On the Use of English Rhetoric and Translation.doc

On the Use of English Rhetoric and Translation浅论英语修辞格的运用及翻译摘要修辞格是人们在组织，调整，修饰语言，以提高语言表达效果的过程中长期形成的具有特定结构，特定方法，特定功能，为社会所公认的言语模式。无论在文学作品还是日常生活中，我们都力求运用生动形象鲜明准确的语言有效地表达思想感情，因而有必要学习和研究修辞格的翻译，从而我们会更好的运用语言，阅读和欣赏文学作品，以提高我们的语言文化修养。 本文主要有三部分组成。在第一部分，作者主要介绍了修辞格的定义，与此同时，这一部分也阐明了修辞格的作用和范围，因此我们可以更好地理解修辞格。第二部分，文章介绍了由于语言和文化差异，导致了英汉修辞格翻译的不同，也指出了一些翻译者需要注意的问题。第三部分主要介绍了几种修辞格和它们相应的翻译方法。关键词：修辞；翻译；语言差异；文化差异On the Use of English Rhetoric and TranslationABSTRACT Rhetoric is a speech pattern which comes into being in the long-term process of organizing,regulating languages to improve the effectiveness of expression.Rhetoric is approved socially and has its definite structures,techniques and functions.Whether it is in the field of literary works or daily life,we all try our best to express our emotions and feelings effectively by using vivid,lively ang exact languages.Therefore,it is necessary to learn and study the translation of rhetoric so that we could better use language,read and appreciate literary works. Finally,we could improve our cultural refreshment. This paper consists of three parts. In the first part,the author mainly introduces the definition of rhetoric.At the same time,this part also elaborates the scope and function of rhetoric so that we could better understand the rhetoric.In the second part,this paper displays that the rhetorical translation of Chinese and English is different owing to the difference between different languages and cultures.It also points out some problems which translators should pay attention to in the process of translating.The third part mainly displays a few rhetoric and their corresponding translation techniques.Key words:rhetorical device;translation;language difference; Cultural differenceContents摘要ABSTRACTContentsIntroduction1. Rhetoric 1.1 Definition of Rhetoric 1.2 Modern Rhetoric:Its Scope and Functions 1.3 Rhetoric:Its Role in Translation2. Differences between English and Chinese Rhetoric and Their Translation 2.1 language Differences and Translation 2.1.1 Phonetic Form and Text Patterns 2.1.2 Vocabulary Morphology 2.1.3 Syntactic Structure 2.2 Cultural Differences and Translation 2.2.1 The Material Culture 2.2.2 Institutional Culture 2.2.3 Psychological Culture3. Specific Translation Methods of Rhetocics 3.1 Metaphor and Its Translation 3.1.1 Simile and Its Translation 3.1.2 Metaphor and Its Translation 3.2 Metonymy and Its Translation 3.3 Parallel Structures and Its Translation 3.4 Personification and Its Translation 3.5 Other Rhetoric 3.5.1 Hyperbole 3.5.2 Transferred Epithet 3.5.3 AlliterationConclusionBibliographyAcknowledgementIntroduction Originating from 2000 years ago,the ancient Greece,rhetoric is a subject of language arts.Rhetoric is the art of using language,and is seen as the decoration of the languages like icing on the cake. Whether in literature or in daily life people have always sought out the use of vivid,clear,precise language to express their feelings.Therefore,it is necessary to study and research the figure of speech and its translation in order to use languages,read and appreciate literary works as well as to improve our culture refreshment. In translation,we can neither correctly express the original's thoughts,spirits and its styles nor weaken the original without right reflection of figure of speech.Rhetoric in Translation is a huge issue,therefore,people properly handling the translation of the rhetoric is necessary. The relationship between translation and rhetoric are very close.A translator should understand the rhetorical techniques of the source,and make use of rhetorical devices in order to reproduce faithfully and effectively the content,intention,feeling and style of the original text.This paper firstly generalizes the situation of the study about the rhetoric in the home or foreign from the function and the field of rhetoric.From the comparison of English and Chinese rhetorics,the paper further explains the same and difference of the two kinds of rhetorics because of the languages and cultures.Finally,this paper briefly elaborates how to understand and translate the English rhetoric on the basis of being loyal for the text.This paper consists of three parts.In the first part,author gives the general definition of rhetoric,so that we can have a clear understanding of rhetoric.Also,in this part,we probe into the functions and scope of rhetoric.All in all,in the first part, the author gives some basic knowledge of rhetoric and the relationship between rhetoric and translation.In the second part,this thesis introduces readers some basic knowledge of rhetorical translation.Also,the author displays things that translator should pay attention to in his work.In the third part,this paper probes deep into the relationship between rhetoric and translation.1. Rhetoric1.1 Definition of Rhetoric Rhetoric originates in speech in the West.Aristotle,in the 4th century BC,first defined rhetoric,which has contributed to its flourishing in the academic field.With the development and influence of modern linguistics,philosophy,semantics, psychology,etc,great success has been achieved in rhetoric studies whether basic conception or specific problem.Since 1950,modern rhetoric,especially Anglo-American modern rhetoric,has developed into a large discipline involving practical rhetoric,rhetoric in argumentation,rhetoric of fiction,stylistics,etc.