英语政治演讲的语言特点和翻译方法

AbstractInthe21stcentury,withtheadvanceofhumansocietyandtheprogressoftechnology,theinternationalcommunicationbetweenChinaandothercountrieshasbecomemorefrequentthanbefore.Owingtorapiddevelopmentofinformationtechnologyandglobalization,peoplearenotmerelysatisfiedwithknowingwhathappenedintheirownnationalpoliticalcircle.Politicalspeeches,especiallyEnglishpoliticalspeeches,asthemajormediatospreadpoliticalthoughtsandreportpoliticalevents,arecapableofmakingpeopleknowmoreaboutinternationalpolitics.Duetolinguisticandculturallimitations,however,Chineseaudiencesorreaderscannotunderstandpoliticalspeechesinforeignlanguageverywell.Thus,theChinesetranslationofEnglishpoliticalspeechisattachedgreatsignificance.Underthecurrentbackgroundoffast-pacedlifestyle,theconcisenessandthegeneralityofEnglishpoliticalspeechesallowreaderstoacquiremorepoliticalinformationwithintheprecioustime.TheappropriatetranslatedversionofEnglishpoliticalspeechwilldeterminewhethertheoriginalpoliticalspeechescandrawreaders’attentionornot.Therefore,thetranslationofEnglishpoliticalspeechesisbecomingespeciallyimportant..Keywords:Englishpoliticalspeech;linguisticfeatures;comparisonbetweenEnglishpoliticalspeechesandChinesepoliticalspeeches;translationstrategies进入21世纪以来，人类社会不断进步，科技发展日新月异，尤其是国际间的交流日益频繁。资讯科技和全球化的迅速发展使得人们不单单满足于了解本国政界所发生的事情。政治演讲，尤其是英语政治演讲，作为一种表达政治思想和报道政治事件的主要传播媒介，能使人们知道更多世界上的政治问题。 然而由于语言和文化的局限，中国观众或读者并不能很好地读懂外语政治演讲。因此，英语政治演讲的汉译在促进国际交流方面便起到了极为关键的作用。 在当今快节奏生活的大背景下，英语政治演讲的简练性和概括性能够让读者在宝贵时间内获得更多政治信息！对英语政治演讲进行适当的汉译也决定了能否吸引中国读者。所以英语政治演讲的翻译也就尤为重要。关键词：英语政治演讲的语言特点;中文政治演讲与英语政治演讲的比较;翻译策略1.1DefinitionsofPoliticalSpeechPoliticalspeechisacrucialtypeofpublicspeaking.Itisspecificforthemanifestationofthestandpointandpropositioninthefieldofdomesticpoliticalaffairsanddiplomaticrelationships.Namely,thespeechesaremadebypoliticiansordelegatesofsomeorganizationsorauthoritieswhointendtoconveysomepoliticalpropositionsandviewpoints.TheremarkablepoliticalspeechlikeIhaveadream,madebyMartinLutherKing.1.2CharacteristicsofEnglishPoliticalSpeechGenerallyspeaking,therearetotallythreecharacteristicsofpoliticalspeech.Itwillbebeneficialforustocomprehendpoliticalspeechbymasteringtheircharacteristics.1.2.1PoliticalTopicsThistypeofspeechreferstosomevitalpoliticissueswhichrelatetonation,party,reform,peaceandprogress.Speakersshouldclearlyexpresstheirpoliticalinclination,declaretheirpoliticalopinions,andtryeveryefforttocontrolthegeneraldirectionofhistoricaldevelopment.1.2.2MotivationalContentsThistypeofspeechhascertainpoliticpurposethatmakesaudienceacquaintwiththeadministrativeprogramorpoliticstandpoints.Then,thespeakercouldgaintheunderstandingandsupportofaudiences,whichisthemostbasicpurposeofspeech.Therefore,thistypeofspeechhasthefeatureofmotivationalcontentsandemotionalpersuasion.1.2.3PreciseLogicsTheinspiringpoliticalspeechneedstodemonstratetheunimpeachablelogicalityintheprocessofraising,analyzingandsolvingthepoliticalproblem.Onlyinthelogicalwaycanmakethepoliticalspeechmorereasonableandacceptabletoaudiences.1.3FunctionsandUseofPoliticalSpeechFirstly,politiciansmakeapoliticalspeechtoclarifytheirpoliticalideas,policiesaswellastargetsoftheiradministration.Accordingly,theymaygaintheunderstandingandsupportofthevotersandthepopulace.Thiskindofspeechisusuallyconveyedtothepublicbymediainpoliticalrallies,campaignsitesonsomespecialmemorialdays.Secondly,politicalspeechmustexpresscertainstandpointssothatitcouldcatchpeople’sattentionandincreasetherelevantparty’ssupportrate.Finally,deliveringpoliticalspeechcanmakepoliticians’viewscometrue,increasetheirpoliticalawarenessaswell.Ⅱ.The

