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1、On Chinese-English Translation of Animal Idioms from the Perspective of Skopos Theory 海南大学 毕业论文中文题目: 从目的论的视角看动物习语的英译 英文题目: On Chinese-English Translation of AnimalIdioms from the Perspective of Skopos Theory 学 号: 20150936310215 姓 名: 黄嘉琪 年 级: 2015级 学 院: 外国语学院 系 别: 商务英语 专 业: 商务英语 指导教师: 谢庚全 完成日期: 2019
2、年 5 月 1 日 AbstractThe Chinese-English translation of idiom is one of the bridges of language communication between two cultures. Animal idioms play an important role in English idioms. Both English and Chinese have their own unique cultural characteristics, so it is a big issue in Chinese-English tr
3、anslation of how to translate the animal idioms figuratively to English readers. The translation of English idioms is a kind of cultural communication with special purposes. This paper mainly talks about the Chinese-English translation of animal idioms from the perspective of skopos theory. Firstly,
4、 it summarizes the factors that influence the English translation of animal idioms from many aspects, such as historical allusions, ways of thinking, geographical environment, customs and religious beliefs. Secondly, under the guidance of skopos theory, it emphasizes the strategies and methods of C-
5、E translation. According to skopos theory, translators can choose the strategies either literal translation or liberal translation. In addition, in liberal translation, it will focus on the methods of replacement and annotation. Finally, it illustrates the impacts of C-E translation of animal idioms
6、 under the perspective of skopos theory, and the significance in the process of translation practice.Key words: skopos theory; Animal idioms; Chinese-English translation; cultural differences摘 要习语的英译促进了中西文化沟通。动物习语是指包括动物名字在内的习语。英语和汉语各自其具有独特的文化特征，因此如何将汉语习语中的动物意象形象地展示给英语读者，是译者在动物习语汉英翻译中所面临的一大难题。本文首先阐述了
7、影响译者英译动物习语的因素，即文化差异，如历史典故、思维方式、地理环境、风俗习惯以及宗教信仰，随后，在目的论的指导下，本文探讨动物习语英译的策略和方法。根据目的论，为更好地将中国动物习语中富含的文化内涵准确地传达给国外读者，可根据同一动物在不同文化中是否具有相同的意向灵活选择直译和意译，其中，意译重点考虑替换习语中的相应动物和加注两种方法。最后，本文阐述在目的论视角下英译动物习语的影响，以及在今后实践过程中的指导意义。关键词：目的论；动物习语；英译；文化差异ContentsAbstractI摘 要II1. Introduction12. Literature Review22.1 Chines
8、e-English Translation of Animal Idioms22.2 Skopos Theory33. The Main Difficulties in C-E Translation of Animal Idioms and the Causes53.1 Different Interpretations of an Animal Image in Different Cultures53.2 The Causes of Different Interpretations73.2.1 Historical Allusions83.2.2 Ways of Thinking93.
9、2.3 Geographical Environment, Customs and Habits113.2.4 Religious Faith124. The C-E Translation Strategies of Animal Idioms from the Perspective ofSkopos Theory134.1 Literal Translation144.2 Liberal Translation154.2.1 Replacement of Animal164.2.2 Annotation175. Conclusion18References19Acknowledgemen
10、ts20IV1. Introduction“A language is partly the repository and reflection of a culture” (Newmark, 1981:183). As the core of language, idioms not only embody a large number of cultural connotations but also enjoy frequency of use because of the lively images, profound associations within and concise f
11、orms without. In the whole world, the cultures of different countries are striking each other and striking out brilliant sparks. Language is the carrier of culture. Both English and Chinese have rich idioms. Idiom is a language through long-term social activities, and it is the core of a language. B
12、ut due to the influence of various factors, such as religion, geography, society, customs and other cultural factors, foreigners will have many kinds of problems when they are reading text, watching the film or television,In several years of the academic circle, animal idioms have became a hot issue
13、 in pubic. As an important part of Chinese culture, Chinese idioms also represent its own unique cultural style and cultural charm, so it requires high level of translator who must grasp their own direction.As a significant method in translation, skopos theory focuses that translator can achieve his
14、 purpose during the translation activities. Translator, according to various contextual factors, selects the best translation method for readers to help them understand English idioms better, so as to provide a strong support for readers to understand their cultures and avoid unnecessary conflict ca
15、used by different cultures. Skopos theory is the core of functionalism and plays a direct role in the translation of animal idioms. From the perspective of skopos theory, the Chinese-English translation of animal idioms enhances the understanding of Chinese cultures for foreign scholars, and provide
16、s a strong support for the establishment of a good relationship with other countries during the process of Chinese cultural, political and economic development.Therefore, this thesis mainly focuses on the Chinese-English translation of animal idioms from the perspective of skopos theory. In addition
