论文总字数：35500字

摘 要

汉语习语凝聚着丰富的民族文化，其作为汉语的重要组成部分，担负着重要的表情达意任务和文化交流的任务。因此习语的英译既要考虑语言的转换，也要考虑文化的转换。由于其丰富的民族文化内及特殊的构成结构，习语的英译仍是一个难题。

《丰乳肥臀》，是莫言的最重要代表作之一，其中含有大量的习语。所以其中习语翻译的恰当与否，对准确表达原文的意思，传达中国文化具有重要作用。

功能对等理论作为重要的翻译理论之一，对文学的翻译产生了极大的推动作用。本文试图从功能对等角度来探讨《丰乳肥臀》中的习语翻译问题，分析《丰乳肥臀》的译者葛浩文采取了何种翻译方法呈现习语又获得了何种程度的功能对等。

关键词：习语；《丰乳肥臀》；功能对等；翻译方法

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

2.1 Brief Introduction to Mo Yan and Big Breasts and Wide Hips 2

2.2 Brief Introduction to Howard Goldblatt and English Version Big Breasts and Wide Hips 3

2.3 Brief Introduction to Nida’s Functional Equivalence 5

2.4 Chinese Idioms and Idiom Translation 7

3. Methodology 9

3.1 Data Sources 9

3.2 Research Methods 10

4. Analysis and Discussion 10

4.1 Methods of Idiom Translation in Big Breasts and Wide Hips 10

4.1.1 Literal Translation 10

4.1.2 Literal Translation with Annotation 12

4.1.3 Transliteration 13

4.1.4 Free Translation 14

4.1.5 Substitution 15

4.1.6 Omission 15

4.2 Summary 16

5. Conclusion 17

5.1 Major Findings 17

5.2 Limitations and Further Study 17

Works Cited 18

1. Introduction

1.1 Stimulus of the Research

Numerous Chinese literary works are translated into English with the accelerating process of cultural communication between China and the west. Big Breasts and Wide Hips is one of those works taking on the task of communicating Chinese culture. Especially after Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in Literature, his works certainly including Big Breasts and Wide Hips have been gaining extensive attention. So Howard Goldblatt’s translation Big Breasts and Wide Hips is vital to reproduce the original and communicate Chinese culture.

The novel covers so many idioms imbued with special culture connotations which are tough to be suitably translated into English. However, the study in this novel on English translation of idioms is limited and leaves much space to be researched.Therefore, the paper will probe into this problem from the point of view of functional equivalence and manage to make some efforts to interpret the idiom translation in Big Breasts and Wide Hips.

1.2 Purpose of the Research

If we want foreign readers to understand and appreciate the literary work even Chinese culture very well, we must ensure that the idioms included in the novel are translated appropriately enough to attain such an objective. Once we put some theories and strategies as the basis, it will be relatively easier to express the connotations and culture carried in idioms. Therefore, the thesis tries to analyze the methods of idiom translation adopted by Howard Goldblatt in Big Breasts and Wide Hips from the aspect of functional equivalence. The functional equivalence is not only effective in providing a theoretical basis in general, but also effective in rendering idiom into English in specific details. The paper aims at making some contributions to the study on Big Breasts and Wide Hips and disseminating the relevant Chinese culture.

1.3 Research Questions

Following two questions will be discussed in the thesis:

1) What methods does Howard Goldblatt adopt to render idioms into English in Big Breasts and Wide Hips

2) To what extent does the translator achieve functional equivalence of idiom translation and how to reach that equivalence?

1.4 Structure of the Research

The paper is made up of five parts.

Chapter one serves as the introduction, which contains stimulus,purpose, questions and structure of the research.

Chapter two is the theoretical framework. After an introduction to Mo Yan and Big Breasts and Wide Hips as well as its translator and English version, Nida’s functional equivalence is discussed carefully. Then there is a general introduction to idioms and its characteristics are mentioned. In addition, this part also includes a previous study on Chinese idiom translation.

Chapter three provides a methodology of this thesis. They are data sources and research methods.

Chapter four is the most important part offering analysis on six methods adopted by Howard Goldblatt to translate idioms. Importantly, this part shows that to what degree the translator achieves functional equivalence in idiom translation.

