从思维角度谈汉英翻译中的语篇连贯问题

【摘 要】翻译作为一种跨文化活动，不仅涉及两种语言，也涉及两种截然不同的文化。中西文化的差异造成的两种语言在表达方式上的区别往往是许多翻译人员在翻译过程中容易忽视或力不从心之处。

【关键词】语篇连贯；汉英翻译；文化；思维

Robert Kaplan，American 1inguist，the westerners mode of thought is primarily a Platonic-Aristotelian train of thought，descended from the philosophers of ancient Greece，and concreted by Roman，Medieval European，and later western thinkers.Shen Xiaolong states，the western nations have been accustomed to laying stress on formal logic and abstract thinking since the ancient Greece.Therefore the chief characteristic of the English mode of thinking is known as abstraction in particular， Shen also finds out that western people gradually formed the habit of individual thinking instead of unity of thinking.Formal analytical patterns of thought have always been dominant in western philosophical history.The Very different thinking modes of the people as well as the great dissimilarity in history， religious tradition，philosophy，language and culture bring about problems to people in cross—cultural communication.

1.Different modes of thought result in dissimilar ways of expression

There exists great difference between Chinese mode of thought and western mode of thought，and the linguistic systems of English and Chinese languages have varied characteristics respectively. One uses ideographs，while the other uses the alphabets.One is paratactic，and the other is hypotactic.The Chinese mode of thought has created many gray areas on the Chinese language expression.To be harmonic and for it to be balanced it nevertheless can be Vague sometimes.Vagueness however does not mean that the language expressed is lacking in quality，but that it is hampered by nuances in meanings.Greatly influenced by its mode of thought， western rhetoric values explicitness and directness.Clarity，concreteness and completeness are also highly emphasized.On the other hand，in western rhetorical framework，vagueness and implicitness are viewed negatively：they are considered ineffective in verbal communications.

Since 1anguage and thought are interdependent，besides the fact that thought determines the structure of 1anguage，language also shapes thought，also way of expression of a specific nation can also reveal its mode of thought. Liu Miqing points out that many problems on language form are problems of the extrinsic representation or an overt speech act based on intrinsic factors.We should pay more attention to the intrinsic mechanism that controls the overt representation of speech act，and examine in what way it influences 1anguage structure and in what way it makes one language different from another.

2.Differences in mode of thought-obstacle for cross-cultural communication

Our way of thinking derives from our accumulated perceptions；our perceptions derive from our thinking modes，and our feelings from our thinking.The habitual mode of thought can both benefit you greatly and disturb you detrimentally in the process of translation--depending on how you make use of it.

In a communication process between people of different races， whether it is a conversation，or in written form，the speaker or the writer always has the erroneous assumption that his partner thinks exactly the same way he or she does.This in effect is in disregard the cultural background of people of different nationalities.If the difference cannot be resolved，then the communication will end in misunderstanding or even a failure.As is always the case，when a set of linguistic information based on a certain mode of thought is imparted，the receiver encodes or reorganizes it in another mode of thought.Thus it is to be found that what is a logical speech，or article，or a text in one culture is regarded as an illogical one in another culture，the understandable one is regarded as the inscrutable one，the coherent one turns out to be incoherent，and the persuasive one would lose its convincing potential. So if a translator ignores the thought-pattern difference，the texts produced by him/her in another 1anguage may strike the native speakers of that 1anguage as incoherent.

3.On coherence in consideration of the difference in thinking and expressing

In the course of translation，some structural adjustments have to be made by translators to improve the quality of translation.It is important for a translator to acquire some effective methods to make up for the differences and produce a coherent and adequate translation.Maybe， there are two ways： by elaboration， and by alteration.

4.Conclusion

In this dissertation， employing theoretical and empirical researches，we have been exploring the significance of coherence in Chinese—English translation from the perspectives of thinking of dissimilar nationalities.For whatever type of text，a poem，a prose，a novel，or a business letter，and for whatever purpose it is to serve，a translator has to establish coherence in the target text in accordance with the coherence in the source or original text.

Chinese people and westerners have totally different modes of thought.Difference in thinking modes brings about different ways of expression.The way a target reader interprets a translated text may be far different from the source text readers and the translator’s understanding of the source text.Neglect in the anticipation of the difference in modes of thought will consequently lead to a gradual reduction of coherence in the target text.The discernment for the difference in thinking between the translator and the target readers，and also the presumption of the mental process of the target readers are very necessary and important in the process of translation.

For the production of a high quality translation，What is needed are not elaborate formulas of theories about translation，but translators with unusual sensitivity to the resources of language，the importance of varied non-linguistic factors，and the art of translating.For scholarly translation is an art， and the translator an artist.

Again，in summation，translators should take seriously into consideration the cultural factors concerned and difference in the way of formation of thoughts in Chinese language and how thoughts are structured in the mind in the English language.Coherence exists in the sequence of thought.Coherence comes as a consequence of a real command of the English language.Coherence stems from the fluidity of the English language-this final point gives rise to the beauty of language of translation.When beauty of language becomes the obvious quality in the work of translation，then，only then，has that particular work of translation reached the highest culminating point of success.

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