清末民初西学术语译名的翻译暴力探析

The Violence of Translation: The Case of Translating Western Terms into Chinese

在清末民初,西学术语汉译的命名面对两种翻译暴力:一种暴力是采用归化的译名,抹杀西学术语的文化差异性,迎合中国学术界的自恋心理;另一种暴力是采用异化的译名,保留其文化差异性,挑战中国传统学术思想体系。这两种暴力的根源产生于中国学术与西方学术、传统学术与近代学术的冲突。会通法作为一种翻译策略在特定的历史语境下可以淡化翻译暴力,调和各种学术思想冲突,但仍然无法避免历史局限性。随着历史语境的变化,翻译暴力的弱化也是译名演变的原因之一。

In the period of Late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China(from late 19th century to around the 1930s), in order to translate Western terms into Chinese, Chinese translators had to face the violence of translation in two aspects: one was to domesticate Western terms by removing the cultural differences so as to satisfy Chinese intellectuals’ cultural narcissism; the other was to foreignize them by signifying the cultural differences so as to challenge Chinese traditional academic systems. The conflicts between Chinese and Western academics as well as the disputes between traditional and modern Chinese academics resulted in the violence. Translation integration, as a strategy, played an important role in reducing the violence of translation and reconciling various academic conflicts. Yet, it has its historical limitations. As the historical context changed, violence in translation abated and the Chinese translations of some Western terms evolved.