On the Translation of the Call of the Wild

【Abstract】During translation， there are often conflicts between the content and the meaning. We cannot make an absolute conclusion of which is better. We use both communicative & semantic translation， but with different stress.

【Key word】The Call of the Wild； communicative translation； semantic translation

【作者简介】汪珉，上海应用技术大学外国语学院。

In the novel of The Call of the Wind the authors vivid description to Buck gives the readers an impression that this clever Buck is just like a sensitive human being. He knows the law of survival， eating or being eaten. He also knows the love of a man. He has a deep love to his master John Thornton. His affection for this man made it unable for him to leave the life of mankind.

During translation， there are often conflicts between the content and the meaning. Communicative translation emphasizes the effect of the information， while semantic translation emphasizes the content of the information. However the communicative translation often use earthy words instead of the complicated words in the source language and this often results in undertranslation. The semantic translation focuses on the details of the source language for nuances of meaning and often adds some meanings which do not exist in the source language which often results in overtranslation. New Mark thinks that communicative translation cannot always translate all the meaning of the source language， while the semantic translation cannot always play a good communicative function. He also points out that which translation method we should choose in our idiographic translation process depends on whether the semantic unit in the source language is important.

For example， the author of this novel uses parallelism methods in his novel to describe the inner feeling of Buck：

Love， genuine passionate love， was his for the first time. This he had never experienced at Judge Millers down in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley.…and with the Judge himself， a stately and dignified friendship. But love that was feverish and burning， that was adoration， that was madness， it had taken John Thornton to rouse. 這种爱，这种发自内心的爱，巴克有生以来第一次感受到。这种经历，它在米勒法官家，在那个充满阳光的桑塔可纳纳山谷中从未体验过。……和法官本人在一起，那是一种尊贵威严的朋友关系。而这种热烈的，燃烧的爱，这种疯狂的崇拜的爱，却是约翰桑顿激发出来的。

Here I use semantic translation to make the version close to the original text in form. The following is another example：

And here， lying by the river bank through the long spring days， watching the running water， listening lazily to the songs of birds and the hum of nature， Buck slowly won back his strength. 在这漫长的春天里，巴克躺在河岸边，看着欢快流淌着的河水，懒懒地听着鸟儿们的歌声以及自然界的嗡嗡声，渐渐恢复了体力。

Here I keep the sound effect and the length of the original text.

In some other parts I use communicative translation in order to make my version more fluent， idiomatic and easy to understand. Here I give an example：

Deep in the forest a call was sounding， and as often as he heard this call， mysteriously thrilling and luring， he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth round it， and to plunge into the forest， and on and on， he knew not where or why； nor did he wonder where or why， the call sounding imperiously， deep in the forest. But as often as he gained the soft unbroken earth and the green shade， the love for John Thornton drew him back to the fire again. 在森林的深处，有一个声音在呼唤着他。这是种神秘的呼唤，令他浑身战栗，向往不已。每当巴克听到这种呼唤，它感到有股力量强迫它把背朝着炉火及其周围被踩实的土地，一头扑进森林里，越跑越远。它不知要奔向何处，或是为何去；它也不管要奔向何處或为何去。这种呼唤的声音在森林深处听起来十分急迫。可是每当他踏上了那松软的泥土，享受到绿荫的遮盖，心中便涌起了对约翰桑顿的爱，这爱又会将他拉回到炉火边。

As a whole， the literal translation is more faithful while free translation is more idiomatical. Literal translation is part of the semantic translation and part of the communicative translation. Of course， it is impossible for us to use only one translation method during our translation process and there is neither sheer communicative translation nor sheer semantic translation. Generally speaking， we use the two methods alternately， but with different stress.

参考文献：

[1]Jack London：The Call of the Wild[M]Aerie Books Ltd，1990.

[2]Peter New Mark：Approaches to Translation[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，2001.