linguistic

Featuresof

English

PoliticalSpeech2.1RhetoricFeaturesofEnglishPoliticalSpeechRhetoricisoriginatedfromthefourthcenturyB.C,anditjustreferredtooralpresentationskillsatthattime,whichpeopleusedtosay“argumentation”.InRhetoric,Aristotleeverdefinedrhetoricasafunctionofpersuasionthatcouldbefoundinanyquestion(Roberts,1924:281-286).Attheendof17thcentury,JoneLocke,anEnglishphilosophercalledrhetoricas“oratory”,whichisakindofartthatcanexpressdecency,graceandpower(Huang,1996:2).2.1.1TheUsageofParallelismParallelismisonerhetoricmethodthatisthemostusefullinguisticformtoachievethepurposeofemphasis.

Inotherwords,itisthemostsuitablerhetoricmethodforEnglishpoliticalspeech.

Thisformmaygathersentencesorpartsofspeechsuchasnouns,adjectivesandverbs.

Theusageofparallelismmakespeoplefeelmoreexcitingthroughthestrongsenseoflinguistic

rhythm.What’smore,italsocouldmakespeechmoreconciseandmakesentencestructuresmorebalanced.

Forexample,MarinLutherKingused“Nowisthetimeto…

”fourtimesinhisspeechtoemphasizethat

it’s

timeforblackpeopletowakeupandconductrevolution,

it’s

timefor

American

governmenttofulfillitspromise,toabolishracesegregationaswellastorequireequalityandfreedom.Theparalleledsentencessuccessfullyenhancethemomentumoflanguage,stressthingsandcreateastrongsenseofpictures.2.1.2TheUsageof

RepetitionSpeakers

userepetitionwiththepurposeofemphasizingacertainmeaningorhighlightingacertainemotion,which

coulddrawthereaders’

orlisteners’

attentionby

repeatingkeywordsandkeyconceptsso

that

theycouldhaveaprofoundimpression.

Forexample,

youcouldsee

the

repetitionof

thetopicsentencein

HillaryClinton’scampaignspeech.Theusageofrepetitioncouldmakethewholespeechmore

cohesive

andcoherent.

What’smore,

itisusefulforlistenerstoremembertheaimoftherally,speakoutourcommonpeople’sdesires:everyonehastherightofdemocracy,freedomandequality.2.1.3TheUsageofAlliterationThemajorrhetoricinphonologicalspeechisalliterationandsoundsymbolism.Alliterationistherepetitionofthesameletteratthebeginningoftwoormorewordsimmediatelysucceedingeachother,oratshortintervalsinordertostrengthentherhythmofspeech.

Infact,deliveringaspeechisequaltosayingsomething,thus

it’snecessarytoplaceemphasis

onrhymesothatthespeechcouldbecatchy.

Itisrhymethatendowsthewholespeechwithstrongtempos,sonoroustonesandinspirations.

