论文化差异与唐诗英译

论文化差异与唐诗英译【摘要】自古以来，文化与翻译互相依赖，互为补充。

唐诗作为中国文化史上的一枚奇葩需要借用翻译活动推向世界，而不同民族间的文化差异阻碍了这一文化的交流和融合，因此，理解文化差异、加强文化交流是提高唐诗翻译的根本，也是全世界理解和欣赏唐诗文化的关键。

【关键词】文化差异；文化交流；唐诗；欣赏Abstract: For many years, translation activity and cultural sense are indispensable from each other. The poems produced in Tang dynasty, a cultural relic in Chinese history, needs to spread and be appreciated by the whole world. But the cultural difference between the West and China has slowed down its influence and speed. Therefore, to enhance the mutual understanding and communication is the key to perfect the translation of pomes in Tang dynasty, which can also better westerners’ appreciation to our ancient cultural achievements.Key words: Cultural difference，communication，poems in Tang Dynasty，appreciation一、“翻译之事，由来已久”在我国有史料可考的翻译活动可以追溯到周代。

《周礼》中提到“行人”，即负责接待四方使节与宾客任务的官员职称，他的职责就是“掌蛮夷闽貉戎狄之国，使掌传王之言而谕说焉，以和亲之。

”书中还提到，周代每七年就要将诸侯国的翻译人员集中到周天子所在地加以训练。

这是关于我国翻译人员培训的最早记载，也可看出古代就对翻译活动的重视。

在我国历史上曾经出现过三次翻译高潮——东汉至唐宋的佛经翻译，明末清初的科技翻译和鸦片战争后至五四前的西方政治思想与文学翻译。

解放后，翻译活动更是达到一个繁荣时期，为政治、经济、文化、科技、军事、外交等各个方面作出了很大贡献，各种翻译理论和流派层出不穷，涌现出了大批杰出的翻译家和优秀的译作，真正实现了“百花齐放，百家争鸣”的局面。

二、翻译与文化翻译从一开始就和文化密不可分，翻译活动通过语言和文字向外传播本民族的文化并引进异域的文化，是文化交流的重要渠道，可以说，如果缺少了翻译活动，不同民族间的文化交流和融合是不可想象的，因此，谈翻译就不可避免的要谈到文化。

古往今来，人们对文化的定义可以说是形形色色。

英国“人类学家之父”泰勒在《原始文化》一书中对文化做了如下阐释：“文化或文明，就其广泛的民族学意义来说，是包括全部的知识、信仰、艺术、道德、法律、风俗以及作为社会成员的人所掌握和接受的任何其他的才能和习惯的复合体。

”《辞海》（上海辞书出版社，1989）则从广义和狭义两个方面对文化进行了定义。

广义的文化，指“人类社会历史实践过程中所创造的物质财富的总和。

”狭义的文化，指的是“社会的意识形态，以及与之相适应的制度和组织机构。

”还有的观点认为，所谓文化，就是某一社会在某一时期的所有产物，包括风俗、信仰、艺术、音乐和其他所有的人类思维产品，例如古希腊文化、古埃及文化等。

正如王克非先生所说，无论怎样定义，归根结底，“文化是理性人类创造的物质价值精神总和，具有时间、空间意义，这个最根本的特性应是趋同的认识。

”三、唐诗英译中的文化障碍唐朝是古代中国的一个鼎盛时期，政治的稳定、经济的发展带来了文化上的繁荣，涌现了许多伟大的诗人，如李白，杜甫等，创作出了大批优秀的诗歌作品。

唐诗是我国文学宝库中的一颗明珠，是中华文明的精华之一，因此吸引了许多中外的翻译家将其翻译出版，向世界人民介绍这一辉煌的艺术成果，国外如Herbert A.Giles、W .J .B.Fletcher 等，国内如翁显良、许渊冲等，都为此作出了巨大的贡献。

