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1、Foreignization and Domestication in the Translation of Hong13900字 Abstract:Hong Lou Meng is a walking encyclopedia of Chinese culture. In 1970s, two complete English versions were published almost at the same time respectively in Beijing and London. One was translated by Chinese scholar Yang Xianyi
2、and his wife Gladys Yang; the other was rendered by British sinologist David Hawkes. Ys mainly adopted foreignization to spread the Chinese culture to English readers and Hawkes mainly adopted domestication to make what he translated more readable. Actually,foreignization and domestication co-exist
3、in each translation. There is no absolute foreignization and domestication. Key words:Hong Lou MengforeignizationdomesticationHong Lou Meng is a walking encyclopedia of Chinese culture.It is so culture-loaded that it is challenging for those who want to translate it from Chinese to English. In 1970s
4、, two complete English versions were published almost at the same time respectively in Beijing and London. One was translated by Chinese scholar Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Yang; the other was rendered by British sinologist David Hawkes. Ys adopted foreignization to deal with it, while Hs adopte
5、d the strategy of domestication. The two versions are so different in style that once they were brought out, they immediately became the study target of translation theorists.With the development of translation theory, these two strategies are studied in detail and definitions about them are given b
6、y scholars. According to Dictionary of Translation Studies published in 1997, domestication refers to the strategy in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted in order to minimized the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers, while foreignization designates the type of transl
7、ation in which a target text deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreignness of the original.Foreignazaion and domestication are two strategies usually used in the translation of literature. Both of them have their own advantages and disadvantages. We can not say one
8、 is better than another and the effect caused by them is different too.1.The Effect Caused by ForeignizationIn fact, we can find that Ys version of Hong Lou Meng is more faithful to the original one; furthermore, it brings foreignness and freshness to English readers.1.1 Foreignization Adds Foreignn
9、ess and Freshness to the Target CultureWhen a reader is reading a foreign literary work, he is expecting to get something different from his own domestic one, especially the exoticism existing in the foreign work. Foreignization is the only way to meet the readers this kind of requirement. Foreigniz
10、ation can also promote the communication between two cultures by introducing some freshness and foreignness to the target culture. Such ideas can be proved by many examples in Ys and Hawkes translation of Hong Lou Meng.Example 1:因又自叹道:“若真也葬花,可谓东施效颦,不但不为新特,且更可厌了。”(Chapter 30)Ys: He wondered in some a
11、musement, “If so, shes Tung Shih imitating Hsi Shih, which isnt original but rather tiresome.” 1. Hsi Shih was a famous beauty in the ancient Kingdom of Yue. Tung Shih was an ugly girl who tried to imitate her ways. Hs:Can this be some silly maid come here to bury flowers like Frowner? he wondered.
12、He was reminded of Zhuang-zis story of the beautiful Xi-shis ugly neighbour, who endeavors to imitate the little frown that made Xi-shi captivating, produced an aspect so hideous that people ran from her in terror. The recollection of it made him smile. This isimitating the Frowner with a vengeance,
13、 he thought, If that is really what she is doing, not merely unoriginal, but downright disgusting!”“东施效颦” is an allusion from Zhuang Zi (庄子). Xi Shi (西施) was a famous beauty in ancient China. One day, she got a heartache, so she put her hand on the chest and knitted her brows. An ugly girl in the ne
14、ighbour liked imitating Xi Shi very much, so she was called Dong Shi (东施). The moment she saw Xi Shis manner that day, she put her hand on the chest and knitted her brows too, which made her much uglier. The old saying tells us that blind imitation that may cause opposite effect should be avoided.Ys