格式！Hence rhetoric is endowed with new meanings.1.2 Modern Rhetoric:Its Scope and FunctionsModern rhetoric is a large field,too large to be plotted here.According to H.Hudson（1990），rhetoric includes both oral rhetoric and literary rhetoric."注明出处Oral rhetoric focuses on the wielders of public opinion while literal rhetoric emphasizes aesthetic analysis"(Hudson.1990).A modern discussion usually consists of chapters on diction,figure of speech,and forms of arrangement,such as antithesis,periodicity and balance.The identification of rhetoric only with persuasion in the West and with ornament of writing in China seems to have vanished.In the eye of a rhetorician,any linguistic symbol has a rhetorical meaning in a specific situation.Rhetoric,however,as a serious scholarly study,has entered a wider area.That there is a body of philosophy and principle worth scholarly effort in discovery,enlargement,and reinterpretation is beyond question,and fortunately more competent scholars each year are working at it.Rhetorical criticism and the study of rhetoric as a revealing social and cultural phenomenon are also gaining ground.New and interesting directions for studies in these areas are being explored,or at least marked out;they are based on newly developed techniques.Text linguistics,for example,is a newly-developed discipline,out of which textual analysis has developed.An analysis of any language symbol must be based on a specific text.No doubt,therefore,textual analysis will have more and more to contribute to modern rhetoric.Likewise,modern rhetoric has been applied to translation studies,which has developed to be a branch of rhetoric-translative rhetoric.There are many other research topics,e.g,rhetoric in discourse,psycho-rhetoric,contrastive rhetoric,pragmatic rhetoric,textual rhetoric,interpersonal rhetoric,rhetoric in journalism,etc.No doubt,these new disciplines on rhetoric will definitely widen and enrich the scope of rhetoric studies.词的间距！Now turn to the point of rhetorical functions.Generally speaking,the rhetorical function,in present-day usage,is the function of adjusting words or sentences suitable to a discourse situation.According to Bryant(1990)."The rhetorical function is the function of adjusting ideas to people and of people to ideas."More specifically,the major function of rhetoric include wholeness,aesthetic appeal,impact,appropriateness,coherence,cohesion,focus and emphasis.According to different effects produced by these functions in a text,they are subdivided into communicative and aesthetic functions.Communicative function ensures the choice of words and phrases,and selection of sentence patterns,organizing paragraphs and whole pieces of writing in such a way that ideas are expressed most clearly,most accurately and most appropriately and the intended results are achieved in communication.Communicative function includes such matters as wholeness,unity,appropriateness,coherence,and cohesion.Aesthetic function creates the vividness and gracefulness in emotional appeal of one's speech or writing.Aesthetic appeal,impact and emphasis belong to aesthetic function.In fact,any literary text contains a combination of communicative rhetoric and aesthetic rhetoric.Both of them are effective means in communication and are often mingled and permeated with each other.Take the following sentences as an example: (1) I trembled,and turned white.SomethingI don't know what or howconnected with the grave in the Churchyard,and the raising of the dead,seemed to strike me like an unwholesome wind(Dickens,92)This is a description of how little David was feeling at the news that he had got a new father.When he was told about it,hetrembled and turned whiteto describe his feelings at the moment.Dickens appropriately chooses the indefinite pronounsomethingand a simile strike me like an unwholesome wind,which aims at exerting an emotional impact on the readers.1.3 Rhetoric:Its Role in Translation Rhetoric always plays an important role in the process of translation.As we know,the process includes two stages:comprehension and reproduction.The former is the prerequisite for and the beginning of the latter while the latter is the objective and outcome of the former.Inaccurate comprehension of the original will inevitably result in inaccurate reproduction.In some cases,we cannot puzzle out the meaning in reading the