典籍翻译中方位文化意象的翻译策略考辩——以许渊冲英译《楚辞》为例

An Analysis of the English Translation Strategies of Orientational Cultural Images in Chinese Classics——Take the English Translation of Elegies of the South as an Example

意象作为中国典籍作品中一项重要的文化元素,广泛存在于古诗词中,而这一独特的文化现象却给典籍翻译带来不少的障碍。在对《楚辞》中的41对方位文化意象进行考察时发现,译者在处理方位文化意象时,在灵活使用多种翻译策略的同时,更倾向于使用同化策略以避免文化意象的亏损和缺失。通过对汉语和英语中方位文化意象的对比分析发现,汉语文化圈和英语文化圈对方位文化意象的共同理解,是使用同化策略并最大程度避免方位文化意象在译语中亏损和缺失现象的基础。笔者建议:不同文化圈对方位文化意象没有共同认知的情况下,译者使用"异化+归化"的翻译策略以达到文化交流的目的,要尽可能避免使用淡化策略以避免方位文化意象的空缺和迷失。

As one of the most important cultural elements in Chinese classical works, image universally exists in Chinese Poetry, which becomes a barrier for translation of Chinese classics and thus brings some defaults for Chinese classical culture to go global. Under the inspiration of conceptual metaphor, this paper analyzes 41 pairs of orientational cultural images in Elegies of the South and elaborates the translation strategies taken by translator, XuYuanchong. The research result shows that the translator, for avoiding the cultural loss, mainly employs the strategy of assimilation to translate orientational cultural images while flexibly taking various strategies. Through the comparisons of orientational cultural images between English culture and Chinese culture, it is found that they both have a common cognition for orientational cultural images, which turns in to be a foundation for translators to adopt assimilation strategy for avoiding cultural loss in target language. Here is a suggestion： if there is no common cognition for orientational cultural images among different language cultures, the translator can use the strategy of ＂foreignization plus domestication＂ to reach the purpose of culture exchange. The translator should try his best to avoid using the strategy of dilution so as to avoid cultural loss of orientational cultural image in target languages.