摘要翻译（推荐8篇）
牵引变电所作为电气化铁道的供电电源，是铁路供电系统的重要组成部分，直接影响铁路行车安全。由于所内集中的电气设备较多，发生雷击时，很容易引起设备故障，进而影响铁道供电的安全性和可靠性。因此，可通过将避雷器安装在理想的位置，以防止雷击对牵引变电所内设备造成损害，保证牵引供电系统的安全可靠性。
本设计采用EMTP(The Electromagnetic Transients Program,电磁暂态分析程序)应用软件，以哈大线牵引变电所为例，建立220kV牵引变电所仿真模型，对其雷电侵入波的特性进行仿真分析，比较雷击点、杆塔冲击接地电阻、避雷器安装位置等不同因素对牵引变电所内电气设备上过电压的影响，并根据分析结果确定避雷器的最佳安装点。
根据基于EMTP的牵引变电所仿真模型，针对不同避雷器设置方案对雷电侵入波防护效果的模拟和分析结果，选择的最佳避雷器安装方案为：在变压器和互感器入口处均设置避雷器。
关键词：摘要,翻译,豪斯
一、豪斯翻译质量评估体系简介
豪斯翻译质量评估理论的核心思想是译文与原文的功能对等。豪斯提出“译文若要与原文对等, 应该具有与原文同等的功能———既包括概念功能也包括人际功能的对等。而且, 这种功能对等应该通过相同的语用学手段来实现”。[1]简而言之, 就是用相同“手段”实现相同“功能”。
首先, 豪斯参考了系统功能语言学理论, 将语域 (register) 理论引入修正模式。将各个评估参量分别嵌入到语场、语旨和语式三个范畴中:语场中嵌入主题与社会行为参量;语旨中嵌入作者时间的、社会的、地理的出身及其个人立场, 社会角色关系, 以及社会态度参量;语式中嵌入语言媒介与介入程度两个参量。[2]同时, 豪斯也将体裁 (genre) 的概念引入该模式, 以强化语篇功能。豪斯认为应该首先从词汇的, 句法的以及语篇的三个层次对原文各个参量进行逐一分析, 然后同样分析译文, 最后通过原文与译文分析结果的对比, 得出结论报告。豪斯用下面的图概括了修正模式的操作流程。
其次, 豪斯提出了显性翻译与隐性翻译的概念。显性翻译即指译文读者能够明显感觉到自己阅读的是译文文本而非原文文本, 译者为了向读者呈现原文的语言的, 文化的特点, 为了让读者体会异域文化, 不去对文化差异进行任何处理, 尽量保留原貌。显性翻译多用于文学作品的翻译。隐性翻译则指译者对原文中可能引起目标语言读者理解障碍的语言成分进行处理, 使译文读者与原文读者体会到完全相同的文本功能, 译文读者并不能明显体会到自己读到的是译文而非原文。
再次, 豪斯引入了跨文化交际研究以及对比语用学研究的成果, 在隐性翻译的文化差异处理中, 提出了“文化过滤” (culture filter) 概念。
二、豪斯翻译质量评估模式对摘要翻译的指导意义
1. 首先我们要确定摘要翻译是显性翻译还是隐性翻译:
摘要的原文语言必须是学术的, 规范的语言。英文译本是以学术的国际交流为目的的, 译文读者需要与原文读者感受到相同的信息及文本功能。因此, 摘要翻译显然属于隐性翻译。
2. 豪斯认为隐性翻译中译者必须考虑是否需要文化过滤。
豪斯强调文化过滤必须慎重使用, 盲目的应用会适得其反。由于摘要语言的规范性, 摘要语言不应该包含作者个人生活中的个性化语言特点, 例如作者的口头常用语, 方言俚语等。文化过滤即便应用也很少会应用在字词的处理上, 而是应用在语法差异上。例如:
原文:到清代晚期, 黑龙江的广袤地域仍然被史称“窝集”的原始森林覆盖着,
译文:Till the late Qing Dynasty, the vast area was still covered by the Primitive forest called“Woji”.
