Problems of Transfer of National-Cultural Vocabulary of Chinese and Russian Languages in English Translations / Проблема передачи национально-культурной лексики китайского и русского языков в переводах на английский язык
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Contents 3
Introduction 5
Chapter 1 Theoretical Foundations of National-cultural vocabulary Studies and Translation Theories of Domestication and Foreignization 9
1.1．The correlation between language and culture 9
1.2. National-cultural vocabulary 12
1.2.1. Definition of National-cultural vocabulary 13
1.2.2. Classification of National-cultural vocabulary 15
1.2.3. Rationale for the translation of national-cultural vocabulary 18
1.3. "Dead Souls" and the previous studies of "Dead Souls" 22
1.3.1. Author Nikolai Gogol and his masterpiece "Dead Souls" 22
1.3.2. Chinese translations of "Dead Souls" 24
1.3.3 English translations of "Dead Souls" 27
1.3.4. Previoustranslation studies of "Dead Souls" 29
1.4. "Fortress besieged"and its English and Russian translations 32
1.4.1. Introduction to the original work and the author 32
1.4.2. Introduction to the English translation version and the translators 33
1.4.3. Introduction to the Russian translation version and translators 35
1.5. Translation strategies of foreignization and domestication 35
Conclusion of chapter 1 43
Chapter 2. An analysis of the translation of national-cultural vocabulary in "Dead Souls" and "Fortress besieged". 45
2.1. Translation of national-cultural vocabulary under the strategy of foreignization 45
2.1.1. Transliteration (with annotation) 45
2.1.2 literal translation 53
2.1.3. Amplification 62
2.2. Translation of national-cultural vocabulary under the strategy of domestication 66
2.2.1. Free translation (with annotation) 66
2.2.2. Substitution 74
2.3. Similarities and differences in translation strategies for national-cultural vocabulary in different versions of translations. 82
2.3.1. Similarities in Translation Strategies for National-cultural vocabulary in Different Versions of Translations 82
2.3.2. Differences in Translation Strategies for National-cultural vocabulary in Different Versions of Translations 83
Conclusion of chapter 2 87
Conclusion 90
Reference 93
List of Dictionaryused 97
List of material sources 97
Introduction 5
Chapter 1 Theoretical Foundations of National-cultural vocabulary Studies and Translation Theories of Domestication and Foreignization 9
1.1．The correlation between language and culture 9
1.2. National-cultural vocabulary 12
1.2.1. Definition of National-cultural vocabulary 13
1.2.2. Classification of National-cultural vocabulary 15
1.2.3. Rationale for the translation of national-cultural vocabulary 18
1.3. "Dead Souls" and the previous studies of "Dead Souls" 22
1.3.1. Author Nikolai Gogol and his masterpiece "Dead Souls" 22
1.3.2. Chinese translations of "Dead Souls" 24
1.3.3 English translations of "Dead Souls" 27
1.3.4. Previoustranslation studies of "Dead Souls" 29
1.4. "Fortress besieged"and its English and Russian translations 32
1.4.1. Introduction to the original work and the author 32
1.4.2. Introduction to the English translation version and the translators 33
1.4.3. Introduction to the Russian translation version and translators 35
1.5. Translation strategies of foreignization and domestication 35
Conclusion of chapter 1 43
Chapter 2. An analysis of the translation of national-cultural vocabulary in "Dead Souls" and "Fortress besieged". 45
2.1. Translation of national-cultural vocabulary under the strategy of foreignization 45
2.1.1. Transliteration (with annotation) 45
2.1.2 literal translation 53
2.1.3. Amplification 62
2.2. Translation of national-cultural vocabulary under the strategy of domestication 66
2.2.1. Free translation (with annotation) 66
2.2.2. Substitution 74
2.3. Similarities and differences in translation strategies for national-cultural vocabulary in different versions of translations. 82
2.3.1. Similarities in Translation Strategies for National-cultural vocabulary in Different Versions of Translations 82
2.3.2. Differences in Translation Strategies for National-cultural vocabulary in Different Versions of Translations 83
Conclusion of chapter 2 87
Conclusion 90
Reference 93
List of Dictionaryused 97
List of material sources 97
After the 1970s, scholars in the field of translation began to recognize the significant impact of cultural elements on the translation process. This led to a shift towards studying translation through a cultural lens, marking a cultural turn in translation research. An increasing number of academics came to a consensus that the core of translation lies in facilitating communication within a cross-cultural framework, highlighting the interconnectedness of culture and translation. Language serves as the primary mode of communication between individuals from diverse countries across the globe. Various ethnic groups have developed distinct cultures through their social customs, with culture playing a significant role in influencing and molding language. Hence, translation ought to accurately convey the cultural significance inherent in the language.
