基于语篇目标的关键词翻译策略研究

AStrategyStudyofSkopos-BasedTranslationofCatchwords1IntroductionWiththepopularityoftheInternet,thenetworkhasgraduallypenetratedintoallaspectsofpeople’slife.Thevividnessandpersonalityofonlinecatchwordshasbeenwidelywelcomedbythepublic.Theonlinecatchwordshasbecomeatoolforpeopletocommunicatewithothersandgraduallychangepeople’slivesandwaysofthinking.Onlinecatchwordshasdistinctcharacteristicsofthetimesbecauseitreflectsthedevelopmentofsocietyandthechangesinpeople’sideology.Howtoaccuratelytranslateitaffectstheculturalexchangesofvariousethnicgroups.Therefore,thetranslationofonlinecatchwordsiscrucial.Thisarticlefirstanalyzesthesourceandcharacteristicsofonlinecatchwords.Then,severaltranslationstrategiesarediscussedundertheguidanceofSkopostheory,combinedwithalargenumberoftranslationexamplesofonlinecatchwords.Onlinecatchwords,asanemergingandversatilelinguisticphenomenon,bringchallengestotranslators.Skopostheoryplaysacertainguidanceroleinthetranslationofonlinecatchwords.ThetranslatorsshouldkeepthethreeprinciplesofSkopostheoryinmind.Firstofall,basedontherealizationoftheSkoposrule,thetranslatortranslatesonlinecatchwordsbytransmittinginformationandspreadingcultureasacommunicativepurpose.Secondly,thetranslationshouldbedirectedtothetargetrecipients,andtranslatorsshouldtrytomakethetranslationconformtotheexpressionhabitsoftherecipientstoensuretherealizationofcoherencerule.Finally,underthepremiseofthefidelityrule,thetranslationstrategycanbeusedappropriatelytoconveytheessenceoftheoriginaltextinordertomakethetranslationcorrespondtotheoriginalcontent.Inshort,whentranslatingonlinecatchwords,translatorsshouldalwaysfocusontherecipientsoftranslationssothatthetranslatorscanstrikeachordwiththerecipients.Inthisway,wecanactasamessengerofculturalexchangesinordertobetterpromoteinterculturalcommunication.2TheonlinecatchwordsThefollowingdescribestheonlinecatchwordsfromtheconcept,sourceandcharacteristicsofonlinecatchwords.2.1ConceptofonlinecatchwordsWiththedevelopmentofscienceandtechnologyandtheimprovementoflivingstandards,theInternethasdevelopedrapidly.Itcanbesaidthatonlinecatchwordshavebecomeanimportantpartofdailycommunication.Thus,theonlinecatchwordscomeintobeingandspreadwidelyinsociety.Onlinecatchwords,asthenameimplies,arepopularwordsoriginatedfromhotissuesinacertainperiodoftimethatspreadrapidlyontheInternetusingtheInternetasamedium.“Itisachic,livelyandfreshspokenlanguagewithaspecialform,usuallyusedforonlinecommunication.”(黄涛,2003)Itiswellknownthatonlinecatchwordsarevividandconcise,spreadfar,wideandfast,andhaveagreatinfluenceonpeople’slife.Onlinecatchwordsalsocomeintobeingforvariousreasons:somearebornoutofsocialevents,someareformedbyculturalexchanges,andsomeothersareproductswhichmeettheconvenienceofnetworkcommunicationandnovelneedsofnetizens.Asamatteroffact,internetcatchwordsarethemostsensitivereflectionsoftherealsociety.Theyarethereflectionsofthenetizensonthepolitical,economic,andculturalaspectsofaparticularera.Itisnotonlyauniquelinguisticphenomenon,butalsoaprofoundculturalphenomenon.2.2ThesourceofonlinecatchwordsItisbelievedthatthesourcesofonlinecatchwordscanbeclassifiedintothreecategories.