原文中的词汇“窝集”带有明显的地域文化特色, 是英文读者陌生的文化元素, 但是译者保留了这个名词, 没有使用文化过滤, 这是非常正确的作法, 因为专有名词具有不可替代的特点。
3. 语场中各参量的指导意义
豪斯利用语场的概念来分析原文与译文的概念功能, 即作者是如何在词汇、句式以及语篇三个层次来服务主题的。豪斯指出, 有的语篇靠句子之间的句首重复来实现衔接, 而有的语篇, 靠句子之间的结构重复来实现衔接, 不同的衔接手段会对文章产生不同的影响, 例如不同衔接手段可以突出不同的重点。因此译者需要谨记衔接手段的意义, 尽量重现原文的语篇结构。下面, 本文将从语料库中抽取实例来分析说明语场中各参量的现实指导意义:
原文:该地区土地肥沃、气候适宜、光照充足, 具有良好地农业生产条件, 素有“北大仓”之称。
译文:This region has fertile land and a suitable climate, adequate illumination, which is good for agricultural production.So it is known as a big granary in north China.
从词汇的层次, 我们需要严格地考虑每个汉字的概念功能, 以原文中的“素”字为例, 它在原文中的含义可以根据新华字典理解为“向来”, 那么这个概念是否在译文中成功体现出来了呢?遗憾的是没有完全体现出来, 译文中将它变成了“it is known as”, 原文的措辞偏于强调“历史悠久”, 而译文偏于强调“广为人知”。这属于概念功能的不对等 (mismatch) .
从句子的层次, 原文连用了三个四字格来表达这一地区农业生产条件的优越性:土地肥沃, 气候适宜, 光照充足。这种句式的优势在于突出、明了。那么译文是否成功复制了这一句式呢, 表面上看句式是一致的, 作者连续用了三个二字格来复制原文的四字格句式, 但由于两种语言语法的差异, 并没有原文突出性强, 我们不妨比较另外一种译文“With fertile land, suitable climate, and adequate illumination, this region has good agricultural production condition.在突出优势的功能上, 两个译文中后者的作用更强些。
4. 语旨中各参量的指导意义
豪斯利用语旨的概念来分析人际功能。首先, 分析作者的个人立场, 即作者个人对语篇内容的看法。论文摘要的作者当然是对自己的论文持肯定的态度, 力求通过摘要忠实全面而且准确地概括论文内容。那么为了重现这种人际功能, 译者应注意情态动词的使用, 尽量避免语气上、程度上的任何偏差。
其次, 分析社会角色关系, 在这个参量中, 豪斯会分析作者与读者的角色关系, 是平等的还是非平等的。摘要的作者是以学术权威的姿态写作, 还是以探讨者姿态写作会影响原文作者的措辞, 也需要译者捕捉到这种措辞选择。
最后, 分析社会态度。豪斯将社会态度划分为冷淡 (frozen) 、正式 (formal) 、探讨 (consultative) 、随意 (casual) 及亲密 (intimate) 五个等级。论文的读者是广泛而不确定的, 那么合格的摘要中, 作者的社会态度不会是随意 (casual) 或者亲密 (intimate) , 而应是正式的 (formal) 。译者需要配合原文的社会态度来选择词汇和语法。本文选取语料库中一处实例来佐证上述分析:
原文:林业经济在形成发展过程中缺乏一种自觉的意识, 缺乏相应的经济政策的引导和外部经济环境等因素的配合, 加上林业经济自身的脆弱性, 民族资本主义没有得到充分的发展, 缺乏发展的后劲, 始终处于一个被动的肤浅的层次。
译文:Forestry economy is lack of self-consciousness during its development, and is lack of direction of correspondent economic policy and external cooperation of economic environment.Together with the fragility of forestry economy, the inadequate of national capitalism, lack of stamina of development, forestry economy stays in a passive and shallow situation.
根据豪斯的理论, 不难看出作者的立场是理性客观看待问题, 与读者的社会角色关系为平等关系, 没有权威语气, 社会态度为正式。从词汇层次上, 译者通过一些动词及形容词的名词化来很好地体现了这些特点, 例如cooperation, fragility。
参考文献
[1]HOUSE, JULIANE.A Model for Translation Quality Assessment[M].Germany:GunterNarr Verlag Tubingen, 1977.
