Analysis of Memetics in Pragmatic Translation

ACADEMICSNo. 12 Dec. 2011General No. 163Analysis of Memetics in Pragmatic Translation [*](Loudi Vocational & Technical College, Loudi Hunan 417000 )tion of the law of cultural evolution and language development. As a new theoretical perspec-tive ,memetics can be applied to the research of pragmatic translation. From the memnetic per-spective , language translation is a process of memetic reproduction and transmission. It's im-portant to abide by the propagation law and to fllow proper memetic strategies , incuding do-mestiating strategy as well as foreignizing strategy so as to tanslate the proper pragmatic trans-lation and to maximize the effect of transmitting information and communication.Key words : memetics; pragmatic text; translation ;domestication ; foreignizationIntroductionPragmatic text , also called application text，is one that has been formedin human' s long - term social activities. There is no definite definition aboutit at present. Some scholars think that it refers to all kinds of texts except lit-erature , English for science and technology ,newspapers and essays , includingall kinds of letters such as business letters, offcial documents such as con-tract , notices, goods and the charitable advertising, practical texts such ascertificate , bills etc. Some other scholars think that application text shouldcover those everyday language texts such as tourism commentary , catering in-troduction, product description , news headline , public sign, brand name. WithChina’s economic development and social progress , especially China' s entryto WTO, the importance of pragmatic text translation seems increasinglyprominent.About the author:Cao Shuping( 1966- -) . asciate professr of Loudi Vocaional & Technical College,majoring in studying English - Chinese translation and practice and English applied linguistcs.[ * ]Hunan Provincial Social Science Fund Project (2010YBB286) ;Hunan Provincial Education and Sci-ence“The Twelfth Five - Year Plan” Project( X]K011CZJ009).-255中国煤化工MHCNMH G.Academics 2011. 12Fang Mengzhi( 2004 ) thinks that pragmatic translation , also called practi-cal translation or applied translation, includes all types of words that peopletouch and apply in practice except literature and pure theory , involving everyaspect in foreign propaganda, social life , production field as well as businessactivities. It also includes many kinds of practical translation in poltics , busi-ness , news，law , tourism，advertisement and other managing activities.As a kind of interdisciplinary new scientist , memetics is based on Dar-win' s Theory of Evolution to reveal the rules of culture ’s development. Un-der the guidance of memetics , this article tries to apply the memetics in prag-matic translation, to discuss how a translator translates an appropriate prag-matic translation by following the meme' s spreading and transmitting rulesas well as choosing appropriate translating strategies in order to translate theproper pragmatic translation.1. Literature Review(1) About MemeticsBased on Darwin' s evolutionary theory , Memetics is a new theory thatinterprets the evolution law of cultural transmission. The concept of memewas first proposed by Richard Dawkins( Dawkins. R. 1976) from Oxford Uni-versity in his book“The Selfish Gene”In his view , meme is a cognitive andbehavioral patterm which is passed from one individual to another and it is thebasic unit of culture that exists in the individual memory. Mr. He Ziran( 2005)translated“meme" into “模因”, whose semantic meaning is“to imitate prop-agation factor" with its pronunciation closely related to gene , which indicatesthat it has a double meaning of imitation and gene. Meme is the key conceptof memetics. Meme is infected by imitating;if the imitation happens , there isbound to be some thing which has been passed , and this thing is just what wecall- -meme. In other words , anything, as long as it has been transmittedthrough the imitation , can be called a meme.There is a certain rule for the reproduction and transmission of a meme.Heylighen (1992 ) thinks that the life cycle of a meme can be divided intofour stages named assimilation, retention, expression and transmission whichgo round and round in sequence. Assimilation refers to the process that thepresent meme is noticed, understood and accepted by a receptor. When ameme causes the attention of the receptor, it will be understood , acceptedand put into his own cognitive system and then stored in his memory. The re-tented meme needs to be transferred from the memory pattemn to the physicalforms which can be perceived by the receptor. That is, to be transferred toanother receptor so as to transmit through the“expression" ways such as au-dio ,image and language. In Dawkins’view ( 1976) , a successful meme musthave the following three characteristics : copying fidelity( The more faithful ameme is to the original meme in the process of reproduction, the higher thesurvival rate is. ) , fecundity ( The faster a meme is replicated, the wider the中国煤化工MHCNMH G.Analysis of Memetics in Pragmatic Translationtransmission range is. ) ,and longevity( The longer a meme stays in the brain,the easier it is to remember. ). Blackmore( 1999 ) emphasizes the importantmeaning of the meme to imitation : the behavior easy to imitate may constitutea successful meme , but the one difficult to imitate is much more hard to be-come a successful meme. The life of the meme has length, so the longer ameme live ,the greater possibility it may be replicated.