Analysis of Song Translation’s Communication Process

張勤

【Abstract】The art of song， among the various styles of literature and art， is the most acceptable one since it can help people exchange thoughts and communicate feelings on life. As an auditory art which contains both musical and literary factors， it conveys great amount of cultural elements. Song Translation is a kind of cultural communication activity which conveys the content and information of the original song under one certain cultural background to the receptor of another cultural circumstance. It is an informative communication between the original composer and the receptor？鄄language audience with the help of the translator. This thesis discusses the role of song translator from a perspective of communication science and analyzes the communication process of song translation， using the famous 5W communication model.

【Key words】Song Translation； Lasswell； 5W Communication Model

【中圖分類號】G64 【文獻標識碼】A 【文章編號】2095-3089（2014）05-0098-02

1. Song Translation

According to Chinese famous musicologist Yu Dugang， “In order to enhance musical exchange and cultural communication among different countries， it is necessary to conduct studies on foreign song tracks as well as improve the quality of foreign song translation so that different musical styles from various ethnics could be properly expressed”. Song translation， is a unique artistic work since it is an interdisciplinary subject that closely connected with music， translation and literature. It requires not only a good knowledge of language， but also expects translators to discern the aesthetic traits of the music. The translated version should be both “singable” and “understandable”， and the musical restrictions could make this task more complex and thus more worth studying. The value of song translation lies in the introduction， communication and dissemination of the original song to the target audiences as well as the reproduction of the aesthetic value in the receptor？鄄language context.

In the past， most researches related to song translation are either personal experience or case analysis. Xue Fan， one of the pioneers in this field of our country has devoted Chinas first and only one work of song translation theory， The Exploration and Practice of Song Translation， which summarizes the history of song translation， generalizes some principles to guide song translation practice， and concludes some strategies for future comers in this area. However， it is after all the first masterpiece in song translation and still needs to be further discussed or researched. The theoretic study on song translation is yet a comparatively new area.

2. The Role of Translator

The job of song translation is， to some extent， a challenge for translators. During the whole process of translation， the translator acts as both a receptor and an initiator. When they listen to a song， they act as audiences and second language receptors. The translators are supposed to fully understand the original song to delve into its in？鄄depth values. Then， according to their translation experience and knowledge of receptors expectations， they start to work as initiators of the original song to the target receptor. Finally， the process of song translating communication will reach an optimal effect. To be a qualified song translator， here are some requirements to follow.

The rendition of a song is a special work of art， which requires comprehensive study of translation， music as well as literature. The translators are expected to recognize the aesthetic characteristics of songs， where good knowledge of music and literary works are needed. They need to be delicate enough to figure out which classification the song belongs to， what kind of characteristics the song possesses， and thus translate it to an optimal effect.

Nowadays， under the impact of globalization， more and more people start to learn English as it is the most communicated language in the world， many of them learn it through listening to English songs， thus makes the Chinese market for English songs more and more thriving. However， many English songs have become fast food in marketing since they are put into market with merely a proper translated song title， let alone the song translation work. The song translator， therefore， needs to assume the responsibility of promoting cultural exchange among China and English？鄄speaking countries.

3. Analysis of Song Translations Communication Process

3.1 Lasswells 5W Model

Harold Dwight Lasswell， one of the forerunners of communication science， first proposed a model help analyzing communication activity of human society in his article The Structure and Function of Communication in Society in 1948， which was the famous 5W Model. In The Structure and Function of Communication in Society， Lasswell has introduced and analyzed the communication process as well as its structure and function in an all-round way. The proposal of 5W communication model and three function principle in public communication is one of the classic research findings in the early studies of communication science and is still quite influential and highly evaluated in the academic world till now. Thus， the article enjoys a reputation of the Declaration of Independence in the world of communication science. In general， the significance of this article has been embodied in two aspects： one is from the internal structure， analyzes the components in the process of communication； the other is from the external function， summarizes the social function of communication activity.

Lasswell stated that convenient way to describe an act of communication is to answer the following questions：

Who

→Says What

→In Which Channel

→To Whom

→With What Effect？

He pointed out that the scientific study of the process of communication tends to concentrate upon one or another of these questions. Scholars who studies the first phase—“who”—the communicator， look into the factors that initiate and guide the act of communication. This subdivision of the field of research is called control analysis. Specialists who focus upon the“says what” part engage in content analysis. Those who look primarily at the radio， press， film， and other channels of communication are doing media analysis. When the principal concern is with the persons reached by the media， we call it audience analysis. If the question is the impact upon audiences， the study is called effect analysis.

Whether such distinctions are useful depends entirely upon the degree of refinement which is regarded as appropriate to a given scientific and managerial objective. Often it is simpler to combine audience and effect analysis， for instance， than to keep them apart. On the other hand， we may want to concentrate on the analysis of content， and for this purpose subdivide the field into the study of purport and style， the first referring to the message， and the second to the arrangement of the elements of which the message is composed.

3.2 The Process of Song Translating Communication

When it comes to the process of song translation communication， the situation is a little bit more complicated， as showed below：

Figure 5W of Song Translating Communication

Correspond to what was mentioned above， the translator obviously plays an important role in the act of song translation communication. There are two steps in this process of communi？鄄cation. One is from the original composer to the translator. Here the translators acting as the audience， whose role is as a second language receptor. When the translator listened to the song， the information of the song， including both its musical and literary part has been comprehended by the translator through any channel he or she can reach the original song. 5W in this step can then be analyzed as Who （original composer）→Says What（information of the song）→In Which Channel（performance of the song）→To Whom（translator）→With What Effect（translators response）. The other step is what we call the translator acts as an initiator to the target language receptor. After the information of the song in the original language was understood by the translator， it is time for it to be conveyed to the target language receptor through translators rendition. Thus 5W is like Who（translator）→Says What（translated version of the song）→In Which Channel（translation）→To Whom（target language receptor）→With What Effect（readers response）. Both two steps of the song translation communication process are crucial and should be attached equal importance.

4. Conclusion

The rendition of songs is a special work of art， which requires comprehensive study of translation， music as well as literature. The song translator， as both a receptor of the original song and the initiator to the target audience， however， need to possess various competences. They should bear in mind songs are poems set to music， and endow themselves with both musical knowledge and poetic sensibility. We assume the goal of song translating communication is to achieve equivalent communi？鄄cation effect between the source language receptors and those of the target language， namely， the same effect between translators and the target language receptors. In this case， to achieve dynamic equivalence， the effect analysis of both the first and second steps during the song translation process should be attached great importance.

As for the future perspectives of this field， first of all， more attention should be paid by both the musical as well as the translation world， since song translations could only be practiced and achieved by the efforts of both sides. Then， the song translation practice lacks adequate theoretical support. As a result， the studies in this area remains a disordered state， therefore more theoretical research should be conducted. Finally， jointed efforts are needed to foster more specialized talents in this area， since song translation is by no means an easy and unnecessary task.

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