英语翻译论文毕业论文.doc 18页

'OnBarrierstoEnglish-ChineseTranslationfromthePerspectivesofCulturalBackgroundandThoughtStyleAbstract…………………………………………………..………………………..……Ⅱ1.Introduction………..……………………………………………………………..…..12.ThespecificanalysisofbarrierstoEnglish-Chinesetranslationfromtheperspectivesofculturalbackgroundandthoughtstyle………..……………….…22.1Fromtheperspectiveofculturalbackground…………………………………..….22.1.1Thetranslationofidioms…………………………………………………….32.1.2Thetranslationofenigmaticsayings………………………………………..42.1.3Thetranslationofallusions…………………………………………………62.2Fromtheperspectiveofthoughtstyle………………….………………….……....72.2.1Chineseemphasisonperceptionandintuition,andwesternemphasisonreasoningandlogic……….……….………..…………………….......72.2.2Differentwaysofexpressiondeterminedbydifferentthoughtstyles…........82.2.3Chinesebeliefinintegrationandwesternbeliefinindividuality………........93.Solutions……………………………………..……………………………....…...….103.1Totheproblemscausedbydifferentculturalbackgrounds………………….……103.2Totheproblemsbroughtaboutbydifferentthoughtstyles………………….……124.Conclusion………………………………………………………………..……..…...12Bibliography……………………………………………………………………..….......14Summaryofwritingthisthesis…………………………………………………....…...15Acknowledgements………………………………………………………….…….....…16III OnBarrierstoEnglish-ChineseTranslationfromthePerspectivesofCulturalBackgroundandThoughtStyleAbstract:Translationshouldbethereappearanceoftheoriginalwork.Inotherwords,theimage,theartisticeffect,andthemeaningoftheoriginalworksshouldallbesuccessfullydeliveredinthetranslatedversion.Butthereexistsomefactorsthatmakeitimpossibletoproduceexcellenttranslations.Amongthefactorsthataffecttranslation,differentculturalbackgroundsanddifferentthoughtstylesarethemostinfluentialones.Languageistheembodimentofculture,andindealingwiththetranslationofworks,whatisthemostimportantofallistodealwiththeelementofculture.Goodmanagementofculturesofdifferentnationsisoneofthekeypointsindoingtranslation.Idioms,enigmaticsayingsandallusionsarethemostculturallyspecificexpressionsthatcausegreatdifficultiesfortranslators.Thoughtstyleisthefactorthataffectsthecompositionofasentence,aparagraph,oranarticle,andeventheunderstandingofthem.BecauseofChineseemphasisonperceptionandintuition,Chinesecharactersarepictographic;andbecausewesternersarereasonableandlogical,objectivityisthemainpropertyofEnglishvocabulary.Todaythereisalmostnointegratedanalysisonthistopic.Someunsuccessfultranslationsresultingfromdifferentculturalbackgroundsanddifferentthoughtstylesareeasytobefoundintranslatedworkswhichishardfortargetreaderstounderstand.TheaimofthispaperistoanalyzetheelementsofculturalbackgroundandthoughtstylethataffectEnglish-Chinesetranslation,andthentoprovidesomegoodmethodstoovercomethesedifficulties.Throughanalyzingthesebarriers,itcanbeconcludedthat,toproducegoodtranslatedversions,awellawarenessofdifferentculturebackgrounds,agoodcommandofdifferentthoughtstyles,andanadoptionofpropertranslationmethodsareneeded.KeyWords:translation;culturalbackground;thoughtstyle;translationmethod摘要：III 翻译应该是原著的重现，也就是原著的字面意思与其意象和艺术性的完美传达。在影响翻译的因素中，文化背景的不同以及思维方式的不同影响最深。语言是文化的载体，在做翻译时，最重要的就是处理文化的特征。处理好各族文化的问题是做好翻译的关键之一。在文化因素中，影响最大的是成语、歇后语以及典故。它们最具有文化特色，给译者带来很大麻烦。思维方式是影响写作句子、段落、文章的因素，也是影响对它们理解的因素。因为中国人重感性与直觉，所以汉语词汇较形象；而因为西方人重推理与逻辑，英语词汇的表意较具有客观性。现在，在这方面几乎还没有综合性研究。一些由文化背景或思维方式不同引起的失败翻译随处可见，它们让读者难以理解。这篇论文旨在通过对文化因素以及思维方式影响英汉翻译的探讨，进而提出一些翻译方法，以解决这些问题。通过对这两种因素的研究与分析，发现要做好翻译，我们就必须对不同文化深入了解，对不同文化背景下的思维方式精通掌握，而且还要适当选择翻译方法。