英语政治演讲的语言特点和翻译方法

N

学科分类号

050201

题

目

英语政治演讲的语言特点和翻译方法

二○一

年

月

DECLARATION

I, ?/??, the undersigned, hereby declare that this essay does not contain any material which

has been accepted for the award of any other higher degree or graduate diploma in any tertiary

institution

and

that,

to

the

best

of

my

knowledge

and

belief,

this

essay

does

not

contain

any

material previously published or written by another person, except when due reference is made

in the text of the essay.

Signed:

Dated:

CONTENTS

Abstract in English

…........ .............………………………………………………..

...... .................1

Abstract

in

Chinese.................. .................................................. ................................2

Ⅰ

Introduction…................... .................................................. ..........................

............. .......3

1.1

Research Background

…………………………………………………… …………

..

…

....3

1.2

Research Purpose

< br>………………………………………………………………

..

……

.

…

..3

1.3 Research Significance

……… ………………………

...

…………………………………

...3

Ⅱ

.

Theoretical F

rameworks……………… ……………………………………………………

...4

2.1 The Definition of Phatic Communion

……………………… ……………………………

.4

2.2 The Origin of Phatic Co mmunion

…………………………………………………

..

……

4

Ⅲ

. Differences between Chinese and English Phatic Communion

……… ………………

.

………

5

3.1 Different Backgrounds of Different Phatic Communion between Chinese and Western

ultures…………

..

< br>………………………………………………………………

..

………

5

3.2

Chinese

and

Western

Thinking

in

Different

Ways

on

the

Different

Causes

by

the

Traditional G

reetings………

.

…………………………………………………………

..

…

7

3.3

Different

Communicative

Habits

due

to

Differences

in

Greetings

between

China

and

America ………………………………………………………………………

.

……

..

…

....8

Ⅳ

.

Conclusion......…………… …......…………………..........……………..…………

.... .

…

..

…

1 0

Bibliography......................... .................................................. .................................................. ......11

Acknowledgements

……… ………………………………………………………………

.

….. .....1

2

I

贵州师范学院毕业论文（设计）

Abstract

In the 21

st

century,

with the advance of human society and the progress of

technology,

the international communication between

China and

other

countries

has

become

more

frequent

than

before.

Owing

to

rapid

development

of

information

technology

and

globalization,

people

are

not

merely

satisfied

with

knowing what happened in their own national political circle. Political speeches,

especially

English

political

speeches,

as

the

major

media

to

spread

political

thoughts

and

report

political

events,

are

capable

of

making

people

know

more

about international politics.

Due

to

linguistic

and

cultural

limitations,

however,

Chinese

audiences

or

readers cannot understand political speeches in foreign language very well. Thus,

the Chinese translation of English political speech is attached great significance.

Under the current background of fast- paced lifestyle, the conciseness and the

generality

of

English

political

speeches

allow

readers

to

acquire

more

political

information

within

the

precious

time.

The

appropriate

translated

version

of

English political speech will determine whether the original political speeches can

draw

readers

’

attention

or

not.

Therefore,

the

translation

of

English

political

speeches is becoming especially important.

.

Keywords:

English

political

speech;

linguistic

features;

comparison

between

English political speeches and Chinese political speeches; translation strategies

1

贵州师范学院毕业论文（设计）

摘

要

进入

21

世 纪以来，人类社会不断进步，科技发展日新月异，尤其是国际

间的交流日益频繁。资讯科 技和全球化的迅速发展使得人们不单单满足于了

解本国政界所发生的事情。政治演讲，尤 其是英语政治演讲，作为一种表达

政治思想和报道政治事件的主要传播媒介，能使人们知 道更多世界上的政治

问题。

然而由于语言和文化的局限，

中国观 众或读者并不能很好地读懂外语政治

演讲。因此，英语政治演讲的汉译在促进国际交流方 面便起到了极为关键的

作用。

在当今快节奏生活的大背景下，

英语 政治演讲的简练性和概括性能够让读

者在宝贵时间内获得更多政治信息！对英语政治演讲 进行适当的汉译也决定

了能否吸引中国读者。所以英语政治演讲的翻译也就尤为重要。< /p>

关键词：

英 语政治演讲的语言特点

;

