语境·文本·文化·文体——语境与典籍翻译的三重关注

Context,Text,Culture and Style:Context and the Triple Concern of the Translation of Chinese Classics

作为一种深层次的文化交流,典籍翻译关涉依照优先次序传递源文本的字面意义、文化内涵和文体特征,而语境在典籍翻译的这种三重关注中起着举足轻重的作用。从《坛经》的英译中,探讨理解和传达过程中的语境问题,着重传达语境信息的若干原则和方法,包括把语境信息直接融入译文,通过增译、插入、注释提供必要的文化背景,揉合异化的内容和倾向归化的语言和形式,利用译语的文学资源等。

As deep - level cultural exchange, the translation of Chinese classics entails conveying, in order of priority, the literal meaning, cultural connotation and stylistic features of the source text, a triple concern in which context plays a vital role. Using illustrations mainly from the English translation of The Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, this study addresses the issue of context in the processes of comprehension and expression, highlighting some principles and methods of transmitting contextual information. These include merging contextual information directly in the target version, providing necessary cultural background through addition, parenthesis and annotation, reconciling foreignization in terms of content and largely domestication in terms of form and language usage, and tapping the literary resources of the target language.