回复：翻译《月亮代表我的心》歌词

来源: 环绕自然于 2014-03-25 13:55:39 [档案] [博客] [旧帖] [给我悄悄话] 本文已被阅读：次 (1497 bytes)

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回答: 翻译《月亮代表我的心》歌词由马下人于 2014-03-24 20:03:41

Good job! This romantic song is so deeply rooted in the Chinese culture; it is very far removed from the American way of love song expression. This song epitomizes the deep culture divide between the traditional Chinese and American expression of amorous peotry. Thus, any attempt to translate this song into English is a tremendous challenge by itself.

Now, let us look at some examples with options as follows:

"你问我爱你有多深", and the translation in this post: "You've asked how deep I loved you". Here are some options to ponder:

In America, when I want to say 我爱你有多深?, I would say: "How much do I love you?". The key difference is "how much" vs. "how deep" when it comes to expressing love in English.

Another gentle comment is about the use of "moon shines". In American culture, moonshine is often connected to something wimpy; it is not very romantic at all. While traditional Chinese culture considers the moon as a symbol of romance and love, we must be careful when it comes to using "moon shines on something" to express love. Because for American ladies, it is wimpy, rather than romantic.

I shall go no further and stop right here, before I get into deep trouble. For those who disagree with me, please just ignore my comment.