翻译硕士文体学学期论文

Comment on Relationship Between

Stylistics and Translation

Abstract . ........................................................................................................................ 1 Literary Review . ......................................................................... 错误！未定义书签。

Chapter 1 Relationship between Graphological Deviation and Translation . ...... 2

1.1 Punctuation . ................................................................................................ 2

1.2 Spelling . ....................................................................................................... 2

1.3 Layout of Text . ............................................................................................ 2

Chapter 2 Relationship between Figure Speech and Translation ........................ 4

2.1 Metaphor .................................................................................................... 4

2.2 Simile . .......................................................................................................... 5

2.3 Personification . ........................................................................................... 6

2.4 Analogy ....................................................................................................... 6

2.5 Synecdoche ................................................................................................. 7

2.6 Metonymy ................................................................................................... 7

2.7 Antonomasia . .............................................................................................. 9

2.8 Hyperbole ................................................................................................... 9

2.9 Understatement .......................................................................................... 9

2.10 Allusion ..................................................................................................... 9

Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 9

Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 10

Abstract

Simply defined, stylistics is a discipline that studies the ways in which languages is used；it is a discipline that studies the styles of languages in use. Stylistics is a distinctive term that may be used to determine the connections between the form and effects within a particular variety of language. What stylistics observes and studies is that proper language in proper situation, thus breaking the constraints of mechanical rhetoric. In addition, stylistics is closely associated with translation. Stylistics is a complex subject, including many aspects, such as shape of text in graphological deviation and figures of speech. Then it is hard for translators to flexibly translate the rhetoric in the source language into the proper equivalent and demonstrate the main idea of the original language. For further researching these questions, I will have a detailed analysis and discussion. The thesis will make a detailed psychoanalysis of the relationship between stylistics and translation from the graphological deviation aspect, the relationship between stylistics and translation in terms of figures of speech. Finally it gives a conclusion.

Key words: stylistics translation graphological deviation figure speech

Literary Review

Stylistics: A Resource Book for Students by Paul Simpson, published in 2004, offers a comprehensive overview of a number of areas as well as provides the reader with the necessary sources for further reading. It comprehensively introduces literary stylistics and covers the core areas, including graphological deviation, figure speech, dialect, vocabulary, grammar, sound and rhythm, speech and thought, narrative, dialogue, metaphor and meaning.

English Stylistics by Xu Youzhi, published in 2005, describes that stylistics links with translation closely by introducing an influential theoretical framework of stylistics. It represents the aims and concerns of stylistics, the necessity for stylistic study and figure speeches.

Chapter1 Relationship between Graphological Deviation and

Translation

Graphology is the analysis of the physical characteristics and patterns of handwriting purporting to be able to identify the writer, indicating psychological state at the time of writing, or evaluating personality characteristics. It studies symbols which are distinctive such as punctuation, spelling, layout of text, etc.

1.1 Punctuation

Punctuation has many items, such as period, comma, etc. Period occurs at the end of a declarative sentence. Sometimes when a declarative end, the speaker did not use period at all. This can serve as a stylistic device. For example, “ The children are energetic, and can not be suppressed or blocked.” The first stanza ends without the period, and it means：open to children, free, or set free their energy.

1.2 Spelling

Spelling is another matter linked with graphological deviation, influencing meanings and forms of whole sentence. For instance, “It soared, a bird, it held its flight, a swift pure cry…of the high vast irradiation everywhere all soaring all around about the all, the endlessnessnessnessness …” The last word is one of graphological deviation, showing the elegance of the sentence.

1.3 Layout of Text

The fact that graphology encodes meaning in visual symbols can be proved by the invention of sight poetry, which depends more on design, the pattern of black and white, than on auditory patterning. So, the layout of poetry is a form showing graphological deviation.

Here is an example:

A

一 V

尊 E

巨 R

大 Y

的 H

磨 U

刀 G

石 E

砥砺着 Gringing stone

民族的意志 Temples our national will

Here the first eight lines are arranged in a unique way with one word in one line, indicating that the high spirits of the monument to the people‟s heroes. Imitating the form of the Monument to the People‟s Heroes, this poem shows the spirits that the monument left us. What‟s more, the translation follows the form and presents the core of the monument and it is the unity of body and spirit of the source language.

We have learned the similar sentence in our stylistics class, here is a famous poem about a falling leaf:

L (a

Le

Af

Fa

Ll

s)

one

l

孤（一 叶 落

iness

The poem is: l (a leaf falls) one liness. Here „a leaf falls ‟ is embedded inside loneliness, showing desolation. The arrangement of whole poem resembles the way a leaf falls.