[2]屠国元, 王飞虹.跨文化交际与翻译评估——J.House《翻译质量评沽 (修正) 模式》述介[J].中国翻译, 2003 (1) .
Abstract:Whether the bank operates well depends on the public confidence, i.e. the bank credit worthiness. In-creasing bank capital adequacy and maintaining the stable bank income inflow, the steady support and guaranteed quality,etc. are the means to raise and maintain the bank credit worthiness. In our country the bank capital adequacy has not yetbeen up to the international standards; the credit asset quality is low; the profit is yearly decreased, and the state creditworthiness guarantee has become the key factor of prudently operating the state bank. Posterior to the accession to WTO,with the opening up of banking businesses, the role of the state credit worthiness guarantee has been weakening and itswithdrawal is faced with a series of difficulties.
Key Words: guaranteed state credit worthiness; state bank; capital fund; guaranteed deposit system
本文以000岩质边坡工程为实例，依据其地质模型，基于赤平投影与实体比例投影方法建立其力学模型，对该边坡可能破坏模式予以分析，重点探讨了四面体形式的楔形体破坏模式与五面体形式的楔形体破坏模式，同时研究了在两种破坏模式地下水对边坡稳定性的影响，对边坡在各种工况下稳定性进行分析与评价。
关键词：岩体地质模型 边坡岩体 岩体稳定性 楔形体破坏 赤平投影 实体比例投影
The paper is mainly focused on the geological model of rock mass. It involves rock mass structural[fabric] model, slope geometry model and external influence factors that destabilize the slope; an analysis was conducted on the types of slope failure due to excessive deformation and its mechanism; slope stability using wedge failure model for different cases was discussed in the paper.
XXX rock slope project was adopted for geological modeling. The possible slope failure type was determined based on the geological model and mechanical model derived from stereonet analysis and scaled entity projection technique. Tetrahedral and pentahedral wedge failure models were adopted in the slope stability analysis. Impact of groundwater on the stability of slope was also studied in the models, and slope stability for different cases was evaluated.
This paper is mainly used to introduce specific examples of the value of the function for seven Methods: ① discriminant; ② allocation method; ③ inequality;
④ Triangle substitution; ⑤ Shuoxingjiege; ⑥ structure; ⑦ derivative method. We seek function in the value should be based on the characteristics of subjects,
choosing appropriate pondering issues from the perspective of flexibility in the use of various methods skills. this way, it is conducive to optimizing the quality
of our thinking, and nurture our sense of innovation and enhance our thinking abilities.
关键词：KTV；现代风格
The graduation project of KTV is mainly about modern style,which is different from other works.Modern style can keep up with the trend of contemporary fashion.Compared with common KTV , the difference is that it lays more emphasis(强调)on the distinctive
