OntheTranslationofRhetoricaldevicesinFortressBesieged

OntheTranslationofRhetoricaldevicesinFortressBesieged

胡龙青

胡龙青（上海电力学院直属外语系上海200090）

Abstract:ThispaperattemptstoanalyzethetranslationofrhetoricaldevicesinFortressBesiegedfromtheperspectiveofPeterNewmark’stranslationtheory.

Keywords:FortressBesiegedTranslationRhetoricalDevices

1.IntroductiontoCommunicativeTranslationandSemanticTranslation

PeterNewmarkholdsthatalltranslationsmustbeinsomedegreebothcommunicativeandsemantic.Itisactuallyamatterofdifferenceofemphasis.Asemantictranslationisconcrete.Itattemptstorender,ascloselyasallowedbythesemanticandsyntacticstructuresofthetargetlanguage,theexactcontextualmeaningoftheoriginal.Ontheotherhand,onetranslatesatexttomeetthetargetreader’sdemands---toinformhim,topersuadehim,togivehimadvice.Allthisistheaimofcommunicativetranslation,whichattemptstoproduceonitstargetlanguagereadersaneffectascloseaspossibletothatobtainedonthesourcelanguagereadersoftheoriginal.

2.AbouttheLinguisticFeaturesofFortressBesieged

FortressBesiegedremainsthebestofCh’ien’spre-1949works.Structuredinninechapters,itisacomedyofmannerswithmuchpicaresquehumor,aswellasascholar’snovel,asatire,acommentaryoncourtshipandmarriage,andastudyofonecontemporaryman.

Ch’ienChung-shuisthoroughlyfamiliarwithWesternliterarytechniques.InhisinvestigationofthelinguisticandstylisticpointsofviewinFortressBesieged,DennisHudetailsCh’en’sefficientuseofimageryandsymbolismandcitesnumerousexamplesofhislinguisticmanipulation(e.g.,personification,symbolicprefiguration,plurisignation)andofhissemanticmanipulation(verbalparadoxes,narratorintrusion).Theapplicationoftheabove-mentionedtechniques,inHu’sview,hascontributedsignificantlytothesarcasm,satire,irony,andwitfoundinthenovel.

3.TheTransferenceofRhetoricalDevices

EnglishandChinesebothhavealonghistorywithabundantrhetoricaldevices.Thatistosay,manyChinesecommonrhetoricaldeviceshavethecorrespondingonesinEnglish,whichmakesitpossibletoreproducetheoriginalrhetoricaleffectinasemanticway.Inthiscase,semantictranslationcanbeused.Ontheotherhand,ChinesepeopleandEnglishpeoplevaryinwayofthinkingandaestheticstandardsaswellaslexicalandsyntacticstructure,especiallyintheaspectofwordscollocation,whichleadstoadoptingdifferentrhetoricaldevicestoexpressthesameconcept.Thus,communicativetranslationwillalwaysbereplaced.Inotherwords,thetranslatorshould,ifhecan,adoptanequivalentformandpreservetheoriginalrhetoricaldeviceinthetranslation.Asafamousliterarywork,FortressBesiegeddisplaysagreatvarietyofrhetoricaldevices.Thefollowinganalysisdealswiththetransferenceofsomeimportantrhetoricaldevices.

3.1Metaphor

Metaphorisarhetoricaldevicewhichusesconcreteimagetoexpressmeaning.ManykindsofmetaphorsareusedinthenovelFortressBesiegedforportrayingthecharacters’physicalappearance,language,emotionsandinnerworld.Inordertopreservethevividnessofmetaphorsandreproducetheoriginalinformation,weusuallyadoptsemantictranslationtokeepthem.

E.g.1这一张文凭，仿佛有亚当、夏娃下身那片树叶的功用，可以遮羞包丑；小小一方纸能把一个人的空疏、寡陋、愚笨都掩盖起来。（P10）

Thisdiploma,itseemed,wouldfunctionthesameasAdamandEve’sfigleaf.Itcouldhideaperson’sshameandwrapuphisdisgrace.Thistinysquareofpapercouldcoverhisshallowness,ignorance,andstupidity.(P12)

E.g.2谁知道从冷盘到咖啡，没有一样东西可口：上来的汤是凉的，冰淇淋倒是热的；鱼象海军陆战队，已登陆好几天；肉象潜水艇士兵，会长时期伏在水里。(P16)

