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Abstract:This research seeks to contribute to the debate over domestication vs. foreignization by investigating how the translators of the novel Weicheng dealt with the idioms with different types of semantic voids in its English version, Fortress Besieged and what insights can be drawn from the strategies they used to fill the voids in terms of the Skopostheorie.
The idioms collected as the data of the research were classified into four groups based on Dagut’s (1978) typology of semantic voids to find out what strategies are used by the two translators in managing different types of idioms. The four groups are: (1) idioms containing environmental voids; (2) idioms containing cultural voids; (3) idioms containing lexical voids; and (4) idioms with other semantic voids.
The results show that the translators tried to bridge different categories of voids on the condition that the translated version should be readable. Specifically, they mainly adopted domestication strategy in the categories containing environmental and lexical voids, while the strategy of foreignization was employed much more often in translating idioms containing cultural voids about religions, beliefs and allusions, sometimes with footnotes. As to idioms with other voids, they were found to prefer the method of domestication on almost all occasions. The results were then explained within the framework of the Skopos theory.
The findings are expected to contribute to the current debate over the two translation strategies of foreignization and domestication and to idiom teaching in translation class. In addition, suggestions are made for extending the range of idioms in the novel and exploiting other translation theories to gain better understanding of the results.
Key Words: idiom translation, semantic voids, foreignization, domestication, Skopos theory
中文摘要:本文对《围城》英译本中的成语翻译策略进行统计分析,探究该书译者在成语的翻译实践中如何处理含有不同语义空缺的成语,同时在目的论的指导下讨论译者选择不同翻译策略的原因。研究结果将对目前译界存在的关于成语翻译的“归化”和“异化”之争提供借鉴。
根据Dagut的语义空缺理论,《围城》英译本中的成语大致被分为四类,以进一步探究对于每一类成语译者选择了何种翻译策略去处理其中的语义空缺。这四类成语包括含环境空缺的成语,含文化空缺的成语,含词汇空缺的成语,以及含其他类空缺的成语。
本研究显示《围城》译者在保持译文流畅通顺且具有可读性的前提下尽可能地去填补不同种类成语所含的语义空缺。具体来说,对于含有环境空缺和词汇空缺的成语,译者主要采用的是归化策略。对于含有文化空缺,例如宗教信仰和文学典故的成语,译者使用异化的比重与其他类别相比大大提高,有时还利用追加脚注的方式进一步保留成语的文化内涵。而对于包含其他语义空缺的成语,统计结果则表明译者运用的几乎都是归化的处理方法。文中将结合德国功能派理论目的论对这些研究结果进行进一步阐释。
本文的研究结果,无疑从实证性的角度对于目前翻译界关于成语翻译的“归化”和“异化”之争有着极大的贡献,同时也从一个新的角度,即语义空缺的角度给成语教学提供了一定借鉴,此外还对新一代翻译工作者研究文学译本中的成语翻译有着深刻和系统地指导作用。文中关于《围城》成语研究的范围和能否用其他的翻译理论去更加合理地解释这些研究结果则值得进一步探讨。
关键词:成语翻译,语义空缺,异化,归化,目的论