关键词：翻译；文化背景；思维方式；翻译方法III OnBarrierstoEnglish-ChineseTranslationfromthePerspectivesofCulturalBackgroundandThoughtStyle1.IntroductionWhenitcomestotranslating“giveabadnametothedogbeforehangingit”,manypeoplewilldoitinthisway,“杀死这只狗前先给这只狗一个坏名字”.ThetranslatedversionishardforanativeChinesetounderstandthoughit’sbothgrammaticallyandsemanticallyright.Thefinalgoaloftranslationshouldbeasuccessfuldeliveryofthemeaningoftheoriginalversiontothetargetreaders,andovercometheobstaclesexistingbetweentwolanguages.Undoubtedly,theaboveChineseversionturnsouttobeafailurebecauseofthefailureinreachingthisgoal.Theproblemliesintheimproperchoiceoftranslationmethod.Translationshouldbethereappearanceoftheoriginalversion.Inotherwords,theimageandtheartisticeffectoftheoriginalversionshouldallbesuccessfullydelivered,notjustthemeaningofthewordsineachsentence.Thelatter,foratranslator,isnotadifficulty,buttheformerpresentsrealdifficultiestothem.Therearemanyfactorsthataffectunderstandingandtranslation,andthemostinfluentialfactorsareculturalbackgroundandthoughtstyledifferences.Thispaperattemptstoanalyzethesetwofactors.Thefirstisculturalbackgrounddifference.Languageisproducedanddevelopedinpacewiththeproductionandthedevelopmentofhumanculture,sotheseparationoflanguagefromcultureisboundtobeimpossible.Thedifferencesofthedevelopmentindifferentareasproducevariousidioms,enigmaticsayingsandallusionswhicharebroadlyusedintheirlanguages.Onlyathoroughawarenessofdifferentculturalbackgroundsofbothlanguagescanwellservetoproducequalifiedtranslatedversions.Thesecondisthoughtstyledifferenceexistingbetweeneasternersandwesterners,anddifferentwaysofexpressiondeterminedbytheabovedifference.“Easternersemphasizeperceptionandintuition,whilewesternersareratherreasonableandlogical;ChinesepeoplestressideaswhileWesternersstressforms,whichwillaffecttheirrespectivewaysof15 expression—hypotaxisofthelatterandtheparataxisoftheformer;furthermore,Chinesepeoplebelieveinintegrationwhilethewesternersbelievethattheindividualisthemostimportant.”(陈宏薇，1998：28)Thesetwofactorsproducegreatdifferencesincomposingaparagraphorasentence,oreveninchoosingasubjecttodescribe,whichcausesgreatdifficultyfortranslatorstoproduceauthentictranslatedversion.Butfortunately,somanyexcellenttranslators,despitethedifficulties,whoappropriatelyandaccuratelyusepropermeans,whoarebroadlyanddeeplyawareofbotheasternandwesterncultures,andwhohaveathoroughunderstandingofdifferentthoughtstylesofthewesternersandtheeasterners,areproducinggreattranslatedversions.2.ThespecificanalysisofbarrierstoEnglish-Chinesetranslationfromtheperspectivesofculturalbackgroundandthoughtstyle2.1FromtheperspectiveofculturalbackgroundCulturehasalwaysbeenthefactorthataffectstranslationmost.Differentcountriesdeveloptheirspecificculturesintheprocessofhistory.Languageistheembodimentofculture,andindealingwiththetranslationoftheoriginalversion,whatismostimportantofallistodealwiththeelementofculture.Consequently,goodmanagementofcultureisoneofthekeypointsindoingtranslation.Andinculture,idioms,enigmaticsayingsandallusionsarethemostculturallyspecificexpressionsthatcausegreatdifficultiesfortranslators.Dealingwiththeseisdifficultbutnecessary.Ablindpursuitoftheintegrationofformandcontent,andtheword-for-wordtranslationoftheoriginalversion,arepossiblyawrongoradistorteddeliveryoftheimageandtheartisticeffectoftheoriginalversion.Furthermore,differentculturalbackgroundsmakelanguageuserschoosedifferentsubjectsindescribingthesamething.Awellhandlingofthedifferentchoicesofsubjectsindifferentlanguagesisindispensableforthetranslationofalanguagewithspecificculture.Theobjectivityofculturalbackgrounddiversitiesmakesitimpossibletogetridofit,butpossibletoovercomeitandtorightlydeliverthemeaning.Theaimofthispartistoanalyzethetranslationofthisquintessencefromtheperspectivesofidioms,enigmaticsayingsandallusions,andtodo15 