汉诗英译之悖论

Paradox of C-E Poetry Translation

汉诗由汉字组成,英诗由英文单词组成;汉字本身即具有浓郁的诗性,英文单词却是干瘪的字母符号;再加上汉诗数千年的历史传统,更导致了汉诗的抗译性或不可译性。可以说,正是汉语本身的独特与优美,成就了汉诗的千年魅力;因此,汉诗,似乎是不可译的。同时,由于汉诗的多义多解,往往产生译者的多解多译,即一首汉诗,往往有着多种不同的翻译。此时,汉诗不仅可译,而且可以多译。这便是汉诗英译的一个悖论。

Chinese poems are composed of Chinese characters, while English poems are written with English words. Chinese characters themselves contain a lot of poetry, and English words are simply symbolic letters. Plus thousands of years of the tradition of Chinese poems, all this leads to the untranslatability of Chinese poems. It can be asserted that the unique beauty of Chinese characters entails the everlasting beauty of Chinese poems. Therefore, Chinese poems seem to be untranslatable; at the same time, owing to the plural meanings and interpretations in Chinese poems, different versions are produced by different translators from the same Chinese poem, which testifies the translatability of Chinese poems. The translatability and untranslatability of Chinese poems constitute a parado