On The Translation of Chinese Science Fiction—A Case Study of Santi

胡龍青 孫曉璐

摘 要：This paper attempts to make a thorough analysis of the translation of Santi from the perspective of Peter Newmark's translation theory to study translation strategies of Chinese science fiction.

關鍵詞：Chinese science fiction； translation； Peter Newmark； Santi

1. Introduction

The term ‘‘science fiction” was imported from the west. Science fiction translation studies are still insufficient in China. And most of the studies available now focus mainly on the works of the early 20th century.

On August 23th 2013， an announcement gave rise to a climax through the Chinese and American science fiction communities： the master piece of Liu Cixin， a Chinese science fiction writer. In 2014， it was introduced to the west by Chinese—American science fiction writer and translator Ken Liu. The Three Body Problem would soon be published in the US.

As Santi became epoch—making science fiction， it made a hit after its publication， gaining popularity from both science fiction fans and mainstream media， which is unprecedented in Chinas science fiction history. What is even more unbelievable is that when introduced to America by translator Ken Liu， it is soon well received by American readers. Before that， a lot of Chinese fictions have been translated into English， while few of them have achieved the same success as Santi. Therefore， its phenomenal success deserves further exploration.

However， as science fiction originated from the western world， China was slow to catch up. Therefore， there are not many people in the Chinese academia studying science fiction， let alone its translation.

2. An Introduction to Peter Newmarks Translation Theory

“According to Peter Newmark， Semantic translation attempts to render， as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow， the exact contextual meaning of the original. In theory， there are wide differences between the two methods”. （Peter Newmark， 2001：17）

Semantic translation will provide more information， but the effect is poor. Related to expression function， semantic translation try to faithfully reproduce the accurate style and mood of the original text， while communicative translation pay more attention to appellative function.

Therefore， a semantic translation can preserve the aesthetic values of the original. The aesthetic values are composed of aesthetics in structure， aesthetics in metaphor and aesthetics in sound. The translator cannot ignore any kind of factors， especially translating literary works. According to Peter Newmark， a semantic translation is a rhetorical art.

“According to Peter Newmark， communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original”. （Peter Newmark， 2001：17）. A communicative translation is a kind of technique. When translating elegant art works such as literary works， one puts the communication translation on the dominant position.

The most important is that the semantic and communicative translations should be regarded as a whole. There is no single article that uses only one of the two methods independently， while usually they are integrated.

3. An Analysis of Translation in Chinese Science Fiction—Santi.

Peter Newmarks translation theory should be adopted in the translation of a literary work including a Chinese science fiction. In the English view of The Three Body， Ken Liu has employed different translation methods including semantic translation and communication translation to render different parts of the original so that the semantic and stylistic information are transferred accurately and smoothly.

3.1 The Translation of the Cultural and Historical Background Information

The background of the "Three-body" story happened to be the climax of the Cultural Revolution. Due to the background of the story， there must be much content in the novel that is very characteristic of Chinese history. The handling of this part of the content is a major difficulty in the translation of this novel， and it is also a manifestation of the translation of "literary value".

However， the translator did not deal with these Chinese-specific vocabulary in accordance with uniform standards. Instead， he considered how to deal with each different Chinese-character vocabularies based on the content and context from the perspective of foreign readers.

E.g. 大檢閱和大串聯： revolutionary tours around the country and seeing Chairman Mao in the great rallies in Tiananmen Square

These two phrases are typical Cultural Revolution terminology. "檢閱" and "串聯" in the text are not what we use today， so semantic translation is certainly problematic. For the phrases with special historical meanings， it is necessary to translate their specific historical connotation so that they can be understood by the readers. Therefore， the translator completely threw away the original meaning of the two phrases and explained the meaning directly to the readers. Although the readers may not even know that there are the nouns in this place， communicative translation accurately conveys the information and does not give the readers any confusion.

The example shows that when translating content with Chinese characteristics， the translator must adjust measures to local condition to consider the meaning of the vocabulary itself， the role of the word in the literary text. Although there are many ways to deal with them， they all have one thing in common， that is， the translator must fully consider the feelings of target readers. That is the very core of Peter Newmarks communication translation theory.

3.2 The Translation of Metaphor and Other Rhetorical Contents

Guo Jianzhong mentioned an important feature of science fiction as a kind of popular novels， namely its literary value， which is often reflected in the use of rhetorical devices such as metaphor. The metaphor in translation has become an old-fashioned translation issue. Generally speaking， translators should not only consider the degree of acceptance of the readers but also take care of the author's writing style.

E.g. 牛鬼蛇神： “Monsters and Demons”； those Monsters and Demons who were not intellectuals.

The further explanation is a strategy of communication translation. The author first made selective transliteration when the phrase appeared， and he further explained when it appeared again. It can make the readers understand the meaning of the phrase better， and at the same time reflect that the original author used a special rhetorical device.

