3. 3 The influence of the late period of meme’s spread on translation strategies
The advantage of domestication is to help readers to understand the core meme in the original text. However, the meme complex in translated text after adopting domestication is much different with that in original text. The meme decoded in target language is actually the similar meme to the core meme in original text. In the primary period when two cultures contact, the most urgent thing for core meme is to try to survive. So there are some positive aspects in translated text through domestication strategy. If the similar memes always dominate in translated text, the memes will hardly copy themselves and will be finally eliminated. So from the perspective of meme, domestication translation is far away satisfied for meme’s transmission.
Domestication translation appears to have shortened the distance between source language and target language, and have made the translated text cater on readers of target language. But in fact, the text which has been domesticated isolated the interaction between different cultures and deprived the chance for readers to get to know other cultures. The deeper the target language readers understand the source culture, the more capacity and chance for them to decode other memes in the source language. They will be no more satisfied with the way that decoding relative memes of foreign cultures with the help of native culture. Domestication strategy is as price of disregarding the cultural information contented in original language. The readers can not feel the original information and characteristics, neither the unique cultural atmosphere in original language. From this perspective, foreignization becomes the required and trend of meme’s transmission. Readers are required to have great ability to understand the source language when foreignization is applied. Foreignization can not only enrich the target language in a great degree, and multiply the expressions, but also diversify the target culture. Sometimes, when two cultures are familiar with each other, there are still some memes of original language are hard to be understood by the host in target language. But as a host to transmit memes, the translator should manage to copy memes and make the translated text be a faithful vector of the memes, rather than substituting the memes with a similar one without much thinking. In this way, although the readers have not seen the original text, on one hand, they can decode the translator’s coding to the original text, on the other hand, they will compare all the similar expressions about native culture in their cognitive system to decode to a deeper degree. Lu Xun insisted in foreignization, he put forward “literal translation”, “would rather be faithful and “non-expressive”. But his “non-expressive” does not mean translating “on somebody’s knee” into “跪在膝盖上” or other mechanical translation like that. In Lu Xun’s view, “any translating activity must concern two aspects, one is trying to make the translated text easy to understand, the other is reserving original peculiarity, but the two often contradict with each other. If you are not satisfied with it, you should just change its clothes. So I would rather translate it into a non-fluent text. [20] The reason why Lun Xun did not agree to “cut nose and gouge out eyes” is to reserve the core meme in original text. Lu Xun advocated the translators to tolerate the “non-expressive” during the course of translating. The aim of doing that is to input new expressions and improve the grammar and syntax of Chinese. The reason is compositions or sentences in Chinese are far from accurate to correct the faults, the only way is to tolerate continually, to introduce foreign syntax, including that of ancient, foreign countries, then they can be taken by ourselves” [20] In fact, this is a course in which the translator, at the same time, the special host decodes the original meme and copy it to greatest degree to make it accepted by new hosts.
Naturally, the text translated through foreignization strategy will be some “non-expressive”, but it will not last for a long time. Lu Xun has proposed that trying to introduce as much as possible as well as trying to digest and absorb as much as possible. The part which can be used will have been transmitted widely and the rest part is going to be forgotten. Some are to become “expressive” after being “non-expressive”, some are to be eliminated for it is forever “non-expressive”. The above course is just like the life cycle of meme: assimilation, retention, expression and transmission and they cycle and cycle again. Selecting exists in every stage, and some are eliminated during the course of selecting. Then, the “expressive” parts become the strong memes.
Chairman Mao did not agree to translate “纸老虎” to “scarecrow”, while he provided another translating way “paper tiger” which is a good example of foreignization. “Scarecrow ” means “稻草人” which can not be stronger than tiger in any way, while “paper tiger” is accurate and visible, fresh and attractive. This expression conveys Chairman Mao’s original meaning: paper tiger scares us by its appearance but is easy to break, at the same time, it makes English readers feel the lively, visible image of Chinese characteristics. Indeed, “paper tiger” is better than “scarecrow”, so it has been accepted by English readers and enters into their language. Today, with the peaceful rise of China, more and more fresh words have accepted by foreign readers, for example, “菜篮子 market basket”, “铁饭碗 iron rice bowl”, “流动人口 floating population”, “三讲 three stress: stress study, political awareness and integrity”, “三个代表 three represents”, all of which not only reflect Chinese reality but also are rich in exotic features. Of course, at the same time, many a Western vocabulary enter into Chinese society, for instance, “cool”, “high”, “fans”，“walkman”, “chain store”, “PK”, “show” etc. Those which are all translated into China by foreignization strategy have been accepted by Chinese readers for their vividness, uniqueness and rightness.
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