A Discussion on the Translation Methods Employed in the English-Chinese Bilingual News in The Lianhe Bao

Abstract

[[abstract]]在全球化的趨勢之下，許多報紙讀者開始重視國際間的訊息，以求能掌握最新的國際脈動。有鑑於此，台灣許多報社也開始重視國際新聞，提供以英文新聞為主、中文翻譯為輔的雙語新聞。目前而言，在台灣的中文報紙便有《聯合報》、《自由時報》、《工商時報》等提供中英雙語新聞，而英文報紙亦有《英文中國郵報》（China Post）、《台北時報》（Taipei Times）以及Taiwan News提供中英雙語新聞。 然而目前台灣的中英雙語新聞似乎都脫離不了語言學習的目的，因此譯文書寫的風格普遍著重在語言學習的需求上，導致譯文具有翻譯腔，而忽略了中文新聞撰寫應有的文體。無論中外，新聞本身都以訊息的傳達為重點，因此英語新聞的中文翻譯也應該具有與中文報導相同的品質，以吸引更多的讀者來閱讀中英雙語新聞，讓讀者能擴大到非以語言學習為目的的族群。《聯合報》長期與美國《紐約時報》合作，每週出版中英雙語新聞，因此，筆者以《聯合報》所發表之中英雙語新聞為範本，評析其翻譯方法之運用是否得當。 目前台灣關於新聞英文翻譯的書籍、文章雖時有所見，但相當有限，且內容多半談翻譯的技巧，較少援用翻譯學理論視角。筆者除了討論《聯合報》中譯者所採用的翻譯技巧外，同時也運用翻譯學裡的「文本類型理論」、「目的論」及「翻譯行為」等視角來討論新聞翻譯，並從文化及句法兩方面來進行分析。文化方面，筆者將討論《聯合報》譯者對英文新詞以及成語所採用的翻譯方法，諸如音譯、直譯、意譯、借用法以及合併法 在跨文化轉換上之適切性。句法方面，筆者將討論《聯合報》譯者針對英文修飾語的中文翻譯之處理，以及主、被動語句的翻譯。筆者舉例並分析在譯文中所發現的英文新詞、成語翻譯，以及對英文修飾語和主、被動句子的處理方法。希望藉此研究對中英雙語新聞的翻譯有所貢獻。[[abstract]]Abstract In the wake of globalization there is an increasing amount of news paper readers in Taiwan eager to obtain updated international news for a great variety of purposes In this regard the leading Chinese-language news publishers in Taiwan The Lianhe bao The Ziyou shibao and The Gongshang shibao have begun to put more weight on international events by offering English-Chinese bilingual news to cater to the needs of local readers In addition English-Chinese bilingual news is also available in the English-language news papers including China Post Taipei Times and Taiwan News However their Chinese translations of news seem to focus more on the function of bilingual language-acquisition than the professional journalistic writing style required in the Chinese language; as a result “transaltioneseness” is often found in their Chinese news translations The function of being informative is one of the foundations of the media; therefore Chinese translations in the bilingual news should be as precise clear concrete and readable as if they were originally written in Chinese Once the quality of Chinese translations is enhanced they would gain more readers longing for updated global information other than those studying for language-acquisition As The Lianhe bao is currently affiliated with The New York Times for its weekly publication of the English-Chinese bilingual news The Lianhe bao’s English-Chinese bilingual news is chosen as the subject for my study Currently in Taiwan there are limited research sources discussing bilingual news translation and most of them are on various technical problems in news translation being short of the application of translation theoretical perspectives In my thesis in addition to these translation techniques used in The Lianhe bao I apply the theoretical framework such as “text type theory ” “translatorial action theory ” and “skopos theory” in translation studies to the evaluation of bilingual renderings with the cultural and syntactical aspects being the foci For the cultural aspect I examine the appropriateness of their methodologies in light of cross-cultural transfer such as the free translation the transliteral translation the literal translation the method of replacement and the combination of different methods with which the translators deal with neologisms and idioms found in this bilingual news section For the syntactical aspect I examine how the translators tackle the difference in positioning modifying clauses between the English and the Chinese languages and the methods applicable for converting the English passive voice to the Chinese idiomatic usage of the active and passive voices It is hoped that my thesis can make a modest contribution to applied translation studies especially in the area of the English-Chinese bilingual new