A Brief Analysis of Wang zuoliang’s Translation of Of Studies

罗悦

ⅠIntroduction of the Translation Criteria

“Xin， Da， Ya（信、達、雅）” put forward by Yan Fu have been regarded as the most authoritative translation criteria. However， quite a few experts have been doubting the accuracy of Ya， of whom Liu Chongde replaced “Ya” with “Qie （切）”. And in general， Tytler and Liu shared roughly the same idea of their translation criteria. Firstly， the translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work， which matches Xin; secondly， the translation should have all the ease of the original composition， which matches Da; thirdly， the style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original， which matches Qie.

ⅡComparison Between Chinese Prose and Essay in English Literature

Chinese prose and Western essay have different coverage and implication.

Firstly， in terms of subject and content， relatively， western essay focus more on history destiny， social vicissitudes and the survival meaning of human beings， while Chinese prose centers more on nature and individual feelings. For example， Herodotus's "History of the Persian War"， Galsworthy's "Green Hills in the Distance"， Churchill's "Memoirs of the Second World War"， Hemingway's "Wartime Medal Sale"， Steinbeck's " Battlefield Essays" ， etc.， are major themes that reflect war and peace. They are drawn from a broad perspective and appear majestic. On the contrary， the advantage of Chinese prose is to see the big from the small. The writing materials often emphasize the beautiful scenery and one's own life， and pursue the perfect combination of poetry and individual feelings.

Secondly， in terms of the approach to organizing language， western essay is better at critical thinking and of philosophy， which more content of abstraction is involved， while Chinese prose is more inclined to express authors own feelings and ambition， which contains more concrete meanings. We cannot say that there is no Chinese prose good at critical thinking. For example， Lei Das  ``Football and Human Life Perceptions''  as well as some prose of Zhou Tao and Zhang Chengzhi all have a deep thinking and calculated analysis of their subject. However， many modern prose in Chinas literature is trapped in just showing individual feelings， which actually doesnt have much meaning.

Thirdly， in terms of language expression， western prose is mostly delicate and graceful， while Chinese prose is very brief and classic， respectively with their own uniqueness. Both Chinese prose and western essay attach great importance to such basic requirements as accuracy， clarity and vividness. But their differences are also obvious. That is because： firstly， they are restricted by the formation of different cultures， thinking patterns and time features; secondly， the intonation， linguistic situation， mood， semantics are different when creating works; thirdly， the linguistic level created by the nature and function of language in specific creation is different， such as the difference between narrative language and object language as well as the difference of endless wear and tear， dislocation transformation， derivation and creation of language itself.

Ⅲ  The Translation Strategies and Skills in Wang Zuoliangs Translation of “Of Studies”

The Translation Strategies：

Domestication and foreignization belong to the category of translation strategies. Any translation is a mixture of foreignization and domestication. Wang Zuoliang's translation is no exception.

Skills in Wang Zuoliangs Translation of ‘Of Studies

1. Transformation

Transformation translation involves multiple aspects. During translation， Wang Zuoliang mainly carried out "conversion translation in the lexical and syntactic aspect.

In the lexical aspect， Wang took advantage of ancient Chinese and four-word phrases to converse the part of speech of words-that is to make nouns in the essay become verbs， which not only makes the translation fluent but also conveys the meaning of the source text more accurately.

Example 1：

Source Text： Studies serve for delight， for ornament， and for ability.

Target Text： 讀书足以怡情，足以傅彩，足以长才。

Example 2：

Source Text：Some books are to be tasted，others to be swallowed，and some few to be chewed and digested; that is some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read，but not curiously; and some few to be ready wholly，and with diligence and attention.

Target Text：书有可浅尝者，有可吞食者，少数则须咀嚼消化。换言之，有只须读其部分者，有只须大体涉猎者，少数则须全读，读时须全神贯注，孜孜不倦。

Analysis： Wang has translated ‘delight， ornament， ability in example 1 into “怡情、傅彩、长才 and ‘diligence and attention in example 2 into “全神贯注和孜孜不倦”. The translation is of more briefness， vividness and rhyme.

In the syntactic aspect， Wang has transferred the passive voice to the active voice so that the translation is more in line with the source language.

Example 3：

Source Text： They perfect nature and are perfected by experience…

Target Text： 读书补天然之不足，经验又补读书之不足……

Analysis： Wang translated the passive voice in example 3 into the active voice. And whats more， he translated the structure ‘to be done into “可... and 须”. Thats because the active voice is more common in Chinese， while the passive voice is usually used to express unpleasant things.

2. Addition

Without damaging the meaning of the original text， the addition method is to add some words， such as predicate verb conjugation， to make the structure of the translated text conform to the grammatical norms of the target language or make up for the lack of semantics， or to add short explanations to make the translated text express more accurately and smoothly.

Example 4：

Source Text： Read not to contradict and confuse; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.

Target Text：讀书时不可存心诘难作者，不可尽信书上所 言，亦不可只为寻章摘句，而应推敲细思。

Example 5：

Source Text： Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.

Target Text：读史使人明智，读诗使人灵秀，数学使人周 密，科学使人深刻，伦理学使人庄重， 逻辑修辞之学使人善辩。

Analysis： In example 4， objects ‘作者，‘书，‘章and‘句are added in the translation. In example 5， verbs ‘读 and predicative and object ‘使人are added， which makes the translation more consistent with the meaning of the original， making the expression more accurate， complete and concise， and full of rhythm.

3 Deletion

The deletion method is to delete words， sentences or even paragraphs from the original text， so that the translation can express concisely without losing the main idea of the original text.

Example 6：

Source Text：…if a man write little，he had need have a great memory; if he confer little，he had need have a present wit; and if he read little，he had need have much cunning to seem to know that he doth not.

Target Text：不常作笔记者须记忆特强，不常讨论者须天生 聪颖，不常读书者须欺世有术，始能 无知而显有知。

Analysis： In the translation， he deleted the conjunctions if and pronoun ‘he in example 6， thus making the translation faithful to the original text and fluent in expression and concise in language.

Conclusion：

Wang Zuoliangs translation strategies of "domestication" and "foreignization"， the translation methods of "literal translation" and "free translation"， the effective combination and flexibility of translation skills of "transformation"， "additional translation" and "deletion and subtraction"  enable his translation to achieve both the beauty of form and beauty; it is not only faithful to the original text， but also beyond the original text. It offers us with inspiration for translating English essays， especially translating philosophical essays.