Forexample,“weshouldnotdemeanourdemocracywiththepoliticsofdistraction,denialanddespair.”ThissentenceisaddressedbyALGore,thevicepresidentoftheUS,therearefivewordswiththesameletter“d”.Thesealliteratedwordsstrengthentherhyme,moodaswellasconnotationofthesentence,whichformphoneticalalignment.2.1.4

TheApplicationofSimileInordertoachievecommonsense,Englishpoliticalspeecheshavetopayattentiontothestructureofsentences.Thereareavarietyofsentencestructuresandfiguresofspeech.Amongthem,simileandmetaphorareoftenusedinEnglishpoliticalspeeches,politiciansoftenusethemtomakethespeechmorelivelyandunderstandable.Therefore,thespeechwillbeacceptedmoreeasily.Forexample,inordertoshowhisnegativejudgmentstowardracialsegregationanddiscrimination,MartinLutherKinguse

“abadcheck”

and“insufficientfunds”

tosymbolizethedelayofkeepingapromise,

“

alonelyisland”and

“darkanddesolatevalley”

tosymbolizeracialsegregationanddiscrimination,“swelteringsummer”

tosymbolizethespeaker’sdissatisfactionandnegativejudgementofracialsegregationandracialdiscrimination.Ontheotherhand,thespeakercomparedracialjusticeto

“thesunlitpath”.Healsocomparedequalityto

“aninvigoratingautumn,”

thustoshowhisstronglongingfordemocracy,freedomandequality.Tosumup,applicationofsimilecanconnectabstracttheorieswithconcretethingsthatpeoplearefamiliarwith,andmakecommonthingsbecomevividandimpressivetoreceivers.2.2ReligiousElementsTherearemanyreligiousfactorsinEnglishpoliticalspeeches,whichareforeignculture’sreflectionincommunication.Religionisaninseparablepartofwesternculture.Intheirinaugurationspeeches,presidentsoftenhopetomaketheirspeechesmoreattractiveandpersuasivewiththehelpofGod’spower.ThatisthereasonwhytherearelotsofreligiouselementsinEnglishpoliticalspeeches.BarackObamaquoteddirectlyfromBiblemanytimesinhisinauguralspeechtomakehiswordsmoreconvincible.Byarousingpeople’ssympathywithsomereligiousbeliefs,Obama’sspeechmayencouragepeopletogainconfidenceaboutthenewgovernmentinthematteroftacklingthecrisisandreconstructingabrightfuture.Forexample,hesays:“Weremainayoungnation,butinthewordsofScripture,thetimehascometosetasidechildishthings.TheGod-givenpromisethatallareequal,allarefree,andalldeserveachancetopursuetheirfullmeasureofhappiness.”2.3SentenceStructuresDifferentfromdialogues,advertisementsandnewsreports,theEnglishpoliticalspeecheshavespecialrequirementsonthesentencestructures.Ratherthaninterrogativesentences,declarativesentencesareoftenusedinapoliticalspeech.Becauseaquestionwillweakenthespeech’sseriousnessandfirmness,thusmakingthewholespeechlesspersuading.ThereareseldominterrogativesentencesinObama’sspeech.Apartfromdeclarativesentences,imperativesentencesarealsofoundinanEnglishpoliticalspeech.Thiskindofsentencestructureisusuallystartedby“letus”whosefunctionistoactivatethelistenersandtocallontheiractionsaccordingtothespeaker’swill.Forinstance,“Letusrememberthesetimelesswords.Withhopeandvirtue,letusbraveoncemoretheicycurrents,andendurewhatstormsmaycome,”whichisselectedfromClinton’sinauguralspeech.Ⅲ.ThecomparisonbetweenEnglishpoliticalspeechesandChinesepoliticalspeechesTheclassicexamplesofwesterngovernments’politicalspeechesare

Lincoln’sGettysburgAddress,

Churchill’sImpromptuSpeechintheUnitedStatesforChristmas,MartinLutherKing’s

I

HaveaDream,BarackObama’sInauguralAddressandsoon.Chinesepoliticalspeeches’modelsare

PremierChouEnlai’sToastattheBanquetinHonorPresidentNixon,DengXiaoping’sPolicySpeech,PremierWenJiabao’sSpeechatCopenhagenClimateConference

andsoon.Chinese

andWesternrational

politicalspeecheshavesomespecificdifferencesincontext.