(刘玲,2015)Oneisderivedfromnewwords.Thereasonisthatwiththedevelopmentofsociety,moreandmorenewconceptsandnewwordshaveemergedinpeople’slives.Forexample,富二代(thesecondrichgeneration)referstotherichchildrenwhoinheritthehugeassetsoftheirparents.Thesecondistospreadthroughthemedia.Throughthespreadofmassmedia,somelanguagesintelevision,movies,onlineandpopularworkshavebecomecatchwords.Forexample,theword裸婚(nakedwedding),referringtoamarriagemethodthatcomesfromaTVdramacalledNakedMarriageAge,whichmeansonlygettingamarriagecertificatewithoutholdingaweddingceremonywithaweddingbanquet,insomecaseswithouthavingaweddingphototaken,orevenwithoutenjoyingahoneymoon.Thethirdisfromforeignwords.Intheprocessofintroducingandabsorbingforeignvocabulary,somenetizenscombinetheunderstandingandpreferencesoftheirownpeople,sotheonlinecatchwordsobtainedbycertainprocessingofforeignvocabulary.Forinstance,theword卡哇伊(kawaii),originatedfromJapan,whichmeanslovely.2.3ThecharacteristicsofonlinecatchwordsWangYiandotherssummarizedthenetworkcatchwordswiththefollowingcharacteristics.(王一,2015)Firstofall,thesimplicityofonlinecatchwords.Mostoftheonlinecatchwordsuselesswordsbutexpressmeaningsaccurately.TanKai[13]believesthat“usingbriefvocabularytoexpressrichconnotationsisanecessaryconditionforpopularizationofonlinecatchwords.”Forexample,“囧”isendowedwith“depressed,helpless”.Secondly,theinnovationofonlinecatchwords.Alargenumberofvividonlinecatchwordsarecreatedbythevastnumberofnetizensthroughthenetworkandexertingrichimagination.Combiningcurrentaffairs,hotspotswithjokes,theyhaveproducedvariousspecialexpressions.Moreover,theseonlinecatchwordsareingeniousandinteresting.Suchas,巨婴(childishadult),教科书式(textbookstyle)andsoon.Thirdly,thevividnessofonlinecatchwords.Rhetoric,pun,partialtoneandotherrhetoricaldevicesareoftenusedinonlinecatchwordstoshowtherichconnotationofvocabulary,suggestingtheintentiontoexpressinatortuousway,morevividandhumorousthandirectstatements.Forinstance,杠精(contrarian),佛系(Buddha-like)andsoon.Finally,theepochalcharacterofonlinecatchwords.Onlinecatchwordsgenerallyarisewithasocialphenomenonorhotspots,whichisadynamicprocesswithashortlifecycle.Forexample,Iusedtohearpeoplesaidthat哥只是个传说(AsyourbrotherIamjustalegend).However,nowalmostnoonehassaidit.3AnoverviewofSkopostheory3.1TheintroductionofSkopostheorySkoposoriginatedfromGreek,whichmeans“purpose”.ThetermSkoposisoftenusedtorefertothepurposeofatranslation.Skopostheoryisanimportanttheoryoffunctionaltranslation,originatedinGermanyinthelate1970s.KatharinaReissandHansVermeer，thefounders,tooktheleadinproposingthetheoryoftranslationpurposesfromtheperspectiveofsocialcultureandcommunicativefunction.TheysetuptheSkopostheoryonthebasisofbehavioraltheoryandthepurposeofthetextasthefirstcriterionofthetranslationprocess.TheSkopostheoryisatheorythatappliestheSkoposconcepttotranslation.Thecoreconceptisthatthemostimportantfactorinthetranslationprocessisthepurposeoftheoveralltranslation.HansVermeerbelievesthatthetranslationdependsnotonlyonwhetherthetranslationaccuratelyconveystheoriginalauthor'sintentionsandinformation,butalsoonwhetherthetranslationmeetsthecommunicativepurposethatthetranslatorhimselfwantstoachieve.Differenttranslationpurposesmayresultindifferenttranslationsofthesametextbythesametranslator.UnderthetheoreticalframeworkofSkopostheory,theoriginaltextisinasecondaryposition.Thetranslatordoesnothavetobetoorigidlyboundtotheoriginaltext,andcanadoptaflexiblestrategytotranslate.Inthetranslationofliteraryworks,thetranslationmethodsofpoetry,proseandnovelsareverydifferent.Evenforthetranslationofthesamegenre,differenttranslatorsoftenusedifferenttranslationmethods.Inadditiontothedifferencesinthestyleandculturalbackgroundofthetranslator,thisdifferenceoftenstemsfromthedifferenttranslationpurposesthatthetranslatorhopestoachieve.Onthecontrary,HansVermeerholdtheopinionthatoneofthemostimportantfactorsindeterminingthepurposeoftranslationistheaudience,whichreferstotherecipientsofthetranslation,whohavetheirownculturalbackgroundknowledge,expectationsfortranslation,andcommunicationneeds.Eachtypeoftranslationisdirectedatacertainaudience,sotranslationisadiscoursethatisproducedforacertainpurposeandtargetaudienceinthetargetlanguagecontext.Vermeerbelievesthattheoriginaltextisonlyasourceofsomeoralloftheinformationforthetargetaudience.ItcanbeseenthatthepositionoftheoriginaltextinSkopostheoryissignificantlylowerthanitspositionintheequivalencetheory.3.2TherulesofSkopostheoryTherearethreebasicprinciplesinSkopostheory:theSkoposrule,thecoherencerule,andthefidelityrule.Firstofall,theSkoposruleisconsideredtobethefirstprinciplefollowedbyalltranslationactivitiesinSkopostheory.TheSkoposrulemeansthatthetranslationshouldbeabletoplayaroleinthecontextualcultureofthetargetlanguageinthewaythattherecipientofthetargetlanguageexpects.Thepurposeoftheentiretranslationactivityistodeterminethefundamentalcriteriatobefollowedinthetranslationprocess.However,translationactivitiescanhavemultiplepurposes.Thesepurposesarefurtherdividedintothreecategories:(1)thebasicpurposeofthetranslator;(2)thecommunicativepurposeofthetranslation;and(3)thepurposetobeachievedusingaparticulartranslation.Usually,“purpose”referstothecommunicativepurposeofthetranslation.ThesecondruleofSkopostheoryisthecoherencerule.Thecoherencerulemeansthatthetranslationmustconsiderthebackgroundknowledgeandactualsituationoftherecipient,andmaximizethesemanticcoherencesothattherecipientofthetranslationcanunderstandthemeaningofthetranslation.ThethirdruleofSkopostheoryisthefidelityrule,whichmeansthatthereshouldbeaninter-textualcoherencebetweentheoriginaltextandthetranslation,andtheoriginaltextandthetranslationarenotrequiredtobeinthesamecontent.(Nord,2001:32-33).Inshort,thesethreeprinciplesconstitutethebasicprincipleofSkopostheory.Thefidelityruleissubjecttocoherencerule,butthecoherenceruleandthefidelityrulemustbesubordinatedtotheSkoposrule.4AStrategyStudyofSkopos-BasedTranslationofCatchwordsAccordingtothecharacteristicsofonlinecatchwordsandtherulesofSkopostheory,therearemainlytwomajorfactorsareconsideredinthetranslationofonlinecatchwords.Thefirstfactoristhepurposeoftranslation.Firstofall,wemustmakeitclearthatthetranslatedonlinecatchwordsarenotonlyfortheChinese,butmoreimportantly,fortheforeignerswhoareeagertounderstandthemeaningsandtheconnotationsofsuchlanguagesthroughtranslatingtheminEnglishinaproperway.Therebyachievingthecommunicationpurposeofnetworkinformation.Nidaoncesaid,“Foratrulysuccessfultranslation,itisevenmoreimportanttobefamiliarwithbothculturesthantomastertwolanguages,becausewordsonlyplayaroleintheculturalcontextinwhichtheyfunction.”