翻译是一种模式——本雅明《译者的任务》的几点解读

Translation is a mode:interpretation of Benjamin′s The Task of the Translator

在《译者的任务》一文中,本雅明从翻译是一种模式,旨在揭示不同语言之间潜在的亲缘关系出发,提出了"纯语言"的概念,并以这一抽象的概念为核心,把传统翻译研究中译作与原作的二元对立关系和谐地统一到对"纯语言"的终极追寻中,颠覆了传统意义上翻译的忠实与自由。他所提出的译者的任务,就是探索"纯语言",在自己的语言中将"纯语言"从另一种语言的魔咒中释放出来,让"纯语言"之光通过翻译这座桥梁更充分地照耀原作。本雅明对翻译理论的独特思考,拓宽了翻译研究的视野。文中试图通过文本细读的方式,结合笔者的理解,对本雅明所提出的观点进行几点解读。

In his discourse upon The Task of the Translator, Benjamin puts forward the idea that translation is a mode through which the kinship between languages can he explored. The nature of the kinship of languages lies in the intension underlying all language as a whole, that is, ＂pure language＂. On the basis of the concept of ＂pure language＂, he deconstructs the traditional definitions of fidelity and freedom and resolves the conflicting duality between the original text and the translation by harmonizing the two into the Messianic quest for a mystic language at the kernel of all languages and realized by translation. The task of the translator, according to Benjamin, is to reach out to the pure language which is potentially present in a select body of writing in any language, to release in his own language the pure language which is under the spell of another, to allow the pure language to shine upon the original all the more fully through the medium of translation. Benjamin＇s unique thoughts on translation have opened up the new perspectives within translation studies. In this paper, the author attempts to interpret this significant yet obscure essay through close reading.