Recently, I believe everyone has been flooded with the " Sisters Riding the Wind and Waves ", and many English media have reported on this "age-reversing girl group talent show" program.
Source: "South China Morning Post"
It is not difficult to find that there are several English translations of this variety show, and they all translate "sisters" into "sisters":
Sisters Riding the Winds and Breaking the Waves
Sisters Who Brave Winds and Waves
Older sisters Who Brave the Winds and Waves
Is "sisters" accurate here? Do you have to translate "sisters" into "sisters"?
First of all, we need to see what "sister" means here:
"sister" refers to "sister generation" female artists of three age groups of 30+, 40+ and 50+, and are not really sisters who are related. At the same time, the title of "sister" reflects a sense of respect. Therefore, the "sister" here is actually a "pretending relative title".
Let’s take a look at how to translate “Borrow the title of relatives”!
What is "pretending relative title"?
I believe everyone is familiar with the terms "big sister", "big brother", "aunt" and other terms in Chinese. Even if the two speakers have no real kinship, they can also call each other by words such as "(~) sister", "(~) brother", "(~) grandpa", and "(~) uncle".
This phenomenon is called "generalization of relative titles", also called "borrowing relative titles", and these titles can generally show age, status and the relationship between two people.
However, in mainstream English culture, there is very little phenomenon of generalization of relative titles. When translating, if you only "moved the words and paper", you always use "sister", "brother", "aunt", "grandfather" in the translation language, which is easy to confuse.
For example, the word "sister" in the English translation of "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves" can easily lead foreigners to misunderstand: "sister" not only refers to sisters who are related, but also has a religious color in English.
The definition of "sister" in the Oxford English dictionary: female members in religious groups, especially nuns.
Similarly, if "Auntie Song" is translated as "Auntie Song" and "Uncle Wang" is translated as "Uncle Wang", English readers may be confused again: does this person in the story really have so many relatives?
Of course, there are certain differences in English between different races or social classes. Black people sometimes call people they don’t know “Brother” (or “Bro”) and “Sister”, which can be regarded as a form of lyrics. However, this cannot be equated with the Chinese name of dependents. There are two main reasons:
1. The commonly used titles of borrowing relatives in English are limited to "brother" and "sister", which are far less wide than those of Chinese culture's borrowing relatives;
2. The "big brother" and "big sister" in Chinese are generally respectful titles, while the commonly used titles of "brother" and "sister" for black people are neutral.
Therefore, when translating the title of dependents, you need to pay special attention to the words "sister", "brother", "uncle", "grandfather" and other words need to be used with caution!
How to translate "Borrowing the title of relatives"?
So, how should we translate the title of relatives be based on the guise of relatives?
Generally speaking, in order to avoid misunderstandings from English readers, the words "brother", "sister", "master", "aunt" and other words in the title of relatives can be abandoned during translation. As long as the readers understand who the title is, what the relationship between the two is, and what the status and status are different.
Bilinguist has found an example from the classic Chinese classic "Dream of Red Mansions", let's take a look.
- Jia Mu-
Jia Mu is an important figure in "Dream of Red Mansions". She is the "ancestor" of the two Rongning Mansions, with a lot of children and grandchildren. "Dream of Red Mansions" uses the title "Mrs. Jia" throughout the article, but her name does not appear, and the title of "Mother" as a relative generalizes her respected status.
Baoyu replied to the Ming Dynasty when Jia Mu asked to go to the private school.
Baoyu told the Lady Dowagerof Qin Zhong's eagerness to attend their clan school.
(translated by Yang Xianyi)
dowager[ˈdaʊədʒə]n.Widow; an old woman with extraordinary temperament
Mrs. Wang It was so pure, but when she saw Jia Mu come back, she came back.
And Lady Wang, who liked peace and quiet, returned too afterher mother-in-law'sdeparture.
(translated by Yang Xianyi)
In the above two sentences, the translation of "Mrs. Jia" is different: the first sentence adopts "the Lady Dowager", and at the same time shows the identity and respectful status of Jia Mu's "widow"; the second sentence adopts "her mother-in-law", which shows the relationship between Mrs. Wang and Jia Mu.
- Sister Zijuan-
When using the title of licensing relatives, if the two people have the same seniority, age becomes an important factor. In "Dream of the Red Chamber", younger maids usually call other older maids "(~) sister". For example, the maid Xueyan calls maid Zijuan by "sister".
Xueyan said, "Sister Zijuan was afraid that the girl would be cold, so she asked me to bring it over."
"Zijuan was afraid you might be cold, miss, so she asked me to bring it over."
(translated by Yang Xianyi)
"Nightingale told me to bring it, Miss. She was afraid you might be cold.”
(translated by Hawks)
nightingale[ˈnʌɪtɪŋˌɡeɪl]n.Neither translation of Nightingale
retains the original text "sister", but only translates the name of the maid Zijuan, which is to avoid English readers mistakenly thinking that the two maids are really sister-related. The Yang translation adopts transliteration, while the Huo translation adopts a translation.
It is worth noting that the "jujube" in the name of Zijube refers to "jujube", which is a symbol of desolation and sorrow in Chinese culture. Hawkes does not adopt the "cuckoo" (cuckoo) with negative meaning in English culture, but translated as "nightingale" (nightingale).
How to translate "sister" riding the wind and waves?
After reading the above example, you may find that the translation method of using relatives in Chinese is very flexible. When translating, just keep key information such as the character's identity and status.
Here, some translations have been found for your reference:
❶ women
In "Sisters Riding the Wind and Waves", "Sisters" reflect the age of female artists in the show. They are all over 30 years old, unlike the young girls in other talent shows. The word "women" may remind people of the popular American drama "Hy Women Kill" last year. It corresponds to "girls" and can reflect the mature temperament of sisters.
American drama "The Deadly Woman" poster
❷ ladies
Lady has its own "elegant and beautiful" effect in the English context. This word has basically no age limit. Whether it is a young girl or an older lady, they like others to call themselves "lady". This word is also suitable for use in "Sisters Riding the Wind and Waves".
Movie "MyFair Lady" poster
❸ divas
Diva['divə] comes from the Latin word "goddess", referring to a famous female singer of popular music; a celebrated female opera singer).
The people who participated in "Sisters Who Make Waves" happen to be female artists with rich stage experience. "divas" can not only indicate the sisters' identity as artists, but also call them "goddesses", which is also a good translation reference.
Reference source: "Dream of Red Mansions" Hawks, Yang Xianyi Translation
Kong Huiyi. Translation·Literature·Cultural[M]. Peking University Press, 1999.
Zhao Wen. Generalization of Chinese relatives' terminology[J]. Journal of Chinese Literature, 2015(13):30-31.
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