(Nida,2001)Therefore,culturaldifferencesshouldalsobeconsideredinthetranslationofnetworkcatchwords.Forthetranslationofonlinecatchwords,wemustnotjustfollowtherulesandtranslatethemdirectly,otherwiseitmayleadtomistranslation,orrandomtranslationwithoutunderstandingtheculturaldifferencesbetweentwocountries.Underthecircumstancesofunderstandingtheculturaldifferencesandbackgroundbetweenthetwocountries,weshouldgraspthecoreideasexpressedbytheonlinecatchwordsandtranslatethemflexiblyundertheguidanceofSkopostheory.AccordingtotheSkopostheory,theauthorhasfurtheranalyzedthenetworkcatchwordsinrecentyears.Thetranslationstrategiesthatcanbeusedare:literaltranslation,freetranslation,annotationandtransliteration.4.1LiteraltranslationTheliteraltranslationmethodmeansthatthetargetlanguageandthesourcelanguagearebasicallyconsistentinform,contentandexpressionwithoutprejudicetotheEnglishhabits.Literaltranslationwillnotcausemisunderstandingstoreaders,norwillitlosetheculturalcharacteristicsofpopularChineseonlinecatchwords.Example1:锦鲤。Translation:Koifishorfancycarp.Koi,asakindoffish,hasahighornamentalandfeedingvalue.Now,thewordKoifishisoftenusedasaonlinecatchwordandisgenerallyconsideredasasymbolofgoodluck.ThekoiwasoriginallyfromWeibo,aChinasocialmedia,anicknamedKoiKingsentamessage,thecontentofwhichisthatifyoufollowandforwardthismessage,therewillbegoodthingshappeninginonemonth.Atthesametime,itisequippedwithapicturewithakoi,whichhastriggeredalotofpeopleforwardthismessage.Thenetizenswhoforwardthismessagearegenerallyseekingcareer,seekingfortune,andseekinggoodluck.Later,theKoifishorfancycarpisacceptedbypeopletodescribeamanwhoisblessedandlucky.SometimespeoplewillseeotherssendingkoipicturesonsocialmediasuchasWeiboorWeChat.Thiskindofsocialnetworkphenomenonisakindofdesiretogetgoodluckbyforwardingkoipictures.Example2:佛系青年。Translation:Buddha-likeyoungstersorBuddhayouth.In2018,becauseofanarticle“Thefirstgenerationofthepost-90sgenerationhavebecomemonks”,thewordBuddha-likebecomespopular.Meanwhile,agroupofyoungpeoplewhoareindifferenttotheworkandlifecallthemselves“Buddhayouth”.TheBuddha-likeyoungstersreferstopeoplewhodoesnotcareifhewouldhavesomething,orevenhedoesnotwanttofightforsomethinganddoesnotconsideraboutwinorlose.Speakingdeeply,thisattitudetowardslifeiscalledBuddha-likelife,buttobefrank,thisattitudeoflifeexposesone’slazinessandloss.Thismentalityisacommonself-solvingwayforyoungpeopletofacestressandanxiety.4.2FreetranslationThefreetranslationmethodreferstothetranslationaccordingtotheoriginalmeaningoftheoriginaltext,butnottotranslatewordbyword.Theuseoffreetranslationcannotonlyreflectthedifferencesbetweendifferentlanguagesandethnicgroupsinecologicalculture,languageculture,religiousculture,materialcultureandsocialculture,butalsoreflectthelinguisticfeaturesofthenation.Infact,itisoftenenoughtobetteruseoffreetranslationbecauseliteraltranslationismoredifficulttoexpressthetruemeaningofthewordwiththeabsenceofcontext.Example3:打酱油。Translation:Togetsoysauce.Itisapopularonlinecatchwordthatmeans“noneofmybusiness”or“doesnotinvolveme”.Thiswordisoftenusedtoexpressanattitudeofindifference,whichcanbetranslatedas“itisnoneofmybusiness,Iamjustpassingby.”Youcanusethiskindofexpressionwhenyouareaskedtotalkaboutatopicthatyouareunfamiliarordonotcareordonotwanttoanswer.Thisexpression，insteadofmeaninggettingsoysauce,alsoimplyingthatsomeonelacksabilityandmakesnoimprovementatschooloratwork.Example4:人艰不拆。Translation:

