Reconstruction or collapse of the fantasy worldTranslation of the place names in Journey to the West

  1. Tian Mi 1
  2. Rodrigo Muñoz Cabrera 2
  1. 1 Nankai University (China)
  2. 2 Universidad Internacional de La Rioja
    info

    Universidad Internacional de La Rioja

    Logroño, España

    ROR https://ror.org/029gnnp81

Journal:
Hermeneus: Revista de la Facultad de Traducción e Interpretación de Soria

ISSN: 1139-7489

Year of publication: 2023

Issue: 25

Pages: 225-247

Type: Article

DOI: 10.24197/HER.25.2023.225-247 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: Hermeneus: Revista de la Facultad de Traducción e Interpretación de Soria

Abstract

Nouns are a characteristic feature that distinguishes one culture from another. Onomatology in general –and toponymy in particular– denotes culture and is affected by specific morals, religions, and ways of thinking, typical of a society. Likewise, it also embodies a varied range of extralinguistic information. In Chinese culture, toponomy is used to display an aesthetic symbolism, as well as a wide variety of connotations that are absent from Hispanic culture. Moreover, if we account for the use of different calligraphy, the translation of Chinese place nouns into Spanish implies a real challenge, a task that becomes more difficult if we deal with translating more than six-hundred-year-old nouns. Translators not only face problems regarding translating from traditional Mandarin Chinese, but also the challenge of translating a text full of religious concepts with no translation equivalents in our mother tongue. In this article, we analyze the translation of place names in Journey to the West in the two translations available in Spanish. Utilizing a corpus containing the original text and the two complete translations into Spanish, we focus on analyzing the techniques used during the translation process, taking into consideration whether the translators were able to identify and keep the harmony and aesthetics –typical features of the Mandarin Chinese– in the Spanish language.

