AnAnalysisofUnranslaabiliyofEnglishIdiomsfromCuluralPerspecive_开题报告

课题研究意义及国内外研究现状

Culture, as a topic which the translators must first take into consideration, is of great importance in communication and translation, and it has a close connection with the language. Language is a carrier of culture, and culture is the soil that nourishes language. Hu Zhuanglin pointed out, “The impact of culture upon a given language is something intrinsic and indispensable.” (Hu Zhuanglin, 2001, P.223) As the essence of language, idioms, including set phrases or metaphorical phrases, sayings, colloquialisms, allusions, quotations, enigmatic folk and proverbs, are the formation of a unique fixed linguistic expression through language usage. They play an important role in showing national characteristics and mirroring the life from every dimension. 

There is a great difference in between the origins of idioms and the use of them due to different historical and cultural backgrounds, traditional customs, geographical environments, religious beliefs, social development as well as ideology from each language of China and English. So in translating English idioms into Chinese idioms, it is hard to translate everything precisely, and sometimes untranslatable phenomena appear. Untranslatability which is caused by cultural differences is relative. This thesis aims to have an effect on English-Chinese idioms translation. 

Since ancient times, the paradox of translatability and untranslatability is a long-standing debate for Chinese and foreign translation theorists and practitioners. Sages of ancient Italy once claimed that translators are traitors, which symbols the beginning of untranslatability. In the early period of its history, the debate focuses on the possibility of translation. With the development of it, scholars pay more attention to the degree of translatability and untranslatability as well the classification of untranslatability. 

The concept and classifications of untranslatability are firstly made by famous English linguist and translation theorist J. C. Catford. According to the causes of untranslatability, Catford (1965) classified it into two categories in his book A Linguistic Theory of Translation, linguistic untranslatability and cultural untranslatability. Concerning the degree of untranslatability, it also can be classified as absolute untranslatability and relative untranslatability. Absolute untranslatability is extremely limited whereas relative untranslatability is common and can be translated as the development of translation. He considered the reason of cultural untranslatability as “when a situational feature, functionally relevant for source language (SL) text, is completely absent from the culture of which the target language (TL) is a part.” (P.99)

Peter Newmark (2001) viewed that “if the text describes a situation which has elements peculiar to the natural environment, intuitions and culture of its language area, there is an inevitable loss of meaning.” (P.7) Eugene A Nida and William Reyburn also pointed out, “In fact, difficulties arising out of the difference of culture constitute the most serious problems for translators and have produced the most far-reaching misunderstandings among readers.” (1981, P.2)

Eugene A Nida, a well-known American linguist, translator, and theorist of translation, presented a rich source of information in his works about the problems of loss in translation, in particular about the difficulties encountered by the translators when facing with problem that culture specific expressions do not exist in the target language, and concluded that “The total impact of a translation may be reasonably close to the original, but there can be no identity in detail.” (2004, P.156) Additionally, he claimed that “In fact, differences between cultures cause many more severe complications for the translator than do differences in language structure.” (P.161) It is clear therefore that Nida thinks cultural untranslatability is more sophisticated than linguistic untranslatability.

Chinese translation theorists and translators also give their viewpoints on untranslatability. In Tang Dynasty, a famous sutra translator Xuan Zang presented his theory ‘'transliteration in the five cases”：1)secrets which include mantras；2)polysemy；3) things and ideas that do not exist in Chinese，like jambu tree that does not grow in China；4)deference to the past translation；5)the expressions used to show respect (Chen Jie, 2009). In Eastern Jin Dynasty, Monk Dao An, a translator proposed his translation theories “five losses of the original” (五失本) and ‘‘three cases of difficulties” (三不易) (Gao Xiaochen, 2010)．These two kinds of theories can be seen as compensation methods to untranslatability．

In modern times, Lin Yutang commented that it is impossible to translate the original text absolutely faithfully. Zhu guangqian argued that the translated text only could be close to the original, indicating in the process of translation untranslatability exactly exists. Qian Zhongshu stated that the highest criterion of literature translation is “hua” (化：perfection). However he also held that it is impossible to get through a complete perfection. To some extent, error is inevitable. Wang Bin in his article “On Untranslatability: Theoretical Reflections and a Case Study” demonstrated the existence of untranslatability through the study of a poem of Tang Dynasty, “Jing Ye Si” (静夜思) written by the great poet Li Bai. (2001)