各个时代的文学作品往往最能集中反映一个民族的文化活动，通过对这些作品的翻译，人们得以了解该民族的地域风情和人文精神。

但是由于文化背景的不同，对一个民族的语言的体会与理解是有差异的，在翻译中不可避免的会有许多困难和障碍。

现撷取数例，分别从数量词、地理名词和典故这三个方面来浅探唐诗英译中经常遇到的一些文化障碍。

数量词在汉语中，诸如“一”、“三”“百”、“千”、“万”等数词随处可见，例如“三思而后行”、“一不做二不休”等等，这种语言习惯不可避免的会体现在唐诗中。

例如李白的《秋浦歌》写到：“白发三千丈，缘愁似个长。

不知明镜里，何处得秋霜？”这里的“三千丈”是夸张的用法，因为头发不可能长到“三千丈”，熟谙汉语习惯的人都很容易理解，但是对于其他文化背景的读者来说未必就这么容易体会其中的夸张，所以Giles将这一句译为:“My whitening hair would be a long long rope.”用a long long rope这一具体的形象替代了“三千丈”这个数量短语，虽然意似，但是却失去了原文的艺术冲击力。

再看柳宗元的《江雪》中的前两句：“千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭。

”诗中的“千”和“万”并非是具体的“一千”座山或者“一万”条路，而是用来形容山和路的数量之多。

Bynner将之译为：“A hundred mountains and no bird,A thousand paths without a footprint.”为了句式工整，“千”译为“A hundrd”，“万”译为“A thousand”,不知道那些异国的读者们能不能体会到其中的含义。

论文化差异与唐诗英译(2)地理名词每个地方都有自己独特的文化内涵，因此一个地名往往会让人浮想联翩，会产生不同的心理反映，比如巴黎总是和浪漫联系在一起，而纽约总是让人想到繁华喧嚣。

同样，中国文化也给一些中国的地名染上了独特的色彩。

杜牧在《赠别》写到：“娉娉袅袅十三余，豆蔻梢头二月初。

春风十里扬州路，卷上珠帘总不如。

”Bynner将后两句译为:“On the YangZhou Road for three miles in the breeze,Every pearl-screen is open.But thers’s no one like her.”扬州在古代可能相当于现在的上海，是文人墨客向往的消魂之所，曾有“腰缠十万贯，骑鹤去扬州”的说法。

Bynner用的是直译法，可是对与一个外国读者来说，扬州这个地方的文化含义恐怕很难理解，也就难以体会到诗句的精妙，因此许渊冲教授将之改译为：“When the spring wind uprolls the pearly window screen,Her face outshines those on the sple ndid three miles way.”这种意译的方法似乎更妥。

再比如张说《蜀道后期》：“客心争日月，来往预期程。

秋风不相待，先到洛阳城。

”Fletcher将后两句译为“The winds of autumn they wait not for me ,But hurry on thither whereI would be。

”吕叔湘对这个译文大为赞赏，认为“洛阳”如果直译“不若如此之能曲达”，因为洛阳是历史名城，其文化内涵是直译难以传达的，不如意译。

3.典故许多典故来自于民间传说、经典名著等，具有鲜明的民族性和形象性，比如我们在谈到情人分居两地时常用“牛郎织女”来形容，这一典故来自与我国的民间传说，再比如说“阿Q”精神，指的是精神胜利法，出自鲁迅的小说《阿Q正传》，这些典故深入人心，几乎妇孺皆知。

事实上典故最能反映一个民族的文化积淀和民族心理，熟知典故的读者就能轻松体会到阅读的乐趣，反之真的是“丈二和尚摸不着头脑”。

我们以孟郊《古别离》为例，诗中这样写到：“欲去牵郎衣，郎今到何处？不恨归来迟，莫向临邛去！”在这里“临邛”用的是司马相如和卓文君的典故，构成了一个独特的文化意象，它表达了女主人公的愿望，即希望丈夫走后不要另觅新欢，弃家不归的愿望。

Flecher将之译为”your late returning does not anger me, But that another stealed your heart away”。