(2) Meme and TranslationThe earliest research on meme combining with translation theory is star-ted by a Finland scholar named Chesterman, who( 2000) regarded translationstudies as a branch of memetics , named translation itself and the concept oridea of the related translation theory as the translation meme collectively,such as the theoretical concept , standard , strategy and values of translationtheory. He discussed the evolution situation and relationship of five supermemes in translation meme pool in detail as follows:source target meme , e-quivalence meme , untranslatability meme，free and literal meme , all writing istranslating meme. In the process of examining the evolution of translationtheory , Chesterman found that the vitality of translation meme was not identi-cal. Some translation memes died out because they were not generally accept-able.，some have been replaced after being popular but not lasting long , somesurvived and circulated due to the strong vitality. There are a large number oftranslation memes in translation meme pool. On one hand , every meme repli-cated and inherited the former meme;on the other hand, it changed in theprocess of copy and transmission, which resulted in a replication that may notbe the same , but a kind of relationship of increasing or decreasing. However,from the respective of memetics , the evolution of translation theory itself wasthe result of translation meme' s continuous copy and variation.2. Application of Memetics in Pragmatic Translation(1) Meme and Pragmatic TranslationAccording to the theory of memetics, meme , as a unit of culture and in-fornation, is delivered by imitation. The fundamental basis to judge a meme isimitation. Any information, as long as it can be replicated through the generalprocess of imitation , can be called as meme. ( Blackmore，S 1999 ) Meme is thecore concept of memetics. Language itself is a kind of meme，while meme ex-ists in any words , phrases , sentences , paragraphs even articles which are rep-licated and transmitted through imitation( He Ziran 2005). Pragmatic text isformed in human' s long - term social practical activity. Therefore , there ex-ists a kind of relationship between pragmatic text and meme , which statespragmatic text is meme ,for it has not only character and nature of meme( inthe context of language) , but also a purpose that can be replicated and trans-mitted ( to transmit information , instruct , guide , explain , persuade , attract anaudience' s attention, focus on information ，stimulate behavior) , so applica-tion text is meme.中国煤化工MHCNMH G .Academics 2011.12The meme in the samne culture always transmits by imitating ，especiallythrough language. If a meme wants to transmit in the cross - cultural commu-nication , then translation comes to a need. Hence , translation is the survivalcarrier for memes to transmit cross - culturally , and the effective means thata meme realizes its cross - cultural transmission. The translation of pragmatictext is a process that the language symbols in application text are ilustratedin other language , which is a special communicative way. From memetics,translation may transmit meme，which means that translation may makememe cross the gap between two cultures , transmit meme from one place toanother ; therefore , application translation is also meme.(2) Analysis of the Transmitting Paths of Application in TranslationAccording to Memetics , translation can be regarded as the process ofmeme replication and transmission. The deconstruction, coding and establish-ment of the translated memes of application text , can help the translator com-prehend the transmitting path of the brand name memes , and apply appropri-ate translating strategies. A neat encoding of the meme will help improve theproduct' s reputation and be copied and transmitted with high fidelity.The spread of meme consists of four stages which are assimilation , mem-ory , expression and transmission, while the translation of pragmatic text hasthe similar process. The author of pragmatic text is the subject of the sourcelanguage. Based on the source language , the translator decodes the meme inthe source language and assimilates it to his own cognitive system as the in-fected host and receptor with a role of