嘉年华的渊源

嘉年华的渊源
嘉年华早在欧洲是一个传统的节日。嘉年华的前身是欧美狂欢节，最早起源于古埃及，后来成为古罗马农神节的庆祝活动。

嘉年华是英文单词Carnival的中文译音，这个美丽的中文名字源于《圣经》中的一个故事：有一个魔鬼把耶稣困在旷野里，40天没有给耶稣吃东西，耶稣虽然饥饿，却没有接受魔鬼的诱惑。后来，为了纪念耶稣在这40天中的荒野禁食，信徒们就把每年复活节前的40天时间作为自己斋戒及忏悔的日子，这40天中，人们不能食肉，娱乐，生活肃穆沉闷，所以在斋期开始前的一周或半周内，人们会专门举行宴会、舞会、游行，纵情欢乐，而嘉年华最初的含义就是“告别肉食”。如今已没有多少人坚守大斋期之类的清规戒律，但传统的狂欢活动却保留了下来，成为人们一个重要节日。

嘉年华是香港人对狂欢节的意译，并且，在香港的文化中对狂欢节作了本地化，形成了“嘉年华”。

英语 Carnival 的最初译名是“狂欢节”，Carnival 的发音，很难恰如其分地用汉语表达，所以使用了“狂欢节”这个意译，比较直观好理解。后来狂欢节传到香港，香港人将它改译为“嘉年华”。这个译名，是懂外文又深谙中文的知识分子的杰作，有兼顾音和义的双关之妙，遗憾的是，它不能确切表达Carnival 的狂欢之义。“嘉年华”无论听起来或看起来都显得优雅文气，与Carnival 的热烈、狂放气氛不符。事实也如此，在香港长期举行下来的 Carnival ，业已变得比较文雅温和，与巴西式狂欢的Carnival 殊途异趣、大不相同了。

嘉年华的起源 Paul Winter Carnival，Carnival Venice，Jamaica Carnival。

大约在上个世纪70年代，复旦大学外文系的陆谷孙教授第一次在香港听到了“嘉年华会”的名称，从人们狂欢的活动中，他猜这个中文的“嘉年华”必定就是英文中的Carnival，香港人总是会有许多精巧的音译名词。不久之后，这个优美的译名便也传入内地，成为人们熟悉的名词。

英文介绍

This article describes the festival season. In North America, carnival also refers to a funfair. For other uses, see Carnival (disambiguation).
Carnival is a festival season. It occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February or March. It typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus and public street party. People often dress up or masquerade during the celebrations.
Carnival is mostly associated with Roman Catholic and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Orthodox Christians; Protestant areas usually do not have carnival celebrations or have modified traditions, like the Danish Carnival. The world’s largest carnival celebration is held in Brazil but many countries worldwide have large, popular celebrations.
[edit] History
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History:
Cigarron is a traditional character of north-west of Spain.Inspiration for the carnival lies in the fact that during Lent, traditionally no parties may be held and many foods, such as meat, are forbidden; the fourty days of Lent serve to commemorate the Passion of Jesus. It is natural for people to have the desire to hold a large celebration at the last possible opportunity before fasting.
Parts of the carnival traditions, however, likely reach back to pre-Christian times. The ancient Roman festival of the Saturnalia is a probably origin of the Italian carnival. The Saturnalia, in turn, may be based on the Greek Dionysia and Oriental festivals. While medieval pageants and festivals such as Corpus Christi were church sanctioned celebrations, carnival was a representation of medieval folk culture. Many local carnival customs are also based on local pre-Christian rituals, for example the elaborate rites involving masked figures in the Swabian-Alemannic carnival.
In Christianity, the most famous traditions, including parades and masquerading, are first attested from medieval Italy. The carnival of Venice was for a long time the most famous carnival. From Italy, carnival traditions spread to Spain, Portugal, and France. From France, they spread to the Rhineland of Germany, and to New Orleans. From Spain and Portugal, they spread to Latin America. Many other areas have developed their own traditions.
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Name
The origin of the name “carnival” is disputed. According to one theory, it comes from the Latin carrus navalis (“ship cart”),[1] referring to a cart in a religious parade, such as a cart in a religious procession at the annual festivities in honor of the god Apollo. Other sources, however, suggest that the name comes from the Italian carne levare or similar, meaning “to remove meat”, since meat is prohibited during Lent.[2] Another theory states that the word comes from the Late Latin expression carne vale, which means “farewell to meat”, signifying that those were the last days when one could eat meat before the fasting of Lent.

Jiao Liu : 30 Jun 2008 13:27 |  Tags: Resources |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem