散文翻译原则 (Week 8)

• This text discusses the principles of translating prose, emphasizing accuracy in conveying meaning, style, and cultural context.

Accurate Reproduction of Prose Meaning

• The core of prose lies in expressing ideas and emotions authentically, truthfully, plainly, and directly.
• Accurate reproduction in translation is the primary principle, aiming for equivalence in meaning, form, style, and tone.
• Achieving this requires thorough and detailed interpretation ensuring the translation matches the original's quality.
• Interpretation involves understanding subtle nuances like word meanings, sounds, spellings, connotations, denotations, figurative meanings, and symbolic significance down to the thematic meaning of sentences and discourse.
• Because essay topics are freely chosen and the form is open, interpreting essays also needs to take into account the meaning outside of words and sentences, such as literary background, social background, allusions, common sense, historical geography, etc.
• In summary, the translator should comprehend the essay's myriad aspects, from the minute details to the grand scheme and back.
• Translating prose requires balancing content and form, with neither aspect being subordinate.
• At the language level, the translation must move from the micro to the macro, carefully grasping words, phrases, sentences, chapters, rhetoric, logic, style, and theme, using precise and appropriate language to reproduce the original meaning.
• At the cultural level, the translation needs to incorporate the society, history, culture, and literary context to accurately reflect the original work's meaning.
• The provided example is an excerpt from E.B. White's "Once More to the Lake", analyzed for form, content, language, culture, words, and paragraphs.
• From a formal point of view, the section relates an event, which includes the author and his son camping in the countryside, that there are asphalt roads, forests and tents there.
• From the key word "camp" leads us to know it is a travel journal and not a novel, because the travel journal does not create or portray characters.
• Moreover, this passage has no dialogue or breaks, indicating that it is neither a drama nor a poem, but an essay.
• From the perspective of language, there are no ancient words in terms of spelling, such as thou, thee, thy, thine, shalt, etc., nor is there any ancient grammar, so we know it is a modern text at a glance.
• The author's use of language shows a simple style, avoiding elaborate wording.
• Culturally, the essay reflects a connection to nature, aligning with Chinese cultural values.
• There are cultural expressions that are unique, such as "had any fresh water up his nose," which lacks a direct equivalent in Chinese, emphasizing the importance of understanding cultural nuances in translation.
• The passage is plain and simple, so the translation should respect these characteristics to accurately convey the theme and style, encompassing both content and form.
• A sample translation is provided to evaluate based on these standards.
• The analysis reveals instances where the translation is overly embellished which does not align with White's simple style.
• The phrase "缅想时光的流逝" (yearning for the passage of time) is an over translation of "I wondered how time would have marred this unique, this holy spot."
• The translation should say "I wondered how time would be like to damage this unique, holy place", because the original did not use fancy words.
• Phrases like "彼时湖上清凉,水波不兴" (“At that time the lake was cool and the water was calm”) sound a bit too literary and could be re-phrased for simplicity.
• The importance of the word "fresh" should be emphasized to show that a new lake experience is being described.
• The phrase "suddenly reminds you of another thing" should become "suddenly reminded you of another thing".
• The expression "the first to get up" is easily misunderstood and should be "the first to get up".
• The description in the last sentence "the silence of the cathedral" should be "of the cathedral".
• While the translation is by a renowned translator, there is still room for improvement in accurately representing the original's form and meaning.
• Accurately reproducing the meaning of prose is paramount, and like other literary works, the meaning and form of prose cannot be separated completely. You must know how to use appropriate translating language to reproduce the essence of the original work.

Appropriate Preservation of Prose Form

• Prose allows for open and free selection of materials and does not adhere to a rigid format.
• Unlike poetry that emphasizes rhythm and rhyme or novels and dramas that focus on character development, plot creation, and special narrative techniques, prose also values form.
• Prose beauty is embodied in artistic conception, aesthetic effect, and also in the form of rhythm, wording, and rhetorical devices.
• Completely abandoning the form of the original will inevitably lose the beauty of the original, but due to language and cultural differences, the original form cannot be completely copied into the translation.
• Translators need to ensure that the translation reflects the individuality and style expressed through the diction of the prose.
• An extract comes from the famous British essayist and novelist Huxley's famous work 《关于月亮的断想》("Meditation on the Moon").
• Socrates was accused by his enemies of having affirmed heretically that the moon was a stone and he denied the accusation.
• Socrates' quote is contrasted with D. H. Lawrence's more elaborate and pseudoscientific description of the moon.
• From a literary perspective, Lawrence's angry words and expressions are more appropriate and expressive than Huxley's work.
• The translation should capture the nuances and contrasts in style between the two authors, avoiding a flat or mediocre rendering.
• Retaining the essence of wording from language and expression of the source text can only increase the level to the translation.

Eliminating Barriers and Narrowing Distances

• Language is the carrier of culture and different languages carry different cultures.
• For example, English uses many inclusive and complex sentences with complete logic, while Chinese tends to use flowing sentences with implied logical connections.
• This reflects differences in Western and Chinese cultures and some expressions and events carry cultural meaning, making translation challenging.
• Overcoming these cultural barriers is essential for translators to bridge the cultural gap.
• The following are some examples where there may be obstacles: an elegant name!, Book scents are treated as copper stinks, etc..
• The phrase "书香人家" (a family of scholars) evokes an image of literary refinement.
• "铜臭" (the stink of copper) contrasts literary pursuits with materialism.
• Other terms like "周彝商鼎" (Zhou Yi Shang Tripod), "布帛刀错" (cloth knife error), "毛边连史" (rough edge history), and "桂馥兰薰" (Gui Fu Lanxun) are culturally specific.
• Cultural contexts can be explained through annotations.
• In this segment, it applies the ancient style of expression and embellished wording as much as possible.
• This is demonstrated by looking for the rhythm and beat in the words, as well as using the most embellishment possible.
• The all-day-long strokes and fondles feel no foul odour and Philistinism contaminates copper when it is cast into coins as money.

Analysis of Wang Zuoliang's Translation of "On Studies"

• Wang Zuoliang, although only translating 5 articles by Bacon, creates the best translation because he is very precise.
• Of that translation, Bacon's texts were elegant in their wording, had careful writing, and used many parallel sentences.
• Bacon's texts also have a musical and rhythmic feel to the writing, and Wang Zuoliang's translations achieves these features and matches them well.
• It is not only because it is an excellent translation, but it is also both an excellent classical work.