莫言作品在英语国家的翻译和接受

Translation and Reception of Mo Yan's Works in the Anglophone World

莫言作品在英语国家的公开译介至今已近30年。本文将莫言作品在英语国家的译介历程分为四个阶段:(1)1988—1992,囿于象牙塔的零散译介;(2)1993—1999,走出象牙塔——葛浩文的努力;(3)2000—2012,走向"祝圣";(4)2012年至今,"后诺奖"时代。通过梳理译本、分析书评、总结各个阶段的译介特点和接受情况,本文对莫言作品的英语世界之旅及其在英语世界的接受情况进行了较为全面的勾勒,以期对中国文学走出国门、融入世界文学能有一定的借鉴意义。

Mo Yan is one of the best writers of contemporary China and his works have been translated and circulated in the Anglosphere for three decades.By dividing the translation history of Mo Yan's works in the Anglosphere into four phases,this article attempts to delineate the history by characterizing each phase and then to evaluate their reception based on book reviews in public media and academic journals.It is found out that the first phase(1988-1992)saw the translation of Mo Yan's short stories and novellas but the readership was restricted to the academic circle;in the second phase(1993-1999),with the translation of Red Sorghum and The Garlic Ballads by Howard Goldblatt,Mo Yan began to be known to the general Anglophone public;in the third phase(2000-2012),the publication of three more novels in English and the positive reception among readers paved the way for the"consecration"of Mo Yan as a Nobel Laureate,signaling the change of status from a local to an international writer;and in the fourth phase(from 2012 to the present),the controversy about Mo Yan's political stance led to the critical acceptance of his new publications,but the publication of Frog in English two years later subdued the severe criticism,and judgements about Mo Yan were made more on the intrinsic literary value of the work.Mo Yan's case is significant in providing new insights for the globalization of Chinese literature.