Chapter five comes to a conclusion of the thesis. Research limitations and suggestions to further study are also discussed.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Brief Introduction to Mo Yan and Big Breasts and Wide Hips

Mo Yan, one of the controversial Chinese contemporary writers, has gained popularity in many countries. It is said that no writer has made more contributions to the imagination of historical space than Mo Yan in China in recent memory. Mo Yan’s works have aroused quite a few disputes especially after Big Breasts and Wide Hips published. This novel is one of Mo Yan’s most representative works awarded the first Dajia Prize in 1997. In the introduction of his English version Howard Goldblatt quoted what the judges for this nongovernmental prize by saying:

Big Breasts and Wide Hips is a sumptuous literary feast with a simple straightforward title. In it，with undaunted perseverance and passion，Mo Yan has narrated the historical evolution of. Chinese society in a work that covers nearly the entire twentieth century... It is a literary masterpiece in the author’s distinctive style. (Goldblatt, 2004: ix)

2.2 Brief Introduction to Howard Goldblatt and English Version Big Breasts and Wide Hips

2.2.1 Translation Career of Howard Goldblatt

Howard Goldblatt has studied Chinese since he served in Taiwan in the 1960s, which gave him enough time to research Chinese culture. In the next thirty years, he is dedicated to the research of Chinese literary and culture. Howard Goldblatt once said that it was Xiao Hong who led him to the road of Chinese translation. His translation works about with a total of 50 includes works of more than 20 writers such as Xiao Hong, Lao She, Ba Jin, Jia Pingwa, Mo Yan, etc. A great many of those have won international prizes relying on his splendid translation. His translation has a great promoting effect on the transmission of Chinese culture and literature as well as increasing influences of Chinese writers in western countries. He is honored as the foremost translator of modem and contemporary Chinese literature in the English—speaking world.

2.2.2 Howard Goldblatt’s Translation Big Breasts and Wide Hips

The English edition was first published in New York in 2003 and then in London in 2005 bringing with prevalence. Howard Goldblatt"s English translation of Mo Yan’s novel serves to promote the novel’s international visibility. Mo Yan once said: “Without his excellent work, my novels may be translated into English published in America by someone, however, present perfect translations would not have appeared” (Mo Yan, 2000:170). It is he that introduces Big Breasts and Wide Hips to the western countries.

2.2.3 Howard Goldblatt’s Translation Thoughts

Howard Goldblatt’s enthusiasm for Chinese culture and language makes him get the great success in translation field. Although there is no book specially paying attention to Howard Goldblatt’s translation thoughts, we can reach a conclusion from his The Writing Life published in Washington Post as follows: translation is “a compromise of fidelity and creativity” (Jin Xiurong, 2009:122); “translation is betrayal and rewriting, and translation is a cross-cultural activity in nature” (Wen Jun, Wang Xiaochuan and Lai Tian, 2007:78).

Translation should be faithful to the original text, but no translator is able to be in accordance with the author completely resulting from culture, language, knowledge, thinking pattern, etc. So translator has to rewrite or create the text based on his own knowledge and understanding to make foreign readers appreciate more easily. Here, we can regard rewriting and creativity as betrayal. However, betrayal is just a proper change considering the culture and features of target language. In this way, the translator can achieve a compromise of fidelity and creativity.

When it comes to a cross-cultural activity, Goldblatt (2002) holds that translators should go about the tasks and deal with the intricacies of cross-culture communication to promote cross-culture communication.

In conclusion, although Howard agrees that translation is betrayal and rewriting, faithfulness is still the first guidance on his Chinese—English translation. “The nature of translation”, a cross-cultural communication activity, makes rewriting and betrayal necessary to present the original text to the target reader more faithfully (Wen Jun, 2007:80).

2.3 Brief Introduction to Nida’s Functional Equivalence

Eugene A. Nida is not only an American translation theorist but a linguist, and he is one of the most productive theorists in the west. His translation thoughts and theories exert a great world influence over translation because he injects new ideas and vitality and introduces new methods and concepts to translation research.

2.3.1 Core Concepts of the Functional Equivalence Theory

Functional equivalence is an important and core one of his translation theories.

Nida has made use of “dynamic equivalence’’ to describe his translation views in his two major works Toward a Science of Translating (1964) and The Theory and Practice of Translation (1969). Functional equivalence is derived from dynamic equivalence. Nida used the term functional equivalence to replace dynamic equivalence in his From One Language to Another to avoid misunderstanding by readers in the 1980s. In fact, they are the same in nature. Nida’s dynamic equivalence was to “reproduce in the receptor language the closest natural equivalence of the source-language message” (Nida amp; Taber, 2004a:12).

In Nida’s book Toward A Science of Translating, he explained:

“In such a translation (dynamic equivalence) one is not so concerned with matching the receptor-language message with the source-language message, but with the dynamic relationship between the original receptors and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the messages. (Nida, 2004b:159)

We can know receptor is the key element in translation from the theory. According to Nida, equivalence never means identity and sameness, just a closeness and approximation because it is impossible to achieve complete equivalence.