英文摘要是论文的有机组成部分。联合国教科文组织提出:全世界公开发表的科技论文, 不管用何种文字写成, 都必须附一篇短小精悍的英文摘要。我国国家标准GB7713-87《科学技术报告、学位论文和学术论文的编写格式》中也规定:报告、论文一般均应有摘要, 为了国际交流, 还应有外文 (多用英文) 摘要。此外, 现今国际上各主要检索机构的数据库对英文摘要也有很强的依赖性。这些检索机构的索引期刊每年选录大量科技论文的英文摘要。合格的英文摘要被国际著名检索系统收录后, 可以通过检索系统的平台被全球共享, 为国际学者提供非英文期刊文献学习的机会。而且随着计算机、多媒体、网络等高新科技的快速发展与广泛应用, 英文摘要可以通过互联网被国外读者检索和利用。总之, 英文摘要可以通过上述渠道使其附着的论文乃至期刊走向国际化, 得到价值的充分发挥。
然而, 由于作者对英文及英文摘要翻译水平及能力存在种种问题, 英文摘要的翻译也可以说是五花八门、参差不齐。很多学者也对此从不同角度进行过探讨[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]。笔者将结合《灾害学》杂志论文摘要英文翻译多年的工作经验, 对《灾害学》杂志2010—2014年5年共计20期644篇采用稿件的英文摘要 (作者来自不同专业及不同年龄段, 有一定的代表性) 作了统计分析, 总结归纳出存在的主要问题并对相关问题的解决办法作了探讨。
一、摘要英文翻译中存在的问题
统计结果显示, 《灾害学》杂志科技论文摘要的英文翻译主要存在以下4类问题: (1) 机器翻译; (2) 英文较差学者自己翻译; (3) 英语水平较高, 甚至有留学经历, 专业基础好的学者自己翻译; (4) 找英语专业的学者翻译。
二、问题实例及解决的办法
1. 机器翻译
有较小一部分作者, 信赖或者说依赖现代翻译软件, 只是简单地将中文摘要输入翻译软件, 做机器翻译后复制到论文中。比如, “磨西河泥石流堵塞大渡河最小的一次过程总量为84.26万m3……”的翻译为“West River stone grinding flow blockage of a total of 842600 m3minimum of Dadu river……”不难发现, 该作者的翻译完全是机器翻译的产物。显而易见, 这样的翻译结果是词汇的简单按序堆砌, 语法必然存在这样那样的错误。建议翻译为:“The debris flow process of the minimum amount happened in Moxi River that blocked Dadu River up is of842600 M3……”又如:“通过对汶川8.0级地震发生后西安、成都地区的高层建筑震害调查, ……”翻译为“Through the Wenchuan after the earthquake by Xi'an, Chengdu areahigh-rise buildings earthquake damage surveys……”这明显是机器翻译的产物, 错误百出。翻译为“Based on investigation of seismic damage of high-rise buildings in Xi'an and Chengdu regions after Wenchuan M8 earthquake……”较好。对此类摘要, 需要完全放弃, 彻底重新翻译。
2. 英文较差学者自己翻译
有些学者, 是某学科领域的佼佼者, 专业水平高, 但英语较差。统计显示, 绝大部分这类作者的年龄段主要集中在50岁左右。这也是该年龄段无留学经历学者的特征, 与当时国内主要倾向于应试教育的英语教学体系相关, 读写能力较强, 听说能力较弱, 只在大学及以上才会学习一点英汉互译, 但仅涉及皮毛。另外一部分这类作者, 是年纪较轻、精于专业的研修、英语水平一般的, 对自己论文摘要做的英文翻译, 待改进之处颇多。例如, “针对重大自然灾害预测预报的世界难题, 在可公度方法的基础上, 提出时间对称性观点。”被翻译为“For the world's problems of major natural disaster forecasting, Time symmetry point of view is put forward by this paper.”该文作者50多岁, 是一名教授, 语法不过关。翻译为“According to the world's problem of the prediction and forecast of major natural disasters, a time symmetry point is put forward on the basis of commensurability method.”较好。另外, “在陕西省凤翔县五曲湾滑坡的滑带土中发现一段树根。”被翻译为“Found a segment of tree root from the sliding soil of Wuquwan landslide in fengxiang county, shanxi province.”作者30多岁, 硕士研究生, 英语水平明显较差。建议翻译为“A root was found in the slip soil of the landslide happened in Wuquwan of Fengxiang County in Shaanxi Province.”较合理。这类英文摘要需要对其大部分进行重新翻译, 小部分进行修改完善。
3. 英语水平高, 甚至有留学经历学者的翻译
