Domestication and Foreignization of the Translation in Harry Potter

張安琦

【Abstract】In this essay， I am going to do some research about the effect of the Domestication and Foreignization of the magic words translation in Harry Potter. Harry Potter is my favorite book both in childhood and now. It is a series of fantasy novel written by British writer J. K. Rowling. It tells about the life of Harry Potter with his friend Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Domestication and foreignization are two ways in translation， regarding the degree to which translators make a text conform to the target culture. It is the translation made me feel the charm of the book. This book was my favorite book in childhood， and I really appreciate the translators skills to translate this book. The essay includes spells， magic animals， magic items and names four parts. Each part is divided into Domestication and Foreignization two aspects. The research method of this essay includes comparative analysis， exemplification， induction and literature summarization.

【Key words】Harry Potter； magic words； domestication； foreignization； effect

Introduction

Harry Potter is a story about love and courage. At the beginning of the whole story， Harry thought himself was just an ordinary orphan who had to live with his annoying uncle. Until a professor of Hogwarts who named Hagrid came to find him and told him that he was actually a wizard， everything changed. He met his best friends in Hogwarts and found the sense of belonging in there. At the same time， there was a devil named Voldemort who killed many innocent nice people included Harrys parents. Because a prediction of a crystal ball which said the boy born in July was the chosen one， Harry was regarded as the boy who lived. So Voldemort did everything to kill him. But justice is always there. People set up the order of Phoenix and fight for freedom and peace. Professors in Hogwarts especially Dumbledore helped Harry o lot. Fortunately at last Harry used his courage and intelligence to kill Voldemort.

There are many magic words created by J.K. Rowling in that book. Translators of that book are Ma Ainong and her sister Ma Aixin. They both were English major students so that they are able to translate rigorously. It was the translated version made me fall in love with this book. The essay includes spells， magic animals， magic items and names four parts. Each part is divided into Domestication and Foreignization two aspects.

I. Spells

1.1 Domestication

Spells is one of the most attractive parts in Harry Potter. When I was young， I always held a branch and imaged it was a wand then shouted out the spells in the book. Although now I am an adult and I know there is no magic in the world， I am still interested in these fantastic spells Rowling created. The Chinese version of these spells are also catchy which indicates the efforts translator made. So I am going to talk about the domestication in the translation of spells.

The first spell I want to mention here is Imperio. Imperio is a word comes from Latin “impero” which means to command or direct. In Harry Potter it is a devil spell and it is also one of unforgivable spells. When you cast Imperio on people， you can completely control him. It is a very horrible spell， because the spell caster can make the victim do anything without suspect from other people. Once upon a time， Professor Moody taught students in Hogwarts about the unforgivable spells. He used a spider to show the impact. When he cast Imperio on that spider， he could let the spider do anything even jump out of the window and kill itself. It is just like your soul is gone. The Chinese translation is “魂魄出竅”which means your soul is out of your body. “魂”in Chinese means soul and “魄”means a kind of spirit depends on humans body. In the ancient time， people in China already had this word. They thought when your soul was gone then you were dead. In Harry Potter it just means totally control. The translator use domestication to translate this spell into a word which Chinese people including children are both familiar with. The impact is quite evident that the victim will be dazed and unconscious.

Then I want to talk about Finite Incantatem. This spell can finish another spell. It also comes from Latin. Finite in Latin means to finish and incantatem means spell. In Chinese translation it is “咒立停”. “咒”means spell， “立” means immediately and “停” means stop. It is a little rare because it only has three characters while most Chinese version spells have four characters. The point of this word is that it uses classical Chinese form. So this spell has kind of antique flavor. It will attract more adult to read this book.

1.2 Foreignization

Although using domestication can make Chinese readers have the feeling of familiarity， Harry Potter is still a book with Western background. When there is no word has the same meaning in the original book， the translators at the same time used foreignization to translate the spells.

