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張明權 |
“不要把情緒帶到工作中去”,這是一般的職場規則。但是,這條職場規則漸漸引起了爭議。因為人不是機器,情緒是人天生就有的,它不可能因為人在工作就不產生了,一旦產生了,它也不會因為被壓抑就不存在了。
參考譯文:
Shall we ask for “mental leave”?
We ask for “sick leave” in case of sickness or “casual leave” for a sound reason. But shall we ask for “mental leave” if we are not in the mood? To the admiration of a lot of employees, some companies now adopt the fresh “mood management” that allows their employees to ask for “mental leave” to curb their agitation at work.
According to general work ethics, “We should not bring our bad mood to work.” But the rule has gradually become disputed. Men should not be reduced to the state of machines, for they are born with emotions. Mood does not choose to spare people engaged in work. On the contrary, mood refuses to be suppressed once it comes to our mind.
本期點評的主題是新詞。最近林書豪熱催生了一批網絡新詞,英語點津欄目也有報道。漢語新詞的英譯問題在前面的點評中也有涉及,回譯是其中的一種方法,原因是中國媒體經常翻譯外電的報道,不少詞匯是在國外產生之后譯成中文的,但更多的新詞是中文自己創造的,而且隨著網絡的發展,特別是微系列應用程序的廣泛使用,漢語網絡新詞的產生更是層出不窮。
在上面的譯題中,“情緒假”是一個新詞,本來我想直接翻譯成moody leave的,但我通過網絡檢索我發現,英語中已經有了mental leave這樣的說法,所以我只好棄而不用選擇這個已有的譯法。在網友的翻譯中,情緒假基本有兩種譯法,一是moody leave,一是mood leave。由此我想到一個問題,網絡時代做翻譯最好的方法就是勤查網絡,網絡為我們提供了極其豐富的語言資源。回到譯題上,雖然“情緒假”不能譯成moody (或mood)leave,那么下文的“心情管理”是否可以翻譯成mood management呢?經查網絡發現,英語中分別有兩個相關詞匯,一個是心理學術語emotion management,是指通過情緒調節解決生活矛盾和排解不良情緒,另一個是傳播學中的mood management theory,是一種媒體理論,意指通過人們有選擇地接觸大眾媒介內容,包括音樂和電視節目,接觸的方式有助于管理他們的情緒。從詞義的組合來看,兩個翻譯都沒問題,但由于術語具有規范性,所以這里最好翻譯成emotion management。網友journey520使用了emotion management這個術語,該網友的翻譯整體上也很好,茲復制如下以備分析:
Employees are entitled to ask for “sick leaves” once they fall ill. Likewise, “private affair leaves” are available when emergencies come to them. However, how to remedy the situation where employees fail to concentrate on their work? Is there anything like “emotional leaves” that might help? Some companies have already drawn the envies from a number of people, as they bring up a fresh managerial philosophy named “emotion management”, which stipulates that employees are offered “emotion leaves”—a policy aimed at improving employees’ efficiency by giving them time to readjust themselves. It is commonly acknowledged in workplace that never should people mix their personal feelings with their work. Nevertheless, the established principle now becomes gradually exposed to wide disputes. The opponent argues that people are different from machines because they possess personal senses. The emotion won’t be erased by constant work, and once it germinates, it won’t be pent up.
漢語“有事”翻譯成when emergencies come to them似乎不妥,因為“有事”的概念是很寬的,包括家庭出了某些狀況(problems crop up in one’s family), 也可能是其他情況,只要是理由充分即可。Draw then envies (from)和management stipulates這兩處搭配讀起來感覺有些別扭,再者,整個句子顯得比較羅嗦,不夠簡潔。never should people mix their personal feelings with their work這句話不需要用倒裝。
年關將至,聚會繁多,“失歌癥患者”又要出來“橫行肆虐”,這個詞語也就此位列新浪微博搜索熱詞排行榜第一名。
參考譯文:
Off-key singing is a symptom of “amusia”, experts say
“Why are you so keen on singing when you’re completely off key?” “Sorry, I didn’t realize that I was out of tune.” Everyone is expected to meet people singing off key narcissistically playing a “mic hog”. Of course, what matters most is not that they are born tone-deaf, but that they are not conscious of that at all. Actually, the off-key people are suffering from an ailment called “amusia”, experts say.
