古罗马的希腊翻译是文化殖民吗?——对道格拉斯·鲁宾逊“后殖民翻译”的重新阐释

Ancient Roman Translations of Greek Culture Are Cultural Colonization?——A New Comment on Douglas Robinson's Postcolonial Translation Theory

鲁宾逊在《翻译与帝国》中,根据西塞罗、贺拉斯、哲罗姆等人的只言片语,将罗马帝国对希腊文化的翻译视为文化殖民,获得国内外译学界的普遍认同。这一论断值得质疑,罗马的意译和归化策略需要重新审视,当前流行的后殖民翻译这一术语内涵应该反思,进而重新界定。只有高势能语言操纵高权力势能对低势能语言进行的翻译,以及与之相对抗的低势能语言对高语言的翻译才是真正意义上的后殖民翻译。政治和军事处于高势的低文化势能在征服高文化势能时反被同化,这既不属于文化殖民也不属于文化被殖民。后殖民不仅需要殖民动机,更需要殖民后果,而后者才是判断后殖民翻译的唯一准则。鲁宾逊正是忽略了这一点。

Quotating Marcus Tullius Cicero, Horace, St. Jerome, etc, Douglas Robinson regards Ancient Roman translations of Greek culture as typical cultural colonization, which is universally accepted currently in the academia, home and abroad. Robinson＇s statement is questioned, Romans＇ free translation and domesticating strategies reinterpreted, and the popular connotations of posteolonial translation recon- sidered. Only the conquering translation manipulated by cultures of higher cultural and power potential en- ergy and the translation resisting the conquest of cultures of higher cultural and power potential energy can be called postcolonial translation. That is to say, as far as translation is concerned, only double ＂highs＂ （higher cultural and power potential energy） conquering double ＂lows＂ （lower cultural and power potential energy）, and double ＂lows＂ resisting double ＂highs＂ are called postcolonial translation.