The layout of text, especially a poem can be arranged in a deviant way so that a direct and vivid visual effect is achieved and a certain theme may be suggested.

Chapter 2 Relationship between Figures of Speech and Translation Rhetoric refers to figures of speech. Semantic deviation, put in plain words, shows an unconventional way of collocation, which may be conveniently exhibited in figures of speech. Here some lexical figures of speech are introduced.

2.1 Metaphor

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison. It contains an implied comparison, in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike thing that actually have something in common.

A metaphor expresses the unfamiliar (the tenor) in terms of the familiar (the vehicle). When Neil Young sings, “love is a rose, ” “rose ” is the vehicle for “love ”, the tenor. In cognitive linguistics, the terms target and source are roughly equivalent to tenor and vehicle.

Examples:

(1) Time, you thief!

译：时光，你这个盗贼！

(2) “Marriage: a souvenir of love”

译：婚姻只是爱情的纪念品。

(3) She is a peacock in everything but beauty.

译：她完全是一只孔雀，除“美”以外。

(4) If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

译：如果一个人没有跟上他的同伴，那可能是因为他听到的是另外一个鼓手的鼓声，让他一步，他或许会赶上。

(5) He has a heart of stone.

译：他有一颗铁石心肠。

(6) The world is a stage.

译：世界是一个大舞台。

(7) “All the world's a stage”

译：“整个世界一台戏”

Without metaphor, many truths would be inexpressible and unknowable. For example, we cannot describe our feelings and sensations adequately without metaphor.

2.2 Simile

Unlike a metaphor, a simile is a direct comparison of one thing to another. It is a figure of speech in which two essentially things are compared. The comparison is usually brought out by using “like ”, “as ”, “as if”, more than resemble, suggest, may (might as well as), what, remind of, compare to, as in, and so on.

Examples:

(1) How like the winter hath my absence been.

译: 我的离开好象是冬天来临。

(2) So are you to my thoughts as food to life.

译：你对我的思想就象食物对于生命一样重要。

(3) O my love's like a red, red rose.

译：我的爱人像一朵红红的玫瑰花。

(4) When he lifted me up in his arms I felt all my troubles on the floor beneath me like

gigantic concrete shoes.

译：当他把我高高地举起在他的怀里，我感觉我所有的烦恼就像一双巨大的水泥鞋。

(5) The gulls rose; they fluttered away like bits of white paper.

译：海鸥振翅飞去，像偏偏白纸在空中飞舞。

(6) Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep. 译：生活就像一个洋葱，一次剥开一层，有时还需要清扫。

(7) At the mention of Ashley‟s name, Scarlett‟s hesrt stood still, cold as granite with her. 译：听到有人叫艾希莉的名字，斯嘉丽的心咯噔了一下，浑身冰冷。

Smile and metaphor differ only in degree of stylistic refinement. The simile, in which a comparison is made directly between two objects, belongs to an earlier stage of literary expression: it is the deliberate elaboration of a correspondence, often pursued for its own sake. But a Metaphor is the swift illumination of an equivalence. Two images, or an idea and an image, stand equal and opposite; clash together and respond significantly, surprising the reader with a sudden light. The relationship between simile and metaphor is closer.

2.3 Personification

Personification is a figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to nonhuman things and events. Its use allows the writer to condense and make more vivid descriptions of impersonal subjects and abstract ideas.

Examples:

(1) Hunger sat shivering on the road.

译：饥饿站在路上颤抖 。

(2) Flowers danced about the lawn.

译：花儿在草地上翩翩起舞 。

(3) My heart was singing.

译：我的心在歌唱。

(4)This time fate was smiling to him.

译：这一次命运朝他微笑了。

(5)The flowers nodded to her while she passed.

译：当她经过的时候花儿向她点头致意。

(6) The wind whistled through the trees.

译：风穿过树丛，树叶哗哗作响。

2.4 Analogy

Analogy compares two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one. Analogy is also a form of comparison, but unlike simile or metaphor, which usually concentrates on one point of resemblance, analogy draws a parallel between two different things that have several common qualities or points of resemblance, so as to convince the listener or reader that because two things are alike in so many respects, a conclusion drawn one suggests a similar conclusion from the other.

Examples:

(1) In rivers the water that you touch is the last of that which has passed and first of which comes, so with time present.

译：河流中，你触摸到的水都是最后一滴，它不会再回来了，等你再触摸时，就是新流过来的第一滴，时间也是一样。

(2) It ‟s with our judgments as with our watches; none go just alike, yet each believes his own. 译：我们的判断就如我们的手表，各不相同，各执己见。

2.5 Synecdoche

In synecdoche, a part stand s for the whole, the whole for a part; the concrete for the abstract, the abstract for the concrete; or the name of the material for the object made. Examples:

(1) He has many mouths to feed in his family.