15、 put “东施效颦” to “Tung Shih imitating Hsi Shih” directly and literally. In order to make the connotation of the expression clearly, Ys added a footnote. Hawkes treated it in a different way. He gave a brief introduction of the meaning of the Chinese allusion in his context which made it easy for the E
16、nglish readers to achieve the same comprehension as the Chinese readers did. Then he translated “东施效颦” to “ imitating the Frowner with a vengeance”.We must admit that both translations are understandable, while Ys rendition implies that “东施效颦” is a fixed expression or four-character phraseology in C
17、hinese. It is difficult for the readers to get such ideas in Hs translation though it is more fluent and smooth. So, we say, foreignization is, to some extent, advantageous to the spread of source culture.In a word, foreignization can be used to keep the foreign flavor in the original work and trans
18、fer it from the original culture to the target one.1.2.Foreignization Helps to Achieve Cultural Fidelity in TranslationSun Zhili (孙致礼) pointed out in 1999 in one of his articles that cultural fidelity was the basic principle in translation. The works translated in foreignized way can broaden the fie
19、ld of vision of the target readers, increase their understanding of the original culture and fulfill the communication between the two different cultures better. We can use the following example to illustrate this idea.Example 2:贾芸笑道:“舅舅说的倒干净。巧媳妇做不出没米的粥来,叫我怎样呢?还亏是我呢,要是别个,死皮赖脸三日两头来缠着舅舅,要三升米两升豆子的,舅舅也就
20、没有法呢。”(Chapter 24)Ys:“Youre quite right, uncle,” replied Chia Yun amiably. “Even the cleverest housewife cant cook a meal without rice. What do you expect me to do? Youre lucky Im not one of those thick-skinned people, for then Id keep pestering you for three pecks of rice today, two pecks beans tom
21、orrow. What could you have done then, uncle? Hs: Jia Yun smiled, What you say is no doubt perfectly true, Uncle.Even the cleverest housewife can not make bread without flavor! Youre lucky youve only got me to contend with. Anyone else in my position would be pestering the life out of you. Theyd be r
22、ound here scrounging all the time: a pound of rice one day, a quart of beans the next. Then you would have something to grumble about! From the example above, we can draw a conclusion that foreignization is very useful in being loyal to the original culture and transferring freshness and exoticism t
23、o the target culture. Furthermore it can be used by Chinese translators to resist the cultural imperialism from Anglo-American nations. With the spread of English throughout the world, the ideology of English-speaking nations intruded into other cultures. Just as Bassnett said colonialism and transl
24、ation went hand in hand. Compared to Anglo-American culture, Chinese culture is in the weak position, so it is of great significance for the Chinese translators to employ foreignization to be against the culture invasion from the superpowers and to build our native culture.2.The Effect Caused by Dom
25、esticationYs version, more faithful to the original, is a little bit hard to understand. It is not so popularly read in the west as Hs version which is mainly domesticated. Compared to foreignization, domestication has its own advantages. The translation done by this way is more expressive and beaut
26、iful.2.1 Domestication Makes the Translation More Smooth and FluentIn Hong Lou Meng, many elements are so culture-loaded that they seem untranslatable. Ys method is to translate them from Chinese to English directly with footnotes to help the readers to understand. Hawkes dealt with them in a differ
27、ent way. The following two examples are typical.Example 3:这鸭头不是那丫头(Chapter 62)Ys: This ducks head is not that serving-maid, 1. This is an untranslatable pun.The ducks head has the same sound as the serving-maid in Chinese.Hs: This little duck cant with those little ducks compare, Example 4:?只认得这果子是香
28、芋,却不知盐课林老爷的小姐才是真正的香玉呢.Ys:You only know what sweet taros are, but dont know that the daughter of Salt Commissioner Lin is sweeter than any taro.1. This is an untranslatable pun. The yu in Tai-yus name has the same sound as yu meaning “taro”.H: The vegetable tuber is not the only kind of sweet potato.