17、, it will emphasize how the cultural differences can influence translators during the whole C-E translation. Then under the guidance of skopos theory, it mainly focuses how to choose the appropriate translation methods of animal idioms.2. Literature Review2.1 Chinese-English Translation of Animal Id
18、iomsIdiom is a kind of fixed phrase with a specific meaning. Its meaning is not the same as the meaning of every word. “It is a fixed phrase or short sentence extracted after a long time of use”. (Wang, 1993) Previous linguists mainly focus on the source and functions of idioms in the past few years
19、. The most representative is the British linguist Smith. He mainly classified idioms with communicative functions, and divided idioms into different categories: emotions, attitudes, desires, determination, anger, curses, and so on. He used a large length of space to classify idioms into several cate
20、gories based on the source of the literal meaning of idioms: religion, mythology and fables, body art, family life, military, animal, sports, education, medicine, law, business, art. (Smith, 1925: 195)In the mid-1930s, with the prosperous development of Saussures structural linguistics, the idiom la
21、nguage began to appear formed with the characteristics of modern language research. The lexical, semantic and syntactic models are used to explain the lexical, semantic and syntactic functions of idioms based on structural linguistics.In the late 1950s, linguists started to use transformation to imp
22、roving the deep structure of linguistics to study idioms, especially the ability of idioms to migrate. There are two difficulties in using grammar theory to explain idioms: the first is how to translate the meaning of idioms in the deep structure of sentences; the second is how to explain clearly th
23、e difficulties of the conversion of the animal idioms sentence method.Under the previous study, the translation of animal idioms has attracted much attention, but there is still less previous research of C-E translation, so the strategy of C-E translation of animal idioms is still a hot topic.2.2 Sk
24、opos TheorySkopos theory was proposed and developed in three stages: the first stage is text typology by Katharina Reiss. In her book The Possibility and Limitation of Translation Criticism published in 1971, Reiss firstly listed text function as a standard of translation criticism. On one hand, she
25、 still regarded the source text as the core of the “equivalence theory”, on the other hand, she thought we should evaluate the text by the relationship between the functions of source text and target text. But in translation activities, Reiss found the equivalence could not become reality and someti
26、mes was even not desirable. These exceptions were caused by a specific translation brief. Therefore, translation criticism should not only rely on the analysis of the characteristics of the source text, but also consider whether the target text has achieved the desired effect in terms of function. T
27、hus it can be seen that Reisss research laid a good foundation for the advent of skopos theory.In the second stage, Vermeer, as a student of Reiss, inherited some of her thoughts and had the innovation in the theory of equivalence of the source text. Under the text topology, he took skopos as the fi
28、rst standard, and then he established skopos theory of translation. The skopos theory founded by Vermeer is completely free from the restriction of the equivalence theory centering on the source text and he thought that the translation problem couldnt be solved by linguistics alone. For Vermeer, tra
29、nslation is a type of human action that takes place in a specific situation. In addition, Vermeer thought that any action had a goal, so did translation practice. He believed that translation (including interpretation) was a kind of conversion in communicative language and non-verbal signs from one
30、language to another (other examples include turning a picture into a music, or change a draft into a building). Therefore, translation is a kind of human behavior. The core concept of skopos theory is that translation methods and strategies must be determined by the intended purpose or function of t
31、he target text, which is regarded as the central theory by the German Functionalism. In the third stage, Justa Holz Manttari and Christiane Nord greatly facilitated the skopos theory. The former focused on the action of the translation process, the role of the participants and the environment in whi
32、ch the translation process takes place. The latter came up with the “function plus loyalty”, which talks about the translators loyalty to the original author and readers. Justa Holz Manttari put forward the theory of translation action and regarded translation as a complicated activity in order to a