Functional equivalence can be classified into two levels: the minimal equivalence and the maximal equivalence. As far as Nida’s concerned, to achieve the minimal equivalence is the minimum standard of translation. Although the maximal one is almost impossible to achieve, a good translation should be put in between the two.

2.3.3 Nature of Functional Equivalence

Nida holds that “ translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalence of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style” (Nida amp; Taber, 2004a:12). Here, we know the meaning of equivalence is more important.

Nida (2004b) insists that translator should take into account the receptor language and culture as a whole, the context of the particular message, and the receptor-language audience for a natural rendering. The receptor language and culture as a whole is the essential ingredient in any stylistically rendering.

In fact, translating is always “a matter of choosing the best or better rendering from various alternatives. Some may be relatively literal, other quite free, and some may be somewhat in between”. (Jin amp; Nida, 1984:90) Only by considering all factors involved in communication and choosing the most appropriate alternative, can one arrive at a satisfactory functional equivalence.

2.3.4 The Influences of the Functional Equivalence Theory in Translation Circles

Functional equivalence theory has been widely employed by Bible translators since the 1950s successful. Later, it was popular in western translation fields from the 1960s to the 1980s.Some scholars acclaim this theory as a general theory in translation practice. Wolfram Wilss (2001) once stated：‘‘The concept of translation equivalence has been an essential issue not only in translation theory over the last 2000 years，but also in modem translation studies…’’ (2001:134)

As the theory was introduced to China in the early 1980s, it was welcomed by quite a few scholars. After Wu Yicheng published his article On Problems of Translation Equivalence in 1994, Nida’s theory had met with denial in China. In fact, no theory can avoid disadvantages. We can never negate its functions and effects for some inevitable deficiencies. Admittedly, Nida’s theories, especially functional equivalence, have played a absolutely important role in promoting the development of modern Chinese translation study and practice among western translation theories.

2.4 Chinese Idioms and Idiom Translation

The idiom remains ubiquitous in almost every language imbued with particular meaning and unique characteristics. Only we interpret and understand Chinese idioms very well, can we translate them into English appropriately. However, what on earth is an idiom? Next is its definition.

2.4.1 Definition of Chinese Idioms

Idioms are often translated into “cheng yu” or “shu yu” in Chinese. They are defined in Cihai (1999) as “fixed phrase or sentences with concise form, specific meaning, which cannot be changed arbitrary and should be understood as a whole”. As a matter of fact, idioms in abroad sense consist of “set phrases, folk adages sayings, proverbs, two-part allegorical sayings, vulgarities, etc”. (Zhang Peiji, 1979:1)

The idiom is a specific language phenomenon with grammatical constructions, semantic meanings and rhetorical implications. Therefore, it is necessary to think over all the aspects when translating idioms.

2.4.2 The Characteristics of Chinese Idioms

The author summarizes the following features of idioms from the book How to Translate Chinese Idioms into English written by Zhang Peiji (1979).

Firstly, the idiom with fixed structure is the concentrated expressions of rhetoric in one language. Many idioms often employ euphony, repetition, parallelism, etc. to be catchy, lucid and forceful such as “三个臭皮匠顶个诸葛亮”，“三三两两” and “阴奉阳违”. Secondly, idioms are characterized by lexical integrity not the sum of every unit, which cannot be altered or substituted for synonym. For example, “雪中送炭” cannot be replaced with “雪中送煤”. Thirdly, idioms often break grammatical rules and logical inferences. For example, “三心二意” not mean three hearts and two minds grammatically, and “装蒜” also cannot be interpreted logically. Fourthly, some idioms have occasional versions and abbreviations. For example, “一箭双雕”can be changed into “一箭三雕” as required and “三个臭皮匠顶个诸葛亮” can be shortened as “三个臭皮匠”.

Those features of Chinese idioms determine that idiom translation is a tough task for translators render Chinese literary works carried with many idioms into English based on a cross-cultural communication.

2.4.3 Previous Studies on English Translation of Chinese Idioms

English translation of Chinese idioms has been discussed by many scholars. Zhang Peiji(1979) put forward thirteen practical methods to translate Chinese idioms according to different kinds of idioms. Dai Yan (2012) mainly discussed three methods of Chinese idiom translation as well. Zhang Ning (1999) proposed that idioms reflected cultural differences from four aspects: the differences between living environments, customs religious beliefs, historical allusions. In addition, Liu Anqi (2013) also discussed the strategies of Chinese idiom translation from the perspective of culture. Bao Huinan (2001) probed into idiom translation with cultural connotations. Only a few researchers such as Zhang Jinhua and Jin Hansheng (2003), Zhang Qing and Wang Jiaqi (2010) discussed Chinese idiom translation from the view of relevance theory and functional equivalence theory, at the same time they came to their own conclusions accordingly. Certainly, there are still some researchers devoted to Chinese idiom translation, many of whom pay attention to practical strategies and methods rather than theoretical research from translation theories.

