CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY | PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATIONS SERVICES | ELITEBILINGUAL
来Elite一段时间了，其实再多过4个月，就是满满一年。就在此刻，突然感觉自己一个人站在2010年的开场，顾不上周围人群的潮起潮落、世事变迁，所有的画面在我脑海中就如30年代老电影里的黑白胶片般迅速地倒带，把我的记忆无限拉扯。
每天公司的早会都让大家及时地总结、思考，而最近海地传来的地震噩耗也让我更多地开始思考一个我们常常忽略的问题，那就是社会责任感。 过去，我也总是习惯性地把自己约束在一个特定的小圈子里，也许一次考试的名次、来自老师家长的认可就是我为之追逐奋斗的目标，当然这也无可厚非地跟当时作为学生的心态是分不开的。我们这一代的孩子常常被父母、老师告知这个社会竞争的残酷，被告知公务员、老师、医生才是最稳定的职业。当然我不得不承认这些事实。只是，在我们的心里却执意地抵触种种这些……
十几岁时候的我很热爱读书，当时看余华用一种平静地、缓慢地叙述手法写《活着》，看到主人公的悲惨处会潸然泪下，我以为当时的眼泪让我读懂了活着的意义，最近偶然翻看到一处书评，才突然恍然大悟。
“《活着》是繁花落尽一片萧瑟中对生命意义的终极关怀；富贵的命运昭示着人类苦苦追寻一切不过虚妄而已，结尾那个与富贵同行的老牛暗示一个另高贵的人难以接受的事实：其实人真的只是一种存在，它和万物一样并无意义。追寻，探究的本质不过是一个大笑话而已。”其实作者只是想告诉我们，“生命中其实没有幸福或者不幸，生命只是活着，静静的活着”。
当然这样的现实主义总是带着那么一丝悲观色彩。所以我也在思考着，我们除了自我价值的实现，其实真正应该面对的是那一份沉甸甸的社会责任感。毕竟我只是小我，而社会是一个大我。也只有社会的不断文明化，规范化，那这个小我才会更加健康阳光地成长。不必把自己升华得很伟大，我也只不过是芸芸众生中那最普通不过的一枚，只是突然感叹着有时候社会的残酷竞争会逐渐地把一些人心底里那最善良最真诚的本性虐夺得消失不见。最近几年的时间，看到很多，也学到很多东西。曾经有那么一秒钟的时间疑虑着成功是不是真如某些人一样需要不择手段、尔虞我诈？结果当然是迅速地打消自己这个罪恶的疑虑。每个人都在向往着成功，只是很少有人思考所谓的“成功”过后，接下来是什么？信心满满、旁若无人地继续活在自己狭隘的世界吗？也许百年之后，你只不过是一阵风般的轻薄。或者是现代社会网络科技的发达、信息咨询的快捷，最近总是看到越来越多与社会格格不入的事情发生。有明星吸毒，有官员腐败，有暴力惨案……而我想知道的是，当他们决定抛弃社会责任感的那一刻，这些人还会被我们这些再普通不过的普通人认定是成功的吗？剩下的应该只是摇头。也许他们曾经很富有，也许他们曾经很有社会地位，但对这个社会而言，在他们面具被撕下来的那一刻总是被排斥的。
在2010年的这个崭新开端，我还是如此倔强地坚持着这一份小小的善良，正如众多善良的人们一样好好地活着，勇敢地担负起一份小小的社会责任感。
By
夏子涵
Project Executive
Elite Bilingual Services Pte. Ltd (作者来自一家翻译公司)
Monday, January 18, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
信、达、雅过时了吗？
中国清末的思想家、翻译家和教育家严复在其所译的赫胥黎《天演论》的序言中写道，“译事三难：信、达、雅。”自此，“信达雅”三字原则正式浮出水面，对中国的翻译界产生了无可比拟的影响。在相当长的一段时间里，“信达雅”作为翻译的最高境界，始终是翻译者追求的目标。有人将其称为翻译的“三字真经”，就好似一座丰碑，让后来人很难再超越。
那么，何谓“信、达、雅”呢？英文是：faithfulness, expressiveness, elegance。用中文简单解释之就是：信：忠于原作；达：意思能讲透；雅：语言要优美。“信”，从狭义上讲，就是忠实于原作的思想，把原文所要传达的意思准确地用另一种语言重新诠释出来。达，是这三个字中最难“表达”清楚的一个。中文是一种逻辑性的，而不是词汇性的，形式的东西很少：词与词之间无分隔，人名地名无大写，动词代词无变形。这就要求译文的行文通俗易懂、表达清晰。“信、达”都是对翻译的“硬件要求”，具有科学的精神。对就是对，错就是错。而“雅”是一种“软件要求”，只有感觉或程度上的差别。如果把“信、达”喻为“雪中送炭”，那“雅”就是“锦上添花”了吧。如果我们把译文当做是一件即将出售的商品，那“信、达”就好像是产品本身的质量和实用性，“雅”则为精美的包装、恰如其分的宣传及优良的服务。
其实，自这三个字诞生之始，争议就从没有平息过。评价有贬有褒，但至今仍未有一家之说能够超越“信、达、雅”的范畴。当然，就算是反对者，大多数论者也不赞成简单地否认或抛弃。曾经有一位语言学家从语言学的角度来重新解读这个三个字：：“信”是语义对等，“达”是行文对等，而“雅”则是功能对待。还有翻译学家提出但凡涉及“翻译”二字，除翻译标准外，还涉及翻译态度、译者素质、术语确定、出版等等环节。另有一些译者谈到：“雅”在有些时候和“信、达”是矛盾的。很多翻译“雅”了就不能够“信和达”。莎士比亚全集里有一个词“a pissing while”，梁实秋将它翻译成“撒泡尿的功夫”，这样的翻译非常形象，也已是被广为接受的一种表达，但是真不能算是“雅“，甚至可以说是“俗”，普通人生活中喜闻乐见的“俗”。同时，西方译学界的结构主义思潮也不断冲击着这个“金科玉律”。法国解构主义理论的代表人物Roland Barthes 曾在其文章The Death of the Author中写道，“The essential meaning of a work depends on the impressions of the reader, rather than the "passions" or "tastes" of the writer.”
谈到这里，我们是否考虑应该换个说法，不再讨论“信、达、雅”是否过时，而是重新调整这三个字的排序？将“信、达、雅”转换成“达、雅、信”。灵感往往是在第一次阅读时闪现。“达、雅”在前，便于捕捉转瞬即逝的思想火花。“信”在最后，因为译者已对原著有了全面的理解，能更好地保证“忠实于原文”这个翻译的第一要素。至于法律条文，商务合同、证书等等，可以归为单独的一类，还是必须以 “信”为先，否则将造成不良的后果，“雅”在其中显然要排在最后一位了。所以，我认为“信、达、雅”是否过时并不重要，译者需具体情况具体对待。遵循一定的原则，但却不拘泥于此，才能最终使翻译作品跨越“必然王国“，达到“自由王国”的境界。在此借用散文的形神论“形散神不散”来类比不知是否恰当？
By
Jean Zhang
Chief Translator
Elite Bilingual Service Pte Ltd
那么，何谓“信、达、雅”呢？英文是：faithfulness, expressiveness, elegance。用中文简单解释之就是：信：忠于原作；达：意思能讲透；雅：语言要优美。“信”，从狭义上讲，就是忠实于原作的思想，把原文所要传达的意思准确地用另一种语言重新诠释出来。达，是这三个字中最难“表达”清楚的一个。中文是一种逻辑性的，而不是词汇性的，形式的东西很少：词与词之间无分隔，人名地名无大写，动词代词无变形。这就要求译文的行文通俗易懂、表达清晰。“信、达”都是对翻译的“硬件要求”，具有科学的精神。对就是对，错就是错。而“雅”是一种“软件要求”，只有感觉或程度上的差别。如果把“信、达”喻为“雪中送炭”，那“雅”就是“锦上添花”了吧。如果我们把译文当做是一件即将出售的商品，那“信、达”就好像是产品本身的质量和实用性，“雅”则为精美的包装、恰如其分的宣传及优良的服务。
其实，自这三个字诞生之始，争议就从没有平息过。评价有贬有褒，但至今仍未有一家之说能够超越“信、达、雅”的范畴。当然，就算是反对者，大多数论者也不赞成简单地否认或抛弃。曾经有一位语言学家从语言学的角度来重新解读这个三个字：：“信”是语义对等，“达”是行文对等，而“雅”则是功能对待。还有翻译学家提出但凡涉及“翻译”二字，除翻译标准外，还涉及翻译态度、译者素质、术语确定、出版等等环节。另有一些译者谈到：“雅”在有些时候和“信、达”是矛盾的。很多翻译“雅”了就不能够“信和达”。莎士比亚全集里有一个词“a pissing while”，梁实秋将它翻译成“撒泡尿的功夫”，这样的翻译非常形象，也已是被广为接受的一种表达，但是真不能算是“雅“，甚至可以说是“俗”，普通人生活中喜闻乐见的“俗”。同时，西方译学界的结构主义思潮也不断冲击着这个“金科玉律”。法国解构主义理论的代表人物Roland Barthes 曾在其文章The Death of the Author中写道，“The essential meaning of a work depends on the impressions of the reader, rather than the "passions" or "tastes" of the writer.”