receptor. And then as a subject, thetranslator recodes the assimilated application meme and transmits it to thereaders of the target language , who decodes the meme according to their owncognitive system as the new hosts and spreads it to others. In this successfultransmission of meme from the source language to the target language , thememe of a application text is spread , from which an effective communicationand interaction between the two languages is realized. If the new text transla-tion meme coded by the translator is not received by the reader , there will beno way for it to infect the new host or survive due to the lack of vitality andresult in meme' s interruption and death. So if the source language applicationtext wants to be transmitted in the target language audience , the translatormust code it efficiently , in order that the coded meme will infect more targetlanguage audiences and play its functions.3. The Selection of Strategies for Translating Pragmatic Text under theGuidance of Memetics(1) Domesticating StrategyAccording to Mr. Hu Kaibao ( 2006 )，domesticating strategy means thatthe translator aims at the target language culture and close to the target lan-guage readers , select the proper translation in accordance with the norms oftarget language to deliver the content of source language text ,reveal the tar-一258-中国煤化工MYHCNMH GAnalysis of Memetics in Pragmatic Translationget language culture values , so that the reader has such a feeling that he isreading the original text of his native language. Even though source languageor target language has its own unique characteristic respectively ,the commoncharacter of culture makes relative copy possible. Because of the great differ-ences between the target language system and the source language system,when two kinds of culture contact, the source language is extremely strangeto the readers of target language , there will be such a possibility that it is pos-sible for the reader to refuse to accept the infection due to the inability to de-code the foreign meme. In this case , Yin Bian(2006) pointed out that the ap-plication of domestication strategy will help the target reader understand thecore meme successfully.There is a kind of Chinese cosmetic with the name of“ 绿丹兰”whoseadvertisement is designed as“绿丹兰,爱你一辈子”, and it is translated intoEnglish as“Love me tender, love me true. "This is a successful example touse the strategy of domestication , in which the author selects the lyric meme“Love me tender, love me true. ”from a classic American love song. Thistranslation. because of being bound to a strong meme“Love me tender , loveme true. "and in accordance with the culture norms of the target language ,iseasy to access the audience' s memory, help the audience understand thesource language core meme“love you all my life" ，speed up the copy andspread the range of the advertisement meme ,and result in a good advertisingeffect. On the contrary , if translated directly into" Ludanlan cosmetics ，loveyou all my life" ,the translation is extremely strange to the host( English audi-ence) and conflict with the host' s original cultural meme ,then the host willnot be able to decode the meme and refuse to be infected, all of which willcause the failure of the information' s transmission, so it is difficult to attractaudience’s attention.Thus ,the translation of pragmatic text is not only the transformation ofthe concept meaning , but also the intercommunication and transplantation be-tween two kinds of different cultures. What' s more , as a translator , he shouldabide by meme' s spreading law , try to express the meaning accurately ac-cording to the target language ' s thinking way so that the host creates thesimilar infection and brings a better effect , and then brings out the minimuminformation dissemination and communication effect.Domesticating strategy plays a great role in pragmatic translation,for itmakes the translation easier to accept by the target language readers. Howev-er,from the memetic perspective ,domesticating translation is at the expenseof losing the cultural information of the source text , depriving the receptors ofthe opportunity to leamn the unique culture of the source language ,preventingthem from knowing the pragmatic style in the source language ,which will bebarriers to the transmission of cultural memes of the source language and tothe cultural communication between the source language and the target one.-259中国煤化工MYHCNMH G.Academics 2011. 12As the cross - cultural communication increases , the target language readersbecome more acceptable to the source culture. In order to make sure that thememes of the source language can be transmitted smoothly among differentcultures and they have great copying fidelity ,fecundity and longevity , the do-mestication strategy cannot meet such requirements. Under such a circum-stance ,another translating strategy called foreignizing strategy is a new needand trend for meme transmission.