统计资料中, 有部分作者英语水平较高, 甚至有留学经历。这些作者自己完成的摘要英文翻译, 从英语文本的角度来看, 是规范、合格, 甚至是优秀的。但是, 由于他们对编辑出版知识完全不了解, 而期刊科技论文恰恰又是在出版编辑规范制约之下, 所以, 这类作者的英文摘要需要从编辑出版的角度加以修改。例如, 某论文的作者是一位博士, 副教授, 有留美学习的经历, 无可置疑其英文水平及专业水平都较高。该作者稿件的中文摘要共计256字, 英文摘要共计261字。其英语文本无可挑剔, 对小词的运用较好。只是, 该英文摘要的篇幅过长, 需要精简。需要指出的是, 英文摘要应尽量简洁。报道性摘要囊括的信息较多, 涉及论文的内容、重点、数据、方法及结果等, 一般需100—150个词, 更确切地说, 为论文长度的1%—5%较为合理。美国著名的工程索引Ei (Engineering Index) 的入选标准对论文摘要的撰写有详细的规定:用于学报论文的报道性摘要需涵盖主题、研究范围、方法、结果和结论, 长度宜不超过150个英语单词。所以, 摘要的英文翻译应该在准确翻译的基础上, 字字斟酌, 力求短小精悍。统计数据中, 另外一位学者的英文摘要, 语法正确、专业术语应用自如, 应该是英语水平较高的专业学者。但是, 其英文摘要只是基于中文摘要的文本翻译, 有些地方的表述和其中文翻译完全一致, 需要通过阅读论文正文中的相关部分才能够明白。英文摘要虽然基于中文摘要, 却应该具有高于中文摘要, 具有完全的独立性。科技论文对中文摘要的独立性要求不是非常严格, 因为论文是由中文写成的, 其摘要虽为独立语篇, 但完全可以含有独立性不是特别强的语句, 因为读者可以非常方便地阅读原文, 了解这些语句指代的具体内容。英文摘要则不然, 它必须是一篇完完全全独立的短文, 因为科技论文的国际读者仅能通过英文摘要来了解论文的内容, 确定是否继续阅读该文的决定。独立性欠缺的英文摘要必然会给国际读者带来理解上的偏差, 有可能误导读者放弃阅读论文或选择阅读本不需要的论文, 英文摘要也因此丧失了其指引功能, 形同虚设。由此可见, 论文摘要的英译过程, 不能完全对照中文摘要而进行翻译, 应该基于论文内容, 在中文摘要的基础上将其改译成一篇内容完全独立的摘要文章。处理这类作者的英文摘要, 在做好文本基础翻译校对的基础上, 了解编辑出版规范, 对英文摘要做编辑出版角度的校对完善即可。
4. 找英语专业的学者翻译
统计显示, 70%以上作者会请英语专业的学者为自己的论文摘要做英语翻译。这样的英文摘要用词严谨、语法正确, 足见译者的专业素养。尽管如此, 由于鲜有英语专业的学者对编辑出版规范有涉猎, 其英文摘要会出现与上述英语水平高, 甚至有留学经历学者的翻译类似的问题———缺乏对英语文本编辑出版角度的修改及完善。例如, “针对地震台站观测系统建设, 从4个方面对避雷技术进行了分析设计。”被翻译为“According to the construction of observatory systems in seismic stations, lightning protection technology is analyzed and designed from four aspects.”这句译文没有瑕疵, 但是“4”在此处翻译成“four”却稍有不妥, 保留其阿拉伯数字形式“4”更好。在科技期刊英文摘要中, 数字的表示有讲究的。用阿拉伯数字 (1, 2, 3, ……) 表示或用文字 (one, two, three, ……) 表示要遵循一定的编辑规则。一般情况下, 1位数 (1至9) 通常用文字 (one, two, three, ……) 来表示, 而多位数 (≥10) 则应尽可能用阿拉伯数字来表示。此外, 与数学符号或单位符号一起出现或具有统计意义的数字, 一般都用阿拉伯数字表示。还有一个这样的例子:“借鉴我国唐山7.8级地震和汶川8.0级地震中遗体应急处置的经验与教训……”被译为“According to the experiences and lessons of emergency managements on victim body disposals of the earthquakes in Tangshan (7.8 in magnitude) and Wenchuan (8.0 in magnitude) , China, …”从英语专业的角度出发, 将“7.8级”翻译为“7.8 in magnitude”也是正确的。英语中类似的表述很多, 比如, “5米长/宽/高”可以表述为“5 meters in length/width/height”。但是, 从地震专业的角度来看, 将7.8级地震表述为“7.8 in magnitude”, 在英语国家中从未出现过, 或者说是不正确的, 不专业的。英文科技论文中, 关于震级的专业表述是这样的:“Four M9 earthquakes hit Kamchatka, Aleutian Islands, Chile, and Alaska in arelatively short period between 1952 and1964.”[11]“Hence, we undertook two additional types of retrospective forecastingexperiments to investigate the reasons, including the possibility that the seismicityrate patternhaschangedafterthe M9mega-earthquake.”[12]这就需要对这类英文摘要, 从编辑出版规范方面加以完善, 对专业术语及表述进行订正。当然, 非专业学者要想对专业术语的英文表述运用自如, 需要耗费巨大的精力去大量阅读国外相关专业论文, 了解专业术语的准确表达。有时遇到汉语都读不太懂的专业论述, 还需要首先通过书籍、网络或者向该领域的专业学者请教, 理清汉语的表达后再进行翻译。这无疑是一项艰难的工作, 但某种程度上也是有很大的可行性的, 因为无论什么样的领域, 涉及的词汇虽然多, 新词汇也会不断随着科技的发展而出现, 但这些专业词汇终归是有限的, 熟练掌握与应用只是时间与功夫的问题。
结束语
文章以《灾害学》2010—2014年英文摘要翻译实例为基础, 探讨了常见的四类问题, 并针对性地提出相应的解决办法, 对类似的翻译工作有一定借鉴作用。英文摘要翻译工作可能会遇到的问题杂而乱, 需要译者在实际工作中不断总结、对症下药, 才能加以很好的解决。