National-cultural vocabulary pertains to the lexicon within a language that most accurately conveys cultural knowledge, social dynamics, and traditional practices of a specific society.
Gogol's literary work "Dead Souls" elucidates the pervasive corruption within Russian society and the gradual dissolution of serfdom during that historical period. In "Dead Souls," Gogol employed a significant number of culture-specific terms with nuanced meanings, which served to depict the social and cultural attributes of the Imperial Russian era. In 1935, Mr. Lu Xun was the first to translate "Dead Souls" into Chinese in China. Up to the present time, there exist over 10 distinct translations of Dead Souls. The presentation of culture-specific words varies due to diverse perspectives, levels of understanding, and the selection of translation strategies and methods by different translators.
"围城 Fortress besieged" is the only full-length novel authored by Qian Zhongshu. The story is set in the 1930s and 1940s, focusing on the life journey of the protagonist, Fang Hongjian, a "fake doctor," upon his return from studying abroad. The novel delves into his experiences in marriage and career, which are marked by absurdity and sorrow, interspersed with moments of joy. It depicts the lives of certain intellectuals, particularly European and American students and university professors, through the lens of Fang Hongjian, within the specific historical context of that era. The narrative also explores the lives and psychological transformations of intellectuals, including Fang Hongguan, against the backdrop of that era.
Hence, it is imperative to examine the translation of culture-specific terminology in "Dead Souls" and in "围城 Fortress besieged."
The object of this study is on national-cultural vocabulary, which are words exclusive to a particular ethnic group and can convey its distinct cultural connotations. The cultural significance contained within these culture-specific terms may lose their cultural connotations when rendered into different languages.A total of 72 pertinent examples were gathered and examined throughout the research process, with 23 examples being specifically analyzed and detailed in the thesis.
The subject of this study pertains to the strategies and methods employed in the translation of national-cultural vocabulary.
The value of research:
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in international political and economic cooperation, accompanied by a rise in cultural exchanges, particularly between China and Russia. Nevertheless, China and Russia possess distinct languages that reflect diverse cultures and traditions, necessitating the facilitation of cultural exchanges through translation assistance. Translation is not merely about surmounting language obstacles to achieve interlingual communication; rather, it involves transcending cultural barriers that underlie language to achieve intercultural communication.
At a theoretical level, by examining the translation of national-cultural vocabulary in the English and Russian versions of "围城 Fortress besieged,"and in Chinese and English versions of Nikolai Gogol's "Dead Souls," the scope of translation studies on national-cultural vocabulary can be enhanced.
...
National-cultural vocabulary pertains to the lexicon within a language that most accurately conveys cultural knowledge, social dynamics, and traditional practices of a specific society.
Gogol's literary work "Dead Souls" elucidates the pervasive corruption within Russian society and the gradual dissolution of serfdom during that historical period. In "Dead Souls," Gogol employed a significant number of culture-specific terms with nuanced meanings, which served to depict the social and cultural attributes of the Imperial Russian era. In 1935, Mr. Lu Xun was the first to translate "Dead Souls" into Chinese in China. Up to the present time, there exist over 10 distinct translations of Dead Souls. The presentation of culture-specific words varies due to diverse perspectives, levels of understanding, and the selection of translation strategies and methods by different translators.
"围城 Fortress besieged" is the only full-length novel authored by Qian Zhongshu. The story is set in the 1930s and 1940s, focusing on the life journey of the protagonist, Fang Hongjian, a "fake doctor," upon his return from studying abroad. The novel delves into his experiences in marriage and career, which are marked by absurdity and sorrow, interspersed with moments of joy. It depicts the lives of certain intellectuals, particularly European and American students and university professors, through the lens of Fang Hongjian, within the specific historical context of that era. The narrative also explores the lives and psychological transformations of intellectuals, including Fang Hongguan, against the backdrop of that era.
Hence, it is imperative to examine the translation of culture-specific terminology in "Dead Souls" and in "围城 Fortress besieged."
The object of this study is on national-cultural vocabulary, which are words exclusive to a particular ethnic group and can convey its distinct cultural connotations. The cultural significance contained within these culture-specific terms may lose their cultural connotations when rendered into different languages.A total of 72 pertinent examples were gathered and examined throughout the research process, with 23 examples being specifically analyzed and detailed in the thesis.
The subject of this study pertains to the strategies and methods employed in the translation of national-cultural vocabulary.
The value of research:
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in international political and economic cooperation, accompanied by a rise in cultural exchanges, particularly between China and Russia. Nevertheless, China and Russia possess distinct languages that reflect diverse cultures and traditions, necessitating the facilitation of cultural exchanges through translation assistance. Translation is not merely about surmounting language obstacles to achieve interlingual communication; rather, it involves transcending cultural barriers that underlie language to achieve intercultural communication.
