异化技巧在翻译中的运用

Foreignization in translation

摘要：

翻译是语言间的转换，更是文化之间的交流，然后不同的民族由于民族历史、社会制度、生活方式以至地理环境的差别，其民族文化存在着各种或大或小的差异，因而翻译时就需要采取不同策略。本文从文化差异角度探讨异化翻译策略的翻译过程中对保留原作审美特色，而且能够抵御文化霸权和侵略，更好地促进国际文化交流的重要性。

关键字：异化、文化差异、国际文化交流

Abstract:

Translation is a sort of transformation between languages, as well as an intercultural communication. However, along with the differences between national history, social system, lifestyle and geographical environment, cultural differences, more or less, exist among different countries, resulting in various translation strategies. From the perspective of cultural differences, the paper attempts to make a research on the importance of foreignization to maintain the aesthetic characteristics of the original work, resist, to some degree, cultural hegemony and invasion and promote international cultural exchanges.

Keywords: foreignization, cultural differences, international cultural exchange

According to Y anchang and Liu Runqing, language is a part of culture and plays a very important role in it. Some social scientists consider it the keystone of cultures. Without language, they maintain, culture would not be possible. On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture. In the broadest sense, language is the symbolic representation of a people and it comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking.

Since literary translation plays such an important role in cultural exchange and transmission in every society, it has been generally accepted that it is of great importance, significance and value foe translators to analyze and study the differences of language habits caused by cultural differences in both Chinese and English, to explain the influence of cultural competence on language competence on language competence, to improve cultural competence and awareness and to explore appropriate ways of dealing with cultural difference in literary translation.

In his 1998 book The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference, V enuti states that "Domestication and foreignization deal with 'the question of how much a translation assimilates a foreign text to the translating language and culture, and how much it rather signals the differences of that text'".

Foreignization is the strategy of retaining information from the source text, and involves deliberately breaking the conventions of the target language to preserve its meaning. According to Lawrence V enuti, every translator should look at the translation process through the prism of culture which refracts the source language cultural norms and it is the translator?s task to convey them, preserving their meaning and their foreignness, to the target-language text. Every step in the translation process—from the selection of foreign texts to the implementation of translation

strategies to the editing, reviewing, and reading of translations—is mediated by the diverse cultural values that circulate in the target language.

Along with the ongoing globalization, china is necessary to know about the world, furthermore, it is more necessary for the world to learn about China. As a means of cultural dissemination of information,,Chinese-to-English or English-to-Chinese translation is responsible for the introduction of foreign culture to come in, and spreading out of the Chinese culture. To fulfill this task, only foreignization based on source language culture is the best way to deal with cultural differences and dissemination.

Dream of the Red Chamber is walking encyclopedia of Chinese culture. It is so culture-loaded that it is challenging for those who want to translate it from Chinese to English. In 1970, two complete English versions were published almost at the same time respectively in Beijing and London. One was translated by Chinese scholar Y ang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Y ang; the other was rendered by British sinologist David Hawkes. Ys adopted foreignization to deal with it, which made great contribution in conveying China's unique culture to English readers with, seeing from the following examples:

Example1:

宝玉心中想道：“难道这也是个痴子，又象颦儿来葬花不成？”因而又自叹道：“若真也葬花，可谓“东施效颦”，但不为新特，且更可厌了。”

Ys: " Can this be another absurd maid who has come to bury flowers like Tai-yu?" he(Pao-yu) wondered in some amusement. "If so, she's "Tung Shih imitating Hsi Shih", which isn't original but rather tiresome."(Hsi Shih was a famous beauty in the ancient Kingdom of Y ue. Tung Shih was an ugly girl who tried to imitate her ways. )

Example 2:

鸳鸯道：“当中二五是杂七。”薛姨妈道：“织女牛郎会七夕。”

Ys: (Y uan-yang said)"In the middle 'two and five' makes seven"

(Aunt Hsueh responded,) "The Weaving Maid and Cowherd" meet in heaven."(Names of constellations in Chinese astronomy. According to Chinese folklore, the weaving maid and the Cowherd were lovers.)

Example 3:

探春冷笑道：“俗话说的，…物伤其类，唇亡齿寒?，我自然有些心惊么！”

Ys：Tan-chun smiled cynically. " As the proverbs says, 'everyone feels foe his fellow creatures.' and 'When the lips are gone the teeth will feel cold.' How can I help being alarmed?"

Example 4:

贾芸笑道：“舅舅说的倒干净。······巧媳妇做不出没米的粥来，叫我怎么样呢？还亏是我呢，要是别个，死皮赖脸三日两头来缠着舅舅，要三升米两斤豆子的，舅舅也就没有法呢。”

Ys: "Y ou are quite right, uncle," replied Chia Y un amiably." ···Even the cleverest housewife can't cook a meal without rice. What do you expect me to do? Y ou're lucky I'm not one of those

thick-skinned people, for then I'd keep pestering you for three pecks of rice today, two pecks beans tomorrow. What could you have done then, uncle?