Butasitturnedout,therewasn’tasinglethingediblefromthecolddishestothecoffee.Thesoupwascold,andicecreamwaswarm.ThefishwasliketheMarineCorps.Itapparentlyhadalreadybeenonlandforseveraldays;themeatwaslikesubmarinesailors,havingbeensubmergedinwaterforalongtime.(P20)

Thesetwosimilesaretransferreddirectly.ThesimileinExample1showsthefunctionofadiplomasarcastically.“树叶”isadoptedtocoverorhidesomethingshameful,soitcanbeemployedtoexposemanypseudo-intellectuals’shallownessandignoranceinthatsociety.Thesameimage“figleaf”isadoptedinthetranslationsothattheoriginalinformationisconveyed,fullofimagination.Inexample2,“海军陆战队”and“潜水艇士兵”aresemanticallytranslatedinto“theMarineCorps”and“submarinesailors”todisplaythatthefoodintherestaurantistastelessandstale,whichimpliesMrFangandMissPaoareinabadmood.

3.2SatireandHumor

Satireaimstoattackinatauntingandbittermanner,anditsaimistodisparage,ridiculeandwoundthefeelingsofthesubjectattacked.Satireandhumorareoftencombinedtomakeastatementaboutsociety,lifeormoralbyrevealingtheflawsofthem.Togodeeplyintothetopic,satireandhumorarewidelyusedbothinChineseandEnglish,soitiseasyforthetranslatortoreproducethesamerhetoricaleffectthroughsemantictranslation.

E.g.3学国文的人出洋“深造”，听来有些滑稽。事实上，惟有学中国文学的人非到外国留学不可。…只有国文是国货土产，还需要外国招牌，方可维持地位…。(P8)

ItmaysoundabitabsurdforsomeonemajoringinChinesetogoabroadforadvancedstudy.Infact,however,itisonlyforthosestudyingChineseliteraturethatitisabsolutelynecessarytostudyabroad,…andlaw,whichhavebeenimportedfromabroadhavealreadybeenWesternized.Chineseliterature,theonlynativeproduct,isstillinneedofaforeigntrademarkbeforeitcanholditsown…(P11)

Thissatireaimsatthesocietyanditstargetisthefadofstudyingabroad,whichhaditsrootsintheoldChineseconceptof“reflectinggloryonone’sancestor’s”.Thesardonicnarratorobservesfurtherthatnotonlysciencestudentswanttogoabroad,butalsostudentsmajoringinChineseliterature.Thetranslationattemptstocreatethesarcasticimpactoftheoriginal.Throughtheemphaticstructure“itisonly…that…”,itissemanticallytransferredaswellastheothersentences,whichproducesthesamesarcasticeffectontheTLreader.

3.3ParallelismandRepetition

Parallelismisarhetoricaldeviceforgivingemphasis,clarityandcoherencetoideasandsentences.Itexpressestheideasofequalimportanceinthesamegrammaticalform.Repetitionaimstoexpresstheidearhythmically.Thesetworhetoricaldevicesareoftencombinedtocreatebalancedstructuresanddistinctrhythmssothattheexpressivenesscanbeimproved.Inordertoemphasize,clarifyandcoheretheideas,thesamegrammaticalformmustbeadopted,therefore,thetranslationmustbereproducedinasemanticwaytogetthesamerhetoricaleffect.

E.g.4因为在大学里，理科学生瞧不起文科学生，外国语文系学生瞧不起中国文学系学生，中国文学系学生瞧不起哲学系学生，哲学系学生瞧不起社会学系学生，社会学系学生瞧不起教育系学生…(P72)

Forinauniversity,sciencemajorslookdownonhumanitiesmajors,foreignlanguagemajorsonChinesemajors,Chinesemajorsonphilosophymajors,philosophymajorsonsociologymajors,andsociologymajorsinturnoneducationmajors.(P75)

3.4Synecdoche

Afurtherkindoffigurativelanguageissynecdoche,whichisusuallyclassedasatypeofmetonymy.Synecdochereferstousingthenameofpartofanobjecttotalkaboutthewholething.Itisasubpisionofmetonymybecauseitalsoinvolvesusingthenameofsomethingconnectedwithanobjectorconcepttoreplacetheoriginalnameoftheobject,orconcept.SynecdocheiswidelyusedinChineseaswellasinEnglish,AlsoitiseasyfortheTLreaderstounderstand,soitisalwaystransferredsemantically.