At a theoretical level, by examining the translation of national-cultural vocabulary in the English and Russian versions of "围城 Fortress besieged,"and in Chinese and English versions of Nikolai Gogol's "Dead Souls," the scope of translation studies on national-cultural vocabulary can be enhanced.
...
This study focuses on the translation strategies of national-cultural vocabulary in "Dead Souls" and "Fortress besieged" from the perspective of foreignization and domesticating translation strategies. The research procedures have yielded the following findings:
"Dead Souls" exemplifies Russian critical realism, serving as a literary masterpiece that satirizes the institution of serfdom. The employment of culture-specific lexicon in "Dead Souls" imparts a distinct national identity and a unique cultural temperament to the text. Previous scholarly investigations of "Dead Souls" have predominantly concentrated on the novel's narrative style, artistic elements, structural patterns, and related aspects. To date, limited scholarly articles have delved into the Chinese and English translations of Dead Souls through the lens of national-cultural vocabulary. There is a noticeable dearth of analysis utilizing the domestication and foreignization theories, representing a significant gap in the examination of the novel's translations. This gap also underscores the research significance of this topic.
"围城Fortress Besieged" stands out as a remarkable satirical novel in the annals of modern Chinese literature. Since its initial publication in China to critical acclaim, it has been translated into numerous languages and widely disseminated globally. The novel "Fortress Besieged" contains numerous national-cultural specific words that reflect Chinese culture. The key to the successful translation of the novel lies in determining appropriate strategies for translating these culture-loaded words. Therefore, this study is valuable and innovative to study the translation of national cultural vocabulary from the theory of naturalization and alienation translation by combining three languages, Chinese, English and Russian. Therefore, this study is valuable and innovative to study the translation of national cultural vocabulary from the theory of domestication and foreignization translation by combining three languages, Chinese, English and Russian.
Foreignization translation and domestication translation are two effective and widely used translation strategies. Both translation strategies play an important role in translating culture-loaded words. Foreignization translation strategies include literal translation, literal translation with annotation, transliteration, transliteration with annotation, and amplification translation. Domestication translation strategies mainly include free translation, free translation with annotation, substitution.
Every nation and region possesses a distinct linguistic expression that is exclusive to its cultural heritage. National-cultural vocabulary refers to specialized language expressions that exhibit national and regional characteristics, having evolved through historical development and cultural evolution. These linguistic expressions lack precise equivalents in the target languages and cultures. This paper is founded on Eugene Nida's categorization of culture. Nida categorized culture into ecological, material, social, religious, and linguistic dimensions. According to Nida's theory, this study categorizes national-cultural vocabulary into five groups: ecological culture-specific words, material culture-specific words, social culture-specific words, religious culture-specific words, and linguistic culture-specific words.
There exist both similarities and differences in the strategies employed by the translators in translating culture-specific terms in "Dead Souls" and "围城Fortress Besieged." Firstly, it is essential to note that domestication and foreignization are considered complementary strategies in translation. Therefore, translators typically employ both strategies in their work. Secondly, varying translators may exhibit preferences in selecting translation strategies, influenced by their diverse backgrounds and translation objectives.
In the course of empirical research, this study identifies the challenge of employing a single translation method to address every category of culture-specific terms. Nevertheless, certain relatively consistent guidelines can be outlined. For instance, both the phonetic translation method and the direct translation method are appropriate for addressing material culture-specific words specific to SL, which lack precise equivalents in TLs, as well as language culture-specific words that are easily comprehensible to the intended audience. The utilization of direct translation with annotations offers a broader range of applicability. This approach enables a more comprehensive translation of social culture-specific words from a specific era, material and linguistic culture-specific terms specific to source language culture, and the cultural implications of religious culture-specific terms within the context of Orthodox Christianity. This is achieved without compromising the form and connotations of the original text. The method of free translation and the method of free translation with annotation are employed for translating linguistic, social, and material culture-specific terms that possess intricate cultural connotations lacking precise equivalents. The utilization of amplification translation enables the direct and vivid translation of words related to ecological culture and linguistic culture. When translating certain linguistic and material culture-specific words that carry profound cultural connotations and whose associative meanings are familiar to source language (SL) readers but may not be readily comprehensible to target language (TL) readers, the substitution method can effectively convey their core meanings.
