中西文化差异与汉语成语翻译策略 West-East Cultural Differences and Translation Strategies of Chinese Idioms.doc

West-East Cultural Differences and Translation Strategies of Chinese Idioms中西文化差异与汉语成语翻译策略1. DIRECTIONS FOR LEARNERS1) Analyze the data in no less than 1,000 words by using one or some of the methods recommended in Step 2 and Step 3 of Stage 7 in Writing Your BA Paper Through Practical Translation Project Design. The analysis should be based on the examples from the data, or no less than 3 samples from each category of the data.2) The heading for this section has been given. You may decide on your own subheadings if there are any.3) Insert your analysis of the data in paragraphs, tables, diagrams or listings in the space below.4. Data Analysis The translation of Chinese idioms is vital in inter-cultural communications between China and western countries, as stated in the former part of the paper(1.1); and east-west cultural differences are among the largest barriers of Chinese idioms translation. This research aims to discuss east-west cultural differences and translation strategies of Chinese idioms; so that to provide some method and suggestions for Chinese idioms translation. In this part of the paper, the researcher will analyze east-west cultural differences as well as translation strategies of Chinese idioms.What is cultural difference? There are many meanings of the word “culture. Sometimes, we say that people who know about music, art, and literature are cultured. However, for anthropologist, the word “culture has a different meaning. To an anthropologist the word “culture means all the ways that a group of people think, feel, art, and dress. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English gives such an explanation of culture: the customs, beliefs, art, music, and all the other products of human thought made by a particular group of people at a particular time.Different nations hold different cultures. For instance, “full moon symbolizes jubilation and reunion in China, and “a bright moon in the sky makes people feel quiet and at leisure. Ideas of beauty differ from one culture to another. For example, the Flathead Indian of North America used to bind the heads of babies between boards so they would have long sloping foreheads. In the Flathead culture, long sloping foreheads were beautiful. Other cultures might think that they are strange-looking and unattractive. For another example, when people die, different cultures deal with their bodies in different ways. Sometimes bodies are buried. Sometimes bodies are buried under the ground. In many cultures in the past, people were buried with food, weapons, and other things that might be useful in the next life. For instance, the ancient Egyptians buried people with little human figures which were from clay. This clay figures were intended to work the death person in the other world.From these examples, we can see that cultures are quite different from one country to another. It is brief that different people do the same things or consider the same things in different ways.There are many factors underlying in cultural differences, the researcher will do further research about these factors later in the paper. The analysis of east-west cultural differencesThere are obvious cultural differences between Chinese and English culture, but the differences can be overcame in inter-cultural communications. Having knowledge of the factors about the differences would help people understand the both language better, so as to perform better in inter-cultural communications. This research has chosen four main factors of east-west cultural differencesgeographic factors, historical factors, religious factors, social customs factors. In the following, the research will discuss these four factors respectively. .1 Geographic factors in C- E cultural differencesPeople in different countries live in different geographic areas, thus different cultures were formed in the process of laboring and struggling with nature. A certain culture exists in a certain terrain; inevitably, it reflects the natural and geographic features of that area. For that reason, when people use natural sights or objects to express themselves, there would be obvious differences. Besides, people in different cultures have different attitude toward different natural phenomena, which was relevant to their living conditions, so the things people praise and the things they flog are quite different. There are some examples. In Chinese, 有眼不识泰山(Tai Mountain) was used to describe people who are short-sighted and not able to recognize posted people. This is because in ancient China people regarded Tai Mountain as a symbol of high mountains; and people use the phrase 泰山(Tai Mountain) as simile to describe people who are respectful or things that are significant. From this point of view, different geographic conditions of Britain and China determine their differences in culture. One of the most