E.g.5同局的三位，张太太、“有例为证”和“海军大将”一个子儿不付，一字不提，都站起来准备吃饭。(P41)

Thethreeotherplayers,Mrs.Chang,“ForExample.”and“AdmiralNelson,”allstoodupandgotreadytoeatwithoutpayingacentormentioningawordaboutpaying.(P45)

“有例为证”representsCh’enShih-p’ing,oneofMrChang’sswornbrothers.HisEnglishnameisliketheabbreviationinGermanforthewords,“forexample,”ZumBeispiel.“海军大将”referstoTingNa-sheng,MrChang’sswornbrotherbecausehisforeignnamewasNelson,theadmiral.sotheauthoruses“forexample”and“AdmiralNelson”toreplaceMrChang’stwoswornbrothers,whichimpliesMrChangandhisfriendslikeimitatingtheforeignerssatirically.Inordertoproducethesatiricaleffect,thetranslatoradoptsthesemantictranslation.

3.5Hyperbole

Hyperboleisafigureofspeechinwhichexaggerationisusedtoemphasizeapoint,tocreatehumor,ortoachievesomesimilareffect.HyperboleisverycommonindailyconversationbothinChineseandinEnglish,soitiseasyforthetranslatortoreproducethesamerhetoricaleffectthroughsemantictranslation.

E.g.6鸿渐说话时的神气，就仿佛国立四大银行全在他随身口袋里.(P108)

BythewayHung-chienspoke,italmostsoundedasthoughhewerecarryingallfourmajornationalbanksaroundinhispocket.(P110)

ThissentenceshowsHung-chienisveryangryandarroganttoManagerChou’sbehaviour.“仿佛国立四大银行全在他随身口袋里”emphasizeshisderterminationtorefuseManagerChou’smoneyasifhehadallthemoneyoffourmajornationalbanks.Itistranslatedinto“hewerecarryingallfourmajornationalbanksaroundinhispocket”semanticallysothatitproducestheemphaticeffect.

3.6Rhyme

Rhymeisoneofthepoems’features.Englishisakindofintonationallanguageanditssoundandmetrearerevealedbywordstress,sentencestressandliasion,etc.ButrhymeinChineseisattainedbytherepetitionofwordslike“高高兴兴”and“一心一意”.DuetodifferentrhymebetweenChineseandEnglish,alliteration,assonanceandconsonantpatterninginEnglishmustbeusedtotransferChineserhymesothatthetargetlanguageaccordswiththesourcelanguagebetter.Forexample,“积少成多”isrenderedas“Manyalittlemakesanickel”byalliteration,while“谋事在人，成事在天”istranslatedinto“Manproposes,Goddisposes”byassonance.Translationofrhymesinliteraryworkscomplieswiththesameprincipals.

E.g.7辛楣笑道：“这是董斜川想出来的，他说，同跟一个先生念书的叫‘同师兄弟’，同在一个学校的叫‘同学’，同有一个情人的该叫‘同情’。(P120)

Hsin-meisaidwithagrin,“That’ssomethingTungHsieh-ch’uanthoughtup.Hesayspeoplewhostudyunderthesameteacherarecalledclassmates,andpeoplewhogotothesameschoolarecalledschoolmates,sopeoplewhoareinlovewiththesamegirlshouldbecalled‘lovemates.’”(P124)

“同师兄弟”、“同学”and“同情”aretranslatedsemanticallyas“classmetes”,“schoolmates”and“lovemates”,whichsharesaendrhyme“mates”,sothatrhyme,structureandmeaningoftheoriginalarereproducedeffectively.

4.Conclusion

Fromtheanalysisoftheaboveexamples,wecanconcludethattherhetoricaldevices,explictorimplicit,shouldbetransferredintotheEnglishversionasmuchaspossible.Generally,therhetoricaldevicescanbetranslatedsemantically,butsometimestheycannotberigidlykeptbecauseofthegreatdifferencebetweentheformsofthetwolanguagesanddifferentwaysofthinkingbetweentwocultures.Communicativetranslationisneededtorepresentthesamecontentinadifferentformthatcanbeacceptedbythetargetlanguagereaders.Inoneword,thecorrelativeapproachtothetranslationisoftenadoptedandshouldbekeptinmind.Inconclusion,PeterNewmark’stranslationplaysakeyroleinthetranslationofrhetoricaldevicesofFortressBesieged.

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