someattemptstoovercomethesedifficulties.2.1.1ThetranslationofidiomsAnidiomis“aphraseorasentencewhosemeaningisnotclearfromthemeaningofitsindividualwords,andwhichmustbelearntasawholeunit”(Hornby，2002：734).Itisproduced,alwaysinahistoricalstory,inwhichsomeofthewordsorexpressionsaretakenouttobeused,spreadanddeliveredtoourmodernsociety.Thenidiomisboundtobeoneoftheproductsofhistoricalculture,andveryculturallyspecific,andtosomedegree,untranslatable.Thefollowingexamplesaimatfindingoutsomepropermethodstoovercomethedifficultiesinidiomtranslation.a.守口如瓶ABottleis“aglassorplasticcontainer,usuallywithanarrowneckusedforstoringliquids”(Hornby，2002：154).Itisadoptedtoindicateagoodcharacterofkeepingpromise,nottellingotherpeoplethesecretuntildeath.Somepeopletranslateitinto“keepone’smouthasaflask”,whichisatypicalliteraltranslation.AsanativeChinese,ifgiventhemeaningsofafewwords,oneiseasytounderstandthetranslation,whileforanativeEnglish,ifnotgivenChineseculturalbackground,oneisimpossibletounderstandit.ForreadersofthetranslatedversionareEnglish-speakingpeopleinsteadofChinesepeople,theabovetranslationisafailure.ItisdifficultforpeopleinEnglish-speakingcountriestounderstandhowthe“flask”isusedtodescribeone’scharacterofkeepingpromise,sothetranslatedversionfailedtodelivertheconnotationoftheoriginalversion.Insteadofusingflask,theyuse“oyster”todescribethischaracter,thusthecorrecttranslatedversiongoes:asdumbasanoyster.b.“pigmightfly”and“太阳从西边出来”Letuslookatthefollowingdialogue:E.g.“Hewouldcometomorrow.”“Yesandapigmightfly!”Inthetranslationofthisdialogue,onetendstotranslateitinto“猪会飞”;butifyouthinktwice,youwillfinditimpropertodoitinthatway.Atlastyoumaychangeitinto“15 太阳从西边出来”.“Apigmightfly”isanEnglishidiom,whichindicates“miraclesmayhappenbuttheyareextremelyunlikely”(Hornby，2002：1108).ThoughChinesepeopleknowthefactthatthepigcannotflyistrue,theydonottalkinthatway,instead,intheway“太阳从西边出来”.Sothefirsttranslatedversionisnotasgoodasthesecondone.Therearesomanyidiomslikethis,forexample“asstubbornasamule”canbetranslatedinto“犟得像头牛”,ratherthan“犟得像头驴子”,“asstupidasagoose”into“蠢得像头猪”,insteadof“蠢得像只鹅”,andsoon.2.1.2ThetranslationofenigmaticsayingsAnenigmaticsayingis“atwopartsallegoricalsayingofwhichthefirstpart,alwaysstated,isdescriptive,whilethesecondpart,sometimesunstated,carriesthemassage”.(疑华，2002：1181)TheuseofenigmaticsayingsisaphenomenononlyappearsinChina,anditispeculiartoChineseculture.IthasinitsomanythingswhicharecloselyrelatedtoChineseculture.Ifnotproperlyhandled,thetranslatedversionmaynotbeunderstoodbytargetreaders.a.狗咬吕洞宾—不识好人心ThereisnoenigmaticsayinginEnglishlanguage,andthewesternersdon’tknowwhoLuTung-pinisandwhathischaracteris.ItisimpossibleforpeoplewithoutChineseculturalbackgroundtounderstandthetranslation“thedogbitsLuTung-pin—doesn’tknowother’skindheart”.Thenweshouldnottranslateitliterally,insteadwecanonlytranslatetheconnotationofit.Whentranslating“你别狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心”，weshouldbetterdoitinthisway:“Don’tsnapandsnarlatmewhenIamtryingtodomybestforyou”(陈文伯,2005:258).b.