On C-E Translation of TV News Stories
——with stories from Hangzhou TV English news program as samples
With her fast economic development and ever-increasing cultural exchanges with the outside world in recent years,China is gaining a greater say over international issues while also shouldering greater responsibilities for the safety and progress of the world.Under such a situation,the Chinese central government has called for a more active communication with the West through increased news coverage over the world matters together with more effective news reports about China.TV English news is familiar to Chinese people.According to incomplete statistics,at present more than 30 provincial or municipal television stations have their own English news programs,and the number is still on the rise[1].
This paper discusses the influence of cultural differences on the translation of TV English news,taking the stories from Hangzhou TV English news program as samples,hoping to find out some solutions.
(一)Simplifythe information
Because of the time limitation of program,the time of TV English news should be no more than the time of original.If we translate the Chinese news story word by word,the length of the translated story will definitely be longer than the Chinese original and than the time allowed for the TV broadcast.This is way we should cut off the information that does not have anything to do with the Western audience so as to fit the length of broadcast time.
(二)Transform the information
Language is the most important carriers of culture,the translation and conversion of different language are the major form of culture communication in international society[2].TV English News translation should be loyal to the original,but images contained with Chinese characteristic convey unique culture information of China,symbolize distinctive mental experience and thinking method of Chinese nation,which cannot be possibly found out the exact counterparts in English.
(三)Add the information
Not every word can find its counterpart in another language,especially when it concerns about the uniformity of content and form of cultural elements in TV news materials[3].This requires translators to rewrite or edit the translation according to actual situation,such as adding some explainable words to supply the absence background.
(一)Translation of TV News Lead
The lead is a simple,clear statement consisting of the first paragraph or two of a story.The lead captures the essence of the event,and it cajoles the reader or listener into staying awhile.
Example 1:
口播:說(shuō)起剪紙,相信每個(gè)人的小時(shí)候都曾接觸過(guò)。不過(guò)在西湖博物館,來(lái)自全國(guó)各地的剪紙精品卻讓大家看到了一種與眾不同的民族傳統(tǒng)藝術(shù)。
(lead-in)As you may already know,it is a time-honored tradition that Chinese people paste paper cuttings on doors and windows to celebrate the lunar new year.In today’s program,let’s first take a look at a big collection of paper cuttings.
Example 2:
口播:今天的萬(wàn)松書(shū)院里,年后的首場(chǎng)相親大會(huì)是十分的熱鬧,也吸引了杭城的10多家媒體,不過(guò),在現(xiàn)場(chǎng)我們還發(fā)現(xiàn)了一群特殊的同行,他們都是藍(lán)眼睛,高鼻梁的老外,他們來(lái)自哪里?又為何把鏡頭對(duì)準(zhǔn)了這里的相親文化?
(lead-in)Last weekend a match-making meeting was held at a tourist spot in Hangzhou,attracting a large crowd of local people …and a group of foreign journalists who found the meeting full of fun and surprises.
(二)Translation of TV News Body
【新聞內(nèi)容】云棲的竹園里,大大小小的毛筍長(zhǎng)滿了山坡,志愿者告訴記者,這段時(shí)間正是毛筍長(zhǎng)得最快的時(shí)候,上個(gè)禮拜他們來(lái),一些筍才剛冒出頭,今天來(lái)看已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)得一人多高了。今天來(lái)云棲竹徑的游客有很多,志愿者們也是不厭其煩的一遍一遍向游客們宣傳保護(hù)幼筍,勸導(dǎo)他們不要越過(guò)隔離帶,跑進(jìn)竹園里去。
(story)At the suburban Bamboo-lined Path at Yunqi,the fast-growing young bamboo is certainly a sight.They crack open the earth;lift up the boulders,grow from inches to feet in a couple of days,and have conquered whole hillsides overnight.However,the army of young bamboo trembles before troops of tourists.Some tourists can’t resist entering the plantations to gently shake the slender stalks.Meanwhile,a group of volunteers stand sentry over the baby bamboo.
1.About the translation of spot
云棲竹徑 is a famous spot in Hangzhou,whose translation is Bamboo-lined Path at Yunqi.It is clear enough for the native,but to the foreigners,they do not know where is Yunqi or Bamboo-lined Path at Yunqi.So,we did not mention the name of spot in lead-in,only said the scenic areas of our city,having this as groundwork,we can point out the specific place Yunqi in paragraph one.
The purpose of using Bamboo-lined Path at Yunqi in translation is to let audience know that Yunqi is a place full of bamboo,however it is not a place word for foreigners,if the picture shows the sign of both Chinese and English translation,then we can use Bamboo-lined Path at Yunqi.But the translation of this stories is under the condition of not seeing the picture,and it is sure that the time of showing the sign is too short for audience to watch,because the video maker may not know that this story will be broadcast to foreigners.
2.The time match of C-E translation
The sentences after the volunteer protector said are the translation of Chinese original.It is obvious to see that the English translation is much longer than Chinese,here comes the question:the picture matches the original but does not match the translation.And some local TV program use the method of repeat the picture to solve,which is really not that good.
To solve this problem,here are my advices:we had better interview and write in English in the first place,because it is better than translation and edit;if it is allowed to do that,we had better try to get the original tape of Chinese.
The translation of TV English news has its own limitation and rules,which demands the translators for higher quality.Besides the capability of news management,the translators should have deep knowledge in both Chinese and English,and also in both culture,that is really a high level.Maybe that is one of the important reasons that there are still few people doing this job.My paper here simply serve as a catalyst,and I hope to be able to evoke more scholars to make research on English TV News translation to make China’s voice be heard more correctly by the world,more powerful to the world.
[ Bibliography ]
[1]宋鳴華.ON THE CHINESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF TV NEWS電視新聞的漢譯英[D].福建師范大學(xué),2004.
[2]吳自選.文化差異與電視新聞翻譯——以選送CNN World Report的新聞片漢譯英為分析個(gè)案[J].上海翻譯,2005(1):24-27.
[3]林曉琴.基于目的論的對(duì)外電視新聞翻譯[J].重慶工學(xué)院學(xué)報(bào)(社會(huì)科學(xué)),2009(23-4):138-141.
葛征程(1988-),女,漢族,浙江海寧人,西華大學(xué),英語(yǔ)翻譯專業(yè)碩士在讀。
葛征程*李學(xué)芹
西華大學(xué)外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院,四川 成都 610039
在對(duì)外交流中,中國(guó)電視英語(yǔ)新聞?wù)诎l(fā)揮著越來(lái)越大的作用。目前,中國(guó)的電視英語(yǔ)新聞節(jié)目上的大量稿件來(lái)自對(duì)中文稿件的翻譯,而先前的關(guān)于漢英方向新聞翻譯的研究主要集中在報(bào)刊新聞稿件上。本文以杭州電視臺(tái)的英語(yǔ)新聞稿件為例,提出了一些翻譯技巧,以期尋找到電視新聞漢英翻譯的更佳方案。 關(guān)鍵詞:TVEnglishnews;C-Etranslation;Culturaldifferences
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1006-0049-(2017)19-0078-01