“新叙事学”还是“复数的叙事学”?——从《新叙事学》译名说起

“Neo-narratology” or “Narratologies”?——Thoughts Triggered by the Chinese Translation of Narratologies

2002年,马海良先生翻译出版了由美国学者戴维.赫尔曼编辑的Narratologies一书,“新叙事学”这一称谓即始源于此书的译名。由于原著集中介绍了西方学界在叙事研究方面的新近成果,译著《新叙事学》成为申丹先生主编的“新叙事理论”译丛的扛鼎之作,在国内外学界产生了广泛的影响。然而,因为译者漏译该书的副标题,其杜撰的术语“新叙事学”在特定的语境里具有误导作用:叙事学已发生革命性学科变革,“旧”叙事学劫数难逃,已由“新叙事学”所取代。的确,叙事学领域发生了戏剧性变化,但这并不意味着叙事学出现断裂,相反,叙事学迎来了全面发展的契机。

Ma Hailiang translated and published Narratologies compiled by David Herman in 2002. Since the original work introduces the recent achievements in the study of narrative in the West, the translated version is widely acclaimed by the academics and it turns out to be one of the keynote books for the New Narrative Theories Series compiled by Professor Shen Dan. It is from this translated version that the new term Xinxushixue （neo-narratology） has emerged. However, the translator＇s omission of the subtitle of the original and this coined term have misguided the reader to believe that a revolution has taken place in the discipline of narratology, whereby the old narratology is replaced by neo-narratology. This paper argues that narratology has not developed into a rupture but enjoys a golden chance for growth, despite the fact that a drastic change has occurred in the field of narrative theories.