习语翻译的异化与归化研究-On-the-Foreignization-and-Domestication-in-Idioms-Translation.doc

Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more.-author-date习语翻译的异化与归化研究-On-the-Foreignization-and-Domestication-in-Idioms-TranslationA Contrastive Study on the Contents of Greetings in Chinese and English (三号)On the Foreignization and Domestication in Idioms TranslationLIUWEI (学号2011221103100056)（School of Foreign Languages, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062）习语翻译的异化与归化研究刘薇 (学号2011221103100056)(湖北大学外语学院，武汉430062)摘要：习语是一种承载着文化信息的语言符号。习语的翻译，无论是将英语习语翻译成汉语，还是将汉语习语翻译成英语，都不仅仅是语码的转换，更是文化信息的传递。因此，对我们来说，在不考虑文化因素的情况下讲某一种语言或者是翻译某一个文本都是不可行的。习语是语言的精华，它承载着丰富的文化特征和不同国家、不同名族的文化底蕴。无论在结构上还是在意义上，习语都具有很强的稳定性。在这个全球化的时代，文化交流越来越频繁，习语翻译是非常重要的，而对于习语翻译的异化与归化研究非常有利于习语的翻译和文化交流。本篇论文着眼于异化与归化这两种不同的习语翻译方法以及它们各自的特征和侧重点，通过对比分析以及举例的方法，我们发现，在这个文化多元化的世界里，大多数情况下我们会倾向于选择异化方法来翻译习语。此外，本篇论文还研究了一些具体的异化翻译方法，比如直译法，借译法和译注法。关键词：归化，异化，习语，翻译，文化1. A Brief Introduction to idiomsAn English idioms says,“idioms are the daughters of daily experience.”Idioms, existing distinctively and numerously in almost every language, are the panoramic pictures of linguistic and cultural traits of a community. They are an important integrated part of a language and widely recognized as the essence and crystallization of a nation. In content, idioms are closely connected with history, religion and living condition of a nation. In form, idioms are presented by sentences or phrases that cannot be substituted randomly. As a gem of a language and a mirror of linguistic and cultural concepts of a nation, idioms have been handed down from generation to generation. Without idioms, a language will lack vitality, vividness and expressiveness. A idiom is defined as “phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learned as a whole unit ” by Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary (2002). 2. Definition of Foreignization and DomesticationDomestication and foreignization are two basic translation strategies which provide both linguistic and cultural guidance. These two terms were derived from the German philosopher Friedrich Schleiermachers famous notion of the translation strategies in his lecture in 1813. According to his lecture, there were two translation methods-“ Either the translator leaves the author in peace, as much as possible, and moves the reader towards him. Or he leaves the reader in peace, as much as possible, and moves the author towards him.”(Venuti, 1995:19-20) The U.S. translator Lawrence Venuti named the former foreignization and the latter domestication in his book The Translators Invisibility: A History of Translation in 1995. He defines domestication as “an ethnocentric reduction of the foreign text to target-language cultural values, bringing the author back home”, and defines foreignization as “an ethnodeviant pressure on those values to register the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad”(ibid, 1995:20). In China, Lu Xun (鲁迅), Zhang Peiji(张培基), Sun Zhili(孙致礼),etc, vigorously advocated the literal translation approach by urging translators to keep the exotic tone and preserve the authentic flavor of the original in the version(罗新璋, 1984:310). Lu Xun defined domestication as “rewriting, changing the foreign story in Chinese story and changing the foreigners into Chinese”, and foreignization as “going abroad traveling, it must reflect the scene and flavor of the foreign country concerned ” (罗新璋，1984:301).Generally speaking, domestication designates the type of translation in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers, while foreignization means a target text is produced which deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreignness of the original (Shuttleworth & Cowie 1997:59). 3. The Application of Foreignization and Domestication in Idioms TranslationAccording to Venuti(2004), domestication means bringing the foreign culture closer to the reader in the target culture, making the translated text recognizable and familiar. The concept of domestication involves two important factors. The first factor is fluency. The second essential factor involved in domestication is ethnocentric. “ethnocentric” means that domesticated translation should erase the linguistic and cultural differences of the original text and handle them in such a way that they are made to conform to the current dominant values in the target language culture.Foreignization is a term which Venuti created and which is in contrast to the domesticating strategy. According to Venuti, foreignization requires the translator to take the reader over to the foreign culture and make him or her see the cultural and linguistic differences.Generally speaking, both foreignization and domestication are important strategies for idioms translation. The most important feature of foreignization