Example 5:

什么“好话”？又什么“喜事”？怪道成日家羡慕人家女儿作了小老婆，一家子都仗着他横行霸道的，一家子都成了小老婆了！看的眼熟了，也把我送在火坑里去。我若得脸呢，你们在外头横行霸道，自己就封自己是舅爷了。我若不得脸败了时，你们王八脖子一缩，生死由我。

Ys: What's all this talk of "good news" and "good fortune"? No wonder, though Y ou've always envied those families who start throwing their weight about once their daughters are concubines, as if every one of them was a concubine too. Y ou can't wait to pitch me into that fiery pit. Then if I get given face you can bully people outside, calling yourselves relatives of the Chia family, if I lose face and land in trouble, you turtles can shrink back into your shells and leave me to my fate.

Through all these examples, we can get a clear idea that Y's version of Hong Lou Meng is faithful to the original one by adopting the translating strategy of foreignization, furthermore, it brings foreignness and freshness to English readers. As we all know that when a reader is reading a foreign literary work, he is expecting to get something different from his own domestic one, especially the exotic ism existing in the foreign work. Foreignization is the only way to meet the reader's this kind of requirement.

From the five example above, the target readers can some new and unique Chinese allusions, idioms and expressions. "东施效颦" in the first example is a famous Chinese allusion. It is an allusion from Zhuang zi （庄子）. Xi Shi(西施）was a famous beauty in ancient China. One day, she got a heartache, so she put her hand on the chest and knitted her brows. An ugly girl in the neighbour liked imitating Xi Shi very much, so she was called Dong Shi(东施). The moment she saw Xi Shi's manner that day, she put her hand on the chest and knitted her brows too, which made her much uglier. The old saying tells us that blind imitation that may cause opposite effect should be avoided.

“织女牛郎会七夕” "物伤其类，唇亡齿寒" "巧媳妇做不出没米的粥来" "三升米两斤豆子" "舅爷" "王八脖子一缩" are classical Chinese allusions, idioms and expressions which could not afford to be domesticated during the process of translation. By foreignization, Y successfully madee the translation much more appropriate for English readers to learn about special Chinese culture and triumphantly retain the charm and flavor of our classical novel Hong Lou Meng.

Different peoples have developed a great many classical allusions, idioms and expressions under different historical background. Classical allusions and idioms convey complicated messages by means of simple signs. They are of strong cultural features, simple in structure but rich in connotation. The connotation of these allusions and idioms will be lost if they are translated or understood literally.

Take the Chinese idiom "三个臭皮匠赛过一个诸葛亮"as an example. If it is rendered literally as "Three cobblers surpass Zhuge Liang", then the western people will feel puzzled as they do not know who Zhuge Liang is. This is because the version fails to convey the connotation of the rich historical cultural knowledge in this Chinese idioms.

To Chinese it is mot difficult at all for them to understand its cultural connotation, but to Westerners who do not know much about Chinese historical culture, the literal translation "Tung

Shih imitates Hi Shih" will be a problem because the version fails to convey the cultural connotation. Similarly, if the Chinese version of“John can be relied on. He eats no fish and plays the game." is "约翰为人可靠，他一向不吃鱼而且经常玩游戏', the inner meaning of the sentences is lost, too. "To eat no fish" and "to play the game" are two English classical allusion and idiom, whose connotation is "忠诚" and "公平对待、为人正直、举止光明正大" respectively. And in "Many took to gambling and got "Shylocks", the Jewish usurer in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of V enice", is an analogy of greediness and cruelty. In China, "济公" is a famous person, who enjoys the love and esteem of the Chinese people. The Chinese "济公劫富济贫，深受穷苦人民爱戴" can only be understood by Westerners when it is translating by using analogy into " Jigong, rob in Hood in China, took from the rich and gave the poor."

There are great numbers of historical allusions, idioms and expressions both in Chinese and English, cush as " 亡羊补牢、滥竽充数、叶公好龙、班门弄斧。三顾茅庐、名落孙山、司马昭之心，路人皆知、狗咬吕洞宾，不知好人心" and "paint the lily(画蛇添足；多此一举), meet one's Waterloo(败走麦城；惨遭失败), cut the Gordian's knot(斩断死结；快刀斩乱麻)" etc. The translation of them can only be successful when cultural difference is paid attention to and their cultural connotations are correctly transformed or conveyed.. Foreignizatin is an excellent translating strategies to deal with this situation.

From all the example above, we can draw a conclusion that foreignization is very useful in being loyal to the original culture and transferring freshness and exoticism to the target culture. Furthermore it can be used by Chinese translators to resist the cultural imperialism from Anglo-American nations. With the spread of English throughout the world, the ideology of English-speaking nations intruded into other cultures. Just as Bassnett said colonialism and translation went hand in hand. Compared to Anglo-American culture, Chinese culture is in the weak position, so it is of great significance for the Chinese translators to employ foreignization to be against the culture invasion from the superpowers and to build our native culture.

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