Proverb translation【DOC精选】.docVIP

Foreignization and domestication in proverb translation Abstract Proverbs are culture loaded linguistic symbols. The English-Chinese or Chinese-English proverb translation involves not only the transfer of language but also the transmission of culture. Though analyzing the necessity of employing foreignization instead of domestication in proverb translation, the author holds that foreignization should be mainly employed so as to achieve better conveyance of the cultural peculiarities of both English and Chinese proverbs and wherever necessary domestication should be employed in order to facilitate natural and fluent expression, but domestication should not distort the cultural flavor of the original. A Brief Introduction to Proverbs An English proverb says, “Proverbs are the daughters of daily experience.” Proverbs, existing distinctively and numerously in almost every language, are the panoramic pictures of linguistic and cultural trails of a community. They are an important integrated part of a language and widely recognized as the essence and crystallization of a nation. In content, proverbs are closely connected with history, religion and living condition of a nation. In form, Proverbs are presented by sentences that cannot be substituted randomly. As a gem of a language and a mirror of linguistic and cultural concepts of a nation, proverbs have been handed down from generation to generation. Without proverbs, a language will lack vitality, vividness and expressiveness. A proverb is defined as “A short well-known saying that states a general truth or gives advices” by Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary (2002). The famous Chinese 《辞海》 (2000) explains that “谚语是流传于民间的简练通俗而富于意义的语句。” Definitions of Domestication and Foreignization Domestication and foreignization are two fundamental translation strategies which have been catching people’s attention in recent years. Their meanings are richer than “literal translation” and “free translation”. “The con