Domestic scholars make some various classifications of untranslatability from different perspectives. Untranslatability was divided into two levels by some scholars through utilizing dichotomy: relative untranslatability and absolute untranslatability. According to the degree of translatability, Zhang Dacong divided translation into three types: completely translatable, partly translatable and completely untranslatable. Liu chuanzhu classified untranslatability into three kinds in terms of language functions: translatability, relative untranslatability and absolute untranslatability, He also associated them with cognitive and expressive function, cultural function and aesthetic function to do research. He mentioned that “relative untranslatability is a kind of temporary untranslatability which caused by cultural function of language.” (2000) 

No matter in the west or in China, people have no longer stressed that translation is possible or impossible，but shown a more sensible and practical attitude．They consider translation is possible in principle，but it can only be done in a certain degree．

课题研究的主要内容、预期目标和研究方案

This thesis will generally consist of five parts. The beginning part of this thesis will have a brief introduction to the background information of this study at home and abroad, as well as the significance of this study. The general structure of this thesis will also be presented in this part. The second part mainly concentrates on the introductions to English idiom and untranslatability, for instance, the definition of English idiom and untranslatability, as well the features and origins of English idiom. The third part is regarded as the core of this thesis. It intends to give a comprehensive analysis of untranslatability of English idiom from the cultural perspective, including five aspects, such as living environment and geographic positions. In the fourth part, the author will propose four compensation strategies of untranslatability. The last part will draw a natural conclusion, in which a general review of the above analysis will be made and suggestions on further research efforts will be also put forward. 

 

The content of this paper is constructed as follows:

1 Introduction

2 Brief Introductions to English Idiom and Untranslatability

2.1 English Idiom

2.1.1 Definition of English Idiom

2.1.2 The Origins of English Idiom

   2.1.3 The Features of English Idiom    

2.2 Untranslatability

2.2.1 Definition of Untranslatability

2.2.2 Classification of Untranslatability 

3 Comprehensive Analysis of Untranslatability of English Idiom from Cultural Perspective  

3.1 Living Environment and Geographic positions

3.2 Customs

3.3 Religious Beliefs

3.4 Historical Allusions

3.5 Values

4 Compensation Strategy of Untranslatability of English Idiom

4.1 Annotation   

4.2 Amplification  

4.3 Borrowing

4.4 Paraphrase

5 Conclusion

Literature Review

An Analysis of Untranslatability of English Idioms from Cultural Perspective

By liuhui

  Culture, as a topic which the translators must first take into consideration, is of great importance in communication and translation, and it has a close connection with the language. Language is a carrier of culture, and culture is the soil that nourishes language. Hu Zhuanglin pointed out, “The impact of culture upon a given language is something intrinsic and indispensable.” (2001, P.223) As the essence of language, idioms, including set phrases or metaphorical phrases, sayings, colloquialisms, allusions, quotations, enigmatic folk and proverbs, are the formation of a unique fixed linguistic expression through language usage. They play an important role in showing national characteristics and mirroring the life from every dimension. 

However, there is a great difference in between the origin of idioms and the use of them due to different historical and cultural backgrounds, traditional customs, geographical environments, religious beliefs, social development as well as ideology from each language of China and English. So in translating English idioms into Chinese idioms, it is hard to translate everything precisely, and sometimes untranslatable phenomena appear. Untranslatability caused by cultural differences is called cultural untranslatability. It’s of more far-reaching significance that the author intends to do further research on cultural untranslatability of English idioms through citing typical examples. The following is about the references that will be used and quoted in this thesis.

Trivedi mentioned that traditionally, translation was seen as a segment or sub-field of Linguistics, on the basic premise that translation was a transaction between two languages. (2005) Vermeer viewed translation as primarily a cross-cultural communication transfer and cross-culture event. Wang Zuoliang pointed out “translation involves languages as well as culture. A translator should know foreign culture as well as the culture of his own people” (2000, P.1). Obviously, the study of translation is based on the research of culture and language. However, due to cultural differences, the concept of one language may differ radically from that of another, sometimes make inter-lingual translation impossible. 

