英汉谚语文化涵义对比研究【文献综述】 7页

毕业论文文献综述英语英汉谚语文化涵义对比研究Languageisinseparablefromculture,andwithoutlanguagetherecanbenoculture.Proverbsarecrystallizationsofanation’swisdomandthecreamofitslanguage.AsFrancisBacononcecommentedthat“Thegenius,witandspiritofanationarediscoveredinitsproverbs”.Asaninventorizedunitbelongingtoaparticularlanguage,aproverbhasitsowncustomarymeaning,itsstandardproverbialinterpretation(SPI)(NealR.Norrick,1985).ThisSPImaycoincidewiththenation’sgeographicalenvironment,history,custom,thesenseoftraditionalvalues,religiousbeliefs,socialsystemandtheliteralreadingofproverb,inwhichcasetheproverbissaidtobeliteral.However,asashortandconciseformoftheproverb,theidiomisalwaysconsideredindivisiblefromtheproverb.Mitchell(1975)sawanidiomas“cumulateassociation”andasan“assemblageofroots”,rootsbeinghistermforthebasewordformsconstitutingtheidiom.Inotherwords,aproverbisformallyamultiwordexpressionfunctioningasasinglesemanticsentence.Sinceproverbsdiffergreatlyfromoneculturetoanotherduetothedifferentlanguageenvironmentinwhichthespeakersliveandreflectthegeneralandspecificcharactersofdifferentnations,alotofresearchhasbeendoneoncomparativestudyoftheChineseandWesternculturethroughthemeaningsofproverbs.Everyoneunderstandstheimportancethatproverbshaveineverylanguage.Intheformofshort,easilymemorablephrases,theproverbscontainagreattreasureoffolkwisdom,andthroughuseofashortproverb,itisofteneasiertoexpressanideabetterandmoreconvincingly,thanwithalongspeech.Knowledgeofproverbsisnecessaryforperfectknowledgeofalanguage(M.F.Zamenhof,1905).Infact,theresearchcombinedlanguagewithculturebeganinthefirsthalfofthe19thCentury.AsMichaelLosonsky(1999)mentionedinherbook,theGermanlinguistandphilosopherBaronvonWilhelmVonHumboldt(1828)thinksthatthelanguageis“thetoolbywhichanationthinksandmakesmentalpercepts”,anddiscussedtherelationshipbetweenthestructureofalanguageandthehumanspiritforthefirsttimeinhisfamouswork:OntheDiversityofHumanLanguageConstructionanditsInfluenceontheMentalDevelopmentoftheHuman Species.Asisknowntoall,thedevelopmentofproverbstudyisfollowedalongwiththestudiesonmetaphor.Thus,thecomparativestudiesofproverbscanbedividedintothreedifferentperiodsaccordingtothedifferentscopesandmethodsofresearches.Theseperiodsinvolvetherhetoricalstudiesonproverb,fromabout300B.C.to1930s;thesemanticstudiesonproverbs,from1930sto1970s;andthemultidisciplinarystudiesonproverbs,from1970stonow(ShuDingfang,2000).Theauthorherewantstoconcentrateonsomefigureswhohavecontributedmuchtothestudyanddevelopmentofsemanticstudiesonproverbsandcomparesthecultureimplicationthroughthesemanticstudiesonproverbs.Generally,thecultureimplicationreferstothecognitiveresultontheformationofculture,whereasthesemanticsisanexpressionofthisresult.Therefore,itisofsignificancetostudysemanticsforcultureimplication.Itisanimportantleapinthestudyoftheproverbfromtherhetoricalstudiestothesemanticstudies.Theprocessrevealsthattheresearchonproverbshasshakenofftheliteralmeaning.Meanwhile,thesemanticstudyprovidesusabetterunderstandingofWesternandChineseproverbs,aswellasthedifferentculturesinvolved.ThesemanticstudyperiodismarkedbyL.A.Richards’publicationofThePhilosophyofRhetoric(1965).Richardscriticizedthetraditionalrhetoricalstudyoftheproverb,andhearguedthatthereplacementinproverbsisnotthelevelofwordorevenlanguage,sohedidnotseeaproverbasafigureofspeechbutdescribedthatawordisusuallynotanisolatedsubstitutionofanotherexpression,butacombinationofgeneralideascomingfromgeneralculture.Healsostatesthataproverbisamodeofthinkingandtheresultofinteractionoftwothoughtsinonewordorphrase.Therefore,hisstudymakesitpossibleforpeopletocomprehendthedifferencesofsemanticstructureofproverbsinWestandChina.However,proverbresearch,atthetimeofRichards,wasstillinarelativelypoorstate.QuitetypicalisthestatementofArcherTaylor(1931),whointroducedhisseminalbookTheProverbandanindextotheproverbwiththewords:“Theproverbandrelatedformshavelongbeenobjectsofgeneralinterestandtheoccasionformanybooks,buttheyhaveattractedlittleseriousandthoroughstudy”.MaxBlack(1962)developedRichards’interactiontheory,especiallyfortheinterpretationofaproverb.Blackdefinitelypointedoutthecreativeandcognitivefunctionofproverbs,whichprovidedanewperspectivetocomprehendthingsthroughcreativesimilarityandhelpedpeoplebetterunderstandthedifferentcultureofWestandChina.OnthebasisofRichards’theory,Black widensthehorizonofunderstandingtheessenceofproverbs,emphasizesthemeansandprocessofhowthemeaningsofproverbsareproducedthroughdifferentculturebackgrounds,andmakesaprofoundcontributiontothecognitivefunctionofproverbsderivedfromdifferentculturebackground.WhenitcomestothereasononChinese-Westernproverbdifferences,somescholarsfocusontheexperiences.Atthattime,moreandmorescholarsputforwardthatwecannotunderstandtheproverbsapartfromtheculture.Thus,thecultureimplicationbehindtheproverbssetfootintothecomparativeresearchfieldofproverbs.Researchersputtheproverbsintocontextratherthandenotation,enhancingtheimportanceofcultureimplication.ForJolles(1930),aproverbis“theform,whichconcludesanexperience”.Therearemanydifferenttypesofexperiences,suchasthesenseofvalue,customarypractice,historyandculture,andreligiousbeliefs.Still,thesetwoterms,textandfunction,propoundedbyJakobsonandTynyanov(1929)shouldfocusthesemioticstudyofproverbs,ifaproverbistobeunderstoodasbeingaparticulartexttowhichaparticularfunctionisascribedorattributedwithinagivenculture.AsWolfgangMiederandAlanDundesmentionedintheirbook:thewisdomofmany:essaysonproverb(1994),manyyearslater,MathildeHain,inherempirical“folkloristic-sociological”investigationoftheproverb,showedthatwithouttheunderstandingofexperienceandmorale,youcannotgrasptheessenceoftheproverb.Hainenteredanewfieldbywrote:“Theessentialthingaboutaproverbisitsmeaning,andbythisistobeunderstoodnotmerelyabaldandliteraltranslationintotheaccustomedtongue,norevenafreeversionofwhatthewordsareintendedtoconvey.Themeaningofaproverbismadeclearonlywhen,sidebysidewiththetranslation,isgivenafullaccountoftheaccompanyingsocialsituation,thereasonforitsuse,itseffect,anditssignificanceinspeech”.Withthefurtherdevelopmentofstudyonproverbs,scholarsbeganpayingattentiontotheheuristicfunctionwiththeproverbs.Aspreviouslystated,oneshouldtakeculturebackgroundintoconsiderationwhileunderstandingthemeaningofproverbs.Identically,theproverbplaysavitalroleofcomprehendingcultureimplicationthroughitsheuristicfunction.Thedescriptionofproverbmeaningis,aswasstatedabove,notpossiblewithoutreferencetocontextualfactors.Yet,itseemsmostreasonable,asPeterSeitel(1969,1972)argues,totakeintoconsiderationtheimportanceofcontextonlyasapotential,orvirtualfactor,andtoabstractforheuristicpurposesfromallcontextualelements(suchasnumber,age,gender,socialstatusoftheinvolvedpersons,etc.),andto outlinethe“ethicframe”ofproverbuse.TheheuristicmodelofproverbusedevelopedbySeitelisbasedonthecentralassumptionthatthesituationinwhichaproverbisactuallyused(theinteractionsituation)isnotidenticalwiththesituationinherentintheproverbtextitself(theproverbsituation),andthatbothofthemarenotorneednotbeidenticalwiththesituationtheproverbrefersto.Thus,whenutteringaproverb,“thespeakerassertsthattherelationshipbetweenthethingsintheproverbsituationisanalogoustotherelationshipbetweentheentitiesinthecontextsituation”(Seitel,1972).Therefore,thedistinctionofthedifferenttypesofsituationinvolvedinproverbuseofChineseandWesterncanbesummarizedinthefollowingschema:moralnorms,reputation,friendship,relief,andmoney.Thus,inasemanticlevel,onecaneasilyunderstandaproverbofanyculturewithouteverhavinghearditbefore.Itpresupposes(inadditiontolanguageknowledge,ofcourse)atleasttheknowledgeofallrelevantassociationsandconnotations,andalsoperhapssomeknowledgeaboutusageadequatetotherelevantsituations(Baevskij,1970).Withthecombinationofsemanticstudyandcultureimplication,onecaneasilyunderstandthemeaningofproverbs,andtheproverbcanbringusenlightenmentofdailylife.Thatiswhyproverbsarecrystallizationofanation’swisdom.Whenresearchoncultureimplicationthroughsemanticstudiesdevelopsatthisstage,therehappenedaresearchwhichwasputtingthecartbeforethehorse.Underthestudyofthereasonthatdifferentsituationcreatesdifferentmeaningofproverbs,onecan,retrospectively,subsumeallactuallyrealizedmeaningsofaproverbunderthemodeladvancedbyPermyakov(1979).Hisfundamentalachievementistoprovidedaframeworkabletodescribethesepossibleproverbsituationsinaconsistentsystem.However,someonequestionedhisidea.Thequestionofhowproverbs,orproverbsituations,aremodeledbydifferentculturesraisestheworrisomesuspicion.Itturnsouttobetruethattheultimatemeaningofaproverbcannotbepredictedfromthedescriptionofthemodeledproverbsituation,or,inotherwords,thatthedescriptionofamodeledproverbsituationcannotadequatelygraspallconcrete(orpossible)meaningsofaproverbinagiveninteractionsituation.Thatthisideawasbelievedincorrectsuggeststhattheprocessofstudyingproverbsshouldbefromsemanticmeaningtocultureimplication.Thesemanticstudyisanimportantpartatthemost,butthecultureimplicationisessentialtodirectthemeaningofproverbs.SincestudyingproverbsisconducivetorealizethedifferencebetweenWestandChina.AcomparativestudyofChineseandWesternculturecangiveyouadeeperunderstandingofproverbs invaryingsituation,whichpromotesthecultivationofcross-cultureawareness.HuWenzhonghaspublishedmanybooksandessaysaboutcross-culturecommunicationfromtheproverbaspect.Basedontheviewsofmanyfamouswesternlinguistsandresearchers,Hu(1997)putsforwardthatcultureincludesenseofvalue,thinkingpattern,aestheticinterest,moralsentiment,emotionalreligionandnationalmentalitywhichpartsofdeep-rootedculture,contributingtothegapofcognitivestructurebetweenChineseandwesterncountries.Asmanyresearchesmanifested,thecultureimplicationofproverbsisthecreamofanation’swisdom.Manypeoplehaverealizedtheheuristicfunctionofproverbsandtakethemintopractice.Nevertheless,theapplicationoftheheuristicfunctionofproverbsshouldrestonabasisofdeepunderstandingofcultureimplication,goingbacktothelevelofculture.Nowadays,withtheadventofknowledgeeconomy,moreandmorepeopleseeproverbsasamatterofexperience,andapplytheminaflexiblewayontakingriskofinvestment.Someonethoughtthattheapplicationofforeignproverbscanleadthemtolivewell.However,otherssuggestedthatweshoulduseourownwisdomfromproverbstogetmoremoney.ThequestionofhowtousethewisdominproverbstotakeriskininvestmentshouldtakethedifferentculturebackgroundsofChineseandwesternintoaccount.Bibliography:1.Permyakov(1979).ProverbsandsayingsintheEast.Science,Moscow.1979.2.Baevskij,V.S.(1970):“Porozdayuscayamodelpoeticeskojsistemyposlovits.”In:Strukturno-matematiceskiemetodymodelirovaniyayazyka.Kiev,1970.(14-15)3.4.WolfgangMieder,AlanDundes(1994).Thewisdomofmany:essaysontheproverb.TheUniversityofWisconsinPress.London.1994.5.Jakobson,Tynyanov(1929).Problemyizucenijaliteraturyijazyka,NovyjLef.12(1928).6.JollesAndré(1930).EinfachenFormen.FokloreSocietyPublications,London,1930.7.MaxBlack(1962).Dewey’sPhilosophyofLanguage.JournalofPhilosophy59(19):505-523.8.L.A.Richards.(1965).ThePhilosophyofRhetoric.OxfordUniversityPress,U.S.A.19659.MichaelLosonsky(1999).Humboldt:onLanguage:onthediversityofhumanlanguageconstructionanditsinfluenceonthementaldevelopmentofthehumanspecies.CambridgeUniversityPress,U.K.1999. 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