译：他家有好几口子需要他养活。

(2) Italy beat Spain in the football match.

译：意大利队在足球比赛中赢了西班牙队。

(3) From their father, the builder, they inherited a talent for bricks and mortar.

译：他们的父亲，是个盖大楼的，从他们父亲那儿，他们继承的盖楼的技巧。

2.6 Metonymy

Closely akin to synecdoche is a figure of speech called metonymy. In this figure, a thing is named by one of its accompaniments. The thing spoken of and the thing meant have close relation to each other. Thus, the container is used for the thing contained; the instrument for the agent; the sign for the thing symbolized; and the name of the maker for his works.

Examples:

(1) And although his purse was short, he got on well enough.

译：就算他钱包没有多少钱，他也一样可以过的很好。

(2) The blue eyes walked into the office.

译：有个蓝眼睛的人走进办公室。

(3) Wall Street: U.S financial circles

译：华尔街是美国的商业界。

(4) Hollywood: American film-making industry

译：好莱坞是美国的电影“生产工厂”。

2.7 Antonomasia

Antonomasia is a figure by means of which an epithet or a new name is given to represent a proper name. By means of this figure, a proper name can also be used to represent a general idea associated with the name.

Examples:

(1) the bard of Avon for Shakespeare

译：艾冯河畔诗人是莎士比亚的别称。

(2) Uncle Sam refers to the U.S

译：山姆大叔是美国的别称。

(3) Your Honor for the judge

译：阁下是对法官大人的尊称。

2.8 Hyperbole

The use of exaggeration for effect is called hyperbole. So hyperbole is a statement deliberately exaggerated in order to strengthen the effect or add force. It represents something much greater or less, better or worse, or more intense than it really is, or that depict the impossible as actual.

Examples:

译：我们要是一起弹奏，就可以让石头哭泣。

(2) Then she could have scorched him with hot words.

译：她尖酸的言语令他无地自容。

2.9 Understatement

This is a construction opposite to hyperbole, achieving its effect of emphasizing a fact by deliberately understating it, impressing the listener or the reader more by what is merely implied or left unsaid than by bare statement.

Examples:

(1) The music was not at all bad.

译：这音乐一点儿都不赖。

（2） He is no coward.

译： 他可绝不是个胆小鬼。

（3） He is a man of no mean wealth.

译： 他可不是一般的有钱。

（4） He didn‟t try in vain.

译：他并非徒劳。

（5） I cannot say much for his taste in literature.

译： 谈到他对文学的品味，我真的没什么好说的。

2.10 Allusion

Allusion in writing are reference to well-known person, things, or events that writers assume are familiar to their readers share with a common historical, cultural and literal heritage, which enables the readers to identify the allusions and to understand their significance. Examples:

(1) You want your pound of flesh, don‟t you?

译：你就想要你那磅肉，是吗？

（2） Environmental pollution is Achilles‟ heel of Economic growth.

译：环境污染是影响经济增长的致命弱点。

（3） Nobody will believe he is in trouble because he has cried wolf so many times.

译： 没有人再相信他的话，因为他已经喊了好几次狼来了。

There are so many kinds of figures of speech, and how to translate them well becomes a challenge to translators. If we want to be a successful translator, we should do our best to figure them out.

Conclusion

What I have mentioned above are just a few aspects of stylistics. The range of stylistics is wide. It covers from words, phrases, sentences to chapter structure; from phonetics, grammar, rhetoric to the rhythm and even some social, historical, cultural, psychological factors. Of course, we are not going to make a detailed and elaborated analysis of something translated just like stylists, but apply the theory of stylistics to grasp the translated material as a whole, using stylistic methods to deal with the specific problems encountered in the translation process.

In short, stylistics has its own limitations, it is impossible to solve all the problems of the

translation. Based on its theory in studying the surface and deep meaning of the article, and the relationship between the stylistic features and actual result, stylistics is of great importance in solving a basic question of modern translation theory and practice, namely the formal agreement “shape ” or consistent meaning “spirit ”, literal translation or free translation. It also has great significance and argumentative value for further development and improvement of translation theory.

Bibliography

Austin, J. 1962. How to Do Things with Words. New York: Oxford University Press.

Paul ，Simpson. 2004. Stylistics: A Resource Book for Students: Routedge.

徐有志. 2005. 《英语文体学教程》. 北京: 高等教育出版社.

刘宓庆.1986. 《文体与翻译》. 中国对外翻译出版公司.

王德春.1987. 《修辞学词典》. 浙江教育出版社.

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