is to remain the foreign features and flavor of the original work in the translation, while the most important feature of domestication is to make the translation as coherent, influent and natural as possible to readers. Both foreignization and domestication are applied widely in idioms translation. There are some examples which use the two translation strategies in idioms translation.last but not least 最后但不是最不重要的一点after ones own heart 正中下怀show the cloven hoof 露出马脚hang by a hair 千钧一发heart and soul 全心全意 赴汤蹈火 to go through fire and water 空中楼阁 a castle in the air 破釜沉舟 to burn ones boat 易如反掌 as easy as turning over ones handThese above idioms are translated in a way of foreignization. Some more idioms which are translated with the strategy of foreignization can be found in some kinds of dictionaries and on the Internet. In fact, there are countless numbers of idioms translated with the method of foreignization.fight the cat and dog 吵吵闹闹 hold the baby 干苦差事 smell a rat 怀疑有诈A cat on hot bricks 热锅上的蚂蚁 These above idioms are translated in a way of domestication. Likewise, there are more idioms translated with the method of domestication can be found in dictionaries and on Internet.Anyway, idioms translation are tightly connected with the two strategies. No matter how we translate an idiom, we can not ignore the two strategies-foreignization and domestication.4. A tendency to foreignization with a cultural perspectiveVenuti illustrated the aim of translation clearly, “Translation is a process that involves looking for similarities between languages and cultures- particularly similar messages and formal techniques- but it does this only because it is constantly confronting dissimilarities. It can never and should never aim to remove these dissimilarities entirely. A translated text should be the site where a different culture emerges, where a reader gets a glimpse of a cultural other, and resistance, a translation strategy based on an aesthetic of discontinuity, can best preserve that difference, that otherness, by reminding the reader of the gains and losses in the translation process and the unbridgeable gaps between cultures”(Venuti, 1995:306).In this multicultrual word, the traditional domestication in idiom translation has been challenged. It have been gradually replaced by foreignizing translation. The foreignization in idioms translation is the main trend at present. It is well known to us that the origin of idioms has been influenced by cultural factors to a large degree, such as religions, regions, customs and so on. Because of cultural differences, there are plenty of differences between Chinese idioms and English idioms. The foreignization in idioms translation remains a lot of foreign cultural factors in the translated work, thus helping readers to learn cultural differences and attain knowledge about foreign culture.We all know that this world is a globalized world. With the development of the globalization of the world as well as the development of global economy, different countries have to enlarge their communication with other countries to cooperate with them for peace and development. Therefore, people from different countries or different cultural background should be familiar with religions, customs, ideologies, traditions or even life styles of foreign countries to promote further cooperation with each other. One of the principle of international communication and cooperation is seeking common points while reserving differences. In order to seek for the peace and development of the world, more differences between different cultures or different countries should be found and respected. The more differences we reserve and respect, the better we get along with each other in this globalized and multicural word. Therefore, we have a tendency to adopt foreignization in idioms translation since foreignizing translation shows the foreignness in translation. Conversely, the domesticated translation will reduce the foreign flavor of the original work. As a result, readers can not have a clear idea about cultural differences or learn foreign culture. For example, if we translate the sentence “It is as significant as a game of cricket” with a domesticated way into “这件事如同吃饭一样重要”, Chinese readers will misapprehend that Westerners also consider dining as the most important thing. In this case, wed better translate it into “这件事如同板球赛一样重要” by using foreignizing strategy. Then Chinese readers can realize that cricket is very important for western people.5. Specific translating method of foreignization in idioms translationForeignization is the main tendency and direction when we translate idioms. Specifically, there are three methods we can choose if we tend to adopt foreignization in idioms translation. The three methods are literal translation, borrowing