值得肯定的是译诗传达出了原作的基本信息，读者还能感受到原作中的韵味，但是丧失了原文的民族特色，信息传递也有所偏差，原文含蓄意味深长，而译诗则直奔主题，态度鲜明。

再如杜秋娘的《金缕衣》，对于这首诗的标题的翻译就有多个版本。

Bynner将之译为“The Gold-threaded Robe”，是直译字面的意思。

Henry H.hart译为“wise age to youth”是根据诗的主题进行的意译，已经完全背离了“金缕衣”的原意，事实上《金缕衣》是中国古代的曲牌名，这首诗的主题是劝人们珍惜少年时光及时行乐。

因此黄新渠用了直译与意译相结合的方法，译为”Advice to the young(Ancient tune:JinluYi)”,似乎更为妥当。

从以上的例子中我们可以看出，文化差异的必然存在决定了翻译障碍的不可避免，但是随着全球化时代的到来，各国文化交流日益增强，我们应该有信心逐步克服这种文化差异所造成的障碍，为传播人类文化作出更多更新的贡献。

Jane Austen,A Transitional Writer in the English Literature【摘要】简·奥斯汀是英国文学史上18世纪末新古典主义过渡到19世纪初浪漫主义的重要代表作家。

本文重点从两方面探讨她的过渡性：一方面从作品的主题看，大部分奥斯汀的小说都反映了人们对婚姻态度及观念的变化；另一方面，从写作风格上看，她的作品以喜剧的形式讽刺社会，令人深思。