In conclusion, there are two main strategies foreignization and domestication and methods such as literal translation, free translation, literal translation with annotation, transliteration, substitution, and so on. It is not much to treat the strategies and methods adopted by translators from the perspective of functional equivalence theory.

3. Methodology

3.1 Data Sources

The original source is Feng Ru Fei Tun written by Mo Yan, and this paper importantly probes into the problems of idioms translation in the target text entitled Big Breasts and Wide Hips by Howard Goldblatt, which is firstly published by Arcade Publishing in 2004.

3.2 Research Methods

The paper employs qualitative research including theory-oriented approaches to complete the task. Firstly, the thesis provides the introduction to the research followed by the theoretical framework. After establishing the theoretical foundation, the author carries on an important study of idiom translation in Big Breasts and Wide Hips from the perspective of functional equivalence.

By analyzing and evaluating the samples, the author discusses the choice of effective strategies and methods adopted by Howard Goldblatt in idiom translation, and analyses in what ways translators can achieve functional equivalence of idiom translation.

4. Analysis and Discussion

4.1 Methods of Idiom Translation in Big Breasts and Wide Hips

In this chapter, the author will utilize the functional equivalence theory to discuss the idiom translation according to different methods adopted by Howard Goldblatt.

4.1.1 Literal Translation

Literal translation means render one language into another word for word instead of conveying the sense of the original. In the case, not a few idioms are translated literally in Big Breasts and Wide Hips.

Example 1:

“……怎么说呢，你家的驴，是我家的种马日的，解铃还得系铃人……” (莫言, 2012:27)

“…But what can I say, since it was my horse that impregnated her? Whoever hangs the bell on the tiger"s neck must take it off……” (Goldblatt, 2004:34)

Example 2:

“现在是‘八仙过海，各显其能’，没有阶级了，不讲斗争了，大家都两眼发红，直奔一个钱字！”(莫言, 2012:443)

“These days the slogan is ‘Eight Immortals Cross the Sea, Each Demonstrating His Own Skills.’ No more class, no more struggles. All anyone can see these days is money.” (Goldblatt, 2004:525)

In the first example, “解铃还得系铃人” means that somebody who makes trouble needs to solve it. It refers to that Fan San should deliver the donkey because his horse impregnated the donkey in the text. This reason is mentioned above, so target-text receptors can understand what the idiom means and make the similar reaction as the source-text readers, even though receptors may be confused about the literal translation in the beginning.

“八仙过海, 各显其能” is derived from a fairy tale employed to convey that everyone has his own abilities to achieve the task or goal. Because the deep meaning of the idiom is indicated by the latter half, this idiom can be easily got by target reader, who will also appreciate it like the original readers.

Because Howard Goldblatt thinks faithfulness is the first guidance on his C—E translation, so, the above two idioms are rendered completely in accordance with style and form, and at the same time, they convey the meaning completely same as the original. According to functional equivalence, the translations are wonderful because they “reproduce in the receptor language the closest natural equivalence of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style”. (Nida and Taber 12）Thus functional equivalence is perfectly achieved．

Example 3:

她说......独角兽”是一种灵兽，它的形状有点像犀牛，但又不完全是犀牛......情人之间，爱人之间，密友之间，不都是“心有灵犀一点通”吗？（莫言, 2012:515）

She replied… the unicorn is a magical beast that resembles, to some degree at least, a rhinoceros… Lovers, spouses, friends, aren’t they all a magic horn of the heart? (Goldblatt, 2004:523）

In this case, the idiom “心有灵犀” refers to natural and tacit thoughts, behaviors, feelings, understandings resulting from familiarity between lovers, spouses and friends in the text, which is translated as a magic horn of the heart. Here, its meaning actually can’t be got easily by tthose who are not familiar with Chinese culture. In other words, the rendition just conveys the literal meaning and fails to catch the deep meaning.

The translator Howard Goldblatt may want to make the translation more faithful to the original, but “the problem of faithfulness to the translators the content of the source language text has a number of implications which some translator have not been fully aware of.” (Jin Di amp; Nida 91) Therefore, the translation just arrives at the formal equivalence rather than the functional equivalence since the target readers merely get a literal message.

4.1.2 Literal Translation with Annotation

Annotation is added to the text to explain something more easily, which is employed by Howard Goldblatt to literally translate some idioms in the text. Some examples are followed.

Example 4:

…….这维持会长是日本人的狗，是游击队的驴。老鼠钻到风箱里，两头受气的差事，别人不干，偏你干！” (莫言, 2012:70)

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