英语同韵俚语及其汉译中的文化问题

English rhyming slang and the cultural aspect of its Chinese translation

英语同韵俚语是汉译的一大难题,主要问题在于汉语词汇上存在缺位现象和英汉文化上存在重大差异。文章通过分析英语同韵俚语的特点及其产生的社会基础,并对常见的翻译方法及翻译策略进行了分析,认为英语同韵俚语汉译应采取归化策略,采用民族中心主义态度,让外来文化入乡随俗,同时,要充分而灵活地利用汉语言及汉文化的各种元素,如文章暗示、加注也是解决这难题的一种较为有效的办法。

English rhyming slang is gaining popularity throughout English speaking countries, especially among youngsters, with its obscurity and implicitness. The essay first analyzes its features and traces its origin to the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century, and then carefully examines the strategies commonly adopted in translation, pointing out that the domesticating strategy should be most appropriate in the Chinese translation as it ensures intelligibility to Chinese readers of a culture which would not be understood otherwise, irrespective of a possible loss of the original exactitude. When discussing translation techniques, the essay emphasizes the importance of exploiting all elements available, especially cultural elements. Finally, through an illustration, the essay implies that annotation could be the best policy in translation for optimal functional equivalence.