习语文化与翻译

1、,Culture in Idioms and Translation 习语文化与翻译,Language, culture and translation,Language is the major carrier or medium of culture. Idioms are the living fossils of culture. Translation is an important tool for intercultural exchange, dealing with both language and culture.,Chracteristics of English id

2、ioms,1) English idioms can be very short or rather long e.g.: forty winks, to cut ones coat according to ones cloth 2) English idioms take different structures Three kinds of structures:,a) Irregular structure and clear meaning e.g.: I am good friends with him. Diamond cut diamond. (as) sure as eggs

3、 is eggs 确实/无疑 The devil take the hindmost. 落后者遭殃。 b) Regular structure and unclear meaning e.g.: to have a bee in ones bonnet (or head) an Indian summer c) irregular structure and unclear meaning e.g.: through thick and thin 不论祸福/不避艰险/赴汤蹈火,3) The idioms which cannot be changed at all are called fix

4、ed idioms. e.g.: A stitch in time saves nine. (aone, nineeight) The lions share (the share of lion0 tit for tat (tat for tit) out of question 毫无疑问(out of the question不可能) 4）An English idiom has a special meaning. e.g.; to rain cats and dogs, a brown study,5) English idioms are not only used as collo

5、quial expressions; they can also be found in formal situations, in poetry or fiction, or in slang. e.g.: to go over(any situation), prior to (formal), to butter up(slang, “to flatter) 6) Some idioms consist of obsolete words e.g.: kith and kin, learn by rote, many a little makes a mickel. 7) English

6、 idioms represent a semantic unit, though they contain a group words. e.g.: to make up ones mind = to decide, to bring up = to educate,8) English idioms are usu. made of commonly used word. They are vivid in image, brief in structure and profound in meaning. e.g.: to fly high = to be ambitious 9) En

7、glish idioms are often created on the basis of alliteration, rhyme, euphony, and repetition. e.g.: first and foremost, with might and main, black and bluealliteration, wear and tear, dine and wine, rough and toughrhyme, by and by不久以后, again and again, through and through反复/完全/彻底repetition,Similariti

8、es how many times have we read in articles that they really represent an “English tradition” after all.,To speak of American literature, then, is not to assert that it is completely unlike that of Europe. Broadly speaking, America and Europe have kept step. At any given moment the traveler could fin

9、d examples in both of the same architecture, the same styles in dress, the same books on the shelves.,Ideas have crossed the Atlantic as freely as men and merchandise, though sometimes more slowly. When I refer to American habit, thoughts, etc., I intend some sort of qualification to precede the wor

10、d, for frequently the difference between America and Europe (especially England) will be one of degree, sometimes only of a small degree.,The amount of divergence is a subtle affair, liable to perplex the Englishman when he looks at America. He is looking at a country which in important senses grew

11、out of his own, which in several ways still resembles his own and which is yet a foreign country. There are odd overlappings and abrupt unfamiliarities; kinship yields to a sudden alienation, as when we hail a person across the street, only to discover from his blank response that we have mistaken a

12、 stranger for a friend.,参考译文： 在某种程度上，我同我心目中的英语读者的观点一致。美国文学史家看待美国文坛的观念也许过于狭隘，误把显著性当作独特性，他们实在是过于夸耀自己的文学，也就是美国文学中那些并非举足轻重的作家。美国人总是在两种极端之间来回摇摆：一方面是炫耀自己文学时的那种咄咄逼人之势；一方面却是那种同样令人遗憾的对英国文学的盲目模仿。,而英国人对自己文学的评价也多少有些偏颇。而且，即使在他们成就并不显著的领域，如绘画和音乐，他们同样在两种极端之间摆动：一方面吹嘘本国作品；一方面又模仿欧陆作品。有多少英国绘画竭力使人觉得它们是在巴黎创作的，而我们读到的多少文章竟

13、吹嘘它们是“英国传统”的真正代表。,那么，要谈论美国文学，倒并非意欲断言，它与欧洲文学全然大相径庭。广而言之，美国与欧洲一直同步发展，协调一致。在任何一个特定的时刻，旅行者在两地均能目睹同一样式的建筑实例，相同款式的服饰，书架上相同的书籍。在大西洋两岸，思想如同人员与货物往来一样自由交流，尽管有时会略显迟缓。当我提及美国式的习惯、思想等概念时，我意欲在“美国式的”这一词汇之前加上某种限定，因为欧美（尤其是英美）之间的差异往往只是程度上的差异而已，并且有时候仅仅只是微乎其微的一点程度差异而已。差异的多寡是件极为微妙的事情，这极容易使一个英国人在审视美国时大惑不解。,他所审视的那个国家，从某些重要

14、的意义上来说，诞生于他自己的国家，并在某些方面仍与他自己的国家相差无几然而，它却实实在在是一个异邦。两者间存在着某些古怪的交替重迭，以及令人甚感突兀的陌生感；亲缘关系已让位于一种突如其来的异化与疏远，这种情景仿佛就像我们隔着马路向另一个人打招呼，结果却从这个人漠无表情的反应中发现，我们原来竟将一个陌生人误认为我们的熟人。,翻译讲评,1、“And Americans do swing from aggressive over phrase of their literature to an equally unfortunate, imitative deference ” 参考译文：美国人总是在两种极端之间来回摇摆：一方面是炫耀自己文学时的那种咄咄逼人之势；一方面却是那种同样令人遗憾的对英国文学的盲目模仿,2、“When I refer to American habit, thoughts, etc., I intend some sort of qualification to precede the word, for frequently the difference between America and Europe (e