The Cultural Transmission Issue of Chinese Idioms

0ContentsⅠ.TheIntroduction……………………………………………..………………….11.1LanguageandCulture…......................................................................................11.2TheRelationbetweenTranslationandCulture…………………….…………….1Ⅱ.LiteratureReview………………………………………………………………32.1Nida’sConceptofFunctionalEquivalence…………………………………….32.2Nida’sViewonTranslationandCulture……………………………………….32.3SusanBassnett’sViewonCultureTranslation………………………………….42.4OtherViewsonCulture-relatedTranslation……………………………………..4Ⅲ.DifferencesbetweenChineseandWesternCulturesReflectedintheLanguages………………………………………………………………………………………73.1HistoricalCulturalDifference…………………………………………………...73.2DifferentGeographicalandRegionalEnvironments…………………………..73.3DifferentModesofThinking………………….……………….……………….8Ⅳ.SeveralmethodsofChineseidiomtranslation…………..……………………94.1Metaphrase……………………………………………………………………..94.1.1LiteralTranslation………………………………………………………….94.1.2Replacement………………………………………………………………..104.2Paraphrase……………………………………………………………………....134.2.1Negation…………………………………………………………………….134.2.2Substitution………………………………………………………………….144.2.2.1Substituteabstractconceptforconcreteimages………………………….154.2.2.2Substituteconcreteimagesforabstractconcept………………………….154.2.3Additionalremarks&Note………………………………………………….174.2.3.1Additionalremarks……………………………………………………….174.2.3.2Note………………………………………………………………………184.2.4Omission……………………………………………………………………..19Ⅴ.Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..21Bibliography………………………………………………………………………...23Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………….25Appendix(Translation)……………………………………………………………..2611Introduction1.1LanguageandCultureLanguageisthecarrierofcultureandpartoftheculture.Becauselanguagescanreflectanation’sculture,languagesymbolsprovidesarichexpressionmeansforanation.Languagehasbeenkeepingsynchronousdevelopmentwithculturethroughoutthewholeprocessofhumanculturescomingintobeingandtheirsubsequentdevelopment.“Somescientistsconsideritthekeystoneofculture.Withoutlanguage,theymaintain,culturewouldbeimpossible.”(DengYanchangandLiuRunqing,1989:3.)Languages,ineverynation,canembodyandreflectpeople’sdifferentmodesofthinking,values,socialawareness,religiousbeliefs,habitsandcustoms.“Languageistheprimarymeansbywhichaculturetransmitsitsbeliefs,values,andnorms.Itgivespeopleameansofinteractingwithothermembersofthecultureandameansofthinking.”(DaiWeidong,1989:158)Itisexplicitthatcultureandlanguageareinseparablefromeachother,andinfact,cultureincludeslanguageasasubsystem,asawidersystem.Itcanbesummarizedthatlanguagecariesculture,mirrorsculture,spreadscultureandhelpsdevelopculture.Ontheotherside,languageisdeeplyinfluencedandshapedbyculture,steamingfromculture.Language,asasymbolsystem,expressestracesofaparticularsocietyandreflectsuniqueculturalheritage.JohnLyons,anEnglishlinguist,pointedthat,“languageisapartofculture.Differencesonthelanguageusagewillexposethefeaturesofthesocialcultureintermsofthesubstances,customsandotheractivities.”(Lyons,1977:30).Therefore,itcanbesaidthattheprocessoflearningatargetlanguageisaprocessoflearningaboutthetargetculture.1.2TheRelationbetweenTranslationandCultureTranslationmakesitpossibletocommunicatebetweendifferentcultures.However,translationhasitslimitationstoanextent.Manyofthefunctionsandconnotationsoflanguagecannotbe“translated”atallliterally,buthavetoresorttoanalysisandexplanationtomakeoutthehiddenimplicationsthattheycontain.Inotherwords,itisn2ecessarytosetupakindofaccordingculturalcontextbasedonasufficientandthoroughunderstandingofcultureofthetargetlanguage.Translationdoesnotmerelydealwiththeexchangeofliteralmeaning,butalsotransferringtheculturalcommunicationofthelanguagefamiliesanddifferentinformation.Soitisnotmerelyanactoftransferencebetweenlanguages,butitisamatterofspiritcommunicationcloselyrelatedtoeveryaspectofthesubjectiveworld.Tosomeextent,thetranslationactsaretheresponse,communication,perception,understandingandinteractingbetweenthehumanbeingandthephysicalworld.Undoubtedly,therelationofcultureandtranslationischaracterizedbytheirindivisibility.Inthelasttwentyyears,ithasbeenuniversallyacknowledgedthatliterarytranslationisnotmerelytransformationoflanguagesignals,buttransformationofculture,sincetranslationhasacloseinteractiverelationshipwithculture.Translationhasbeenreplacedby“interculturalcommunication”(ChristianceNord,1991),“interculturalcooperation”(HolzManttari,1984:17),“acculturation”(AndreLefevere,1992),or“tranculturation”(R.D.Shaw,1988).Therefore,thetranslatorsshouldtrytoreducethedifficultiescausedbyculturaldifferenceandtodevelopculturalexchangesbetweendifferentnationalities.Thetranslatorneedstohaveathoroughunderstandingoftheoperationtarget－thelanguage.Withoutbeingfullyawareofthenatureoflanguage,itisimpossibletodiscussculturefromtheviewpointoftranslation.Nowadays,ininternationalcommunicationandinformationexchange,translationasacross-cultureeventbecomesmoreandmoreimportantindealingwiththeproblemofculturaltransmission.Sotranslatorsnecessarilyputmoreemphasistoculturaldifferencesincross-culturaltransferintranslation.32LiteratureReview2.1Nida'sConcep