(2) Foreignizing StrategyIn contrast to domestication, foreignization refers to the fact that thetranslators accept the cultural differences between different languages , makethemselves closer to the source text authors and choose the translation that iscloser to the style of the source text so as to manage to retain the style of thesource language and its cultural characteristics and help the readers know thecustoms and historical cultures of the source language. The purpose of for-eignizing translation is to highlight the exotic colors as a starting point and itfocuses on the exotic cultural customs, values , ways of thinking and expres-sion, etc. With the foreignizing strategy , it may make the receptors feel moredifficult to decode the translation and even have an infuence on the sprea-ding range of the memes which will affect the strength of the memes. The fol-lowing public signs are with Chinese characteristics:"五讲四美”、“八荣八耻”、“安居工程”、“收费厕所". When translating them into English, the useof foreignizing strategy is the only way to help the memes of source languageto be transmitted smoothly in the target language in the long run,although thereceptors may find them difficult to accept and understand at the very begin-ning. The reason is that foreignizing strategy can make the source languageculture memes more easily accepted by the target language readers though itmay make some cultural memes in spite of the loss of core memes. In addi-tion, the use of foreignization can break the barriers caused by pragmatic de-fault, which will be good for the successful transmission of the source language memes.It's worth mentioning that the choosing and the effects of translationstrategies are not single and the distinction of the domestication and forein-ization can not be simply separated. In fact, they must be regarded as continu-ums to each other. The domesticating method shortens the distance betweenthe source language culture and the target language culture at the beginningof the transmission of the culture memes , which makes the tranlation closerto the target language readers. However, with more understanding of thesource language culture ，the target language readers are not willing to me-chanically decode the relevant exotic cultural memes with their own culture.So it is of great significance to fully use the domesticating method as well asforeignizing method in pragmatic translation.A good example is the translation of“五讲四美”. On the basis of its for--260-中国煤化工MYHCNMH G.eignized translation“five stresses , four points of beauty and three aspects of .love'”,the translator made explanatory notes that resulted from domesticatingtranslation" stress on decorum, manners , hygiene , discipline and morals; beau-ty of the mind, language , behavior and the environment; love of the mother-land, socialism and the Communist Party" ( Ge Linlin 2002). Such a translationisa process of completely transiting the source language memes that the :target language readers don' t know the receptors and activate them in theirbrains ,and then transplant the source language memes into the target lan-guage culture. In conclusion, the integrated use of domestication and for-eignization contributes a lot to the smooth copying and spreading of the prag-matic translation.ConclusionThe transnittig paths of memes provide a new perspective for pragmat-ic translation. From the menetic perspective, language translation is aprocess of memetic reproduction and transmission. Pragmatic translation hasthe memetic features and can be copied, so memetics can be a guidance forpragmatic translation. The domesticating translation can help the receptorsunderstand, retent , accept and spread the translation memes so as to improvethe longevity of them because the translators tend to directly copy the similarmemes of the source text. Moreover , the foreignizing translation is better forthe transmitting of the Chinese culture memes in the target language for thetranslators manage to retain the foreigness of the original memes in the prag-matic texts ，though it may make it more difficult for the receptors to assimi-late and understand the memes at the initial stage. Therefore , during pragmat-ic translation, translators need to completely understand memetics and thetransmiting law of memes. They should correctly code , decode and spreadthe memes while they fully use both domesticating and foreignizing methodso as to ensure the memes can be smoothly transmitted from one culture tothe other,which will expand the transniting range of the translation memes,extend their longevity ,and eventually realize their cross - cultural transmission.References :[1]Fang Menghi, Translaion s”Studies Dictionary , Shanghai :Shanghai Foreign languge Edueation Press ,2004.[2)Dawkins. R. The Selish CGene . 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