“民族”,还是“国家”?——Nation的歧义性与翻译之争

Nation: Ambiguity and Translation

"民族"和"国家"是人们日常生活中耳熟能详的词汇。然而,针对这两个词的意义和翻译,却存在很大的误解。古代之"民族"和今日政治话语中的"民族"是两个完全不同的概念,代表了思想史上的两个不同时代。而英语中,nation可能是国家,也可能是族群,因此,其准确理解应为"民族或国家"。基于nation所包含的"民族"和"国家"的双义性和不确定性,应当以当代语境为重,同时参考古代词源,客观上应当翻译为"民族/国家",并且根据具体的语境,分别取意,以保证在通顺的基础上实现翻译的忠实性。

This paper addresses the conceptual origins of the English word nation and the Chinese " 民 族" and discusses the translation of the former into Chinese, with the aim of elucidating the academic development of the two separate terms. A comparison of other terms such as nation-state, race, ethnicity, etc. is also addressed. Owing to the ambiguity of "民族" and "国家",the paper proposes an inflexible translation of the word according to specific circumstances.