中文政治演讲与英语政治演讲的比较< /p>

;

翻

译策略

2

贵州师范学院毕业论文（设计）

Ⅰ

. Introduction

1.1 Definitions of Political Speech

Political speech is a crucial type of public speaking. It is specific for the manifestation of

the

standpoint

and

proposition

in

the

field

of

domestic

political

affairs

and

diplomatic

relationships. Namely, the speeches are made by politicians or delegates of some organizations

or authorities who intend to convey some political propositions and viewpoints. The remarkable

political speech like

I have a dream,

made by Martin Luther King.

1.2 Characteristics of English Political Speech

Generally

speaking,

there

are

totally

three

characteristics

of

political

speech.

It

will

be

beneficial for us to comprehend political speech by mastering their characteristics.

1.2.1 Political Topics

This type of speech refers to some vital politic issues which relate to nation, party, reform,

peace

and

progress.

Speakers

should

clearly

express

their

political

inclination,

declare

their

political opinions, and try every effort to control the general direction of historical development.

1.2.2 Motivational Contents

This

type

of

speech

has

certain

politic

purpose

that

makes

audience

acquaint

with

the

administrative program or politic standpoints. Then, the speaker could gain the understanding

and support of audiences,

which is

the

most

basic purpose of speech. Therefore, this type of

speech has the feature of motivational contents and emotional persuasion.

1.2.3 Precise Logics

The

inspiring

political

speech

needs

to

demonstrate

the

unimpeachable

logicality

in

the

process

of

raising,

analyzing

and

solving

the

political

problem.

Only

in

the

logical

way

can

make the political speech more reasonable and acceptable to audiences.

1.3 Functions and Use of Political Speech

Firstly, politicians make a political speech to clarify their political ideas, policies as well as

targets of their administration. Accordingly, they may gain the understanding and support of the

voters

and

the

populace.

This

kind

of

speech

is

usually

conveyed

to

the

public

by

media

in

political rallies, campaign sites on some special memorial days. Secondly, political speech must

express

certain

standpoints

so

that

it

could

catch

people

’

s

attention

and

increase

the

relevant

party

’

s support rate. Finally, delivering political speech can make politicians

’

views come true,

increase their political awareness as well.

3

贵州师范学院毕业论文（设计）

Ⅱ

. The linguistic Features of English Political Speech

2.1 Rhetoric Features of English Political Speech

Rhetoric is originated from the fourth century B.C, and it just referred to oral presentation

skills

at

that

time,

which

people

used

to

say

―

argumentation

‖

.

In

Rhetoric,

Aristotle

ever

defined

rhetoric

as

a

function

of

persuasion

that

could

be

found

in

any

question

(Roberts,1924:281-286). At the end of 17

th

century, Jone Locke, an English philosopher called

rhetoric as

―

oratory

‖

< br>, which is a kind of art that can express decency, grace and power(Huang,

1996:2).

2.1.1 The Usage of Parallelism

Parallelism

is

one

rhetoric

method

that

is

the

most

useful

linguistic

form

to

achieve

the

purpose of emphasis. In other words, it is the most suitable rhetoric method for English political

speech. This

form

may

gather

sentences

or

parts

of

speech

such

as

nouns,

adjectives

and

verbs. The

usage

of

parallelism

makes

people

feel

more

exciting

through

the

strong

sense

of

linguistic rhythm.

What

’

s

more,

it

also

could

make

speech

more

concise

and

make

sentence

structures more balanced.