“丈二和尚—摸不着头脑”Literaltranslation:“givenamonkof4metershigh,wecannottouchhishead.”Freetranslation:“one’smindisinamess.”Theliterallytranslatedversionisobviouslyagoodjoke,whichtoanEnglish-speakingpeople,doesn’tmeananything.Itiseasyforthemtounderstandthatifamonkis4metershigh,wecannottouchhishead,buttheconnotativemeaningof“摸不着头脑”failstobeconveyedin15 thetranslatedversion.Thefreetranslationisacceptablebecauseitrightlydeliversthemeaningoftheoriginalsentence.Becauseoftheuntranslatabilityofenigmaticsayings,theculturalspecialityandtheoriginalimagehasbeenlost,butthefreelytranslatedversionisreadableandunderstandable,anditcanbeconsideredasagoodtranslatedversion.c.“猫哭耗子—假慈悲”Forthisenigmaticsaying,weshouldfirstlythinkaboutliteraltranslationmethod:acatcryingforthedeathofamousedoesn’tshowarealsympathy.Itiswellknownthatthecatisthenaturalenemyofthemouse,butinthisenigmaticsaying,thecatcriesforthemouse,sothecryingcannotbearealsympathy.Itdoesnotsoundnaturalforawesterner,buttheycanimaginethemeaningofthetranslatedversion.Ifweusefreetranslationmethod,themeaningissuccessfullydeliveredtothereader,buttheimageislost.Inthiscasetheliteraltranslationmethodisthebestone.Whentranslatinganenigmaticsaying,weshouldfirstconsiderliteraltranslationmethod.Ifbothwesternersandeasternerscanunderstandthetranslatedversionbyusinggeneralknowledge,weuseliteraltranslationmethod,becauseitcanmaintaintheimageandtheartisticeffectoftheoriginalversion;butiftheycan’t,we’dbetterusefreetranslationmethodtodeliverthemeaningfirst,becausewhenthereareconflictsbetweenthemeaningdeliveryandimageandartisticeffectdelivery,wecannottakeboth,andthemostimportantisthemeaningdelivery;andifgiventhepossibilityofbeingunderstoodbyaddingsomethingonafterliteraltranslation,itwillbeagoodtranslatedversion.Insum,differenttranslationmethodsadapttodifferentenigmaticsayings.2.1.3.ThetranslationofallusionsAnallusionisdefinedas“animpliedorindirectreferencetosomethingassumedtobeknown,suchasanhistoricaleventorpersonage,awell-knownquotationfromliterature,orafamousworkofart”(YuanHonggengandLuYujin,2003:121).Indifferentcountries,peopleusedifferentallusionstoindicatethesamething.Therearesomeexamples:a.Godofhealth—Hygeiainthesentence“Hygeiaherselfwouldhavefallensickundersucharegimen;andhowmuchmorethispooroldnervousvictim.”InGreecemyths,Hygeia(Hygia),thedaughterofAesculapius,isthegoddessofbothphysicalandmentalheath(刘超之、艾英译，1998：57-59).Thewritermeansthateventhe15 healthygodgetsillundersuchcondition,needlesstosaythesickoldvictim.Thetranslatedversion“海基亚”cannotbecalledagoodonebecauseChinesepeopledon’tknowwhoHygiais,andwe’dbetteradd“健康女神”before“海基亚”tocompensateforthelackofwesternculturalbackground.b.“程咬金”Thereisanoldsaying“半路杀出个程咬金”.WeChineseuseittoexpressthatatthecriticalmoment,onecomesouttogetallthingsoutoftrouble.ChengYaojinwasahigh-rankingofficerinTangdynasty,whowasalwaysgettingthingsoutoftroubleatthecriticalmoment,thusthesayinggoes,“半路杀出个程咬金”.Whendoingtranslation,weshouldnottranslateitinto“ChengYaojin”becausethereisn’tChengYaojininwesterncountries,northisallusion.FortunatelyagodnamedDeusExMachina(godfromthemachina)intheRomeoperaplaysthesamepartasChengYaojininChina,andinEnglish,“Ghostinthemachine”isusedtoconveythesamemeaning.c.