CONTENTS
The Analysis of Grammatical Metaphor in Translation Studies / Huang Guowen 5
Register Rheology and Intertextual Interference as Considerations in Formulating Translational Strategies / Wang Dongfeng 10
The Gloosy Ganoderm: Systemic Functional Linguistics and Translation / M.A.K. Halliday 17
The Discourse of Celestial Empire and the Translation of King George III’s Letter to Emperor Qianlong / Wang Hui 27
Figurism and Translation / Yue Feng & Cheng Liying 33
Translating Poe into Chinese: In Commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s Birth / Cao Minglun 46
Roman Ingarden’s Strata Theory and Burton Watson’s English Translation of Ancient Chinese Poems / Wei Jiahai 63
“Papa”and “Son”: Addressing the Issue in Translating Assumed Kinship Terms in Wolf Totem / Wang Yingchong 68
E/C Translation Practice: Street Life (Adam Gopnik) / Ye Zinan 83
C/E Translation Practice: A Soldier’s Wife (Liu Wanli) / Harry J. Huang 87
English Abstracts of Major Papers in This Issue 92
Han Suyin Award for Young Translators (2009): English and Chinese Texts for Translation Contest 94
The Analysis of Grammatical Metaphor in Translation Studies
by Huang Guowen (Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China) p.5
Abstract: This paper applies the concept of “grammatical metaphor” from systemic functional linguistics to an analysis of translated texts. It is argued that in the translation process when there are two or more versions available in the target language to choose from, one of them may be in congruent mode of the source text expression while the other in metaphorical mode, and that a choice from the two should be made according to major communicative factors such as the addresser’s intention, the purpose of discourse, and the relationship between the participants. The paper illustrates the argument by analyzing a number of cases of C-E or E-C translation.
Key words: grammatical metaphor; congruent; metaphorical; translation; systemic functional linguistics
Register Rheology and Intertextual Interference as Considerations in Formulating Translational Strategies
by Wang Dongfeng (Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China) p. 10
Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of polysemy in translation in the light of register rheology and intertextual interference. Through an analysis of the translated slogans of Beijing Olympics, the 2010 Asian Games in China and the 2014 Asian Games in Korea, the author shows how an awareness of register rheology could reduce possible negative intertextual interference and facilitate risk assessment in translation.
Key words: register rheology; intertextual interference; polysemy
The Gloosy Ganoderm: Systemic Functional Linguistics and Translation
by M.A.K. Halliday p. 17
Abstract: Translating always involves balancing the demands of different kinds of equivalence between languages: equivalence at different strata (contextual, semantic, lexicogrammatical, phonological), different ranks (e.g., in grammar, clause complex, clause, phrase/group, word) and different metafunctions (ideational, interpersonal, textual). These demands often conflict, and have to be reconciled by reference to the functional variety, or register, of the source language text and the need to accommodate to this in the target language. Two examples of Chinese-English translation serve to illustrate these issues, and to bring out some of the difficulties arising in the management of translation shift.
The Discourse of Celestial Empire and the Translation of King George III’s Letter to Emperor Qianlong
by Wang Hui (Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China) p. 27
Abstract: King George III’s letter to Emperor Qianlong is an important document in the first British Embassy to China headed by Lord Macartney. A deft blending of arrogant assertions and persuasive conciliation, the letter proposes that Britain and China establish relations of trade and communication on equal terms. The Chinese version which reached Emperor Qianlong, however, presents the British King as the prince of a vassal state entreating for commercial favors in most humble terms. This article studies the production of this remarkable translation, tracing the metamorphosis of the source text to the dictates of the Celestial Empire discourse.
Key words: King George III; Emperor Qianlong; letter; translation; discourse
Figurism and Translation
by Yue Feng (Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China) & Cheng Liying (Putian Univerisity, Putian, China) p. 33
Abstract: In their search for evidence to prove that China and the West shared the same supernatural world and the same or similar religious beliefs, European missionaries sent to the Ming and the Qing Empire tended to adopt a Christian hermeneutics and an approach known as figurism in their reading and translation of Confucian classics. Such a practice has since received mixed comments from Chinese and Western scholars alike. Taking another look at the more controversial aspects of the practice by drawing from modern hermeneutics and by appealing to historical facts, this paper calls for an open mind and a tolerant attitude in our assessment of the figurative translation in question and of the representation of Chinese civilization that resulted.
Key words: figurism; translation; missionaries
Translating Poe into Chinese: In Commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of Edgar
Allan Poe’s Birth
by Cao Minglun (Sichuan University, Chengdu, China) p. 46
Abstract: Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was perhaps the least understood writer in his lifetime. Yet, time and the true beauty in his writing have joined forces to establish his literary fame, and he is now respected as a pioneer of the detective story, a founder of science fiction, a master of horror and mystery, and a singular even unique genius his century had produced. Translating Poe’s works into Chinese started at the beginning of the 20th century, and the translating process has gone through three phases: single piece translating phase, systematic introduction phase and multiple retranslations phase. By reviewing this whole process, analyzing the merits and demerits and exposing the problematic aspects of the translations in each period, the author hopes that more and more people around the world would become the“posterity”whom Poe himself once said he could afford a century to wait for.
Key words: Edgar Allan Poe; translation; history
Roman Ingarden’s Strata Theory and Burton Watson’s English Translation of Ancient Chinese Poems
by Wei Jiahai (Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China) p. 63
Abstract: This paper argues that Roman Ingarden’s strata theory on literary structure is applicable for analyzing English translation of ancient Chinese poems. Drawing from Ingarden’s theory, this paper analyzes Watson’s translation methods and the aesthetic orientation in his English translation of ancient Chinese poems. With the analysis, the author calls our attention to both the strengths and the weaknesses of the strata theory as a tool for translation criticism.
Key words: strata; meaning; Burton Watson; limitations
“Papa”and “Son”: Addressing the Issue in Translating Assumed Kinship Terms in Wolf Totem
by Wang Yingchong (Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China) p. 68
Abstract: Terms of address reflect a nation’s customs, and assumed kinship terms in particular are rich with pragmatic implications and social significance. Prompted by a debate between the arthor of Wolf Totem and its translator over whether turning“A Ba”into“papa”would cause cross-cultural misunderstanding, this paper compares cultural connotations of the assumed kinship terms in the original and their translations in English, proposing that they be translated contextually rather than uniformly so as to highlight the various interpersonal relationships stressed in specific situations.
Key words: assumed kinship term; Wolf Totem; cultural misunderstanding
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