typical examples to see this difference is the west wind. As located in a temperate zone in the western hemisphere and surrounded by ocean, the climate in Britain is mild. Every April, the warm current of the Atlantic brings Britain warm and genial west wind. And in English culture, west wind symbolizes the arrival of spring; so that in English literature works, west wind was used to express good things. In John Mansfields Ode to the west wind, the author wrote: its the warm wind, the west wind, full of birds cries; I never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes. On the opposite, most area of China is under semi-tropical climate, west wind means cold and desolation. So idioms relevant to west wind in Chinese are marble, like西风扫落叶. China has long been an agricultural country; its people has created a lot of idioms related to agriculture, such as 春华秋实，沧海桑田, etc.2 Historical factors in C-E cultural differencesApart from geographic factors, historical factors are also important. A certain culture was formed through a nations history, so when discussing cultural differences, historical factors can not be ignored. Both China and Britain have long histories. All through the long history, Chinese people define themselves as the descendants of "Yandi and Huangdi Emperors", the "Dragon and the "Cathay" so an idiom was created as 炎黄子孙. For the past thousands of years, Chinese people have went through uncountable wars, and a lot of stories about the wars were left. Thus, many phrases relevant to war were created, such as 烽火连营、唱空城计、败走麦城,etc. China had been a feudalistic country for thousands of years in history, its people suffered a lot under the rigorous feudal dominion and were exploited by the dominion class. There are a lot of idioms to describe peoples life of that time, such as苛政猛于虎、八字衙门两边开, 有理无钱莫进来. The Great Britain also has a long history of being ruled by pope and emperor, so in English there are expressions as the king and the pope, the lion and the wolf. Idioms derived from wars are not unique in Chinese. After Napoléon Bonaparte failed in the famous Waterloo Battle, and was jailed in Waterloo, an English idiom to meet ones Waterloo was used to express failure. And in America, the Watergate Affair, which led to President Nixons step down, has been a part of history. Watergate has not only been the name of a building since then, it also stands for an important event in America history and has been integrated in American culture. The historical value of a certain culture is unique, people should pay special attention to it when involving in inter-cultural communications. 4 Religious factors in C-E cultural differencesReligious belief is one aspect of peoples thought, and has great influences on culture. In many western countries, especially in English-speaking countries, people believe in Christianity. They believe that god is all mighty. Many expressions related to their belief were formed. For example, nature does nothing in vain(无所不能), God helps those who help themselves(天助自助者), etc. Besides, the Bible has deeply affected western culture. People tell stories from Bible; some idioms were derived from Bible, such as the forbidden fruit; people even name one body part as Adams apple. Chinese culture, on the other hand, was influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism, as well as Taoist. Idioms like 借花献佛, 立地成佛 reflects Buddhism; while 乐极生悲 is derived from Taoist; and 平安是福 is from Confucianism. The Han nationality of China mainly worship Buddhism; so when Chinese people intend to seek protection, they may say “菩萨保佑. Religion is a complex factor in inter-cultural activities; but it can not be ignored for its deep influence on cultures. Social custom factors in C-E cultural differencesSocial customs are also important factors in C-E cultural differences. As stated in Rationale (), social customs bring national emotions to a country. Social customs embody a nations history and value. Countries with different social customs have different value and different national emotion. What is national emotion as we mentioned? Generally speaking, it is what people like and dislike within a country. Taking China and English-speaking countries for example, in China, horse is regarded as loyal and patient, which accords with Chinese culture, so Chinese people treat horses as friends. There are many favorable idioms related to horse, for instance, 马到成功、马首是瞻，etc. Dog is a low-down animal in Chinese culture, so idioms relevant to dog are derogatory, such as狗急跳墙、狗仗人势、狗嘴吐不出象牙，etc. To the contrary, English people regard dogs as faithful friends for human beings, so English idioms related to dog are positive. For example, when they say someone is lucky, they would use a lucky dog. However, idioms relevant to horse are not always good; pay for a dead horse means waste money. And people holding different social customs behave quite differently. For example, a Chinese would introduce his wife