沈从文小说及中国现当代文学的英译:汉学家、翻译家金介甫访谈录

On the English Translation of Shen Congwen’s Fiction and Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature:An Interview with Jeffrey C.Kinkley,a Sinologist and Translator

金介甫(Jeffrey C.Kinkley)教授长期致力于中国现当代文学的研究和译介,他作为沈从文研究专家和沈从文作品的主要英译者为国内学界所熟知,他对沈从文作品乃至中国现当代文学的英译都有着丰富经验和独到见解。在本访谈中,金介甫教授指出其沈从文小说的英译以传递出原文读者可能能够体会到的原文风味为着力点,在忠实于原文的语义与美感和保持译文语言的自然、简洁与优美之间,在避免过份彰显译文的异域情调和防止译文的过度本土化之间寻求平衡,并提出通过兼顾乡土和非乡土作品的英译来提升沈从文的世界文学地位这一可能途径,他强调只有在英译中专注于全面展现中国文学作品的文学价值才有望扩大其在英语世界的影响力。

Professor Jeffrey C.Kinkley has long been devoted to the research and translation of modern and contemporary Chinese literature and is widely known to Chinese academia as an expert in Shen Congwen studies and one of the world’s foremost English translators of Shen’s works.He has rich experience in and unique understanding on the English translation of both Shen Congwen’s works and modern and contemporary Chinese literature.In the present interview Professor Jeffrey C.Kinkley reveals that his translation of Shen’s stories focuses on conveying the flavor of the ST that the ST readers might be able to experience and meanwhile he strives to strike a balance between fidelity to the sense and aesthetic features of the ST and naturalness,conciseness and elegance in the TT,between steering away from excessive exoticism and avoiding undue domestication.He also sees equal attention to both native-soil works and the long neglected non native-soil ones in the selection of the ST to be translated as a possible way to elevate Shen’s literary fame in world literature.Moreover,he points out that only by striving to fully represent the literary qualities of Chinese literary works in translation can Chinese literature expand its influence in the English-speaking world.