translation and annotated translation.5.1 Literal translationWhen the implied meaning of the original idiom is just the same as its literary meaning, literal translation is the first choice because it transplant both literal meaning and cultural meaning into the target language. In this way, the literal meaning, implied meaning or even the style of the original text can be remained as well as some new vocabulary, structures and expressions can be introduced into the target language. There are some Chinese and English idioms which share the similar cultural meaning judging from their structures and meanings. And these words can be translated with a approach of literal translation. For example, in English, there are idioms like “to lose ones face”, “to save ones face”. According to its cultural background and our understanding of these idioms, we can translate them into “丢面子” and “保面子”. Whats more, idioms like “以眼还眼，以牙还牙” and “武装到牙齿” in Chinese are transplanted from English idioms such as “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” and “armed to the teeth”. Besides, some idioms such as “eat the fruit of ones own doings” (自食其果) and “misfortunes never come singly”(祸不单行) are coming from Chinese. Maybe readers are not used to this way of translation, but they can understand what the translated text convey, and after a certain time, they will get used to it. At the same time, some foreign cultural factors in the translated text are in harmony with the target language. Expressions like “一燕不成夏” ( One swallow does not make a summer) are widely accepted by Chinese people.5.2 Borrowing TranslationJust as we know, some English and Chinese idioms share the same connotation and emotional factors. When we translate this kind of idioms, we tend to use some expressions or idioms of the target language which can convey the equivalent meaning of the source language, instead of ignoring the cultural similarities and dead translation. For example, we can not translate “If the dog barks, he gives counsel” into “老狗叫，是忠告”. Since western people love dog very much, “old dog” is gradually attached with the rhetorical meaning of “ elders who have experienced a lot”. Therefore, when we translate this sentence, we prefer to choose the equivalent Chinese idiom “不听老人言，吃亏在眼前”. And English idiom “little fish are sweet” should be translated into “礼轻情意重”. Of course, there are many other examples of borrowing translation, such as “Make hay while sun shines”, which should be translated into “趁热打铁”; “A new broom sweeps clean” should be translated into “新官上任三把火”, and so on. Not only can borrowing translation convey the meaning of original texts, but also it can make translated texts vivid and attractive to readers.5.3 Annotated translationWe usually adopt annotated translation such as adding annotation or epexegesis to the translated text to explain the cultural background of the source language when we deal with some idioms which contain many cultural factors, such as historical events, historical people and so on. This way of translation builds a bridge of communication between two or even more different kinds of culture so that readers can easily acquire knowledge about foreign culture and have a better understanding of the original work (idioms). For example, there is a Chinese idiom- “三个诸葛亮，顶个臭皮匠”. We may translate it into “ The wit of three cobblers combined surpasses that of Zhuge Liang”. However, westerners may do not know who Zhuge Liang is. So when we translate this idiom, we should add annotation to explain the cultural background. The translation -“ The wit of three cobblers combined surpasses that of Zhuge Liang, the master mind”- will be a better version. In the same way, when we translate English idiom “as beautiful as Helen”, wed better translate it into “ 像海伦一样美丽（海伦，希腊神话中世上最美的女子）” in case that there is someone who do not know who Helen is.6. Domestication as a Supplementary Strategy to ForeignizationThough foreignization is the main trend for idioms translation, we can not ignore domestication for it is an important supplementary strategy of idioms translation.We have to know that the foreignization strategy can not be employed every time we translate idioms. There are three general reasons or principles for us to choose foreignization strategy: Firstly, these idioms transmit a kind of cultural universal truth, and reflect peoples common sense of nature and man. Target language and source language readers share the same “cognitive schemata” so that their understanding of these idioms are accordant. On this occasion, we prefer to choose foreignization strategy. Secondly, we tend to choose foreignization strategy when the target language expressions can be constantly enriched by accepting the original expressions of the source language. Thirdly, the foreign ex