29、 The daughter of our Salt Commissioner Lin is also a sweet potato. She is the sweetest sweet potato of them all.“鸭头”,“丫头”in example 3 and “香芋”,“香玉” in example 4 are a kind of rhetorical usage in Chinese. They share something in common. Each pair is identical in sound but different in form and meanin
30、g. Although this kind of expression exists in almost all of the languages in the world, it is hard to translate it from one to the other because it is difficult to find the counterpart in the target language which plays the same role as it is in the source language. Consequently, Ys translated them
31、directly and literally, making the English readers who have no such knowledge confused. They will be puzzled by the relationship between ducks head and serving maid, the taro and the daughter of Salt Commissioner Lin(“香玉”). Even though they added some footnotes to give further explanation in order t
32、o clear the obstacles formed in the reading process, I think the readers still cannot understand the real meaning of these expressions. Hs rendition of these two puns is excellent. As a native speaker, he made use of the different meanings of two words duck and potato skillfully and tactically. Besi
33、des the basic meanings known by all of us, both duck and potato can be used to refer to persons. Hawkes singled out these two words to alter the puns from Chinese to English naturally, making the translation perfect. We must admit that Hs rendition here is very successful. So it is clear that domest
34、ication is very helpful in achieving the smoothness and fluency of the translation.2.2 Domestication Makes the Translation More Poetic and BeautifulYs and Hawkes chose different strategy due to different motivation. Ys is determined to spread the Chinese culture, and their readers are mainly those w
35、ho have special interest in it, so they rely more on foreignization which highlights the fidelity to the original, while Hawkes aims at the common readers, so he adopted domestication to please them which highlights the charm and artistic recreation. Consequently, we say domestication is aesthetics-
36、oriented. The following example can tell us the difference of foreignization and domestication.Example 5:面若中秋之月,色如春晓之花,鬓若刀裁,眉如墨画,面如桃瓣,目若秋波。(Chapter 3)Ys: His face was as radiant as the mid-autumn moon, his complexion fresh as spring flowers at dawn. The hair above his temples was as sharply outlined
37、 as if cut with a knife. His eyebrows were as black as if painted with ink, his cheeks as red as peach-blossom, his eyes as bright as autumn ripples.Hs:As to his person, he had:a face like the moon of Mid-Autumn,a complexion like flowers at dawn,a hairline straight as a knife-cut,eyebrows that might
38、 have been painted by an artists brush,a shapely nose, and eyes clear as limpid pools.Example 6:闲静时如娇花照水,行动处似弱柳扶风。心较比干多一窍,病如西子胜三分。(Chapter 3)Ys: In response she was like a lovely flower mirrored in the water; in motion, a plaint willow swaying in the wind. She looked more sensitive than Pi Kan1, mor
39、e delicate than Hsi Shih.1. A prince noted for his great intelligence at the end of the Shang Dynasty.2. A famous beauty of the ancient Kingdom of Yueh.Hs:In stillness she made one think of a graceful flower reflected in the water;In motion she called to mind tender willow shoots caressed by the win
40、d.She had more chambers in her heart than the martyred Bi Gan;And suffered a tithe more pain in it than the beautiful Xi Shi.Both examples appear in Chapter 3 in Hong Lou Meng to givedescription of the appearance of the hero and the heroine. The author here portrayed Baoyu and Daiyu with vivid figur
41、ative images and deep affection towards them. It is obvious that compared to Ys translation, the language used by Hawkes is very poetic. They are neat in form and beautiful in sound. In example 5, Hawkes not only used metaphor to convey the beauty of the images but also used parallelism to make the
42、form more corresponding to the original, so is in example 6. In terms of the translation of such poetic languages, in my opinion, domestication is better than foreignization. The reason is that if translators think too much of the linguistic factors, something else must be sacrificed. Thus, poems ar
43、e likely to be turned into dull and plain prose. So, domestication is an effective way to keep the beauty of the language. All in all, absolute foreignization or domestication can not be found in the world. Which to be stressed is determined by the translators preference, motivation, the style of th
44、e works and etc. We should not overemphasize one and overlook the other. Dialectical view is advocated in the study of translation strategy.参考文献:1Shuttleworth, Mark & Moira Cowie. Dictionary of Translation Studies, Manchester: St Jerome,1997.59.2孙致礼.文化与翻译.中国翻译,1999,(1):41-43.3Bassnett, Susan & Trive
45、di, Harish. Post-colonial Translation-Theory and Practice. London & New York: Routledge,1999,3.4PhilipB.Gove et al. ed. Websters Third New International Dictionary. Massachusetts: G & C. Merriam Company,1976.698.5Philip B.Gove et al. ed. Websters Third New International Dictionary.Massachusetts: G & C. Merriam Company,1976.2149.注:本课题为黑龙江省教育厅科研项目,编号:11552346