清末民初文学翻译方法与文学翻译文体的发展

Methods and Literary Forms of Literary Translation:Its Development in Late Qing Dynastyand the Early Days of the Republic

文学翻译方法和文学翻译文体是文学翻译中两个紧密相联的概念,两者均属工具层面的文学翻译手段,受制于价值层面的翻译目的,也受制于翻译的受众对象。早期的文学翻译,由于文学意识的不自觉、白话的表达局限性以及受众对象的特殊性等原因,归化的体例、文言的文体和意译的方法受青睐。文学革命爆发后,文学翻译的受众出现“平民化”倾向,文学翻译文体走向通俗化,同时由于文学翻译中文学意识的不断自觉,直译方法开始兴起,文学翻译体例走向异化。“五四”新文化运动促进了文学翻译观念和语言观念的进一步更新,使文学翻译和语言得到了同步发展。一方面,文学翻译,尤其是直译的文体,为形成中的白话文体带来了新的语汇和句式,为新文学吸收了外国多样化的文学体例,而白话文的推行又为文学翻译,尤其是直译的方法的发展创造了有利条件。这种互动加快了使白话成为中国文学翻译的基本语言文体的步伐。

Methods and literary forms are two inter-related concepts in literary translation. They both belong to means of literary translation on the instrumental level, and are subject to purposes of translation on the value level and to the audience to whom it is directed. In the early days of literary translation, domesticated stylistic rules and layouts, classical Chinese, and free translation were favored, due to the weak literary awareness of translators,to the weaknesses of the vernacular expression, and to the fact that the scholar-officials were the main recipients of translated works, etc. After the breakout of the Literature Revolution, the audience and the literary forms of literary translation turned to be popularized. In addition, with the awakening of the translators’ literary awareness, literal translation emerged. As a result, stylistic rules and layouts became foreignized. The evolution of both literary translation and language concepts, brought about by the May Fourth New Culture Movement, made literary translation and language interact with each other in their development. On the one hand, literal translation, especially the literary forms created by literal translation, contributed to absorb new vocabulary and structures into the vernacular which was coming into shape, and introduced diversified foreign stylistic rules and layouts for the new literature; on the other hand, the promotion and the wide application of the vernacular created favorable conditions for the development of literary translation, especially for literal translation as a method of literary translation. Such an interaction speeded up the process of making vernacular the fundamental literary form for literary translation in China.