宽泛的学科界定难有精细的术语辨析——从译文学看译介学的范畴界定并答谢天振先生

Broad Disciplinary Definitions Make It Hard to Get Accurate Discrimination between Terms:A Translation Literature Perspective on the Scoping of Medio——Translatology,with a Reply to Xie Tianzhen

谢天振先生《“创造性叛逆”本意与误释——兼与王向远教授商榷》一文,在“创造性叛逆”者究竟指的是“译者”还是“译文”、译介学所处理的是“广义上的翻译”还是“狭义上的翻译”等概念术语的表述上含混不清。站在“译文学”立场看,这与译介学学科范畴界定过于宽泛有关,在等同于“翻译学”“翻译研究”乃至“外国文学”等广阔学术领域的“译介学”界定中,对相关术语概念的辨析势必难以精细精确,也容易引发误解与争论。而译介学的核心概念“创造性叛逆”之所以引起很多的误解误用,原因也在于缺乏精细的界定,以致有人试图拿这个词解释翻译的一切问题。实际上,译介学既然是一个学科概念,就不可能无所不包,以一个“创造性叛逆”作为核心概念,也不可能有效地解释翻译的所有方面尤其是译文方面的问题。译介学本质上属于文化翻译模式,它与译文学不应是相互排斥的关系,而应相辅相成,各从其独特方面贡献于中国的翻译研究与翻译理论建构。

Xie Tianzhen’s“‘Creative Treason’:Original Intention and Mistranslation,with a Discussion with Professor Wang Xiangyuan,”expresses some conceptual terminology ambiguously.For example,does“creative treason”refer to“translator”or“translation,”and does medio-translatology deal with“broad translation”or“narrow translation?”In the light of translation literature,this can be seen to be related to the overly broad definition of the discipline of medio-translatology.The definition of medio-translatology is equated with broad academic fields such as“translatology,”“translation studies”and even“foreign literature.”This makes it difficult to discriminate among the relevant conceptual terms,and leaves the area prone to misunderstandings and arguments.The reason the core concept of“creative treason”in medio-translatology has been misunderstood and misused is due to its lack of precise definition,with some people trying to use the term to explain all the problems in translation.Since medio-translatology is a disciplinary concept,it cannot be all-inclusive.Merely having“creative treason”as a core concept does not make possible the effective explanation of all aspects of translation,especially the issue of the translated text.Medio-translatology essentially belongs to the cultural translation model;its role and that of translation literature should not be mutually exclusive but complementary,with each making its unique contribution to China’s translation studies and the construction of translation theory.