On Language and Translation #3

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OnLanguageandTranslation#3 Indiscussing"languageandTranslation"withfriendsintheUS,Iwasremindedofthe followinghumorousincidentintheearly80's. ThelateBobHope,America'smostfamouscomedianofthepastcentury,wasvisiting Beijingintheearly80's.Hopewasfamousforhis"oneliner(“一句”笑话)"jokeswhich heusuallydeliversinrapidfirefashionevokinglaughtereverysecond.Hegaveapublic performanceinBeijingwhichwastelevisedbackintheUS.Duringtheperformancehe gavethefollowing"oneliner"jokeconcerningthebicycletrafficinBeijingstreets Hope:"theBeijingbicycletrafficaredividedintotwocategories,wecallthem "Dodgers"and"Angels" Translator:"我无法翻诨，大家就笑笑吧" Audience:"哈哈大笑" ForChineseaudiencetounderstandthisjoke,theyneedfirsttohaveagoodanddetail understandingofthenationalsportofbaseball,itscultureinAmerica,andtheteams involved.Next,theyneedtohaveanunderstandingthattheusualmeaningofthetwo Englishwordswhichalsohappenstobethenameofthetwobaseballteams.Thisis almostanimpossibletaskforthetranslator.Infact,Ibelievehemadeaverybrilliant decisionandturntheimpossibleintoajokeofhisown. Ofcourse,fortheUSaudiencewatchingthebroadcastbackinAmericatowhomthejoke isreallyintended,therewaslittledifficulty.Theyonlyneedtoknowthechaoticnatureof thebicycletrafficonBeijingstreets. Onceagain,thisillustratesthedifficultyandtheimportanceoftheculturalbackgroundin translation.