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张明权 |
和写作一样,翻译语言同样可以生动、形象。虽然翻译语言受到原文表达的限制,但由于语言中大量存在同义词和同义表达现象,翻译在选择词汇时,同样有着是否生动形象的问题。 在译题一中,与“逃离”对应的词语就有flee, escape from, run away from等,选择flee是比较好的,可以反映年轻白领们当前对“北上广”的恐慌,也符合新闻英语的要求。“梦想之地”有网友翻译成Neverland,比较形象,用该词翻译还可以隐指这些白领的梦想已经破灭。“安放自己的青春”这一说法,在英语中较难表达,网友提供的翻译中较好的包括:to burn their youth, to find their niche等,但笔者想到了respite一词,翻译成to give respite to their youth,是否妥当,还请大家讨论。至于第二段,翻译的时候要进行一些调整。所谓的个案就是cases,从文意上看,媒体报道了一些个案,但并没有统计数字表明这是一种趋势,所以笔者使用了fall short of a trend来翻译。“口头抗议”则用voice their protest来传达。在最后一句话中,“挤进来”一词有网友用flock in也是很形象的。Skye11p则用了they will be reduced to the “besieged city”来形象地翻译最后一句,而且值得一提的是,该网友提供的译文整体水平很高,是相当成熟的译文。笔者提供的译文尽量提供自己的译法,从而避免整个沦落成对网友译文的拼凑式抄袭。
笔者的译文(仅供参考):
Recently, there goes around among white collars a new catchphrase, “to flee BSG”. The initialism stands for “Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou”, three largest cities in China. Due to escalating housing price, difficult job hunting, and high pressure of “survival” in these cities, white collars start to flee the Neverland they have had in mind. They now move to second- and third-tier cities or back to their hometowns to “give respite to their youth”. Though cases are reported on the media, no one knows exactly how many have left (or are leaving). By using the word “flee” to nail down their action, young white collars mean to voice their protest against the high home prices and high life pressure in big cities, but the action falls short of a trend. On the contrary, while some are leaving, still more people are pouring in. In this sense, big cities are really “besieged cities”.
第二篇文字的翻译同样涉及形象词汇的使用问题。“外滩”固定翻译成Bund,但根据英语的行文习惯,可以换称为the waterfront和riverfront。华尔街的“金融牛”雕塑叫做Charging Bull,这里应借用而不应该另外翻译成Financial Bull。“经济界人士”通常不翻译成economic circles而是翻译成economists。“外滩金融聚集带”是经济学界人士提出的一个说法,可以考虑介绍到英语中,从而保留原文的隐喻,笔者试着译成Bund of financial concentration。最后,“加快跃升国际金融中心的雄心壮志”一句比较难以处理,涉及对上海作为金融中心地位的理解,原文的作者和网友的翻译普遍认为上海目前还不是国际金融中心,实际上这种看法是有误解的。上海曾经是,而且现在已经是国际金融中心之一,据伦敦一家机构的报告,排名世界11位,所以从对外宣传的角度,笔者拟译为register another leap in the most ambitious international financial centers。
笔者的译文(仅供参考):
The Bund, Shanghai’s landmark waterfront district, reopens on March 28, 2010 after a three-year comprehensive renovation. Not only is the splendid riverfront of the city prepared to welcome 70 million visitors to the World Expo, but also it will welcome a younger and more energetic “Charging Bull”, created by the same designer of the bronze for Wall Street. To cite the concerned economists, Shanghai aims at creating a “Bund of financial concentration” by reconstructing the historic waterfront. It also shows that Shanghai has taken the lead in China in changing the economic growth pattern and will register another leap in the most ambitious international financial centers.
在译题三中,首先遇到“网络成瘾”和“病理性上网”这样两个术语,网友提供的翻译中,对第一个的把握较好,译成internet (online) addiction (disorder)都是可以的,不过internet addiction disorder已经成为较固定的说法;第二个术语的翻译,不能只说pathological internet,应该补充use or surfing这样的词才完整。专业论文中使用pathological internet use的较常见。还有就是“改称”,有一个英语表达法就是substitute A for B, 在翻译的时候要注意是“病理性上网”代替了“网络成瘾”。第二段开头一句“由于切近日常生活”,要讲清楚是谁的日常生活,因为英语很重视指代关系。还有就是“网友”的翻译,在该文语境中,不应该是net friends,而应该是net users或netizens。下面则涉及“专业人士”与“非专业人士”的对应翻译,可以使用laymen对specialists或non-professionals对professionals来翻译。最后是“不无裨益”这一成语,在英语中不必翻的太过复杂,笔者使用了good一词。
笔者的译文(仅供参考):
It is reported by Guangzhou Daily that according to Shen Jiahong, director of Juvenile Mental Growth Center, Guangzhou Baiyun Psychological Institute, the medical circle has decided to substitute “pathological internet use” for “internet addiction disorder”. As involving their daily life, the topic fascinates a lot of net users. To the specialists the new term for “internet dependence” channels its research in a scientific and objective direction, but to the laymen the term offers a broad and varied perspective on the same issue. And it is good to listen to their opinions on the prevention and cure of internet dependence.
专家简介:
张明权,安徽省固镇县人,江苏大学外国语学院副教授,英语语言文学硕士,上外博士课程班进修。主要从事英语语言学和翻译学研究,在国内外学术期刊发表论文10余篇,出版译著两部,发表其他文章20余篇,有大量翻译实践经验,翻译总字数接近200万。Email: mqzhang@ujs.edu.cn。
(中国日报网英语点津 编辑:蔡姗姗)