【关键词】简·奥斯；过渡时期As we all know, it is not until the second half of the 18th century that women novelists began to appear in England. And some gifted women from the end of the 18th century to 19th century made some contributions to the development of the English novel, which even won their places in the front ranks of some realists like Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, etc. Jane Austen (1775-1817) was just such a great woman writer in this period. She brought the English novel to its maturity and her satirical fictions marked the transition from the 18th-century neoclassicism to the 19th-century romanticism in the English literature.Jane Austen was born at Steventon and the seventh child of a country clergyman family. She was educated at home and passed all her life in doing small domestic duties in the countryside. She wrote six completefamous novels, including Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1816), Northanger Abbey (1818), and Persuasion (1818).She lived and worked at the turn of the century, which witnessed a great change of the English society. Since the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 18th century, the English social structure underwent rapid changes. The industrial capitalists began to control not only the economic but also the political power and thus the struggle between the workers and capitalists also became more and more sharp. Consequently, people started to doubt and even lose hope to the enlightening thoughts that was popular in the first half of the 18th century. Literature, as a “barometer” of the social life, also experienced great change. One of the most remarkable changes was in the literary taste. That is to say, people started to dislike Swift’s brutality, Defoe’s frank realism, and even Fielding’s masculine satire. So the works with the rational tone began to give way to the works full of sentiments.Under such a social and literary environment, Jane Austen exerted her transitional role in English literature. We can see it from two aspects.Firstly, in theme, most of Jane Austen’s novels reflect the process of thechange of the attitude towards the marriage. As we all know, in Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility, one of the heroine, Elinor Dashwood, is quite sensible. She thinks very highly of a man whose worthiness in her eyes only increases when she learns why he cannot marry her. However, another heroine, Marianne Dashwood, is very sentimental at the beginning. So she trusts her senses and falls in love with a man who in truth is not as good as he seems and finally is abandoned. Through the different fates of these two sisters, Jane Austen shows us her early attitude towards the marriage that to marry according to sense will end in failure while with ration will succeed. Such a theme reflects that at first Jane Austen inherits the traditional enlightening thoughts. However, her minds change in her later novels, especially in her novels Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. In these novels, sentiment becomes upper hand and attains success in the end. For example, at the very beginning of the novel Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen wrote, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” And the hero and theroine are the very sensible people. Mr. Darcy, from a noble family, has a strong sense of family status and turns up his nose at the vulgarity of Bennet family. And Elizabeth Bennet is also very sensitive to her family background and becomes instantly prejudiced against Mr. Darcy, despite his good looks and great wealth. However, with the gradual deep intercourse andunderstanding between these two people, they fall in love with each other and finally smash the bonds of the ration and social pressure and marry. So this novel shows the victory of the sentiment, for it is just thanks to the deep love that makes these two people from different class status successfully marry. This reflects that Jane Austen’s creating thoughts begins to change from the rationalism to the romanticism. Her last novel Persuasion also displays such a change. Therefore, we can say that it is just through the conflict between the ration and sentiment in the novels that Jane Austen accomplishes the transition from the rational literature to the romantic literature.Moreover, her development from rationalism to the romanticism also reflects in her new concept of marriage. That is she advocates the only base of marriage should be the true love, not the family backgrounds and economic base. This vividly reflects in the scene of Elizabeth Bennet refusing Mr. Collins’ proposal. When Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth, she answers,“I thank you again and again for the honor you have done me in your proposals, but to accept them is absolutely impossible. My feelings in every respect forbid it.”These words show Elizabeth the determination that she prefers to keep single in all her life rather than to marry to Mr. Collins without love, and therefore, establish a romantic character.Jane Austen,A Transitional Writer in the English Literature(2)Secondly, her transitional role also displays in her writing style. That is to say, on the one hand, she inherited some characteristics of the neoclassicism in style and painted the world she knew; so it is foolish to expect from her the high-flown sentiment; but on the other hand, to some degree, her style is also different from the previous enlightening writers, like Fielding, just as she herself claimed that she not only painted the world she lived in with fidelity, but also with sympathy; with a sensitive sense of its blemishes, but also with a true insight into its redeeming virtues. So her characters evolve themselves without any great dramatic episodes. And although her language sparkles with wit and irony, they are moderate. Her novel Pride and Prejudice provides a good example for this point. We know that Mr. Collins is a clergyman in this novel. When he sings high praise for his patroness, he says,“Lady Catherine was reckoned proud by many people, he knew, but he had never seen anything but affability in her. She had always spoken to him as she would to any other gentleman; she made not the smallest objection to his joining in the society of the neighborhood, nor to his leaving his parish occasionally for a week or two to visit his relations.”It is true that these words are also the satire to Mr. Collins’ snobbery. But different from the traditional satire, Jane Austen is too conscious of people’s snobbery to be angry with them, and thus gives her criticism a flavor of humor. Therefore, we say that in style she is also a transitional writer at the turn of the century, just as one of the most important neoclassicist, Sir Walter Scott, comments on her,“The big bow-wow strain I can do myself, like any now going; but the exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting from the truth of the description and the sentiment is denied me.”To sum up, through the above analysis, we can make such a summary that Jane Austen plays a transitional role in the English literature from the 18th neoclassicism to the 19th romanticism. Trained in the enlighteningtradition, she displays the feeling moderately; influenced by the coming romanticism, she satirizes the society in comedy. So it might be an error to say that Jane Austen is incapable of sentiment, because nobady can create a true comedy of life without romance and passion that is even in the humblest existence.【Notes】[1]Austen, Jane, 1997, Pride and Prejudice, Bei Jing: Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press & OxfordUniversity Press, p.1.[2]Austen, Jane, 1997, Pride and Prejudice, Bei Jing: Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press & OxfordUniversity Press, p.48.[3]Craik, W. A. 1965, Jane Austen: The Six Novels, New York: Barnes & Noble Inc., p.56.【References】[1]Austen, Jane, 1997, Pride and Prejudice, Bei Jing: Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press & Oxford University Press.[2]Craik, W. A. 1965, Jane Austen: The Six Novels, New York: Barnes & Noble Inc., p.56.[3]Rubinstein, Annette T. 1953, The Great Tradition in English Literature from Shakespeare to Shaw, New York: The Citadel Press.[4]朱红编写，1985，《奥斯丁研究》，北京：中国文联出版公司。