33、chieve a specific purpose. She analyzed the participants (the sponsor of the translation, the translator, text users, and information recipients), their functions and behavior of contexts for participants. At second stage, Nord inherited and improved the theory based on the first stage of goal theor
34、ists. In 1997, she proposed purposive action, which comprehensively and systematically sorted out and summarized various academic thoughts of functionalism, and answered all kinds of criticisms on functionalisms translation theory since its formation.3. The Main Difficulties in C-E Translation of An
35、imal Idioms and the CausesAnimal images in English and Chinese idioms are endowed with different images and meanings by people, showing their unique cultural connotations and national characteristics. Therefore, it is an extremely important problem and challenge for translators to faithfully express
36、 the meaning of Chinese idioms in the C-E translation of animal idioms, and to retain the rich figurative images, associations and other characteristics of Chinese idioms as many as possible.3.1 Different Interpretations of an Animal Image in Different CulturesDue to each country has its cultural ba
37、ckground, one image has different expressions . At this time, translators need to understand the same meaning of images represented by different cultural backgrounds. There are various commonalities among human beings and all external conditions on which they depend, including geography, ecological
38、environment, climate change, and even the entire human society and culture. These commonalities not only form the consensus of people on themselves but also the reality. For example, in Chinese, wolves are regarded as a animal which is fierce and greedy . Other similar idioms are also found in Engli
39、sh. For example, idioms like “eat like a wolf”, “wolf some-thing down”, describe someone eating very urgently, And “a wolf in sheeps clothing”, it refers to someone who is hypocrite. Another example, fox, is often associated with cockroaches in Chinese, and we can also find the same image in English
40、 idioms: “as cunning /sly as a fox”. In English, the idiom “kill two birds with one stone” has the same meaning with the expression “一箭双雕” in Chinese, and there are other examples “as busy as a bee” (如蜜蜂般忙碌), “at a snail space”(如蜗牛一样慢), which can also find corresponding Chinese idioms with the same
41、animal images. However, most of the time, the same animal will have totally different connotations in different languages. In Chinese, when we describe a person who is “boasting”, we will use “吹牛”，in which we use the image of cattle. While in English idioms, they will use the idiom “You are talking
42、horse”. Therefore, for the same image, “cattle” is used in Chinese, while “horse” is used in English. There are also other English idioms with the image of horse, which are used to describe someone is “diligent” , such as “work like a horse”, but in Chinese it can be said“像老黄牛一样勤恳的工作” (working dilig
43、ently like a cow). Besides, when people express someone who has strong appetite in English, they will say he “eat(s) like a horse”. While in Chinese, it can be said “食量大如牛”. Furthermore, in Chinese, people say that a person is caught by the rain we say he is a “落汤鸡”, while in English, they dont use
44、the same image “chicken”, but the image “mouse” to compare: “like a drowned rat”. In addition, images of “mule” and “cattle” are used in these two countries idioms respectively. To describe a stupid person, in Chinese we will use the image “pig” , such as “蠢猪,笨得像头猪” etc, but in English, it will use
45、“goose” or “ass” to express this meaning, such as “stupid as a goose” , “make an ass of oneself”. There are also some other examples:Table 3-1 Different Images in Chinese and English for the Idioms with the Same MeaningChinese English滑如泥鳅as slippery as an eel呆若木鸡as dull as a goose瓮中之鳖like a rat in t
46、he hole如鱼得水like a duck to water害群之马black sheep胆小如鼠as timid as a rabbitThese animal idioms have the same meaning, but the expression is different in the idioms of two languages. Another typical difference between Chinese and English is that they have the same animal, but the meanings are definitely d
47、ifferent. One of the most prominent examples is “dragon”. Chinese people have a special preference for “dragon”, which is usually considered as the symbol of auspicious, the incarnation of noble, not only the emperor is known as the “真龙天子”（in ancient China, the emperor was paramount, so people compa
48、re the emperor with the dragon）, the whole Chinese nation is proud of being the “龙的传人”, parents also often “望子成龙” (parents in China usually hope their children will make a bright future). But in English expression, “dragon” is an evil that stands for bad luck, even the “old dragon” has become a synonym for “devil”.3.2 The Causes of Different InterpretationsBoth E