不同笔触描绘同一画卷——试论中国翻译理论中的隐喻

Depicting the Same Picture with Different Pens—Analysis on Metaphors in China's Translation Theory

中国翻译理论中常见的翻译隐喻有"媒婆"说、"锦绮"说、"化境"说和"临画"说等。将翻译比作临画比较贴切,然而国内的译论家在使用这一隐喻时加上了不必要的限定,将临画限定在相同的素材和法则之内,反而使问题不易阐述明了。去掉多余限制并完善后的"临画"说理论,将翻译比作用不同的画法来摹拟原画,其工具方法上的不同更贴近于翻译语言上的差异,则能更好地解释翻译本质以及各种翻译现象。

Metaphors,such as ＂match-making＂,＂embrodering＂,＂subliming＂ and ＂picture-imitating＂,have won widespread recognition in Chinese translation theory,among which the last one is considered as the most appropriate.However,some theorists have set unnecessary limits by confining picture-imitation to the process requiring certain materials and rules.This paper compares translation to the depiction of pictures with different ways through working on the deduction of the redundant restrictions and the perfection of the ＂picture-imitating＂ metaphor.The activity of imitation should involve different painting tools and rules,which is more suitable while discussing translation between different languages.The modified ＂picture-imitating＂ metaphor can better demonstrate the nature of translation and shed some light on the practice in this field.