Breaking Free from the Shackles of the Original Text in Translation

In translation practice, to achieve an expression that conveys both emotion and meaning, there often needs to be a balance between fidelity to the source language and fidelity to the target language. Rigid adherence to the original text is a major drawback in translation, so to break free from its constraints, Nida's functional equivalence serves as an antidote. To establish a standard for the conversion between the source language and the target language and to reduce differences, Eugene A. Nida proposed the famous "dynamic equivalence" translation theory, also known as "functional equivalence." In this theory, he states that "translation is the reproduction of the message of the source language in the target language with the most appropriate, natural, and equivalent means, from semantics to style" (Guo Jianzhong, 2000, p. 65). To accurately reproduce the source language culture and eliminate cultural differences, translators can follow the following three steps.

First, strive to create a translation that not only conforms to the semantics of the original text but also reflects its cultural characteristics. However, two languages represent two completely different cultures, which may have similar elements but can never be identical. Therefore, a perfect translation that fully displays the文化内涵 of the original text is impossible; translators can only reproduce the source culture to the greatest extent possible.

Second, if meaning and culture cannot be兼顾d at the same time, translators must abandon formal equivalence and achieve the purpose of reproducing the original semantics and culture by changing the form of the original text in the translation. For example, the English proverb "white as snow" can be translated literally into Chinese as "白如雪." However, since there is almost no snow in southern China throughout the year, and there is no concept of "snow" in their cultural background knowledge, how can they understand the connotation of snow? In the translation, translators can eliminate cultural differences by changing the form of words. Therefore, this proverb can be translated into Chinese as "白如蘑菇" or "白如白鹭毛" (Guo Jianzhong, 2000, p. 63). Similarly, the English idiom "spring up like mushroom" translates "mushroom" as its original meaning, but in Chinese, it is often translated as "雨后春笋" instead of "雨后蘑菇," because in Chinese culture, people are more familiar with the idiom and imagery of "雨后春笋."

Third, if changing the form is still not sufficient to express the semantics and culture of the original text, the translation technique of "recreation" can be employed to solve cultural differences and achieve equivalence in meaning between the source and target languages. "Recreation" refers to the conversion of the deep structure of the source language into the surface structure of the target language (Guo Jianzhong, 2000, p. 67), which means explaining and illustrating the cultural connotations of the source language text with the vocabulary of the target language. For example: "He thinks by infection, catching an opinion like a cold." "人家怎么想他就怎么想，就像人家得了伤风，他就染上感冒." (Liu Miqing, 1998, p. 122) In this English sentence, the connotation of the original text is not expressed by the surface meaning of the words but is hidden between the lines.

◀️：Research and Verification in Translation

▶️：The Art of Translation: Capturing the Essence Over the Form