as “爱人, which can be translated as lover in English. However, lover means whom somebody has an affair with, which is completely different from its Chinese translation. Cultural differences affect C-E inter-cultural communications in many ways. This research chooses its influences on Chinese idioms translation as research objective.4.3 influences cultural differences have on Chinese idioms translationThis paper will focus on two major influences cultural differences have on Chinese idioms translation. One is that cultural differences affect translating of Chinese idioms which are related to plant and animals. The other is that cultural differences affect translating of Chinese idioms which are related to colors. Cultural differences affect translation of Chinese idioms which are relevant to plant and animalsDue to social material、religious and cultural differences between different countries, people experience their life from different angle and in different way. For this reason, people in different countries would see the same thing with completely different view. The research has selected some typical examples to demonstrate this point. In China, the word “龙 has symbolized power for thousands of years in Chinese culture. 龙 holds such a high position in Chinese culture that the emperors of ancient China defined themselves as 真龙天子. However in English culture, dragon is a favorable symbol. In Bible, the devil was called the great dragon. And saints regarded people who killed dragon as heroes. In modern English, dragon refers to mob and cruel people. In order to accord with English culture, the phrase 亚洲四小龙 was translated as Four Tigers in Asia. Another typical example is dog. English people view dogs as faithful friends while Chinese people see dog as low-down animal. Thus, idioms relevant to dogs may be quite different. English idioms like a lucky dog and every dog has its day have positive meaning. But such Chinese idioms mostly contain negative meanings, such as 狼心狗肺, 狗仗人势.Similarly, idioms related to plants are also with different meaning. In Chinese, people call those who are dull “呆瓜; While vegetable is used in English under the same situation. Chinese people have special favor on 松、竹、梅; so there are many idioms related to these words, such as青梅竹马、雨后春笋、松鹤延年、胸有成竹、梅妻鹤子. Western people like roses very much; so that English idioms relevant to roses mostly express good will; In example 32, roses all the way means all lucky, and should be translated as “一切顺利 instead of “满地玫瑰.Because of these differences, translators should pay special attention when translating idioms related to the words which have different meanings in Chinese and English cultures. Cultural differences affect translation of Chinese idioms which are relevant to colorsVocabulary of colors is widely used both in Chinese and in English. In Chinese, the vocabulary of colors we mostly used are 赤橙黄绿青蓝紫, while in English the words mostly used are black, red, yellow, green, blue, brown, purple, pink, orange and grey. However, in many cases, translators can not simply use the counterparts in English when translating. As in example 32, the correct translation for Chinese phrase 红茶 is black tea instead of red tea. The underlying meaning of “黄色 in Chinese is pornographic and obscene. But in English, it is the word blue which does have such meaning. So in example 33, the translation for “黄色玩笑 is blue jokes . In example 34, “戴绿帽子 means ones wife has an affair; so it can not be translated as to wear a green hat, or the target English readers would not get the underlying meaning of “绿帽子. The correct translation should be to be a cuckold. Chinese people like to use “铁青 to describe someones angrily facial expression while people in English culture use black. In example 35, “脸色铁青 can be translated as black in the face.This research only chose some examples to demonstrate the points. More idioms would be come across when doing translating work. Translators should pay special attention on the problems discussed above. Having discussed the differences between Chinese culture and English culture, as well as how these differences would affect translation of Chinese idioms, the researcher will do further research on strategies of Chinese idioms in the following. Strategies of Translating Chinese IdiomsIn this paper, the researcher will focus on five different strategies of Chinese Idioms translation. They are: metaphrase, the method of borrowing English idioms, free translation, the method of metaphrase combined with free translation and using notes respectively. .1 MetaphraseMetaphrase is the method that translating Chinese idioms directly into English. It is able to keep the meaning, form and grammatical structure of the source language when using this method. However, Metaphrase does not mean translate the source idioms word by word. It means the translator could translate the idioms according to their surface meaning and no more explanation is nee