再论德里达的“relevant”translation

The Derridian Concept of "Relevant Translation":A Reconsideration

德里达的"What is a ‘ relevant ’ translation?"是关于解构主义翻译的经典文章,学界对此讨论众多,分歧也很大。本文解析了文中德里达的文字游戏,尤其是他对《威尼斯商人》里"慈悲调剂法律"一幕的典故挪用。笔者认为,韦努蒂、戴维斯等人的解读都存在意图或表述上的偏差,甚至还有不少学者完全误解了解构主义的哲学主张。本文尝试澄清误解,指出德里达是让"relevant"一词自我解构,以此来解构"可译性"和"不可译性"二元对立的传统翻译观,从而揭示翻译的本质。

A seminal paper on deconstruction and translation, Derrida’s'What is a‘relevant’translation?'has given rise to many controversies and disputes over its interpretation. This paper maintains that of the influential current readings of this paper,neither Venuti’s nor Davis’s has accurately captured Derrida’s intention and argumentation, and many others have even missed his point completely. Calling attention to the word plays employed in the Derridean text, especially to its allusion to the famous line of'mercy seasons justice'in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the author argues that its proper interpretation lies in a perception of Derrida’s subtle deconstruction of the central concept'relevant'itself, whereby he exposes the fundamental untenability of the translatability/nontranslatability dichotomy and lays bare the true nature of translation.