清季民初的国民语义与国家想象——以citizen、citizenship汉译为中心的论述

Semantic Meaning of “Guomin” and Imagination of State in Late Qing Dynasty and Early ROC Period:Focusing on Translating “Citizen” and “Citizenship”

民族国家是近代中国国家建构的基本目标。通过创造性地将西方citizen和citizenship概念译成"国民",晚清和民国初年的知识分子想象了不同的国家建构路径和民族国家图景。清季部分知识分子从"国家主义"的角度翻译和创造"国民"语义,尽管在一定程度上改造了传统的国民性和催生了现代公民意识,但其真正的目标在于建立强大的现代主权国家,国权高于民权。在反思清季国家建构方略的基础上,民初部分知识分子从"个人主义"的角度翻译和创造"国民"语义,企图从个性主义和功利主义的角度更加彻底地催生个体的"个人主义"思想,建立类似于西方自由主义国家的民族国家。清季民初"国民"概念的移译表明了现代社会转型过程中的"翻译现代性"现象,即重要术语翻译的过程同时也是现代性生成的过程,它参与了社会转型过程中权力、思想和政治发展前景的重构。

Nation-state is a fundamental goal for modern China to achieve.By rendering 'citizen'and 'citizenship'into a Chinese equivalent 'guomin',scholars both of the late Qing Dynasty and of the early ROC period just conceived of a vision of nation-state and different roads to state construction.By putting their translations in the perspective of nationalism,scholars of the former period coined the term'guomin',which helped not only improve the traditional national character and the awareness of a modern citizen to a degree,but also loom large their real objective to establish a strong modern country,putting state sovereignty high above citizen rights.With a reflection on the late Qing's state-construction project,scholars of the latter period adopted an individualistic and utilitarian perspective in their rendering of the same coinage 'guomin',with an intention to bring forth a profound consciousness of individuality in an individual,and to set up a free country of western type.The translation of'guomin' during this period makes it clear that there existed,in the transformation into a modern society,what could be described as 'modernity in translation',in which the translation of important concepts was at the same time the becoming of modernity in the nation involved.The concepts played an important role in the reconfiguration of power,ideology and prospect of political development during the period of social changes.