翻译:一门调解文化冲突的艺术——以《红楼梦》英译为例谈文化翻译的可译性限度

Translation:An Art of Mediate for Cultural Conflict:A Study of the Limit of Cultural Translatability of HongLouMeng

在梳理了翻译界关于可译性观点的基础上,文章首先肯定了文化的可译性,而《红楼梦》中大量文化因素的成功翻译也证明了这点,同时指出由于文化差异的存在,翻译过程中必然存在着文化信息的损失,文化的可译性只能是个限度的问题,这是翻译实践中一个不容回避的客观现实。因此,研究和探讨文化的可译性限度,寻找其解决的方法,对于有效地提高译文的质量促进跨文化的交流,在理论和实践上都有着重要的指导意义。《红楼梦》的两个英文全译本中译者所体现的翻译思想和实际的翻译技巧为我们进行文化翻译提供了一个很好的借鉴。最后指出,文化差异是客观存在的,文化的损失不可避免,但随着文化交流和渗透的不断深入、译者自身文化素质及译文读者对异域文化接受能力的提高,文化可译性程度必将越来越高。尤其在当今的世界发展形势下,把我国悠久的民族文化介绍出去具有重要的意义。

After a historical review of different views on translatability by translation scholars,this thesis first affirms the translatability of culture,which is also proved by the successful translation of many cultural factors in HongLouMeng. However,owing to the differences between cultures, cultural loss is inevitable in translation and the translatability of culture is in fact a question of limit. Therefore, an in - depth study on the causes of cultural losses and seeking for the corresponding compensation strategies will be of great theoretical and practi- cal significance. The two complete English versions of HongLouMeng are very successful in dealing with the translation of cultural factors. The instructive thoughts and practical translation techniques of the translators not only provide useful reference but also set a good example for future cultural translation. Finally,the paper points out that because of the cultural differences,the existence of the limit of translatabili- ty is an objective reality. However,with the further intercultural communication and infiltration as well as the improvement of translators＇bi - euhural competence and readers＇accommodating ability towards alien culture, the limit of cultural translatability will be reduced and the degree of translatability is bound to be higher and higher. Especially in the current world situation,the introduction of our outstanding national culture to the world has great significance.