Since ancient times, the paradox of translatability and untranslatability is a long-standing debate for Chinese and foreign translation theorists and practitioners. The concept of untranslatability was firstly put forward by famous English linguist and translation theorist J. C. Catford (1965) in his work A linguistic Theory of Translation:

     The possibility of limits of translation brings another very important and inevitable issue in fields of translation---untranslatability. Translation fails---or untranslatability occurs---when it is impossible to build functionally features of the situation into the contextual meaning of the target language (TL) text. (P.93)

In the book, according to the causes of untranslatability, Catford classified it into two categories, linguistic untranslatability and cultural untranslatability. Concerning the degree of untranslatability, it also can be classified as absolute untranslatability and relative untranslatability. Absolute untranslatability is extremely limited whereas relative untranslatability is common and can be translated as the development of translation. He considered the reason of cultural untranslatability as “when a situational feature, functionally relevant for source language (SL) text, is completely absent from the culture of which the target language (TL) is a part.” (P.99) 

Peter Newmark (2001) viewed that “if the text describes a situation which has elements peculiar to the natural environment, intuitions and culture of its language area, there is an inevitable loss of meaning.” (P.7) Eugene A Nida and William Reyburn also pointed out, “In fact, difficulties arising out of the difference of culture constitute the most serious problems for translators and have produced the most far-reaching misunderstandings among readers.” (1981, P.2)

Eugene A Nida, a well-known American linguist, translator, and theorist of translation, presented a rich source of information in his works about the problems of loss in translation, in particular about the difficulties encountered by the translators when facing with problem that culture specific expressions do not exist in the target language, and concluded that “The total impact of a translation may be reasonably close to the original, but there can be no identity in detail.” (2004, P.156) It reveals the existence of untranslatability. Additionally, he claimed that “In fact, differences between cultures cause many more severe complications for the translator than do differences in language structure.” (P.161) It is clear therefore that Nida thinks cultural untranslatability is more sophisticated than linguistic untranslatability. 

However, with its further study, it is found that cultural untranslatability can be solved with the development of translation methods and cross-cultural communication. Just as Liu Chuanzhu claimed “in a certain culture, things themselves can be perceived and expressed, so they are translatable in essence, but corresponding expressions are absent from the target language, thus, cultural untranslatability is a kind of temporary untranslatability, namely, relative untranslatability”. (2000)

Nevertheless, their discussion and research are either too general or just focus on the whole translation instead of a specific area. This paper is attempting to explore cultural untranslatability of English idioms, to be specific, the origin and characteristics of English idioms, reasons of cultural untranslatability and compensating strategies of it will be illustrated by the author. 

Besides these books mentioned above, other books and periodicals also provide the author with very great support for thesis. After reading a large number of relevant materials, the author has a better acquaintance with cultural untranslatability of English idioms. It is certain that these materials will help the author to accomplish the thesis successfully.

References:

[1] Catford, J. C. A Linguistic Theory of Translation [M ] . London: Oxford University Press, 1965.

[2] Hu, Zhuanglin. Linguistics: A Course Book [M]. Beijing: Peking UP, 2001. 

[3] Newmark, Peter. Approaches to Translation [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language

Education Press, 2004  

[4] Nida, A. Eugene. Language, Culture and Translating [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1993. 

[5] Nida, A. Eugene. Toward a science of Translating [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2004. 

[6] Nida, A. Eugene and Reyburn, William. Meaning Across Cultures [M]. New York: Maryknoll of N. Y Orbis Book, 1981.

[7] Trivedi, Harish. Translating culture vs cultural translation [A]. In Translation. Reflections, refractions, transformations [C]. ed. Paul St-Pierre and Prafulla C. Kar. Delhi: Pencraft International, 2005: 251-260.

[8] Wang, Zuoliang. European Culture: An Introduction [M]. Beijing: Foreign Language and Research Press, 2000.

[9] Weng, Xin. “On Untranslatability between English and Chinese Translation and its Transformation Strategies” [D]. Diss. Southwest University Press, 2014.

[10]李延林(Li, Yanlin). 英语文化翻译学教程[M].长沙:中南大学出版社,2003.

[11]刘传珠(Liu, Chuanzhu). 可译性问题的语言功能观 [J]. 中国翻译, 2000(1): 31-34.

[12]谭载喜(Tan, Zaixi). 新编奈达论翻译[M]. 北京: 中国对外翻译出版公司, 1999.

[13]王聪慧(Wang, Conghui). 英语习语的相对不可译性研究 [J]. 桂林师范高等专科学校学报，2012(1): 94-97.