Atthesametime,eachofthemstressesondifferentaspects,whichreflectonfollowingtwo

facets:Ononehand,

thefirstaspectisembodiedinthespeechcontent.

Chinesespeechesgiveprioritytothe

“meaning”,whilewesternspeechesareaccustomedtoemphasizingonthe

“scene”.

Forinstance,ChinesePresidentHuJintaoattendedthe2008OpeningCeremonyofBoaoForumforAsia(BFA)

Annual

Conferenceanddeliveredaspeech

AdheretoReformandOpening-upandPromoteWin-winCooperation.Hefirstpointedoutthat

“SincetheestablishmentofBoaoForum,ithasplayedasignificantpartinpromotingmutualunderstandingandfriendshipamongthepeopleoftheworldinAsiaandadvancingthecommunicationandcooperationbetweenAsiancountriesandbusinesscommunity”.(Hu,2008)PresidentHustartedhisspeechfromtheexistingmeaningofFBA,possessingthetypicalChinesespeechstyle.

However,USPresidentBarackObamastartedhisspeechfromthesecondsentenceoftheInauguralAddress

withtherealscene

“Itistheanswerthattoldbythevoterswhostretchesaroundschoolsandchurchesinnumbersthisnationhasneverseen,bypeoplewhowaitedthreehoursandfourhours.Thisisthefirsttimeinlifeinvoteformanyofthem,becausetheybelievedthattimemustbedifferent,thattheirvoicescouldmakethistimedifferentaswell”.Theinauguraladdresshasatypicalwesternspeechstyle.

Thesetwodistinctivespeechstylesarecharacterizedbynationalhistory,traditionalgovernmentspeechandotherfactors.

“Meaningfirst”

manifeststhedignityofourChinesenation,and

“scene(case)first”

showsthecharmofspeech.

Eachhasitsownmerits.On

theotherhand,thesecondaspectoccursintheorator’spersonalstyle.

Chinesepoliticalspeechesarespecializedin

“teachingwithinwords,whilewesternspeechesliein“livelyandrealisticexpression”.

Chinese

politicalspeechesplacevalueupon

“selflessness”，whilewesterncelebrationspeechesattachimportanceto“individualism”.Chinese

politicalspeechestendtohavetheprofoundimplicationofsummary,withalittlegovernmentofficials’

individuallanguage.

It’shardtofindtheshadowof“me”.

However,

westernpoliticians

deliver

aspeechwiththethoughtof

“I

”everytimeand

everywhere.”Affectedbythe

deep–rootedtraditionalthoughts,

Chinesepoliticianshighlighttheoverallachievementanddevelopingdirectionwhentheydeliverspeeches,rarelymentionindividuality.

Onthecontrary,westernpoliticiansfrequentlyinterspersewithcitizens’

individualscenes,life,opinion,attitudes,etc,strivingtomake

theseriousspeechfullofemotionalorperceptualcolor.Ⅳ.Translation

Methods

ofEnglishPoliticalSpeech4.1TranslationIntroduction

of

English

PoliticalSpeechEnglish

political

speechtranslationisnotonlyaconversationbetweentwolanguages,but

also

a

communication

betweencultures.4.2TranslationStandardof

English

PoliticalSpeechand

English.

English

emphasesonhypotaxisandpaysmoreattentiontothecompletenessofgrammaticalform,logicalformandrigoroussentencestructures.