“Achilles’heel”InIliad,AchilleswasthesonofPoles.Afterhisbirth,hismotherwantedhimtobestrongandimmortal,andputhiminthefiretoburnandintotheriverStyx.Hismotherdiditeverydaywhenhewasachild,andfinallyhebecameundefeatableandcouldnotbedestroyed.Butunfortunately,hismotherheldhisheelandputhimintothewateroftheriverStyx,sohisheelwasveryweakandbecamehisonlyweakpoint.AfterkillingsomanysoldiersinthewarofTroy,hewaskilledbyanarrowshotathisheel.Then“Achilles’heel”isregardedastheonlyandtheweakestpointofsomeoneorsomething.Chinesepeopledon’tknowthestoryofAchilles,andifwetranslateitinto“阿基流斯的脚踝”,itwillbehardforChinesepeopletounderstandit.Whentranslating“hislazinessishisheelofAchilles”,“他的懒惰是他的阿基流斯的脚踝”shouldnotbethepropertranslatedversion.Weshouldchange“阿基流斯的脚踝”into“致命弱点”whichcanfaithfullydelivertheinnermeaningoftheoriginalsentence.Insum,inthetranslationofallusion,theinnermeaningoftheoriginalversionshouldbeputmoreemphasis,andthekeytothetranslationofallusionistodelivertheunstatedandtheintendedmeaning,whichcancompensatefortheculturaldefault.Theimageofallusionshouldbeconsidered,butifthereisaconflictbetweenthedeliveryofmeaningandthatofimage,theformershouldbeconsideredmoreimportant.15 2.2Fromtheperspectiveofthoughtstyle2.2.1Chineseemphasisonperceptionandintuition,andwesternemphasisonreasoningandlogicBecauseofChineseemphasisonperceptionandintuition,Chinesecharactersarepictographic;andbecausewesternersareratherreasonableandlogical,objectivityisthemainpropertyofEnglishvocabulary.Chinesecharactersarefullofimages.Forexample,Chinesecharacter“刀”resemblestheimageofaknife;“伞”(umbrella),theimageofanopenumbrella;“日”(sun)and“月”(moon),theimageofthesunandmooninthesky,etc.WhencomparingChinesecharacterwithEnglishvocabulary,itiseasytofindthattheformerisdirectandfullofimages，whilethelaterisobjectiveandfunctional,withoutconsideringtheimageofaword.Furthermore,Chinesepeoplelikeusingconcretethingstosymbolizetheabstractthings.Forexample,in“兵败如山”,Chinesepeopleuse“如山”toindicatethetendencyofbeingdefeated:nothingcanresistandnothingcanhaltit,justlikeafallingmountain;“蚕食”isusedinChinesetoindicatetheaggressionisgraduallydonebutneverpulledback,justlikethesilkwormsareeatingtheleaves.Thesetwoexamplesareverygoodexamplestoshowconcretethingssymbolizingabstractmeanings.Indealingwiththesetranslations,weshouldtranslateitsintendedmeaning.Thiskindoftranslationmakeslosesinimage,butitisunderstandable.Forsomeofthiskindofwords,wecantranslateliterally,butitshouldbebasedontheunderstandingofthetranslatedversionbyusinggeneralknowledge.Ifitcanbeliterallytranslatedwithoutaffectingtargetreaders’understanding,itisthebestone.2.2.2DifferentwaysofexpressiondeterminedbydifferentthoughtstylesBecauseofdifferentthoughtstylesofwesternpeopleandChinesepeople,thereexistsadistinctdifferencebetweenEnglishandChinesewaysofexpression.Englishisahypotactic,whileChineseismoreaparatacticlanguagethanahypotacticone.FowlerdescribeChineselanguageasalanguagelikerunningwater—“Chineseislikewavesinthesea,oneupandonedown;theylooklikethesameone,butinfacttheyaretotallydifferent”(连淑能，1993：45).15 Therelationshipbetweenwordsisveryhardtotell,soisthatamongsentencesandamongparagraphs.Take“否极泰来”forexample,therelationshipbetween“否极”and“泰来”canbeeasilyunderstoodas“supposing-judge”and“reasoning-judge”relationship,soitcanbetranslatedinto“ifthebadthingends,thegoodonehappens”and“becausethebadthingends,thegoodonehappens”.WecanseethatthemeaningofChineselanguageisbroadandambiguous.Chineselacksusingconnectionwords,whileEnglishprefersusingthem.Forwesterners,moreemphasiswillbeputontheexpressionofthelogicalorderofthesentences,somanyconnectionwordswillbeusedtoindicatethelogicalrelationshipbetweensentences.Letuslookatthefollowingexample:Originalversion:No,No,wearenotsatisfied,andwewillnotbesatisfieduntiljusticerolldownlikewatersandrighteousnesslikeamightystream.Translatedversion:不，不，我们没有满足，我们也不会满足，直到公平如大水滚滚，公义如江水滔滔。