2017届福建省光泽第一中学高中英语教师论文：《从直译和意译看中国旅游景点名称的英译》_高考复习指南

2017届福建省光泽第一中学高中英语教师论文：《从直译和意译看中国旅游景点名称的英译》

　　Thirdly, mistranslation also results from translators’ failing to recognize the differences between the two languages and the two cultures. 清明上河园in Kaifeng city of He’Nan province is a theme park where people relax themselves and have entertainment. It was once translated into Park up the River in the Qingming Festival. However, up the river is a slang, meaning being in jail, which may possibly lead to the foreign visitors’ misunderstanding and negative image of the park. In my opinion it is better that it be translated into Park in the Qingming Festival by the Riverside in order to avoid misunderstanding. Another example is包公祠, which is translated into The Memorial Temple of Lord Bao. Though Lord Bao reads smoothly, it is still a hard task for the foreign visitors to understand its connotation. 包公(Bao Zheng) is a historical figure whose image stands for impartiality and honesty, enjoying great reputation in the heart of Chinese people both home and abroad. However, lord can hardly express this symbolization. In short, this English version fails to show the cultural connotation of the tourist attractions’ Chinese names (Lin Yuhua, 2008). As far as I am concerned, 包公may as well be translated into lord Bao(symbolization of impartiality and honesty ) so as to convey the cultural connotation behind its name.

　　Finally, mistranslation may happen when the translator neglects the cultural Information behind the name of the tourist attraction, which will be discussed most specifically. If the translator doesn’t repeatedly look into the source of the tourist attraction’s name or the cultural connotation but translate literally, mistranslation will often take place. For instance, 寒山寺in Suzhou was once mistranslated into Cold Mountain Temple. This mistake occurs as the translator ignores the cultural message behind the name of the temple. In fact, there is no Mountain at all in the area around the temple. The temple that is located in Feng Qiao town in the east of Suzhou city was founded in the Liang Dynasty(502～557 A.D.) after the name of the abbot of it called Hanshan in the Tang Dynasty(618—907A.D.). Now that 寒山is actually the name of a monk, cold mountain is undoubtedly a mistranslation. Obviously, Hanshan Temple is a better translation. 断桥残雪 is one of the ten tourist attractions around West Lake in Hangzhou City of Zhejiang province. There are a number of translations of it, such as Snow on the Broken Bridge, Snow Scene on the Broken Bridge, Last Snow on the Broken Bridge, Melting Snow on the Broken Bridge, Melted Snow on the Broken Bridge, Melting Snow Hanging over the Broken Bridge. 断桥 in these transactions is without exception considered as a broken bridge. In fact, the bridge is not broken; it is only an end of the Bai Causeway. In other words, it is the Bai Causeway that is broken, not the bridge, while seen from a certain angle, the bridge looks broken with reflection of snow remaining on the old bridge. In my opinion, Chinese pinyin, Duan Qiao Bridge is wiser choice here. 香山 in Beijing is translated as Xiangshan Mountain or Fragrant Mountain. Actually, the mountain whose original name is 香炉山 gains its name from the shape of the two stones on the top of the mountain, which look like an incense burner. Therefore, the name has nothing to do with the smell of the mountain. And The Incense Burner Mountain might be a more appropriate translation. 姻缘石 is the name of a scenic spot in Hong Kong, which was translated as Lovers’ Rock. Lovers’ Rock, if back-translated, equals 情人石 in Chinese. The Chinese phrase 姻缘 (pronounced yinyuan), is of typical Chinese characteristics deriving from Buddhism, meaning that the marriage is predetermined. The translation, Lovers' Rock cannot convey such a connotation while the alternative, Yinyuan (Lover's) Rock is more acceptable.