This project amalgamates the examination of national-cultural vocabularyin the Chinese and English translations of "Dead Souls" and in the English and Russian translations of "围城Fortress Besieged." It systematically deliberates on thetranslation of national-cultural vocabulary, reiterates the profound cultural legacy of various translators, bridges cultural disparities, and introduces novel research avenues for cultural translation. We posit that these successful instances of translation can offer valuable insights and direction for the precise translation of cultural terms. This study demonstrates the extensive scope of cultural translation and encourages increased participation from translators to enrich the field of literary translation.
"Dead Souls" exemplifies Russian critical realism, serving as a literary masterpiece that satirizes the institution of serfdom. The employment of culture-specific lexicon in "Dead Souls" imparts a distinct national identity and a unique cultural temperament to the text. Previous scholarly investigations of "Dead Souls" have predominantly concentrated on the novel's narrative style, artistic elements, structural patterns, and related aspects. To date, limited scholarly articles have delved into the Chinese and English translations of Dead Souls through the lens of national-cultural vocabulary. There is a noticeable dearth of analysis utilizing the domestication and foreignization theories, representing a significant gap in the examination of the novel's translations. This gap also underscores the research significance of this topic.
"围城Fortress Besieged" stands out as a remarkable satirical novel in the annals of modern Chinese literature. Since its initial publication in China to critical acclaim, it has been translated into numerous languages and widely disseminated globally. The novel "Fortress Besieged" contains numerous national-cultural specific words that reflect Chinese culture. The key to the successful translation of the novel lies in determining appropriate strategies for translating these culture-loaded words. Therefore, this study is valuable and innovative to study the translation of national cultural vocabulary from the theory of naturalization and alienation translation by combining three languages, Chinese, English and Russian. Therefore, this study is valuable and innovative to study the translation of national cultural vocabulary from the theory of domestication and foreignization translation by combining three languages, Chinese, English and Russian.
Foreignization translation and domestication translation are two effective and widely used translation strategies. Both translation strategies play an important role in translating culture-loaded words. Foreignization translation strategies include literal translation, literal translation with annotation, transliteration, transliteration with annotation, and amplification translation. Domestication translation strategies mainly include free translation, free translation with annotation, substitution.
Every nation and region possesses a distinct linguistic expression that is exclusive to its cultural heritage. National-cultural vocabulary refers to specialized language expressions that exhibit national and regional characteristics, having evolved through historical development and cultural evolution. These linguistic expressions lack precise equivalents in the target languages and cultures. This paper is founded on Eugene Nida's categorization of culture. Nida categorized culture into ecological, material, social, religious, and linguistic dimensions. According to Nida's theory, this study categorizes national-cultural vocabulary into five groups: ecological culture-specific words, material culture-specific words, social culture-specific words, religious culture-specific words, and linguistic culture-specific words.
There exist both similarities and differences in the strategies employed by the translators in translating culture-specific terms in "Dead Souls" and "围城Fortress Besieged." Firstly, it is essential to note that domestication and foreignization are considered complementary strategies in translation. Therefore, translators typically employ both strategies in their work. Secondly, varying translators may exhibit preferences in selecting translation strategies, influenced by their diverse backgrounds and translation objectives.
In the course of empirical research, this study identifies the challenge of employing a single translation method to address every category of culture-specific terms. Nevertheless, certain relatively consistent guidelines can be outlined. For instance, both the phonetic translation method and the direct translation method are appropriate for addressing material culture-specific words specific to SL, which lack precise equivalents in TLs, as well as language culture-specific words that are easily comprehensible to the intended audience. The utilization of direct translation with annotations offers a broader range of applicability. This approach enables a more comprehensive translation of social culture-specific words from a specific era, material and linguistic culture-specific terms specific to source language culture, and the cultural implications of religious culture-specific terms within the context of Orthodox Christianity. This is achieved without compromising the form and connotations of the original text. The method of free translation and the method of free translation with annotation are employed for translating linguistic, social, and material culture-specific terms that possess intricate cultural connotations lacking precise equivalents. The utilization of amplification translation enables the direct and vivid translation of words related to ecological culture and linguistic culture. When translating certain linguistic and material culture-specific words that carry profound cultural connotations and whose associative meanings are familiar to source language (SL) readers but may not be readily comprehensible to target language (TL) readers, the substitution method can effectively convey their core meanings.
This project amalgamates the examination of national-cultural vocabularyin the Chinese and English translations of "Dead Souls" and in the English and Russian translations of "围城Fortress Besieged." It systematically deliberates on thetranslation of national-cultural vocabulary, reiterates the profound cultural legacy of various translators, bridges cultural disparities, and introduces novel research avenues for cultural translation. We posit that these successful instances of translation can offer valuable insights and direction for the precise translation of cultural terms. This study demonstrates the extensive scope of cultural translation and encourages increased participation from translators to enrich the field of literary translation.