original while there are neither new words nor grammatical problems.We just can not make out the true essence of the diction though we check up various dictionaries of idiomatic usages may not help.Why?The obstacles most probably are rhetorical techniques employed in it.Indeed,a translator can hardly understand the original without knowledge of rhetorical techniques.For example: (2) Ham Peggotty,who went to the national school and was a very dragon at his catechism and who may therefore be regarded as a credible witness,reported next day,what happening to peep in at the parlour-door an hour after this(Dicken,59)Ham Peggotty is likened to dragon,which means that he worked at his catechism as hard as a dragon safeguards his treasure.We may well be puzzled if we do not know about the metaphor.The importance of rhetoric lies not only in comprehending the source text,also in reproducing it.An ideal translation,especially literary translation,not only conveys the content of the source text,but reproduces aesthetic or artist charm of the source text.The purpose of rhetoric is to make the translation more effective and more adequate.(3) It haunted men when I got home.I seemed to have left the Doctor's roof with a dark cloud lowering on it.The reverence that I had for his grey head was mingled with commiseration for his faith in those who were treacherous to him and with resentment against those who injured him(Dickens.339) 【Version 1】在我回家以后，这表情萦绕在我的心目中，我觉得我离开博士的屋顶时，那上面似乎有一层黑云笼罩着，我对他那白发的头所怀抱的敬意中，混有对他寄托在背叛他的人们身上的信心所抱的怜悯，以及对那些伤害他的人的愤慨(Tr.Dong327) 【Version 2】在我离开那所房子的时候，好像那所房子上面有一片乌云，阴惨惨地笼罩。我除了对他那苍苍白发起尊敬之心，我还由于他对那些不忠于他的人推心置腹生怜悯之情，还由于我看到那些对他欺侮的人起憎恨之感。(Tr.Zhang.416) To a great extent,the two versions faithfully reproduce the content of the original.Version 2,however,represents more effectively the aesthetic appeal of the original.For example:his grey headis translated as 苍苍白发instead of Dong's白发的头,reverence，commiseration andresentment respectively as 尊敬之心，怜悯之情and憎恨之感.Obviously,Zhang's version faithfully reproduces the aesthetic impact on Chinese readers much better.The importance of rhetoric is also embodied in translative criteria,such as Yah Fu's faithfulness,expressiveness and elegance;Lin Yutang's faithfulness,expressiveness and beautifulness;Liu Zhongde's faithfulness,expressiveness and closeness.From the rhetorical standpoint,“expressiveness”belongs to communicative rhetoric while “elegance”,“beautifulness”or“closeness”to aesthetic rhetoric.Faithfulness,however,is the foundation of the other two aspects.Just as is stated in The Book of Changes,“faithfulness”is the first thing in wording.Confucius(551B.C.-479B.C.)states what speech requires is only expressiveness.Again he says that writing without literary grace cannot go far and wide.All these three requirements are indispensable to both writing and translation.Thus “elegance”or“beautifulness”must be achieved in addition to faithfulness and expressiveness so that the translation may go far and wide.2. Differences between English and Chinese Rhetoric and Their Translation2.1 Language differences and translationAs Liu Miqing said:“Every language is anirreplaceablecultural system and has its own different traits from another language”出处.Therefore,the actual conversion is even a limited problem.Rhetoric is the a kind of language activity,which is based on the specific and definite language materials and is bound to being affected by language materials.Rhetorical resources of language come from the three levels of language,namely,voice,vocabulary and syntax.But the system of voice ,vocabulary and sentence structure patterns vary at all language levels,which will necessary attribute to demonstrate their own rhetorical features.Even if they appear to be the same rhetorical device,yet their differences are obvious when they are integrated into two language patterns,that is,the same lies in the difference.We should pay more attention to the “difference”in the process of translation.2.1.1Phonetic form and text patterns The greatest difference between two languages is phonetic;it's the most different task to convert rhetoric in inter-lingual translation.Despite the fact that various phonetic system has their own specific rhetoric way,it does not necessarily have corresponding rhetorical effect even if it has the corresponding form.Take alliteration in English and pairs of sound in Chinese as an example.The former is a very ancient figure of speech,or even more ancient than rhyme.It is widely used in poetry.But the latter does not have any particular rhetorical effect or it also never be regarded as a figure of speech in Chinese.On the other hand,because Chinese characters are monosyllabic and overlapping sound character that is also known as the stack is a very ancient Chinese rhetorical way.It has a long history,“China is a special form of the phrase”seems not to be translated.Howe