Bibliographic References

  • Aylmer, Charles (1997). The Memoirs of H. A. Giles. In Geremie R. Barmé (Ed.), East Asian History (pp. 1-90). Goanna Print.
  • Algeo, John (1973). On Defining the Proper Name. University of Florida Press.
  • Anonymous (2006). Viaje al oeste: las aventuras del Rey Mono. Trans.Enrique P. Gatón and Imelda Huang-Wang. Siruela.
  • Barros Ochoa, María (1992). Traducción de caractónimos en la obra de
  • William Shakespeare. Estudios Humanísticos. Filología, 14, pp. 113-128. https://doi.org/10.18002/ehf.v0i14.4265
  • Confucius (2016), The Analects. Trans. Xiaofen Chen. Zhonghua Books.
  • Cuéller Lázaro, Carmen (2014). Los nombres propios y su tratamiento en traducción. Meta, 59 (2), pp. 360-379. https://doi.org/10.7202/ 1027480ar
  • Cui, Shuangchang and Baorong Wang (2016). Translating Chinese Place Names into English: The Case of Lin Yutang’s Version of Fusheng Liuji, International Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies, 4 (2), pp. 24-32.
  • Davies, Eirlys E. (2003). A Goblin or a Dirty Nose? The Translator, 9 (1), pp. 65-100. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2003.10799146
  • Fernandes, Lincoln (2006) Translation of Names in Children’s Fantasy Literature: Bringing the Young Reader into Play, New Voices in Translation Studies, 2, pp. 44-57.
  • Franco Aixelá, Javier (1996). Culture-Specific Items in Translation. In Román Álvarez and M.ª Carmen África Vidal (Eds.), Translation, Power, Subversion (pp. 48-62). Multilingual Matters.
  • Franco Aixelá, Javier (2000). La traducción condicionada de los nombres
  • propios (inglés-español). Almar.
  • Guo, Mingzhi (1997). Daogui yu xiyoujirenwude bieming daichen [Daogui, his Alias and Metonymy in Journey to the West], Seeking Truth, 2, pp. 64-69.
  • Hermans, Theo (1998). On Translating Proper Names, with Reference to De Witte and Max Havelaar. In Michael J. Wintle (Ed.), Modern Dutch Studies: Essays in Honour of Peter King (pp.11-14). The Athlone Press, pp. 11-24.
  • Hu, Fangyi and Xin, Xiong (2012). Zhongying renming diming de tedian yu fany [Characteristics and Translations of Place Names in English and Chinese]. Nanjing Southeast University Press.
  • Hua, Linfu (2018). Zhonghua diming shihua [The History of Chinese Place Names]. Chinese People's Publishing House.
  • Kałużyńska, Irena (2016). «Linguistic Composition and Characteristics of
  • Chinese Given Names», Onoma, 51, pp. 161-186. https://doi.org/ 10.34158/ONOMA.51/2016/8
  • Kimball, Richard L. (1988). Quick Reference Chinese. A Practical Guide to Mandarin for Beginners and Travelers in English, Pinyin Romanization and Chinese Characters. China Books and Periodicals, Inc.
  • Kluckholn, Clyde (1986). Wenhua yu geren [Culture and individual]. Trans. Jia Gao, Hong He, and Weiling He. Zhejiang People's Publishing House.
  • Lexicographical Research Center of the Commercial Press (2019). Gudaihany cidian [Dictionary of Ancient Chinese]. The Commercial Press.
  • Li, Xiaolong (2016). Xiyouji xiaoyao mingming yuanze, tili yu laiyuan shitan [Research on the Names of Little Monsters in Journey to the West], Estudio sobre la Cultura China, 1, pp. 133-141.
  • Li, Hao (2018). Liusheng: zhongguo xingming wenhua [Eternal Fame: Name Culture in China]. SDX Joint Publishing Company.
  • López García, Ángel (1985). «Lo propio del nombre propio», Lingüística Española Actual (LEA), 7 (1), pp. 37-54.
  • Lou, Guangqing (1985). «Cong Xingming kan shehui he wenhua» [An Approach on Chinese Society and Culture Through Names]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 63, pp. 14-19.
  • Manini, Luca (1996). «Meaningful Literary Names: Their Forms and Functions and Their Translation», The Translator, 2, pp. 161-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.1996.10798972
  • Mi, Tian and Rodrigo Muñoz Cabrera (2020). «¿Numerales que atraviesan la barrera lingüística? Un estudio práctico de la traducción del 9 del chino al español por medio del Corpus CCEVAO», Estudios de Traducción, 10, pp. 285-298. https://doi.org/10.5209/estr.66684
  • Morala Rodríguez, José R. (1986). «El nombre propio, ¿objeto de estudio
  • interdisciplinar?», Contextos, 8, pp. 49-62.
  • Moya, Virgilio (1993). «Nombres propios: su traducción», Revista de Filología de la Universidad de la Laguna, 12, pp. 233-234.
  • Newmark, Peter (2001), Approaches to Translation. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
  • Niu, Ruchen (2015). Mingshixinxue: dimingxue lilun sibian [New Perspectives About Names and Essence: Analysis of Theories of Place Names]. China Society Press.
  • Nord, Christiane (2003). «Proper Names in Translations for Children: Alice in Wonderland as a Case in Point», Meta, 48 (1-2), pp. 182-196. https://doi.org/10.7202/006966ar
  • Parianou, Anastasia (2007). «Translating Proper Names: A Functionalist approach», Names, 55 (4), pp. 407-416. https://doi.org/0.1179/ nam.2007.55.4.407
  • Plato (2003). Bolatu quanji [The Complete Works of Plato]. Trans. Xiaozhao Wang. Beijing Popular Press.
  • Randall, Richard R. (2002). Place Names: How They Define the World and More. Trans. Yu Gao, Wei Che and Yuan Ji. Encyclopaedia of China Publishing House.
  • Real Academia Española Diccionario de la lengua española. https://dle.rae.es/
  • Rebollo Torío, María A. (1995). El nombre propio y su significado, AEF, 18, pp. 399-406.
  • Robins, Robert. H. (1996). The Development of the Word Class System of the European Grammatical Tradition, Foundations of Language, 2, pp. 3-19. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110801354-037
  • Stewart, George R. (2012). A Look Back at the American Name Society,
  • Names, 60 (1), pp. 64-55.
  • Trapero, Maximiano (1995). Para una teoría lingüística de la toponimia: estudios de toponimia canaria. Editorial de la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
  • United Nations (2006). Manual for the National Standardization of Geographical Names. United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names. United Nations Publications.
  • Venuti, Lawrence (1995). The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation. Routledge.
  • Wang, Guogang (1990). Xiyouji bielun [Different Viewpoints on Journey to the West]. Xuelin.
  • Wu, Cheng’en (2010). Peregrinación al Oeste. Trans. María Lacea and
  • Carlos Trigoso Sánchez. Ediciones en Lenguas Extranjeras.
  • Wu, Cheng’en (2018). Xiyouji [Journey to the West]. Popular Literature.
  • Zhou, Wei (2019). Diming de mimi—hanyu diming waiyi yanjiu [Behind the Name: Chinese Place Names in Translation]. Social Sciences Academic Press.
  • Zhuang, Zi (2019). Zhuangzi. Zhonghua.
Data source: Dialnet