Analysis of the Untranslatability in Chinese-English Translation and its Strategies

--A Case Study of the English Version of Teahouse

By Zhou Yan

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement

For the B.A. Degree

Department of English

College of Liberal Arts

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

May, 2018

Analysis of the Untranslatability in Chinese-English Translation and its Strategies

--A Case Study of the English Version of Teahouse

Zhou Yan

Department of English

College of Liberal Arts

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

Abstract: The untranslatability in Chinese-English translation is a great problem that we need to overcome. During the translation between Chinese and English, sometimes it is impossible to translate the original language into the target language, which causes a certain degree of meaning loss, and that is “untranslatability”. It includes untranslatability in language and culture. Pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and rhetoric are completely different in Chinese and English. The two languages also differ in their regional culture, material culture, history and culture, religious culture and traditional culture. In order to deal with the untranslatability in Chinese-English translation, we can use the strategies of domestication, foreignization and the combination of them. Besides, Teahouse, a classic work among contemporary Chinese dramas, shows the great changes of Chinese society during three periods of a half century. There are many differences between Ying Ruocheng's and Howard's English versions of Teahouse, which is worth our translation studies. Taking this as an example, the untranslatability in Chinese-English translation can be more thoroughly analyzed.

Key words: Chinese-English Translation, Untranslatability, Teahouse

摘要:汉英翻译中的不可译性是我们需要克服的一大难题。如果在汉英翻译中，有时无法将原语翻译成译入语而造成一定程度上意义的损失，即为“不可译性”。它包括语言上的不可译性和文化上的不可译性。汉语和英语的语音、词汇、语法和修辞方法都完全不同。其地域文化、物质文化、历史文化、宗教文化和传统文化也都有很大差异。为应对汉英翻译中的不可译性，可以采用归化、异化以及归化和异化相结合的策略。《茶馆》是中国当代戏剧中的经典作品,展现了三个时代近半个世纪中国社会的风云变幻。而英若诚和霍华的《茶馆》英译本中又有诸多不同之处值得学习借鉴，以此为例，能够更为透彻地分析汉英翻译中的不可译性问题。

关键词:汉英翻译；不可译性；茶馆

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Purpose of this Paper 1

1.2 Significance of this Paper 2

2. Literature Review 2

2.1 Abroad Research 2

2.2 Domestic Research 3

3. Untranslatability and Translatability 4

4. Untranslatability in Language and Culture 4

4.1 Linguistic factors of untranslatability 4

4.1.1 Pronunciation 5

4.1.2 Vocabulary 5

4.1.3 Grammar 6

4.1.4 Rhetoric 6

4.2 Cultural factors of untranslatability 6

4.2.1 Regional Culture 7

4.2.2 Material Culture 7

4.2.3 History and Culture 8

4.2.4 Religious Culture 8

4.2.5 Traditional Culture 9

5. Translation Strategies for Untranslatability 9

5.1 Domestication 9

5.2 Foreignization 12

5.3 Combination of Domestication and Foreignization 13

6. Conclusion 14

References 15

Acknowledgements 16

1. Introduction

“Untranslatability” is a manifestation of the uniqueness of language and culture in the field of translation. It is an objective existence; “untranslatability” leads to “untranslatability phenomenon”, but it does not deny that language is translatable. The existence of “untranslatability” deserves the attention of translators. In emphasizing the promotion of translators' status today, we still have to pay enough attention to the source texts. The study of “untranslatability” is the study of the uniqueness of source language and source language text, which enables us to respect and understand the original text and become a better translator.

This paper mentions that untranslatability and translatability are not antagonistic but dialectically unified. It writes about different factors of untranslatability in Chinese-English translation: In language, there are four factors—pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and rhetoric; in culture, there are five factors—regional culture, material culture, history and culture, religious culture and traditional culture, and then suggests two main strategies—domestication and foreignization, with detailed examples in two distinctive English versions of Teahouse by Ying Ruocheng and Howard, two translators good at Chinese to English translation. It would help the readers study untranslatability more easily by seeing the problems and difficulties these two famous translators encountering during the process of translation and the strategies they adopting.

1.1 Purpose of this Paper

Studying the untranslatability in Chinese-English translation can be helpful to better spread Chinese and promote Chinese culture, and then they can be transmitted to all English-speaking countries to the greatest extent, so that readers around the world can better understand our country and culture.

This paper is to introduce different factors of untranslatability in Chinese-English translation, including linguistic and cultural ones, and then bring up strategies—domestication and foreignization with examples in Teahouse, so that the readers can understand the untranslatability in Chinese-English translation in detail, and finally get some solutions to it.

1.2 Significance of this Paper

Studying untranslatability, respecting the uniqueness of the original language and original texts, and analyzing and understanding the original text in depth can help us become better translators. We should analyze the causes of untranslatability in Chinese-English translation concretely and deeply, find appropriate countermeasures, and then do our utmost to solve this problem so that the efficiency, effectiveness, scope, and extent of Chinese communication would be greatly improved.

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