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张明权 |
在网络时代,翻译与互联网结成了牢不可破的关系,这是与翻译的性质相关联的。翻译一向要求译者所知甚多,虽有很多译者来自各专业领域,并从事本专业的翻译,但译者对百科知识的渴求远胜于大多数其他专业人士,互联网恰好提供了大量的知识和方便的检索方式。
关于诺贝尔奖,可以在网上找到相关资料,诺贝尔和平奖是唯一由挪威颁发的诺贝尔奖项。至于互联网“角逐”和平奖这件事,可以找到BBC的相关报道,题目是Internet “in running” for Nobel Peace Prize。结合上一期我们提到的回译策略,我们可以很容易确定“角逐”这一词语的翻译,当然这并非完全否定其他译法,只是说在充分利用互联网的情况下,比较容易找到地道的英文表达方式。实际上,这段报道还提供了其他与上述报道切近的相关信息,例如:The internet’s nomination has been championed by the Italian version of Wired magazine for helping advance “dialogue, debate and consensus”; It is unclear who would accept the prize if the internet were to win; Internet for Peace, set up to help support the nomination of the internet, says the prize would be “a Nobel for each and every one of us”. 这都可以借用到我们的翻译中,原因是国内新闻报道很多都是从英文稿件编译而成的。汉语的“尚是悬念”这一说法,在英语中其实用了很朴素的unclear一词。在英语新闻界,有一个简明英语运动深刻影响和改变了英语新闻的文体和用词,这一点很值得译者注意。
遇到中国特色的翻译,对互联网资源的利用就要另辟蹊径了。就新闻报道而言,在国内权威英文机构的网站上一般可以找到相关内容,但我们往往需要更仔细的甄选和判断。另外必须明确的是,借鉴别人的翻译不是偷懒,即便是对于学习翻译的人来讲,学习翻译的过程也类似于绘画上的临摹,早期往往需要对照权威译文不断改进自己的翻译错误。成熟的译者才有可能形成自己的翻译风格。在新闻翻译中,这种风格往往很难是个人的,因为大多数时候一种风格的范本(paradigm)要求译者尽量去靠近。
网友往往迫切希望专家(希望不是“砖家”,而且本人申明自己两者都不是,我只是参与这项工作,与各位网友共同进步的一名译者)给出参考译文,这种心情是可以理解的,上一篇由于大量借用了外电的报道,我就省去了译文,这一篇我还是操刀译一下(见笑了,本人其实很怕体育,以及体育新闻):
Before heading to world indoor championships in Doha, Liu Xiang said that his goal is not to win a medal, but to make to the final. But it is still hard for fans to accept the fact that he only came out the seventh. As the “only child” in China’s track and field to face the world, he is the hope of all Chinese people. It has been more than 2 years since Liu Xiang won gold in the 110 metre hurdles and became the first Chinese man to become the World Champion in 2007. Then what has caused the “forced landing” of Liu “the flying man”?
有几点要解释的是,在翻译“独苗”时,借用了“独生子(only child)”的用法,至于承载着全世界华人的希望,英文没有必要那么夸张,只说the hope of all Chinese people即可,后面“站立在世界巅峰”同样可以淡化处理,这里引用英文网站的说法,the first Chinese man to become the World Champion。这样翻译可能带有一点编译的色彩,但个人认为在新闻翻译中,这几乎是不可避免的。一些偏重感情色彩的中国新闻用语,很难直接译入英语又不造成误解。
在这段文字的开头,网友对“定为”一词的翻译都显得比较机械,英语中习惯上用observe一词。“霎时间风起云涌起来”确实是汉语中常见的说法,在英语中怎么说呢,网友提供的答案包括emerged in an instant, surging forward vigorously in a twinkling, popped up instantly等,笔者依然建议恢复其中包含的事实,而去除表面的文采修饰,那就是various publicity campaigns are (enthusiastically) conducted on the day each year。而在“消费者的苦主们仍然像赶庙会一样”这句话中,“仍然”说的应该是直到今日情况依然如此,由于是对外翻译,可以加上在中国。这句话中的“苦主”确实就是指那些权利受到侵害的消费者,可以说embittered,也可以使用解释性翻译consumers whose rights have been violated。
下面我还是试着翻译一下:
Here comes the International Consumer Rights Day on March 15th. Since it was observed on March 15th, 1983, each year in China the Rights Day involves the conduction of publicity campaigns of all kinds. The embittered consumers have cashed in on this occasion, like villagers to a fair held once a year, to make their complaints to the media and wish for an attention and redressing. Some are fairly pleased whose complaints are accepted through the mediation, while others content with the action itself of making complaints to the media, deemed by many consumers in China as the most economical and effective means available.
专家简介:
张明权,1968年生,江苏大学外国语学院副教授,上海外国语大学博士课程班在职攻读博士学位,主要从事翻译理论研究,在English Language Teaching等国内外学术期刊发表论文10余篇,发表英语学习类文章20余篇,出版译著两部,翻译公司兼职翻译。 Email: mqzhang@ujs.edu.cn
(中国日报网英语点津 编辑:蔡姗姗)