Cultural Constraints Involved in Translating Chinese Idioms into English

摘要

众所周知，翻译在经济文化商业的交流中起着至关重要的作用。二十世纪70年代以前，业界对翻译的研究通常停留在语言学的层面上，总是对所谓的“对等”、“直译、意译”进行毫无结果的争论。现在，人们普遍认为：翻译的目的是进行文化交流，所以翻译不仅是简单的字面意义的转换，而是文化转换，文化植入。 二十世纪70年代以来，众多翻译流派以全新的视角进行翻译研究。二十世纪90年代，Andre Lefcvcre and Susan Bassnett提出了“文化转向”的概念，倡议翻译研究应在文化、历史等更广泛的领域里进行研究。他们认为：翻译过程的产生，不是在真空中，而是受到各种条件制约的。文学翻译无一例外会受到文化的制约。 《红楼梦》，中国文化的集大成者，是中国和世界文学宝库的一颗明珠。小说中大量习语的运用，使小说更加生动。本文以“文化转向”为理论柜架，参考杨宪益和Hawkes的译本来探讨中国文化对习语翻译的制约。两位大师在翻译中对文化词语的处理，必定使我们受益非浅。

目录

文摘

英文文摘

Acknowledgements

Chapter One Introduction

Chapter Two Translation Studies and Cultural Turn

2.1 The Emergence of Innovative Thinking in Translation Studies

2.2 The Concept of Cultural Turn

2.2.1 The Guiding Principle in the Concept of ‘Cultural Turn’

Chapter Three Translation as Intercultural Communication

3.1 Interaction between Culture and Language

3.2 Translation as Intercultural Communication

3.2.1 Interaction between Language , Culture and Translation

3.2.2 The Object of Translation

Chapter Four Possibilities and Difficulties in Translating Chinese Idioms

4.1 Chinese Idioms and Their Traits

4.2 The Co-existence of Possibilities and Difficulties in Translating Chinese Idioms

4.3 Culture-Conditioned Response from Readers

Chapter Five Cultural Constraints Involved in Translating Chinese Idioms

5.1 Brief Introductions to Professor Hawkes and Professor Yang

5.2 Cultural Constraints Derived from Cultural Difference

5.2.1 The Distinctive Traits of Chinese Culture

5.3 Cultural Constraints in Translating Chinese Idioms

5.3.1 Constraints Derived from Linguistic Differences

5.3.2 Constraints Derived from the Cultural Background

5.3.3 Constraints Derived from Chinese Cultural Values

5.3.4 Cultural Constraints Derived Chinese Customs

5.4 The Attitude to National Culture behind Translation Strategy

5.4.1 The Strategies Adopted by Yang Xianyi and David Hawkes

5.4.2 The Attitude to National Culture Reflected in the Selection of Translating Strategy

Chapter Six Conclusion

Bibliography