Life

is

so

hard

that

some

lies

are

better

not

to

beexposedorlife

is

so

hard,

so

don’t

hurt

me

with

the

truth.ThisonlinecatchwordoriginatedfromasongofLinYoujia,aTaiwanesesinger,whichmeans“lifeisalreadyhard,sodon’texposethetruth.”Onthesurface,itmeanslifeisdifficult,peopleshouldbetolerantandsupportive,andshouldnotberuinedbyeachother.However,itimplicitlysatirizessomesocialphenomena.4.3AnnotationReadersmayfeelconfusedandhardtounderstandtheoverallcontextwithoutannotationinsomecases.(袁履庄,2004)Annotationisanimportantcompensatorytranslationmethod.Anditcanbedividedintoliteraltranslationwithannotationandtransliterationwithannotation.Theannotationcanbeaddedtothetextorthefootnotes.Manypopularwordshavetheirownbackgroundandsocialfactors,andsomepropernounssuchasnames,placenames,historicalevents,etc.Andforeignersmaynotunderstandwhatthesewordsmeanifdonotaddannotationsinsteadofsimplyadoptcommontranslationmethods.Italsodoesnotachievethepurposeofeffectivelytransmittinginformation.Atthispoint,annotationscanbeusedtoexpressthemeaningclearly.Example5:新常态。Translation:NewNormal,aconceptusedbythegovernmenttodescribethecountry’sadjustmenttoslowereconomicgrowth.Itisaonlinecatchwordwhichmeansthatthedevelopmentstatusisdifferentthanbeforeandinarelativelystable.However,foreignreadersdonotunderstanditsbackground.Thus,itisnecessarytoannotate“itisaconceptusedbythegovernmenttodescribethecountry’sadjustmenttoslowereconomicgrowth”,sothatthereadercanunderstandmore.Example6:正能量。Translation:PositiveEnergy,akindofhopefulorpowerfulemotionormotivationthatinspiresapersontomoveforward.Itisaphysicsterm,derivedfromtheBritishphysicistDirac’stheoryofquantumelectrodynamics,whichreferstothenegativeenergyaccompanyingthedegreeoffreedomassociatedwithavariableisalwayscompensatedbythepositiveenergyofanotherlongitudinaldegreeoffreedom,sothenegativeenergyisneveractuallyexpressed.Thepopularityoftheword“positiveenergy”comesfromthemonographPositiveEnergy,writtenbyRichardWiseman,aBritishpsychologist,whichillustratedthatthehumanbodywaslikenedtoanenergyfield,andonecanbemoreconfidentandactivebyinspiringtheinnerpotential.Itisabetterchoicetouseannotationwhentranslatingtheword.Theword“positiveenergy”isconsistentwithEnglishexpressionhabits.Butthereaderofthetargetlanguagewillthinkoftheoriginalphysicaltermofthewordiftheannotationwasnotadded,whichwillcausemisunderstanding.Therefore,annotationsshouldbeaddedaftertheword:hopefulorpowerfulemotionsormotivationsthatinspiresapersontomoveforward.4.4TransliterationItmeansthatsomewordshaverichculturalconnotations,itisdifficulttoexplainthemclearlywithoneortwowords,andChinesevocabularyofequivalentwordscannotbefoundinEnglish.ItcanbedirectlytranslatedintoEnglishaccordingtoChinesepronunciationrules,makingitanintegralpartofEnglishlanguageandvocabulary.Example7:给力。Translation:Gelivable.Thetermisderivedfromthenortherndialectandmeanshelpfulorveryuseful.Bothpeopleandthingscanbedescribedbyusingthisword.TheEnglishtranslation“gelivable”meanspowerful,thrillingandcool,“able”meansadjectives,and“geli”isdirectlytransliteratedfromChinese“给力”.Thiskindoftranslationnotonlyretainstheoriginalstyle,butalsoaccuratelyconveystheculturalconnotationofChinese.Westernsocietycanacceptitsmeaningoncethiskindofexpressioniswidelyspread,as豆腐(tofu)and功夫(kungfu)havebeenintegratedintotheWesternlanguage.ThiskindofexpressionnotonlyembodiesthecharacteristicsofChineseculture,butalsoissimpleandclear.Example8:试客。Translation：shikeWebsitesofferingfreesamplesarepopularamongnetizens.“Shike”arethosewhoareattheforefrontofconsumers.Beforeshopping,theyfirstfreelyrequesttheuseoftherelevantgoodsfromthemerchants,andthenpurchasethemaftercarefultrialandcommunicationwithotherpeople.Therearemanycompanies,individuals,orsocialactivitiesneedalargenumberofshiketotestnewproducts,newservices,newfeaturesandsoon.Forinstance,foretastinganewdish,tryingonnewclothesortryingoutnewproducts.Thistypeofpersonnelisgenerallyrecruitedfromthesociety,andsomearerecommendedbyothers,orintroducedbytheintermediary.Buttheyneedtosubmitrealinformationbeforetheycantry.BecausethereisnocorrespondingwordinEnglish,itcanbetranslatedinto“shike”.4.5AdaptionTheadaptationreferstochangethestructureoftheoriginalsentence,andincreaseordecreasecertaininformationappropriatelytoadapttothelanguageexpressionhabitsofthetargetlanguagetofacilitatereaders’understanding.Usingcreativetranslationmethodthatmaychangeform,content,orstyleoftheoriginallanguageiscalledadaption.(黄忠廉,1999)Example9:人生就像茶几，上面摆满了杯具。Translation:Lifeislikeateatable,withbittercupsplacedalloverit.Accordingtotheliteralmeaning,itcanbetranslatedas“Lifeislikeateatable,withbittercupsplacedalloverit.”Thisversiondoesnotonlyexpressthetruemeaningofthisonlinebuzzword,butalsouninteresting.Instead,“tablewareistothetablewhattragedyistolife”ismuchbetter.Acharacteristicoftheadaptionisthereplacementofpartialtone.Suchasreplacing“悲剧(tragedy)”with“杯具(cup).”Thiswordcanbetterexpressone'sinnerhelplessness.Meanwhile,itisnovelofthisversiontocomparelifetocoffeetable.Foreignerscannotfeelthehumorbroughtbythishomonymifusingliteraltranslationorannotation.Example10:秒杀。Translation:seckillingorinstantkilling.Seckillingorinstantkilling,literallymeaningistheinstantkillingofeachotherin1second,whichisderivedfromonlinegames.Itsmeaningcanbefurtherunderstoodaskilleachotherinare