谈到这里，我们是否考虑应该换个说法，不再讨论“信、达、雅”是否过时，而是重新调整这三个字的排序？将“信、达、雅”转换成“达、雅、信”。灵感往往是在第一次阅读时闪现。“达、雅”在前，便于捕捉转瞬即逝的思想火花。“信”在最后，因为译者已对原著有了全面的理解，能更好地保证“忠实于原文”这个翻译的第一要素。至于法律条文，商务合同、证书等等，可以归为单独的一类，还是必须以 “信”为先，否则将造成不良的后果，“雅”在其中显然要排在最后一位了。所以，我认为“信、达、雅”是否过时并不重要，译者需具体情况具体对待。遵循一定的原则，但却不拘泥于此，才能最终使翻译作品跨越“必然王国“，达到“自由王国”的境界。在此借用散文的形神论“形散神不散”来类比不知是否恰当？
By
Jean Zhang
Chief Translator
Elite Bilingual Service Pte Ltd
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY | PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATIONS SERVICES | ELITEBILINGUAL
Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia
In a world of profit driven organizations, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a difficult dream to achieve. CSR generally means integrating social values and mission statements of organizations within business decision-making in order to achieve positive and sustainable outcomes towards business, environment and the community at large. Easier said than done as we all know that money makes the world go round, especially during these trying global recession periods. So it is remarkable whenever certain organizations go the extra mile and make the extra effort to make this dream a reality.
Elitebilingual Pte Ltd's Managing Director, Ms Hong Yinyin has such a compassionate heart that is evident in some of the little known acts of charity which were carried out. Of most notable mention of all the translations that were carried out were for the organizations as follows; the Singapore Children's Society, United Nations World Food Programme, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and Fei Yue Community Services (FCYS).
The Singapore Children's Society is a non-profit organisation that helps protect and nurture children as well as youths of all races and religion, especially those who were abused, neglected and/or from dysfunctional families. So when Elite was approached by them to translate an article about *Maria (*Maria is a pseudonym used to protect the identity of the child) we felt dearly for the children and that we should give back to society and decided to do this project for free.
An example of the translation is as follows below.
This is Maria.
这是玛丽亚的故事
She is struggling with her studies, while nursing her paralysed mother.
Her elder sister, aged 17, works part-time to provide for the family.
Her father has abandoned the family.
You can help Maria…
她除了要应付繁重的功课，还得照顾瘫痪的母亲。
她的姐姐今年17岁，需要在外兼职才能养家糊口。
她的父亲抛弃了家庭，从此不见踪影。
玛丽亚需要您的帮助 …
Thus began a series of more translations that we felt that were for a viable cause and would be able to contribute to society.
The Miele Guide Restaurant Month was a charity initiative, carried out by Ate Media, that would specifically benefit the United Nations World Food Programme. Elite carried out the Japanese, Korean and Chinese translations continuously for a whole month pro bono. A link with both our organisations' websites was also placed free of charge to provide additional awareness on the programme. As the United Nations World Food Programme focuses on fighting hunger, reaching over 102 million people worldwide alone in 2008 with beneficiaries in 78 countries, we felt that it's definitely more than just; a cause worth fighting for.
Next is the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports Singapore (MCYS). Their mission is to build a cohesive and resilient society by fostering socially responsible individuals, inspired and committed youths, strong and stable families, a caring, active community and a sporting people. We carried out a 4,000 word English to Mandarin translation service for them, focusing on stopping family violence, again free of charge. As Elite firmly believes in a balanced lifestyle and strong family values, these goals are aligned with our business goals and vision. Sometimes, it not just about profit, but about living as socially responsible individuals.