TheoriginalversioncomesfromMartinLutherKing’sspeech“Ihaveadream”.Therearetwo“ands”andan“until”inittostrengthenrhythmandguaranteeamightyenergeticpower.Ifwetranslatethetwo“ands”intocharacterslike“而且”，thepowerwillbedestroyed,andtheeffectofthespeechmaybeaffected.Inthetranslation,thewordlike“and”arenottranslatedinordertodeliverabetterintentionoftheoriginalversion.Therearefivecommasinthetranslatedversion,whileonlythreeintheoriginalone.ThiswayofdealingwiththetranslationiscloselyrelatedtotheparataxisofChineselanguage—theshortsentencesinChinesecandeliverabetterrhythmandthelogicalrelationshipwithinit.Tosumup,agoodconsiderationofthedifferencesbetweenEnglishhypotaxisandChineseparataxisisthefoundationoftranslation.IntranslationfromEnglishtoChinese,afteranalyzingthepropertyofhypotaxis,wecanproduceparatacticChineseversion,whileintranslationfromChinesetoEnglish,afteranalyzingthepropertyofparataxis,wecanproducehypotacticEnglishversion.HypotaxisandparataxisarethebasicdifferencesbetweenEnglishandChinese.Hypotacticlanguageisareflectionofthelogicalandaccuratethoughtstyle,whileparatactic15 languageisthatofthegeneralandambiguousthoughtstyle.AgoodhandlingofhypotaxisandparataxisisnecessaryindoingEnglish-Chinesetranslation.Asatranslator,he/sheshouldconsiderthecharacteristicsofhypotaxisandparataxisofboththeoriginallanguageandthetargetlanguage,inorderto,ontheonehand,reappeartheoriginalmeaning,andontheotherhand,reappeartheimageandartisticeffectoftheoriginalversion.2.2.3ChinesebeliefinintegrationandwesternbeliefinindividualityChinesepeoplebelieveintheintegrationofnatureandhumanbeings.BookofChanges(易经),thefoundationofChineseclassicalculture,pointsoutthateverythingshouldbe“integratedandharmonious”,andshouldbe“producedanddevelopedinthechangeofYinyang”,anditalsodiscussesthe“spiritoftheeternaluniverseandtheintegrationofdealingwiththingsandthisspirit”(白话易经(全译本)，1997：465).However,westernersbelievethattheindividualisthemostimportant,andthathumanbeingsrelyonnaturebutareseparatedfromnature,andthathumanbeingsshouldmakeuseofthenatureanddefendthemselvesfrombeingdestroyedbyit.Becauseofdifferentthoughtstyles,thereisadifferenceinindicatingthings:themeaningsofEnglishwordsareconcreteandspecific,whilethatofChinesecharactersaregeneral.Forexample,whenaChinesesay“车来了”,“车”heremayreferto“bus”(公共汽车),“truck”(卡车),“taxi”(出租车),“coach”(长途公共汽车),“car”(轿车),or“minibus”(面包车),etc.(贾文波,2004:109).ThroughthiswecaneasilyobservethatChineselanguageissoambiguous.Therearesomanycharactersofthiskind:inChina,wealwaysask“你吃饭没有？”,butinEnglish,nobodysayinthisway,becausetheyhaveconcretewordstoindicatethreemeals,breakfast(早餐),lunch(午餐),supper(晚餐).TheconcreteandspecificfeatureleadstothenumerousnessandcomplexityofEnglishvocabulary.Wehavetorememberthemonebyone,accuratelyandbroadly,sothatwecanuseitaswewant,andproducepreciselytranslatedversions.3.Solutions15 3.1Totheproblemscausedbydifferentculturalbackgroundsa.LearntheculturesofbothlanguagesItisnotveryeasyforapersontoliveintheenvironmentoftwolanguages.LimitexistsforbothChineselearningEnglishandwesternerslearningChinese,becauseofthesinglelanguageenvironmenttheyarein.Butifwewanttodogoodtranslation,wehavetotryourbesttolearnbroadlyanddeeplytheculturesofbothlanguages.Culturecomesfromhistoryandhistoryhasbeenrecordedinbooks,soreadingmorebooksisoneofthebestwaystolearndifferentcultures.Moreover,culturecomesfromclassicallegendandfolktells,socommunicationwithforeigners,traveltoforeigncountries,andjoiningsummercampinwesterncountriesareallgoodwaystolearnculturesofothercountries.Onlyafteronecanhandletheculturesofbothlanguageswell,canonetranslatewell.b.AdoptpropertranslationmethodsTherearemanytranslationmethods,suchasliteraltranslationmethod,freetranslationmethod,transliteration,changeofthefunctionofwords,etc.Thereisn’taperfecttranslationmethod,butaproperoneinonecircumstance.Becauseliteraltranslation,freetranslation,transliterationaremostlyused,moredetailsaboutthemwillbefollowed.Literaltranslationreferstothetranslationthat“theSL(sourcelanguage)grammaticalconstructionsareconvertedtotheirnearestTL(targetlanguage)equivalentsbutthelexicalwordsareagaintranslatedsingly,outofcontext.Asapre-translationprocess,thisindicatestheproblemstobesolved”(Newmark,2001:46).Theadvantageofitistherelativelyperfectdeliveryofthemeaningofthewordsandimageoftheoriginal;thedisadvantageisthedifficultyinunderstandingcausedbytheculturaldefaultofdifferentnations.Freetranslationisthetranslationwhich“reproducesthematterwithoutthemanner,orthecontentwithouttheformoftheoriginal.Usuallyit’saparaphrasemuchlongerthantheoriginal,aso-called‘intralingualtranslation’,oftenprolixandpretentious”(Newmark,2001:46).Takethetranslationofthesentence“Heisahorse”forexample,itshouldbetranslatedinto“他跑得很快”.Here,ifwetranslateitinto“他是一匹马”,oneiseasyto15 misunderstanditasanobscenesentence.Onlyifwecantranslatetheessenceofit,canthereadersreallyunderstandthemeaning.“Transliterationisthat,inordertodeliverthemainfunctionofthelanguage,thetranslationisdonetoreservethepronunciationoftheoriginallanguageinthetargetlanguage”(陈宏薇，1998：95).Thetranslationofthebrand“Coca-Cola”into“可口可乐”canbejudgedasaperfecttranslation.ForChinesepronunciation,thepronunciationof“可口可乐”isveryclosetothatofthebrand“Coca-Cola”;forthemeaning,inChinaitmeansthatittasteswellanditisenjoyable,andthetranslatedversionexpressesfaithfullythemeaning,theeffect,andthepronunciation.3.2Totheproblemsbroughtaboutbydifferentthoughtstylesa.Learnmorewordsandknowhowtousethem“Ifapassageisagreatbuilding,wordsshouldbethebricksofit”(余光中.2002:105).Soitisnecessarytolearnmorewordstoguaranteethecomprehension.AsanEnglishlearner,oneshouldbuildupourvocabulary,andlearnhowtouseitandbecomeagoodtranslator.b.DeveloptheabilityofunderstandingbothlanguagesTranslationisbasedontheunderstandingoftheoriginalversion,socomprehensiveabilityisofgreatimportance.Becauseofthedifferencesofthoughtstyles,thewaysofcomposingsentences,paragraphs,andpassagesaredifferent,andthenthelanguageproducedisofgreatdifference.Sotheabilityofunderstandingthetwolanguagesisindispensableforatranslator.“Practicemakesperfect”.Nomatterhowgoodyouareatchoosingpropermethods,producinggoodtranslationisimpossibleifyourefusetopracticeit.4.ConclusionThroughtheaboveanalysisofthetranslationexamplesandtheresearchintothemethodsoftranslation,thetranslationofthesentence“giveabadnametothedogbeforehangingit”shouldnotbe“杀死这只狗前先给这只狗一个坏名字”anymore,insteaditshouldbeanidiom“欲加之罪，何患无辞”.Thoughthestoryofadoghasbeenlostinthetranslatedversion,themeaningofthesentenceiscorrectlyconveyedtothetargetreaders.15 