世界诗歌、中国(文学)经验和后理论——从北岛诗歌英译的争论谈起

World Poetry,Chinese Experience and Post Theory:A Debating over the English Translation of Bei Dao

上个世纪90年代,海外汉学界围绕着北岛诗歌的英译发生过一场激烈的争论。争论的焦点其实就是第三世界文学在国际文学市场中生产、流通和消费的政治和伦理问题。自觉不自觉地从中心立场出发,宇文所安虽然预言了全球资本在向更恶劣方向发展,但忽视了第三世界文学书写当代经验的正当性;奚密、周蕾等海外华裔学人熟练运用理论揭示了西方话语的矛盾性,有力地论证了中国当代文学的伦理诉求,但其有意识选择边缘地位的立场无法引爆第三世界文学的政治动能。后理论从时间和空间上为我们提供了新的世界想象和文学未来。论辩各方对翻译的遗忘显示出重新认识翻译素养的必要性和迫切性。中国文学和理论的政治和伦理力量来自从更大的空间书写和表述中国经验,为人类和地球寻找逃离人类纪的可能性。

In the 1990s, the concept of world poetry was heatedly debated among many scholars who attempted to think the political and ethical roles of the Third-world literature through the translation of Bei Dao＇s poems. Cautioned by the emer- ging supremacy of global capital, Stephen Owen argued against the contemporaneity of Chinese literature exemplified by Bei Dao. Through a skillful practice of post-structuralist theories, Michelle Yeh and Rey Chow powerfully demonstrated the con- tradictions in Owen＇s disguised orientalist position. The interesting ignorance of the role of translation by those scholars ne- cessitates a reconsideration of translational literacy in the era of post theory. The production, communication, and consump- tion of Chinese literature face the challenges in the Anthropoeene. The legitimacy of Chinese （literary） experience lies in the new futurity it opens up to the human beings.