Last but not least, the latest project was for Fei Yue Community Services Singapore (FCYS), whose agenda was in effecting life transformation in people to lead them to a truly fulfilling life within an integrated community network. Over 16,000 words were edited by Elite for this project on "52 Steps to a Happy Marriage".
‘….To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.’
Hopefully all these translations would be put to good use for the public and ultimately contribute to society in one way or another. The effects may be minimal and may not be immediately felt. However, the seeds of these had been sown and the way paved for future corporate social responsible actions to be tied in with organizational goals for Elite.
By Vincent Guee
Operations Manager, Elite
"We cannot tell what may happen to us in life. But we can decide what happens within us— how we can take it, what we do with it— and that is what really counts in the end. ~Joseph Fort Newton"
In a world of profit driven organizations, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a difficult dream to achieve. CSR generally means integrating social values and mission statements of organizations within business decision-making in order to achieve positive and sustainable outcomes towards business, environment and the community at large. Easier said than done as we all know that money makes the world go round, especially during these trying global recession periods. So it is remarkable whenever certain organizations go the extra mile and make the extra effort to make this dream a reality.
Elitebilingual Pte Ltd's Managing Director, Ms Hong Yinyin has such a compassionate heart that is evident in some of the little known acts of charity which were carried out. Of most notable mention of all the translations that were carried out were for the organizations as follows; the Singapore Children's Society, United Nations World Food Programme, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and Fei Yue Community Services (FCYS).
The Singapore Children's Society is a non-profit organisation that helps protect and nurture children as well as youths of all races and religion, especially those who were abused, neglected and/or from dysfunctional families. So when Elite was approached by them to translate an article about *Maria (*Maria is a pseudonym used to protect the identity of the child) we felt dearly for the children and that we should give back to society and decided to do this project for free.
An example of the translation is as follows below.
This is Maria.
这是玛丽亚的故事
She is struggling with her studies, while nursing her paralysed mother.
Her elder sister, aged 17, works part-time to provide for the family.
Her father has abandoned the family.
You can help Maria…
她除了要应付繁重的功课，还得照顾瘫痪的母亲。
她的姐姐今年17岁，需要在外兼职才能养家糊口。
她的父亲抛弃了家庭，从此不见踪影。
玛丽亚需要您的帮助 …
Thus began a series of more translations that we felt that were for a viable cause and would be able to contribute to society.
The Miele Guide Restaurant Month was a charity initiative, carried out by Ate Media, that would specifically benefit the United Nations World Food Programme. Elite carried out the Japanese, Korean and Chinese translations continuously for a whole month pro bono. A link with both our organisations' websites was also placed free of charge to provide additional awareness on the programme. As the United Nations World Food Programme focuses on fighting hunger, reaching over 102 million people worldwide alone in 2008 with beneficiaries in 78 countries, we felt that it's definitely more than just; a cause worth fighting for.
Next is the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports Singapore (MCYS). Their mission is to build a cohesive and resilient society by fostering socially responsible individuals, inspired and committed youths, strong and stable families, a caring, active community and a sporting people. We carried out a 4,000 word English to Mandarin translation service for them, focusing on stopping family violence, again free of charge. As Elite firmly believes in a balanced lifestyle and strong family values, these goals are aligned with our business goals and vision. Sometimes, it not just about profit, but about living as socially responsible individuals.
Last but not least, the latest project was for Fei Yue Community Services Singapore (FCYS), whose agenda was in effecting life transformation in people to lead them to a truly fulfilling life within an integrated community network. Over 16,000 words were edited by Elite for this project on "52 Steps to a Happy Marriage".
‘….To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.’
Hopefully all these translations would be put to good use for the public and ultimately contribute to society in one way or another. The effects may be minimal and may not be immediately felt. However, the seeds of these had been sown and the way paved for future corporate social responsible actions to be tied in with organizational goals for Elite.
By Vincent Guee
Operations Manager, Elite
"We cannot tell what may happen to us in life. But we can decide what happens within us— how we can take it, what we do with it— and that is what really counts in the end. ~Joseph Fort Newton"
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