With the Chinese Lunar New Year is around the corner, there are more and more parties for people to attend, where the “amusia patients” run “amuck” and contend for the microphone. Therefore, “amusia” quickly rises to the top of hot words searched on Sina microblogs immediately it appears.
“失歌癥”是一個新詞,但這一回很多網友找到了英語的新詞amusia來對譯,這是值得贊許的。“麥霸”的翻譯比較容易查到,所以大部分網友的翻譯都是正確的,包括Michael Pa, karaoke master, mic hog等。下面分析的是zhugefuqin的譯文。
Singing Out of Tune- Experts Name “Amusia”
“You don’t sing in tune at all, why are you keeping singing? But I really don’t realise it.” You are sure to have such friends who sing out of tune but always act as a Karaoke master in narcissism. Of course, the biggest problem doesn’t lie in their off key but in their innate unawareness of that. Actually, singing out of tune is a kind of disease, and experts call it amusia.
With the new year coming and more parties, those “amusia sufferers” will come out again and sing in an unpleasant tune. Therefore, the word “amusia” ranked first on the hot- word searching list of Sina Microblog.(一些明顯的拼寫錯誤已糾正)
首先,in their off key有問題,off key不能直接做介詞的賓語。再者,正如該網友所擔心的是,“橫行肆虐”不容易翻譯,實際上,這里原文帶有戲謔的成分,翻譯也不必太過機械,只要譯出“麥霸”那種不顧別人感受搶著話筒唱歌的情形就可以了。Run amuck帶有“抓狂”的意思,所以還是比較形象的。
參考譯文:
Ways to cope with the New Year anxiety
Messy papers cluttering up the desk, gift boxes of all kinds filling your car, numb but forced expressions on your face, the perfunctory tone in the phone calls with your families……these are not scenes characteristic of the end of a year but surely those most intensely and frequently seen in this period of time.
It is obvious that the year end witnesses the highest pressures on employees, for they are all expected now to show their “achievements” of the year to their superior, to their clients, to their relatives and friends, so that they bear out their hard work of a whole year. Unfortunately, so many employees are disheartened by the bonus of their companies. The last straw is the news they hear that Volkswagen pays each of its employees a bonus equivalent to a total of 27 months’ salary. That’s more than enough for everyone to survive this year.
下面分析的是“小學生逛街”的譯文:
Messy documents spread on the desk, gifts piled on the back seats of a car, hurried but numb expressions and perfunctory tone in a call of families, are not the scenes only seen at the end of a year but with the highest frequency.
It is obvious why at the end of a year people feel huge press. It is the time everyone needs to hand over achievement sheets. We need to present our performance to the boss, customers and relatives, more importantly ourselves. In recent days, Volkswagen announced the release of the annual bonus which amount to 27-month-salary. It adds more pressure on many people. How could we have a happy holiday?
這篇譯文總體上比較簡潔,沒有大的語法和用詞問題。問題出在原文上,首先是“成績單”和“交代”怎么譯比較好?We need to present our performance to the boss, customers and relatives, more importantly ourselves. 這句話足夠簡潔,但省略太多,“成績單”這個比喻譯成非比喻用詞performance沒問題,但把“交代”一詞直接省卻,還是不妥的。再者是在最后一句話說得太突然,邏輯銜接不夠,在英譯時可以適當補充一些信息。
最后說幾句題外話,由于去年開始參加了大型英漢詞典的編寫工作,翻譯點評的寫作出現了一些滯后的現象,還請各位網友見諒。在點評上難免存在不夠細致的地方,具體問題歡迎email交流。
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專家簡介:
張明權,安徽省固鎮縣人,江蘇大學外國語學院副教授,英語語言文學碩士,上外博士課程班進修。主要從事英語語言學和翻譯學研究,在國內外學術期刊發表論文10余篇,出版譯著兩部,發表其他文章20余篇,有大量翻譯實踐經驗,翻譯總字數接近200萬。Email: mqzhang@ujs.edu.cn。
(作者:張明權 中國日報網英語點津 編輯:Julie)