Chinese

laysemphasisonparataxisandhightlightsthesymmetryofvocabularyandsentencepattern.Consequently,appropriatetranslationof

English

politicalspeechesshouldcatertotheexpressionoftargetlanguageasconveyinginformation.

Atthesametime,

English

politicalspeechesshouldconveyspeaker’spassionandwisdomtoinfectthetargetreadersandlistenersandmakethemacceptcontentseasily.Sometimes,itisdifficultfortargetreaderstounderstandwhenoriginalspeechcontentsaredirectlytranslatedintotargetlanguage.Undersuchcircumstances,communicativetranslationmethodisrecommended,whichcanbeeasiertoacceptforreadersandincreasethereadabilityoftargettextthroughaddingnotesorparaphrasestooriginallanguage.4.3TranslationMethodsandApplicationof

English

PoliticalSpeech4.3.1ParaphraseParaphrase

isoneofthepropertranslationmethodsthatcouldmaketargetreaderscomprehendanEnglishpoliticalspeechmoredirectlyandexplicitly,namely,translatorscouldusetargetlanguagetoexplainthemeaningoforiginaltext.Paraphraseisakindofexplanationtranslationmethod.

Itneedstopreciselytranslatetheoriginalwordswithculturalbackgroundinformationandreflectitsconnotativesignificanceinthetarget

language,sothattargetreadersmayunderstandthetargettextbetter.Americanswhosentamessagetotheworldthatwehaveneverbeenjustacollectionofindividuals

ora

collectionofredstates

andbluestates.(Obama,2008)这些美国人像世界表明，我们从来都不仅仅是个体的集合，或是共和党与民主党的集合。The“redstates”and“blueStates”refertothenumberofvotedistribution

tendencyofelectionsintheUnitedStates.

The

blue

statesrepresentthevoters

whotendtosupporttheDemocraticParty.WhiletheredstatesrepresentthevoterswhosupporttheRepublicanParty.

Translating

“red”and

“blue”intotheredcolorandthebluecolordirectlyisnot

easyfortargetreaderstounderstand.Therefore,wetranslatethenintotheRepublicanPartyandtheDemocraticPartybyparaphrasemethod.LetUSrememberthat，ifthisfinancialcrisistaughtUSanything，it’sthatwecannothavea

thrivingWallStreetwhileMain

Streetsuffers.(Obama,2008)让我们铭记。如果说这场金融危机有什么教训的话，那就是，当普通民众的生活受到重创，华尔街也不可能维持繁荣。Heretheoriginalmeaningof

“MainStreet”

referstotheavenueofAmericantown,whileitactuallymeansthecommonpeoplewhobelieveintraditionalAmericanvalues.ThisexamplefullyshowstheusageofparaphraseinEnglishpoliticalspeech.4.3.2BorrowingBorrowingisatranslationmethodthatthetranslatedversionshouldbeinaccordancewiththeforeignwords’morphologicalstructureandwordformationprinciple,namely,borrowingChinesetoelaboratewordsorexpressionsinoriginalEnglishtext.Forexample,thetranslatormayuseChinesefour-characteridiomsandcommonsayingstotranslateoriginalEnglishlanguage.

You

feelinvisiblewhenyour

medical

insurancedisappearsand

collegeisoutofreach．如果你的医疗保险人间蒸发，大学学费令你望而却步，你肯定会有被遗弃的感觉。Translating

“disappear”

and

“outofreach”

into

“人间蒸发”

and

“望而却步”cannotonlyexpresstheoriginalmeaning,butalsomeettheexpressionhabitoftargetlanguage.Borrowingfour-charactermakesspeechcontentclearandstraightforward.(2)

Yes，wemustprovidemoreladderstosuccessforyoungmenwhofallintolivesof

crimeanddespair．(Obama,2008:3)的确，对于那些误入歧途、陷于绝望的失足青年，我们必须提供更多的帮助使他们走向成功。The“fallintolivesofcrime”

and

“despair”are

translatedinto

“误入歧途”

and

“陷入绝望”

inthissentence.

