同志文學的翻譯、再版與重譯:一個叙事建構的視角

Translation,Reedition,and Retranslation of Gay Literature:A(Re)Framing Perspective

同性戀一直以來都是敏感話題,甚至是社會禁忌;同志文學的境遇亦然。雖然近年西方翻譯研究學界愈來愈關注同志文學翻譯議題,相關研究在中文學界卻並未得到重視。同志文學的書寫和翻譯始終是在文化與意識形態紛繁衝突的語境下進行。本文探討同志文學的奠基之作Maurice的中文翻譯。英國作家E·M·福斯特(E.M.Forster)於1913年寫下的頗具自傳色彩的同名小説,按照作者意願直到1971年作者去世之後纔正式出版。原作中的很多同性戀互文性符號在建構作品主題上發揮了重要作用,而中文翻譯中,譯者通過腳注等方法,重新建構了主題的呈現。另外,出版商通過譯者的"譯後記"和其它副文本,對小説的同性戀主題進行了重新建構。通過分析Maurice的中譯,我們考察於21世紀初,當譯入文化對同性戀接受程度提高,小説原文中的互文性符號如何於譯文中得到"同志主題強化"(gayed translation)的處理。同時,因應讀者和其他社會因素影響,當Maurice的中譯文再版時,譯者同出版商如何對譯作進行重新建構以做出回應。

This paper aims to study the Chinese translation of Maurice.Homosexuality has been a sensitive topic,a taboo in many social contexts.Translation Studies in the West witnesses increasing academic attention in the translation of gay literature in the past two decades,while it has remained largely neglected in the Chinese context.The writing and translation of gay literature has always been closely associated with conflicts,culturally and ideologically.Maurice,by British novelist E.M.Forster,is considered as the founding work for contemporary gay literature.Though it was finished in 1913,it had to be published posthumously in 1971 after the author’s death.The intertextual signs in the novel play an important role in framing the theme of this work,while these signs have to be reframed in the Chinese translation for easy consumption by the target readership,which might find themselves away from what is presented by these intertextual signs.Moreover,the publisher tries to reframe homosexuality through the translator’s notes and other paratexts.The Chinese translation tells us how what Forster tries to convey implicitly in the original is accentuated in the receiving culture at the beginning of the twenty-first century when the target culture is becoming more tolerant with homosexuality.Moreover,out of the discontent from the readers,the translator and the publisher have to reframe the whole narrative by deleting the agitating content when the new editions come out.