Comparative Analysis of Translation Strategies Employed in Two Chinese Versions of The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo文献综述
2020-04-18 20:46:06
1. Research Purpose The 1950s saw Western scholars embark on systematic translation studies, a relatively new subject during that period, but numerous translation scholars confined their studies to the language aspect. Andre Lefevere and Susan Bassnett went further, championing the ”culture turn”, thus injecting cultural elements into translation studies. And frequent international exchanges encourage translators to take into account the society, politics, culture, economy, among others if they are to produce quality, reader-friendly translated works. Translation, according to Chinese-English Translation#8212;Key Concepts and Techniques(2011), means the process of transferring meaning between different languages and cultures through the written word. For all the difficulty in dealing with the cultural identity, translators can still strategically use all kinds of translation skills in an effort to achieve equivalence in culture. Therefore, it is imperative that we should figure out how the culture turns in translation by illustrating with typical examples used such translation strategies as transliteration, amplication and omission. From these theories, the cultural turn opens a window on the translated works infused with cultural elements. Apart from that, there exists a special form of translation called back translation which is used for culture reconstruction and the comparison of linguistics features and translation studies. Back translation is typically used in culture-filled works, notably those illustrating distinctive Chinese events and imagery. Lin#8217;s work written in English entails the technique of back translation to ensure that Chinese elements can be restored. Given this, writing the Chinese culture or history in English is a kind of translation and when translating it back into Chinese, translators should strive to reconstruct Chinese culture. The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo is a big hit in the Western world and so are its Chinese versions. Zhang Zhenyu and Song Biyun, both knowledgeable and experienced translators, gravitated towards the charm of Lin and started their translation with their own styles and various translation strategies. Based on Wang Zhengliang#8217;s concepts of back translation and the emerging theory of cultural turn, this paper intends to explore how two translators render culture-loaded texts in the process of back translation by comparing two Chinese translated versions. In addition, this paper also attempts to provide scholars overseas with an overview of issues concerning intercultural mentality and provide another angle to evaluate translation. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Lin#8217;s Writing of the Biography The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo, a book packed with rich Chinese culture, is one of the literary masterpieces by Chinese world-renowned scholar, Lin Yutang. Lin embarked on writing the book in 1945 and two years later the book was first published by the John Day Company of America. As a great master of the English language, he is the storyteller of ”the Life and Times” of Su Tungpo, a legendary poet in Chinese history. And prior to the birth of The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo, The Importance of Living, an acclaimed book written in English, has set him on path to take Chinese culture global. The result has been that Lin#8217;s strong admiration for Tungpo and passion for introducing Chinese culture propelled him to write something about Tungpo. And Lin#8217;s previous works were wildly popular among those who got interested in ancient China and traditional Chinese culture. Ten-odd years#8217; efforts to collect materials and writing ultimately paid off. The biography is a hit among Western readers as it helps them to get a glimpse into the life in Song Dynasty when literature and art prospered but political climate was less desirable. And therefore, cultural elements including poems, idioms, politics, customs and food are peppered in the biography, carrying great cultural significance. 2.2 Domestic Studies on Lin Yutang and the Biography Historical reasons prevented scholars in the mainland of China from researching into Lin Yutang#8217;s works before the year of 1979. Since China started to open to the outside world, Lin as a literary master has made a comeback among Chinese scholars and an increasing number of studies on his works have kept cropping up. Driven by their passion and interest, scholars including Wan Pingjin and Wang Zhaosheng carried out specific, detailed research on everything about Lin from his traits and personalities to his literary style. (Xu, 2017:5)Among those pioneers in research into Lin, Wang goes further, developing his predecessors#8217; studies and publishing some monographs on Lin: Lin Yutang#8217;s Culture Complex(1998) , Lin Yutang: Two legs straddle the cultures of East and West(2005), A Biography of Lin Yutang(2006). On top of that, research perspectives on Lin are not confined to his works. Scholars also attempt to interpret his works from various perspectives: religion, philosophy, culture and history. Lin Yutang: a Microform of Cultural Transformation(2005) by Shi Ping focuses on Lin#8217;s cultural personality by analyzing his passion for liberty, humorous culture and values. Moreover, feminism is emerging as a new angle to study Lin Yutang and his biography. Examples include A Humanistic Interpretation of Lin Yutang#8217;s Female Consciousness by Du Ling(2009) and Wu Yuming#8217;s On the Thought Structure of Lin Yutang#8217;s Female consciousness (2009). Previous research on The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo mainly takes the form of book reviews. Doctorial and masters#8217; dissertations and journals concerning translation of the biography abound, most of which revolve around rewriting theory, back translation or translator#8217;s subjectivity. 2.3 Culture Turn in Translation Strategies James Holmes, the founding father of translation studies, put forward the basic framework of translation studies in 1972. This paved the way for the production of Evan-Zohar#8217;s Polysystem Theory in 1979, a new breakthrough in the Cultural School of translation study. On the basis of these, Gideon Toury and Theo Hermans(1999), representatives of the Descriptive School went further, developing Polysystem Theory. In 1992, Andre Lefevere and Susan Bassnett co-edited Translation History Culture a Sourcebook, which marks the production of culture turn of translation. Snell Hornby(1990)coined the expression ”culture turn” which was officially defined by Andre Lefevere and Susan Bassnett. The pair argued that the study of the practice of translation had moved on from its formalist phase and was beginning to consider broader issues of context, history and convention.(Lefevere Bassnett, 2001:123) In general, the Cultural School places a premium on the translating process and its translating strategies are apt to be affected by the external culture and community. Culture turning injects new life to translation studies and the development of the Culture School, making translation studies more systematic and scientific. That means context and cultural background matter a lot and translators are required to deal with differences between languages and cultures, thereby achieving cultural equivalence in translation. In addition, translation studies go beyond ”equivalence” and come to explore factors behind the production of the translated version based on the international context. Evidently, translation studies have headed to another direction, giving translators and readers new insights into the judgment of translation. 2.3.1 Elements of Culture Turn In the book Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Translations(2001), Bassnett and Lefevere illustrate several elements in the culture turn. One is to see culture as a unit of translation instead of a word or an expression. Another relates to the role of communication in translation which goes far beyond decoding and reconstructing. A third element concerns achieving a cultural equivalence between the source language and the target language. The last involves different translation strategies at different times. Through this prism, translators enjoy flexibility to employ specific strategies and embrace interdisciplinary cooperation with other scholars. When it comes to translation effect, Bassnett advocates that cultural translation is expected to focus on cultural communication. That means that translators should consider the influence of culture when using translation strategies to meet the needs of readers from diverse cultural backgrounds. Meanwhile, she also suggests that readers should adjust to, understand and absorb distinctions between cultures. On top of that, translators and readers are required to read between the lines as opposed to literal meanings because in literary works novel words and rhetorical devices abound. 2.3.2 Intercultural Thinking Ivor Armstrong Richards(1929), British scholar, divided language to scientific one used to convey information and emotional one expressing the author#8217;s subjective feelings. To put it another way, a mix of understanding the surface structure as well as the deep structure is needed when translators and readers appreciate the language. With intercultural thinking, translators are more likely to grasp meanings of culture-loaded words or they may get misunderstood for the reason that these words are a stumbling block in cross-culture communication and translation. Intercultural communication involves two cultures which have two languages and culture plays a major part in the given semantic structure and linguistic model. This kind of thinking helps achieve a cultural equivalence between the target language and the source language. Bassnett holds the opinion that intercultural communication refers to the process of encoding and decoding of information which can be influenced by multiple factors from society and community to psychology. In a word, the more translators know about the culture, the better the intercultural communication can be. This requires translators to improve their cultural sensitivity by translating from another perspective and respecting diverse cultures in their work. 2.4 Studies of Back Translation Scholars at home and abroad are split on the definitions of back translation. In Mark Shuttleworth and Moira Cowie#8217;s (Shuttleworth Cowie, 2004:14) Dictionary of Translation Studies, back translation refers to a process in which a text that has been translated into a given language is retranslated into SL. Lin Huangtian(1997) also puts forward his definition in his book A Companion for Chinese Translators. Back translation, according to him, is the translation of language A into language B and later back into language A as cited material, or the translation from the third or fourth language back into the original one. Another view comes from professor Feng Qinghua(2002) who argues that back translation is the second translation of the texts that already have been rendered. The divide lies in the role of original texts. Western scholars believe that back translation is a process without reference to original texts while their Chinese counterparts hold that back translation is the substantive return of the source language. The consequence is that domestic study on back translation focus more on restoration, authority, uniformity and results; study overseas starts from the perspective of comparison, analysis, disparity and process.(Wu,2010:219) The significance of back translation cannot be overestimated, since it can be used for the comparative study of languages and linguistic teaching, evaluation of translation, teaching of translation and culture. Moreover, back translation serves as an ambassador between diverse cultural communities. It also helps people gain an insight into the culture which is struggling to survive. Works Cited Andre Lefevere. (1992) Translation, rewriting, and the manipulation of literary frame. London/ New York: Routledge. 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