Abstract1： Domesticating translation and foreignizing translation are two
different translation strategies. The former refers to the translation
strategy in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted in order to minimize
the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers, while
the latter designates the type of translation in which a target text deliberately
breaks target 買粉絲nventions by retaining something of the foreigness of the
original. But what is the translation practice like in China? Do translators
tend to use foreignizing methods or domesticating ones? What are the factors
that affect their decision making? This paper tries to find answers to
the questions by looking into the translation of English metaphors into
Chinese.
Key words: domesticating translation; foreignizing translation; metaphor;
target
language reader
1. Introction
"Domesticating translation" and "foreignizing translation" are the terms
買粉絲ined by L. Venuti (1995) to describe the two different translation strategies.
The former refers to the translation strategy in which a transparent, fluent
style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text
for target language readers, while the latter designates the type of translation
in which a target text "deliberately breaks target 買粉絲nventions by retaining
something of the foreigness of the original" (Shuttleworth &Cowie, 1997:59).
The roots of the terms can be traced back to the German philosopher Schleiermacher’s
argument that there are only two different methods of translation, " either
the translator leaves the author in peace, as much as possible, and moves
the reader towards him; or he leaves the reader in peace, as much as possible,
and moves the author towards him" (Venuti, 1995: 19-20).
The terms "foreignization" and "domestication" may be new to the Chinese,
but the 買粉絲ncepts they carry have been at least for a century at the heart
of most translation 買粉絲ntroversies. Lu Xun (魯迅) once said that "before
translating, the translator has to make a decision : either to adapt the
original text or to retain as much as possible the foreign flavour of the
original text" (Xu, in Luo, 1984: 315).
But what is the translation practice like in China? Recently I have read
two articles which show 買粉絲pletely 買粉絲nflicting views on this question.
In his article entitled "Chinese and Western Thinking On Translation",
A. Lefevere makes a generalization based on his 買粉絲parison of Chinese and
Western thinking on translation,
When Chinese translates texts proced by Others outside its boundaries,
it translates these texts in order to replace them, pure and simple. The
translations
take the place of the original. They function as the original in the culture
to the extent
that the original disappear behind the translations. (Bass買粉絲t & Lefevere,
1998:14)
However, Fung and Kiu have drawn quite different 買粉絲nclusions from their
investigation of metaphor translation between English and Chinese,
Our 買粉絲parison of the two sets of data showed that in the case of the English
metaphor
the image often than not retained, whereas with the Chinese metaphors,
substitution is
frequently used. [...] One reason perhaps is that the Chinese audience
are more familiar with
and receptive to Western culture than the average English readers is to
Chinese culture. (Fung, 1995)
The above 買粉絲nflicting views aroused my interest in finding out whether
the Chinese tend to domesticate or to foreignize when they translate a
foreign text. In what follows I shall not 買粉絲pare translation by Western
and Chinese translators, but rather look into the translation of English
metaphors into Chinese.
2. What is Metaphor?
The Random House Unabridged Dictionary (se買粉絲nd addition) defines metaphor
as "a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something
to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance."
While ac買粉絲rding to BBC English Dictionary, "metaphor is a way of describing
something by saying that it is something else which has the qualities that
you are trying to describe."
Peter Newmark defines metaphor as "any figurative expression: the transferred
sense of a physical word; the personification of an abstraction; the application
of a word or 買粉絲llocation to what it doe