文学作品中的不可译现象及补偿手段-以《围城》为例_英语论文

On Untranslatability and Means of Compensation in Literature Works---A Case Study of Fortress Besieged

摘要

尤金•奈达曾指出：“所谓翻译是指从语义到文体在译语中用最切近而最自然的对等话语再现源语的信息。”简单来说，翻译就是用一种语言尽可能贴切地将另一种语言需要传达的信息表达出来。从古至今，对于翻译可译性与不可译性的争论从未真正的偃旗息鼓。它促进了人们对翻译本质的认识。到目前为止翻译理论界已经达成了一种基本的共识，即翻译是有可能的，但可译性是有一定的限度的，翻译过程中文化的流失也是难以避免的。

《围城》是中国现代史上风格独特的讽刺小说，被誉为中国现代最优秀的两部小说之一。英译本由珍妮•凯利和茅国权共同翻译，并被收入了企鹅经典文库。小说故事情节虽然不太复杂，但是语言犀利、妙语连珠、蕴含了丰富的文化内涵，文学价值非常高，但这些特点也给翻译带来了不小的难度。

本论文以《围城》为例，从语言上的不可译性和文化上的不可译性两方面具体探讨文学作品翻译中源语与译入语不能达到最佳关联的情况，并进一步分析译者在翻译时如何处理这些不可译现象（即所运用的补偿手段）。

作者指出，文学作品翻译的不可译现象并不是绝对意义上的不可译，而是由于语言、文化上的巨大差异，译者不能完全译出原著作者想要表达的内涵。研究发现，语言上的不可译性比文化上的不可译性更难得到补偿。文化上的不可译，特别是文化负载词的翻译，可以通过注释、增益等手段得到补偿，而且随着全球化进程的加快，跨文化交际越来越频繁，文化上的不可译现象会得到一定程度的减弱。但是《围城》中文言文、白话文、英语同时存在于原著，翻译时却无法体现出三种语言形式的差别，这一点也很难得到补偿。

关键词：文学作品翻译；《围城》；不可译性；补偿手段 

Abstract

As Eugene A. Nida pointed out, translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. (Eugene A. Nida 1964:26) To put it simply, translation is a process to transfer the information from one language to another. Since ancient times, the arguments on translatability and untranslatability have never died down. But the current translation field has reached a basic consensus, that is, translation is possible, but there is still a limit to translatability. It is quite impossible to avoid the cultural losses.

Fortress Besieged is a unique satirical novel in modern Chinese history, honoured as “one of modern China’s two best novels”. The English version, co-translated by Jeanne Kelly and Nathan K. Mao, is incorporated into the Penguin Classics. Though the plot of the novel is not very complicated, the sharp language, full of witty remarks and rich cultural connotations contribute to its high literary value. But those features also bring difficulties to translation.

The author of this thesis explores the limitations of translatability from two aspects: linguistic untranslatability and cultural untranslatability, taking Fortress Besieged as a demonstrative case, and further analyses the means of compensation in the translation.

The author points out that the untranslatability of the literary translation doesn’t mean that translators cannot translate a specific word or phrase in the original text. What it actually means is the phenomenon that translators cannot completely express the connotations that the author wants to express due to great differences on culture and language. The author finds that the linguistic untranslatability is more difficult to be compensated. Cultural untranslatability, particularly the translation of cultural loaded words, can be compensated by various means of compensation, such as annotation and amplification. Meanwhile, with the acceleration of globalization, cross-cultural communication becomes more and more frequent, which also reduces the phenomena of  

cultural untranslatability. What is more, Fortress Besieged is mainly written in colloquialism, accompanied in some cases by English and classical Chinese. After translation, the differences among these three language forms disappear suddenly. This phenomenon of untranslatability is also hard to compensate.

Keywords：translation of literary works；Fortress Besieged；untranslatability；means

of compensation

Contents

Acknowledgements i

English Abstract ii

Chinese Abstract iv

Table of Contents v

Chapter One Introduction 1

1.1 Research Background1

1.2 Motivation of the Thesis.1

1.3 Thesis Arrangement2

Chapter Two Literature Review 4

2.1 Brief Introduction of Fortress Besieged 4

2.2 Brief Introduction of the English Version of Fortress Besieged 5

2.3 Theories Related to Thesis 6

Chapter Three Untranslatability and its Means of Compensation in Fortress Besieged 10

3.1 Untranslatability in Fortress Besieged 10

3.1.1 Linguistic Untranslatability10

3.1.1.1 Phonetic Level.10

3.1.1.2 Morphological Level.11

3.1.1.3 Grammatical Level11

3.1.1.4 Rhetorical Level12

3.1.2 Cultural Untranslatability.12

3.1.2.1 Untranslatability Caused by Specific Social Context13

3.1.2.2 Untranslatability of Unique Culture14

3.1.2.3 Untranslatability of Humor.15

3.2 Means of Compensation 16

3.2.1 Annotation16

3.2.2 Amplification17

3.2.3Specification.17

3.2.4Generalization.18

3.2.5 Substitution..18

3.2.6 Shift of Perspective..19

Conclusion 20

References.22