SinceChineseexpressionand

English

statementareverysimilarinmeaning,suchtranslationmethodofborrowingmakesthetranslationmoreauthenticandachievestheeffectofconveyinginformation.4.3.3OmissionOmissionreferstoomit

someconjunctionsandprepositionstomaketranslatedversionssoundsmoothandsuccinct.Firstofall,Englishsentencesconnectedbyusingconjunctionstoexpressthelogicalrelationshipbetweensentences,whileChinesecanshowconnectionsbetweensentenceswithoutusingconjunctions.Therefore,parataxis-prominentChinesemayomittheconjunctionsaslongasthemeaningcanbemaintainedobviously.Secondly,Chineserarelyuseprepositions.ThusomissionoftheprepositionscanmakethetargettextmeettheexpressionhabitofChinese.Thishasalwaysbeenyourcampaignandthisisyourvictory，becauseyoursupport

hasmeantthedifferencebetweenwinningand

losing．这一直是属于你们的竞选，这也是属于你们的胜利，正是你们的支持决定了胜利。“And”“because”and“between”canbeomittedinthissentence,whichmakesthetargettextbecomenaturalratherthanstiffandaccordwiththeexpressionhabitoftargetlanguage.(2)ButIcanassureyou，asIhavesaidonmanyoccasions

thatnomatterwhathappens，Iwillworkforthenomineeofthe

DemocraticParty，becausewemustwininNovember．我已多次承诺，现在还要再次承诺，无论发生什么，我会继续奋斗，力争成为民主党总统候选人。我们必须赢得十一月大选。Omittingthe

“but”,

“as”

and

“because”

ismoresuitablefortheChineseexpression.Thesentencecanalsobemorereasonableandcoherent.4.3.4AmplificationAmplificationmeanssupplyingrelevantinformationinourtranslationonthebasisofaccuratecomprehensionoftheoriginaltext.Therecanbefurthersupplementsofthe

hidden

informationsothatthetranslationtextcouldelaboratetheoriginalmeaning.Anditisthatpromisethatfortyfiveyearsagotoday，brought

AmericansfromeverycornerofthislandtostandtogetheronaMall

inWashington，beforeLincoln’sMemorial，andhearayoungpreacherfromGeorglaspeakofhisdream.（MartinLutherKing,2007:5）正是因为这一承诺，在四十五年前的今天，从这片土地的各个角落，美国人走到一起，聚集在林肯纪念堂前，华盛顿的一个林荫大道上。聆听来自佐治亚州的一位年轻牧师(马丁·路德·金)讲述他的梦想。Here,“ayoungpreacherfromGeorgia”referstoMartinLutherKing.Hedeliveredthespeech“IHaveaDream”onthestepsoftheLinconMemorial45yearsago.Addingcommentsmakesthetranslatedtextmorecompleteandunderstandable.1)Tomorrow，Iwillattenda

gatheringoftheUnitedNations

DevelopmentFundforWomen．(LiuZhirong,2010:12)明天。我还会参加联合国发展基金会举办的关注妇女问题会议。 Here,theUnitedNationsDevelopmentFundforWomenshouldadd“妇女问题会议”intranslation,whichcouldletthemeaningofsentencemoreintact.Onlyinthiswaycanfullyexpressthetext’soriginalmeaning.V.ConclusionAfteraboveanalysis,theauthorwillmakeabriefconclusion.Firstly,thethesisproposesaroughideaoflinguisticfeaturesofEnglishpoliticalspeech.Therearerhetoricfeatures,religiousfeaturesandsentencefeaturesinEnglishpoliticalspeech.Furthermore,bythedifferencesandsimilaritiesofEnglishpoliticalspeechesandChinesepoliticalspeeches,wecouldusesometranslationmethodssuch