Notonlyshouldweconsiderthemeaningofthewordsoftheoriginal,butalsoweshouldconsiderthefollowingtwofactors:culturalbackgrounds,andthoughtstylesofdifferentnations.Onlyagoodawarenessoftheculturebackgroundsofbothlanguagescanwellservetoproducequalifiedtranslatedworks.Easterners,especiallyChinesepeople,emphasizeperceptionandintuition,whilewesternersareratherreasonableandlogical;ChinesepeoplestressideaswhileWesternersstressforms;Chinesepeoplebelieveinintegrationwhilethewesternersbelievethattheindividualisthemostimportant.Differentculturalbackgroundscallforourcarefulhandlingofculturesofthetwonations,andthencallforourproperchoicesoftranslationmethodstobetterdelivertheessenceoftheoriginalversion;anddifferentthoughtstylescallforouremphasisonspecificthoughtstylesofthetwonations.Throughpractice,wecanstrengthenourunderstandingandexpressingabilities,andproducegoodtranslatedversions.Inall,onlywhenourtranslationisbasedonathoroughconsiderationofculturalbackgroundsandthoughtstylesofdifferentnations,togetherwiththepropertranslationmethods,canwewelldelivertheoriginalversionwithexcellenttranslatedversionproduced.15 Bibliography[1]Newmark,Peter.ATextbookofTranslation[M].Shanghai:ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress,2001.[2]YuanHonggeng&LuYulin.EnglishPoetry&It’sMajorCriticism[M].Lanzhou:LanzhouUniversityPress,2003.[3]陈宏薇.汉英翻译基础[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，1998.[4]陈文伯.英汉成语对比与翻译[M].北京：世界书城出版社，2005.[5]存良.白话易经(全译本)[M].呼和浩特：内蒙古人民出版社，1997.[6]霍恩比(Hornby).牛津高阶英汉双解词典[M].北京：商务印书馆，2002.[7]贾文波.应用翻译功能论[M].北京：中国对外翻译出版社，2004.[8]连淑能.英汉对比研究[M].北京：高等教育出版社，1993.[9]陆乃圣.英汉差异与翻译[M].上海：华东化工学院出版社，1993.[10]疑华.汉译英大辞典[M].北京：商务印书馆，2002.[11]余光中.余光中谈翻译[M].北京：中国对外翻译出版社，2002.15 SummaryofWritingThisThesisItwasduringmypre-teacherpracticinginPixianSecondMiddleSchoolthatIfinishedthefirstversionofthisthesis.Duringthewritingofthisthesis,thereweremanydifficultiesindatacollection,anddataarrangement.XihuaUniversityLibraryhelpedmeindatacollection,andmysupervisorgavemealotofadviceinwritingthisthesis.ThethesistalksaboutthebarriersthataffectEnglish-Chinesetranslationfromtheperspectivesofculturalbackgroundandthoughtstyle.TherearemanybarriersbetweenEnglishandChinese,soitisimpossibletoanalyzeeveryoneofthem,thenIdeterminedtotalkaboutthetwomainbarriers—culturalbackgroundandthoughtstyle.Translationisadifficulttask.Inordertoprovidethesisreaderswithabetterunderstandingofthetranslationmethodsandguaranteeaproperadoptionoftranslationmethodswhentheyaredoingtranslation,someexamplesandcorrespondinganalyseshavetobeincludedinthethesis.Soitisnecessaryformetospendmuchtimeondatacollectionandinconsideringhowtoorganizemythesis.Timeislimited,sotherearemanydeficienciesinthefirstversion.Withthehelpofmysupervisor,myfriends,andotherteachers,Ifinishedmysecondversionandthethirdone.Theprocessofwritingthisthesisisdifficult,butthispreciousprocesshasgivenmeanopportunitytoexperiencethesedifficulties,andonlythroughthiscanIdevelopandtrainmyself,soItreasurethisprocess.Throughthewritingofthisthesis,IhaveobtainedmoreknowledgeaboutthedifferencesofChineseandEnglish,andthecausesofthem,whichcanmakemerecognizehowIshoulduselearningstrategiestolearnEnglishcultureandotherknowledgewellinthefuture.Moreover,throughanalyzingthesefactorsanddifficulties,Ihavelearnedsomegoodtranslationmethodsandknownhowtousethem.15 AcknowledgementsFirstly,greatthankswillbegiventoourinstituteforgivingmethischancetodosomeattemptstoanalyzethesetwobarrierstoEnglish-Chinesetranslation.Then,Iwillthankalltheteachersandfriendswhohavehelpedmetogetideasinwritingthisthesis.AndgreatthanksshouldbegiventoXihuaUniversityLibraryforprovidingmewithvaluabledata.ThemostspecialthankswillbegiventoMsLiXinxinforhercarefulnessinhelpingmetofinishthispaper.Sheisaresponsibleteacher.Withouttheseaboveassistances,Icouldnotfinishthispaper,soIwanttothankthemagain.15'