For example, Marin

Luther King used ―

Now is the time to

…

”

four

times

in

his

speech

to

emphasize

that

it’s

time

for

black

people

to

wake

up

and

conduct

revolution,

it’s

time for American government to fulfill its promise, to abolish race segregation

as well as to require equality and freedom. The paralleled sentences successfully enhance the

momentum of language, stress things and create a strong sense of pictures.

2.1.2 The Usage of Repetition

Speakers use repetition with the purpose of emphasizing a certain meaning or highlighting

a certain emotion, which could draw the

readers’

or listeners’

attention by repeating key words

and

key

concepts

so that they

could

have

a

profound

impression. For

example, you

could

see the repetition

of

the

topic

sentence

in Hillary

Clinton

’

s

campaign

usage

of

repetition could make the whole speech more cohesive and coherent.

What’s m

ore, it is useful

for listeners to remember the aim of the rally, speak out our common people

’

s desires: everyone

has the right of democracy, freedom and equality.

2.1.3 The Usage of Alliteration

The

major

rhetoric

in

phonological

speech

is

alliteration

and

sound

symbolism.

Alliteration

is

the

repetition

of

the

same

letter

at

the

beginning

of

two

or

more

words

immediately succeeding

each other, or at

short intervals

in

order to

strengthen the rhythm of

4

贵州师范学院毕业论文（设计）

speech. In

fact,

delivering

a

speech

is

equal

to

saying

something,

thus

it’s

necessary

to

place

emphasis on

rhyme

so

that

the

speech

could

be

catchy. It

is

rhyme

that

endows

the

whole

speech

with

strong

tempos,

sonorous

tones

and

inspirations. For

example,

―

we

should

not

demean

our

democracy

with

the

politics

of

distraction,

denial

and

despair.

‖

This

sentence

is

addressed by AL Gore, the vice president of the US, there are five words with the same letter

―

d

‖

. These alliterated words strengthen the rhyme, mood as well as connotation of the sentence,

which form phonetical alignment.

2.1.4 The Application of Simile

In order to achieve common sense, English political speeches have to pay attention to the

structure of sentences. There are a variety of sentence structures and figures of speech. Among

them,

simile

and

metaphor

are

often

used

in

English

political

speeches,

politicians

often

use

them

to

make

the

speech

more

lively

and

understandable.

Therefore,

the

speech

will

be

accepted

more

easily.

For

example,

in

order

to

show

his

negative

judgments

toward

racial

segregation

and

discrimination,

Martin

Luther

King

use

―a

bad

check‖

and

―insufficient

funds‖

to symbolize the delay of keeping a promise,

―

a lonely island‖

and

―dark and desolate

valley‖

to symbolize racial segregation and discrimination,

―sweltering summer‖

to symbolize

the

speaker

’

s

dissatisfaction

and

negative

judgement

of

racial

segregation

and

racial

discrimination. On the other hand, the speaker compared racial justice to

―the sunlit path‖

. He

also

compared

equality

to

―an

invigorat

ing

autumn,‖

thus

to

show

his

strong

longing

for

democracy, freedom and equality. To sum up, application of simile can connect abstract theories

with concrete things that people are familiar with, and make common things become vivid and

impressive to receivers.

2.2 Religious Elements

There are many religious factors in English political speeches, which are foreign culture

’

s

reflection

in

communication.

Religion

is

an

inseparable

part

of

western

culture.

In

their

inauguration

speeches,

presidents

often

hope

to

make

their

speeches

more

attractive

and

persuasive

with

the

help

of

God

’

s

power.

That

is

the

reason

why

there

are

lots

of

religious

elements in English political speeches. Barack Obama quoted directly from Bible many times in

his inaugural speech to make his words more convincible. By arousing people

’

s sympathy with

some

religious

beliefs,

Obama

’

s

speech

may

encourage

people

to

gain

confidence

about

the

new

government

in

the

matter

of

tackling

the

crisis

and

reconstructing

a

bright

future.

For

example, he says:

―

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come

5