For example， Tarantallegra is a spell will make you dance. In the Chinese translation it is “塔朗泰拉舞” which is just transliteration. This spell comes from an Italian ill named Talan Tara. When people was bitten by a spider they would come out to the street and dance crazily. One of the dances characteristics was the movements of legs were various which is also a feature of the spell in the book. Since its origin is Italy and China history doesnt have a similar story， the translator just transliterated it. This spell adds some exoticness to the Chinese version and make people imagine that interesting spell and its impact. At the same time readers can also learn some Italian history.

II. Names

2.1 Domestication

Translators always transliterate English name to Chinese. But there are some exceptions in this book. Translators also use domestication to translate names in the books.

Peeves is a naughty ghost lives in Hogwarts. He likes to play pranks on students especially the first year students. Teachers， students even other ghosts dont know how to handle him. So his Chinese translation is “皮皮鬼”. “皮” in Chinese means naughty and impish which totally is a true portrayal of Peeves. I believe that every Chinese has met naughty and disobedient children at least once. So we know how mad you are when you meet Peeves. When Peeves first appears in the book， the translation let us know the personality of Peeves without reading the story of him.

Unlike the mainland version， the Taiwanese translation is more vivid. As for the name， they translated Filch， the gatekeeper of Hogwarts， to “飛七”. “飛” in Chinese means fly. And there is a word “飛賊” in Chinese means a kind of thief who can scale walls and get into houses. And Filch in English means steal actually. And “七” in Chinese means seven which is a mysterious number. And it also suggests Filch is a squib. Filch is a man with bad mood and he likes to set himself against the students. So that students all hate him very much. Maybe because he cant cast spells so he hates the people who can cast. He always moves in such a sneaky way so that he looks just like a thief which is exactly corresponding with his name. The Taiwanese version shows this point.

2.2 Foreignization

Although most of the names translation is transliteration， there are still many problems about it. The advantage is that you can match the names in two versions up but you cant understand the deep meaning in peoples name. For example， Albus in Latin means white. It indicates that Albus Dumbledore is a white wizard and he hated dark very much. So you can see the disadvantages of transliteration here.

III. Magic Items

3.1 Domestication

There are many fantastic magic items in Harry Potter. Harry and his friends use extendable ears to eavesdrop other peoples talk. They use floo powder to travel through fireplaces. They also play gobstones to kill time. I am always looking forward to playing these items even once. The translation attracts me a lot.

I want to talk about a kind of machine first， the sneakoscope. This is a machine when someone around it was telling a lie， it will begin to roll and screaming loudly. It is a tool of defending. The Chinese translation is “窺鏡”. “窺” in Chinese means to look carefully and dont want to be found by other people. Just like the meaning of sneak which means furtive feelings. “鏡” means mirror. And scope indicates an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control. In the book， the scope once helped Harry by warning them someone was around them. Alike the translation， the sneakoscope is a little guard who can observe the environment around it and raise the alarm. Whats more， because it only have two Chinese characters so it gives a delicate impression.

3.2 Foreignization

There are also many items are unique in western culture. For example， the auto-answer quill. In China ancient time， we used brush pens to write. The parchment and quill are western items. So the translation is “自動答題羽毛筆” . “羽毛筆” in Chinese means quills. Therefore the translator here did not change quill into an item with Chinese characteristics but keep the original meaning. It will let the readers of the book learn more about the writing instruments in ancient Britain.

There is another word Muggle which means the people who dont understand magic and also dont believe it. Muggles are always stupid and fatuous. Chinese dont have a same meaning word so the translator used foreignization to translate it into “麻瓜”. “麻” in Chinese means numb. “瓜” in Chinese means “傻瓜” which is kind of fool people. So it indicates the foolishness of Muggles.

Conclusion

In this article， I did some research about the domestication and foreignization of the translation of Harry Potter. I found that domestication and foreignization both have its own impact. If we can use these two ways well， we will translate the literature works appropriately. And the problem of whether keep the original culture or not is the most significant point. Harry Potter is a popular book with the translators skillfully handle of domestication and foreignization.

References：

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