摘要：摘要是科技论文的重要组成部分, 是文章核心内容的精准表述。表述了中文摘要的概念和作用以及英文摘要的必要性和功能。GB/T6447-1986《文摘编写规则》 (摘要) 将其定义为“以提供文章内容梗概为目的, 不加评论和补充解释, 简明、确切地记述文献重要内容的短文。”摘要可以帮助读者了解科技论文的主要内容, 判断该论文是否值得继续阅读, 从而提高阅读效率。基于《灾害学》杂志英文摘要的统计分析, 对英文摘要翻译主要存在的4类问题作了表述并提出了相应的解决办法和建议。
关键词：中文摘要,英文摘要,翻译,问题,解决办法
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Being More Open-minded, More Realistic and Less
Eager for Self-Proclaimed Schools:A Speech at the
2008 China Opera Forum
Iput forward three sentences to encourage the work of the newly founded China Opera Society. First is to be more open-minded. Chinese opera has transformed from the ″Unitary Era″ to the ″Pluralistic Era″ since the opening up and reforms. Since the name of our organization is called ″China″ Opera Society, thus the society should belong to the whole nation, and should be a non-governmental academic organization for the sake of all the Chinese opera artists. It is therefore necessary to recognize in this present age of pluralism the pluralistic orientation of opera concepts, opera thoughts, opera tastes, opera styles and opera forms, with more open-minded outlook covering all the opera workers with various ideas and opinions, so as to truly unite them all and bring their enthusiasm and originality into full play. Such a society would become a home for everyone, where one would work under its direction. Otherwise, a less open-minded society would only unite few artists.
Second is to be more realistic, i.e., to do those more important things that the society is capable of doing. What should we do then? Today＇s forum is one example. Its purpose is to discuss in very serious manners what achievements have been made for Chinese operas, what other issues we should deal with, what their origins are, and how to deal with them, etc. This is what we call ″being realistic″. Such academic discussions should never be despised as they are of great value to the development of opera art.
Under the current difficult situation for Chinese opera where many of the opera houses are turning into enterprises, various issues arise, such as how to transform the opera theatres, what benefits such transformation would bring to the growth of opera production. In my opinion, the aim of such reforms is nothing but as follows: 1) to produce more operas of higher level. Once the reforms succeed, I＇m sure there will be more good productions. 2) to bring up more opera talents through reforms, such as outstanding playwrights, composers, actors and directors; 3) to improve the living and working conditions of opera workers. The success of the reforms depends wholly on these three elements. If after the reforms the workers＇ salary is reduced, no good productions are created, or good talents are leaving because of less interest in opera, then such a reform is by no means successful.
