儒莲法译《道德经》的经典生成路径及呈现

Stanislas Julien’s Translation of Tao Te King and Its Canonization as a Translated Text

翻译内在的生成性赋予译本以生命活力。随着时代环境的变迁,翻译文本同文学文本一样经历多重复杂因素的考验,并在文本竞争与历史抉择的共同作用下被纳入优胜劣汰的进程中。生存下来的译本生命获得延续,经典也在此中得以建构。本文以法国汉学家斯塔尼斯拉斯·儒莲翻译的《道德经》为例,从经典化和经典性两个层面着手考察翻译经典的生成路径,分析历史语境及译者的翻译动机和翻译策略对译本命运产生的影响,探寻译本生命的蕴意,以辩证思考此中的利弊得失。

Inherently generative,translation endows the translated text with a life-sustaining vitality.A translated text,as part of the target-language literature,will necessarily be involved in a competition with other texts concerned for surviving the changes in time and context.Whether a certain translated text would eventually win out,enjoy a prolonged life and even become canonized is determined by a complex of factors,including the vagaries of history’s blessing.Concerning this point,celebrated French sinologist Stanislas Julien’s rendition of Tao Te King is a case in point.As the study presented here reveals,the eventual canonization of this translation is the joint work of factors ranging from the relevant historical context,the translator’s motivation,and the translation strategies he has adopted.