A Comparison between the Jerome Model and Horace Model

【Abstract】：Translation serves for the purpose of communication between different languages. Over the years， different theories have been used by translators and interpreters to make sure the communication is successful or the message is clearly delivered. The Jerome Model and Horace Model can be considered as two important theories in the early ages. In this paper， the author compared the two models and draw the conclusion that no model will fit for all texts. The translator or interpreter should find the most suitable model based on specific text.

【Keywords】： Jerome Model， Horace Model， Comparison

Introduction

Translation is considered to be a bridge between different languages.People adopt different theories to translate. Among all the theories， Jerome Model and Horace Model can be considered as the ancestors. This paper will give a brief introduction of these two models and compare the similarities and differences of these two models based on some examples.

Part I Jerome Model

Jerome model is named after Saint Jerome. He is best known for his translation of most of the Bible into Latin， and his commentaries on the Gospels. Jerome model emphasizes the concept of equivalence. It requires a faithful interpretation of one text into the other. Under this model， the role of good dictionaries has been enlarged. Faithfulness is insured by good dictionaries and the training of translators is considered to be worthless. It defines a translation as “faithful to the text”， “stick to the word-for-word translation”， and “elevates faithfulness to the central position， to the exclusion of many other factors”. （Bassnett Lefevere，2001） This model seems to be too extreme when we look back now， but it made great sense back then because it was applied to the translation of Bible， which was sacred text. The translator has to convey the exact original meaning to the target reader. The translation is limited to the linguistic level only. The strict word matching feature can be used to check the strength and weakness of a translation and used to check the criteria in the first stage of translation teaching and study. We can take a look at the following examples using Jerome Model in the translation：

Example 1：

SL： In Bible the Genesis “And God said： ‘Let there be light，’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good， and he separated the light from the darkness he called ‘night’. And there was evening， and there was morning—the first day. ” （Liu， 1991）

TL：在《圣經》的《創世紀》里“神說：‘要有光。’就有了光。神看光是好的，就把光暗分開了。神稱光為‘晝’，稱暗為‘夜’。有晚上，有早晨，這是第一日。”（Liu，1991）

Example 2：

breathe one's last：斷氣，go to one's eternal rest：安息，the long sleep：長眠，pass away：去世，see Marx：見馬克思，see one's ancestors：見祖先，go west：歸西，go to heaven：進天國，kick the bucket：蹬腿 （Ashby， 2009） .

The verb “die” has so many different expressions both in English and Chinese. As we can tell， these translations are typically Jerome Model. The translations maintain almost every word in the original text. By using these euphemisms， these versions have fulfilled the aim of comforting the feelings of the remaining relatives of the dead and the desire of avoiding saying infelicity in countries which highly uphold courtesy. Moreover， this model vividly expressed the spirit in the original texts.

Part II Horace Model

The Horace model is named after Quintus Horatius Flaccus. Horace model is historically predates the Jerome model but has been overshadowed by it for about fourteen centuries. Under this model， a “fidus” translator/interpreter was one who could be trusted， who got the job done on time and to the satisfaction of both parties. （Bassnett Lefevere，2001） He argued that translation should not be faithful to the source text but to its customers. The activity of translation should arrive at a kind of negotiation between two kinds of cultures and readers； otherwise， the communication will collapse. As a result， the core of the Horace Model is completely against the traditional theory of faithfulness associated with equivalence. However， owning to the limited conditions at that time， such negotiation is not absolutely equal. In the Horatian model there is no sacred text， but there definitely is a privileged language， namely Latin. This implies that negotiation does not take place on absolutely equal terms. In the modern world， the privileged language has been changed into English. Translations into English， particularly from third world languages， are almost invariably slanted toward English， thus created the so-called “Holiday Inn Syndrome” and build the “cultural capital” of the western civilization. （Bassnett Lefevere，2001） For one thing， the translation can be easily understood by the target audience. The context is fully considered and the meaning can be assured. For another， this will lead to a problem that the original style may be changed and thus the original text with a foreign and exotic taste is missing. Below are some examples using Horace model in translation：

揮金如土-to spend money like water； 笑掉牙齒-to laugh off one' s head； Jack of all trades-萬金油； apple polisher -馬屁精 （Yang， 2005）

These idioms or phrases are good examples of serving the audience or the target culture. From the perspective of culture exchange， people’s understanding towards information relies on the culture presupposition. Target language readers use his cultural knowledge to understand the translation. This requires the translator and interpreter to think from their perspectives and use the foreignization strategy. For example： “water” is used to show how fast the money flows， as dirt or mud doesn’t have this connotation in English. If Jack of all trades is translated as “做很多種生意的杰克”， Chinese readers will get confused. “萬金油” is a vivid version and will be accepted by the reader immediately.

As discussed above， Horace model is important to be the bridge of two different cultures. The readers will feel so grateful this model is used so they don’t need too much effort to understand.

Conclusion

It would be too arbitrary to say which model is better than the other. These two models are not conflict with each other. Rather， they are complementary and serve at different occasions to make the translation successful， in a sense that the intended message is successfully delivered to another language and the audience gets it. Both of them pursue the faithfulness and equivalence， but the subject is different： Jerome model is to the source text while Horace model is to the customer. The translator should choose the best suitable model according to the specific source texts and the customers.

Reference：

[1] Ashby， Michael. Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary [M]. Beijing： The Commercial Press. 2009

[2] Bassnet， Susan and Lefevere， Andre. Constructing Cultures—Essays on Literary Translation [M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2001

[3]劉重德.文學翻譯十講[M].北京：中國對外翻譯出版有限公司，1991

[4]楊曉紅.英漢文化詞語差異及其翻譯模式[J].社科縱橫.2005.2

作者簡介：趙潤興（1984-），女，漢族，云南省騰沖人，助教，昆明醫科大學海源學院，研究方向：翻譯理論與實踐。