The third sentence is to be less eager for self-proclaimed schools. In the process of preparing for the 2008 China Opera Forum, I heard that someone wanted to write an ″Opera Proclamation″ and proposed the idea of ″Chinese opera school″, to which I expressed my disagreement then.
Do we need the so-called ″Chinese opera school″? I said yes, but not now. Chinese opera artists should have such an ambition, but it is still too early to proclaim it as the condition is not yet ripe for claiming such a school or trend whether in terms of the objective condition that restricts the opera development in China or the subjective condition that is related to opera artists themselves.
We can not proclaim ourselves the ″Chinese opera school″, but rather, it should be an honour offered to you by others or later generations for your achievements as it is supposed to be a scientific conclusion or recognition of any contribution by the Chinese opera art in the history of world opera. Only when we have produced outstanding operatic works of high artistic level with truly Chinese geographic and ethnic characteristics and with representation of the modern times, and when our works are not only welcomed by Chinese audience, but also enjoyed and admired by our foreign counterparts and audience in all different countries, can we say that our ″Chinese opera school″ matures and can be referred to as such by our foreign colleagues, just like the Russian school of music.
A Music Critic Should Be a Good Finder of
Better Music
The first point is, in my view, that a music critic must have a correct criterion of value assessment for such a music form as symphony. Here lies the issue of how to define symphony. In the first place, I think the concept of ″symphony″ should be divided into two aspects： the ″broad″ sense and the ″narrow″ sense of symphony. In the broad sense, all the music performed bya orchestra or symphony orchestra can be called symphony. Just as what we can hear in some of our symphony promotion events, Johann Strauss＇s works such as his waltzes occupy an important position in the genre. And to me, the authentic works of great importance in the field of symphony should be those ″symphonic″ music pieces of great importance, just like symphonies of Beethoven, Shostakovich or Mahler, rather than those small pieces or light music pieces performed by orchestra bands.
The second point is that a music critic must have a high level of professionalism. Criticism on symphony composition differs from media promotions or deliberate sensationalization. It ought to be true words of the professionals with high-level expertise and serious research. Any criticism by laymen may mislead the readers, and therefore would never hold water.
As known to all, symphony composing requires extremely high-level expertise, and it is still developing further with the change of the times. Critics, and, in particular, young scholars dedicated to music criticism, must keep learning professional knowledge before being able to deal with those technically new compositions. Without sufficient knowledge of the new stuff, your writings would fail to get to the point. As composition techniques can be infinite, one should never blame those seemingly strange new techniques as a kind of show-off. It is certainly wrong to show off one＇s techniques as it is commonly seen in some of the modern music works which are often regarded as rubbish stuff, but even in some of the traditional music pieces or those composed in the traditional ways, one may find the same kind of rubbish works in large quantity with much emptiness. Among the traditional music pieces, only a few can remain as classics over the ages. Modern techniques are emerging with the change of the times. However, any exploration into new styles and new techniques is bound to be experimental or even risky, usually aimed at new content and means of expression, and therefore should not be denied at easy disposal. Technique is innocent, and thus should not be blamed. It is definitely deemed to develop as the times go.
The third point is that, if popularization of symphonic music is our great ideal, criticism is then the very bridge linking the profound and beautiful symphony with the general public. For many lovers of symphony, it is only after having read wonderful comments that their interest in symphony is aroused and that, under the guidance of the criticism, they enter the concert halls to enjoy the symphonic music. Taking Beethoven as an example, many people learn about Beethoven and his music from books or talks by critics before they go to listen to his music. In this sense, persuasive criticism on symphony may produce great influence on the public. Symphony critics should play an important role in the divine work of popularizing symphony among the public. Here I want to stress that for criticism, professionalism and popularization are two aspects complementary to each other. Criticism for the purpose of popularization should no doubt be easily accessible to the public, but it must be based on accurate academic orientation, or in other words, it should be both professionally profound and easily accessible to the reader. On the other hand, if it lacks academic ″profoundness″, criticism aimed only at simple understanding and popularization may sometimes be misleading as a result.
