Translations of Religious Culture—loaded Words in the Gospel According to Mark （by Jorge Luis Borges）

Zhang Xinwen

【Abstract】In the process of passing on and carrying forward the culture， some words have loaded the culture. In this article， the author analyzes the translations of the culture-loaded words， especially the words embodying the religious culture in the Gospel According to Mark （by Jorge Luis Borges） on the basis of Nidas five types of cultures. Comparing the Chinese version translated by Wang Yongnian and the English one translated by Norrnan Thomas di Giovanni in collaboration with Jorge Luis Borges， the author puts forwards that means of translation should be flexible to achieve the goal of cross-cultural communications.

【Key words】the Gospel According to Mark （by Jorge Luis Borges）； culture-loaded words； translation

1. The Gospel According to Mark （by Jorge Luis Borges）

In the story of the Gospel According to Mark （by Jorge Luis Borges）， Baltasar Espinosa was invited by his cousin Daniel to spend the summer months out at La Colorada. However， he was crucified because of his deified behaviors in the poor and ignorant Gutres eyes. In practice， he was regarded as the Christ who had allowed Himself to be killed so as to save all other men on earth from Hell. Borges managed to convey special theological meanings： human beings are in need of a Saviour， but God's salvation is often understood in a secular and one-sided view.

2. Culture-loaded Words

2.1 The Definition of Culture-loaded Words

Culture-loaded words， defined as special words， phrases and idioms embodying a particular culture， represent the particular ways of activities differentiating from other nationalities and are gradually accumulated during the long history process. （Professor Liao Qiyi）

2.2 Five Categories of Culture-loaded Words

Culture-loaded words can be categorized into five types： ecological culture-loaded words， material culture-loaded words， social culture-loaded words， religious culture-loaded words and linguistic culture-loaded words. （Nida）

2.3 Strategies of Translating Culture-loaded Words

The strategies often adopted in translating culture-loaded words are phonetic transcription， transliteration， semantic transliteration， literal translation， free translation and substitution. （Zhang Guojian）

3. Translating the Religious Culture-loaded Words in the Gospel According to Mark （by Jorge Luis Borges）

Consisting of religious beliefs， values and forms of diverse cultural backgrounds， religious culture， one of the essential components of human cultures， mainly presents differences in various nationalities religion beliefs and behaviors. It also leads to barriers of cross-culture communications and linguistic translations. （Zhang Xiurong） As for this story， it is relatively easier to translate from Spanish to English because of the common religion， Christianism， in Argentina and many English speaking countries and the same language family， the Indo-European language family， while it is arduous to translate the culture-loaded words from Spanish to Chinese because of the disparate language families and different religions.

3.1 Translations of Religious Culture-loaded Words in the Gospel According to Mark （by Jorge Luis Borges） by Wang Yongnian

In the version translated by Wang Yongnian， Golgotha and the Gutres behavior of secretly stealing the crumbs Espinosa had dropped on the table are noted. First， Golgotha， translated as “Place of the Skull”， is the place where Jesus was brought to be crucified. （The Gospel According to Mark， 15：22） Second， stealing the crumbs comes from the fact that Jesus gave five loaves and two fish to his disciples to serve the people. “They all ate and were satisfied and they picked up the broken pieces and fish that were left over， twelve baskets full. ” （The Gospel According to Mark， 6：41-42）

3.2 Other Religious Culture-loaded Words in the Gospel According to Mark （by Jorge Luis Borges）

In this story， there are some other religious culture-loaded words and expressions deriving from the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Example 1：

“En cuanto a sus hermanos y a su padre， ya sabrían por Daniel que estaba aislado —la palabra， etimológicamente， era justa— por la creciente. ” （Jorge Luis Borges）

Norrnan Thomas di Giovanni and Borgess version： As for his brothers and his father， they would already have learned from Daniel that he was isolated etymologically， the word was perfect—by the floodwaters.

Wangs version： 至于他的兄弟和父亲，他们多半已从丹尼尔那里听说由于河水上涨，他像困在孤岛上那样与世隔绝了。

Analysis： In this story， Daniel could be comprehended from a different perspective of view. Daniel， who is a Jews， is a prophet in Hebrew Bible， having insight into all kinds of visions and dreams. The name from the Book of Daniel means “God is my judge.” Here Wang adopts transliteration. Some explanatory notes could be added by using the technique of annotation in order to enrich readers knowledge and help readers to have a better comprehension of the theological significance in this story. The annotation can be divided into literal translation with notes and annotated transliteration. Here annotated transliteration could be employed.

Example2： “Los Gutres lo seguían por las piezas y por el corredor， como si anduvieran perdidos.” （Jorge Luis Borges）

Norrnan Thomas di Giovanni and Borgess version： The Gutres， as if lost without him， liked following him from room to room and along the gallery that ran around the house.

Wangs version： 他在房间里和走廊转悠时，古特雷一家仿佛迷途的羔羊似的老是跟着他。

Analysis： Literal translation is utilized in the English version， whereas substitution is flexibly employed in the Chinese one. The lost sheep stems from the New Testament. That the Gutres followed Espinosa like the lost sheep is parallel to the scene where all the tax collectors and sinners were coming to hear Jesus in the chapter 15 of Luck. “I tell you， in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.” （Luck， 15：7） The parable of the lost sheep told by Jesus intends to indicate its the Gods accountabilities to save the human beings including the sinner compared to the lost sheep. Wangs version to any great degree assists Chinese in interpreting relationships between the Bible and this story and understand theological importance in this story.

4. Bibles Influences on Translations of Religious Culture-loaded Words

Bibles influences on translations of the religious culture-loaded words could be found in light of the analysis of translations mentioned above. As a matter of fact， Bible， the headspring of the western culture， has a significant impact on economy， polity， literature and peoples daily life and so does it on translation. A better understanding of the Bible would facilitate translators translating some western works， especially some religious literature.

5. Conclusions

The translations of the culture-loaded words play an important part in the literature translation. The author mentions several types of translation strategies of culture-loaded words， such as transliteration， annotated transliteration， literal translation with notes and substitution adopted in translating the religious culture-loaded words in the Gospel According to Mark（by Jorge Luis Borges） having a strong bearing on the Bible. The specialty and complexity of the cultural words have determined the flexibility of the means of translating the culture-loaded words. Translators should employ various and appropriate means of translations to sort the differences between two kinds of cultures and languages in order to attain the goal of cross-cultural communications.

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作者简介：张馨文（1994.08-），女，四川绵阳人，西华师范大学英语（师范）专业，本科生。