works such as novels stories prose poetry drama etc translation of political essays such as treatises on social problems reports speeches etc and translation of practical writing as official documents contracts and agreements notices receipts etc in terms of disposal it can be either full text translation 全文翻译 abridged translation 摘译 or adapted translation 编译 5 Principles or Criteria of Translation 13 The so called principles and criteria of translation are actually the two sides of the same thing The former lays emphasis on the translator who should follow them while translating while the latter on the reader or critic who may use the criteria to evaluate translation works Whenever principles or criteria of translation are under discussion in China Yan Fu s three character guide which was first proposed in 1898 would evoke controversy namely the principle of 信 达 雅 faithfulness expressiveness and elegance In the past decades Mr Yan s principle of translation has been generally regarded as a plumb line for measuring the professional level of translation and a goal for translators to strive after However in the application of this principle people have come to find some limitations to the three characters and put forward a variety of new standards instead Three kinds of opinions are expressed on the principle of faithfulness expressiveness and elegance The first group maintains the original three characters and in the meantime adds some new concepts to the character 雅 According to them 雅 means far more than the English word elegance Apart from the traditional interpretation it also means classicism the adherence to the original style and flavor The second group however argues that the word 雅 is out of place in translation While adopting the first two characters of Mr Yan Fu s principle it discards the character 雅 and tries to find some other new criteria instead Noticeably there are revisions such as 信 达 切 faithfulness expressiveness and closeness 信 达 贴 faithfulness expressiveness and fitness and so on The third group of people by casting away the three word guide propose some new principles or criteria of translation of their own Of the various popular theories two of them are most influential spiritual conformity 神似 and sublimated adaptation 化境 The former proposed by Fu Lei emphasizes the reproduction of the spirit or the flavor of the original while the latter advocated by Qian Zhongshu focuses on the translator s smooth and idiomatic Chinese version for the sake of the Chinese reader Despite the variety of opinions two criteria are almost unanimously accepted namely the criterion of faithfulness accuracy 忠实 准确 and that of smoothness 流畅 We may also take these two criteria as the principles of translation in general By faithfulness accuracy we mean to be faithful not only to the original contents to the original meaning and views but also to the original form and style By smoothness we mean not only easy and readable rendering but also idiomatic expression in the target language free from stiff formula and mechanical copying from dictionaries 14 6 Literal Translation and Free Translation The process of translation consists of two phases comprehension and expression Generally speaking comprehension is of foremost importance and expression is the natural consequence of thorough comprehension However in the practice of translation we may find that now and then some words in their usual senses are very difficult to deal with because of the disparity between the English and the Chinese languages In this case we have to resort to some special means of translation Literal translation and free translation are two useful approaches in dealing with such awkward situations The so called literal translation superficially speaking means not to alter the original words and sentences strictly speaking it strives to keep the sentiments and style of the original It takes sentences as its basic units and takes the whole text discourse into consideration at the same time in the course of translation Furthermore it strives to reproduce both the ideological content and the style of the original works and retains as much as possible the figures of speech There are quite a lot of examples of successful literal translation that have been adopted as idiomatic Chinese expressions For example crocodile s tears armed to the teeth chain reaction gentlemen s agreement and so on Similarly some Chinese idioms also find their English counterparts through literal translation For example 纸老虎纸老虎 paper tiger 一国两制一国两制 one country two systems and so on Free translation is an alternative approach which is used mainly to convey the meaning and spirit of the original without trying to reproduce its sentence patterns or figures of speech This approach is most frequently adopted when it is really impossible for the translator to do literal translation For example Adam s apple 喉结 at sixes and sevens 乱七八糟 It rains cats and dogs 大雨滂沱 Don t cross the bridge till you get to it 不必担心过早 不必自寻烦恼 Do you see any green in my eye 你以为我是幼稚可欺的吗 The above illustrations can not be translated literally otherwise the Chinese rendition would make nonsense at all let alone the original meaning 15 Literal translation and free translation however are relative concepts In other words there is no absolute literal nor entirely free version in the practice of translation and overemphasizing either of them would result in ridiculous consequences Let s scrutinize the following two practical cases Original English 1 I love tiger cat British movies on public television fluffy blouses the nuclear family Helen Snow My China Years Chinese Version A 我爱虎猫 爱 电视上放映的英国影片 有绒毛的短衫 核心家庭 Chinese Version B 我喜欢豹猫 喜欢公共电视台播放的英国电影 喜欢蓬松 柔软的棉毛衫 喜欢一夫一妻制的家庭 Comment Apparently these two Chinese versions are far from being perfect Other things aside the rendering of the phrase nuclear family poses a serious problem of representation Version A renders the nuclear family as 核心家庭 by means of literal translation However this version is too stiff therefore it fails to convey the original meaning to the Chinese reader for most Chinese they have hardly any idea what 核心家庭 really means Version B adopts the approach of free translation and puts it into 一夫 一妻制 evidently it goes too far and distorts the author s original intention and in doing so the translator abuses the practice of free translation In fact the nuclear family has nothing to do with either of the versions A close examination of its definition in an English English dictionary sheds light on this phrase nuclear family a family group that consists only of father mother and children Therefore the proper rendering of the phrase should be words to this effect a cozy small family namely the Chinese equivalent 小家庭 Original English 2 Mao Tse tung was well bred but inside he was made of steel of hard resistance of tough tissue the kind of tissue the Boxers thought they had by magic and bared their solar plexuses to foreign bullets ibid Chinese Version A 16 毛泽东有很好的教养 内部是钢 有坚强的抗力 是坚韧的材料制成的 这是 义和团设想的由于神力具有的 可以把腹部袒胸给外国人的子弹的那种材料 Chinese Version B 毛泽东教养有素 精神支柱铁铸钢打 不怕高压 是由坚韧的组织构成的 这 种组织 就是义和拳认为他们通过魔法得到的那种组织袒胸露体 刀枪不入 Comment The word tissue can hardly be rendered into Chinese either in literal translation or free translation nor could the metaphor inside he was made of steel be properly rendered without grasping the essence of the whole sentence However since there is no corresponding expressions in Chinese the translators tackle them according to their own understanding Inversion A tissue is freely rendered as 材料 material while version B literally as 组织 organic tissue both fail to convey the original meaning and attitude of the writer By adopting translation skills such as amplification omission conversion and restructuring we may translate the original English sentence as follows Revised Version 毛泽东外表温文尔雅 但内心深处却钢铸铁打 既坚韧 又抗压 在他的身上 可以看到当年义和团自信所具有的那种神力 面对洋枪洋炮也敢袒胸露怀 From the above analysis we come to the conclusion that there is no obvious distinction between literal translation and free translation nor is it necessary to distinguish one from the other The key point for a translator to grasp is to comprehend the original thoroughly and then put it into idiomatic Chinese In the process of translation specific approaches such as literal or free translation may be of some help but we should avoid the two extremes In the application of literal translation we should endeavor to rid ourselves of stiff patterns and rigid adherence to translation rules trying to be flexible while in the practice of free translation we should be cautious of subjectivity avoiding groundless affirmation or a