When translating the author's original metaphor， the translator should try to be faithful to the original text and not make too many changes. Because only in this way can we achieve the consistency of the writing style of the entire novel， and highlight the author's own characteristics at the same time. In the case，semantic translation will be more suitable. On the contrary， if the metaphor is an idiom or a colloquial phrase in Chinese， the translator would better take communication translation， finding a metaphor with similar meaning in English to replace or completely abandon the metaphor. The most important purpose is to convey the meaning behind it. For example， “有奶便是娘”： He would serve any master who dangled money in front of him.

3.3 The Translation of Extremely Technical Contents

As mentioned above， the science factor of science fiction is a major feature. The translation of extremely technical contents must be supported by certain scientific knowledge. This is a big problem for translators who do not have a scientific background in general. The handling of this part of the content is actually a manifestation of the "scientific" translation. However， some contents seem to have only a series of professional vocabularies， but if only the corresponding English vocabularies are literally translated， it will be difficult for readers to understand the authors true meaning. It means that communication translation should be the subsidiary of semantic translation at this time.

E.g. 美式卡賓槍、捷克式機槍和三八大蓋；制式步槍和沖鋒槍；梭鏢和大刀等冷兵器： Antiques such as American carbines， Czech-style machine guns， Japanese Type-38 rifles； newer weapons such as standard-issue People's Liberation Army rifles and submachine guns； Chinese sword and spears.

There is a series of weapon phrases in this sentence. The point of transltion is to help readers understand the differences and connections between these weapons. The reader-centered translator should tell the readers the differences and connections between them， instead of simply listing words. So he takes the communication translation to paraphrase， such as taking examples for the new weapons and adding the modifier—Chinese for the sword and spears.

In general， when dealing with highly specialized content， translators should also be subject to availability. If the content is just a simple term， then the corresponding translation can be used； if the content has some implicit logic， translators should dutifully translate the logics behind； if the content is closely related to the plot of the novel and is more complex， Translators should aim to pursue the storyline behind the terminology and must ensure that the content of the novel is not disconnected. And the example witnesses that Newmarks communication translation theory is helpful to express the connected contents.

3.4 The Translation of Pure Fictional Contents

The difficulty in dealing with purely imaginary content is how to transform the abstract content that the author imagines，which may make the reader feel strange or confused. Sometimes the translator only need to deal with new phrases created by the author， such as紀元： Chaotic Era； 恒紀元： Stable Era. Since there are no corresponding phrases in both Chinese and English， translators can use their own imagination to create a meaningful English vocabulary.

In addition to individual words， science fiction writers also tend to fictionalize the entire scene.

E.g. 這不是一般意義上的“三日凌空”，當最后一顆飛星變成太陽時，第一顆顯形的太陽己經從極近的距離掠過行星。

A few days later， one of the suns moved to a distance where its outer gaseous layer became visible. In the middle of a tranquil night， the star suddenly turned into a blazing sun. Separated by intervals of thirty or so， the other two suns also appeared in quick succession. This was not a normal kind of tri-solar day. By the time the last flying star turned into a sun， the first sun had already past the planet at extremely close.

This paragraph is a typical fictional scene， but at the same time it is a very critical scenario because the “tri-solar day” is the origin of the title “three body”. Therefore， helping the readers to understand the “tri-solar day” accurately and clearly become an important task for the translator. To do this， translators should adopt communication translation. First， make the logics clear so that it can be easily understood by readers. Second， give full play to their imagination to translate. For semantic translation cannot effect completely， translators should not realistically describe fictitious scenes for the convenience of readers， but should find the best balance between reality and fiction.

4. Conclusion

This paper provides a study of the English translation of Chinese science fiction， primarily in the literary value， the plain language and science factor. The study proves the practicality of Peter Newmarks translation theory—— semantic and communicative translation.

In order to render the accurate meaning and style of the original， the translator has employed different translating methods to treat different parts. While the aim of translation is the same. It is to reproduce the same effect on TL readers as the original on SL readers through the transference of the original lexical， syntactic and stylistic information. Then Peter Newmark provides us a good translation theory to produce a perfect translated version of Chinese science fiction. While the semantic and communicative translation play different roles in translating Chinese science fiction.

Of course， translation may not always be perfect or satisfactory to each person. So translators have to resort to the guidance by macro-translation theories and micro-translation techniques. Since the translation of Chinese science fiction is not only a language exchange but also an intercultural communication in a greater sense， for translation， semantic translation and communicative translation are both vital for translation. They set off from the cultural angle， taking into account the authors， the translators， the readers， the original text as well as the TL. Nonetheless， the translation of Chinese science fiction is an endless process. We can ever say that there isnt the best translated fiction； there is only the closest possible translation.

References

1.James， E. 1994. Science Fiction in the 20th Century [M]. London： Oxford University Press.

2.Newmark， P. 2001. Approaches to Translation [M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

3.Newmark， P. 2006. About Translation [M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

作者簡介：

[1]胡龍青1971--，女，安徽，上海電力學院外語學院副教授，專業為文學翻譯與文學評論