无心插柳还是有意嫁接?——基于布尔迪厄社会学理论的翟理斯《聊斋志异》英译研究

Accidental Cutting or Deliberate Grafting?: Research on Herbert A. Giles’ Translation of Liao Zhai Zhi Yi Based on Pierre Bourdieu’s Sociological Theory

本文运用布尔迪厄的社会学理论讨论翟理斯所译《聊斋志异选》深受英语读者喜爱的原因,发现《聊斋志异》的英译并不是译者的无心之举,而是主、客因素共同作用下的有意为之。19世纪英国汉学发生求实转向,小说成为汉学家们了解中国现实的窗口。在这一背景下,翟理斯出于个人兴趣,同时为了角逐象征资本,最终选择翻译《聊斋志异》。受熟稔中国文学文化、了解英国文学传统和读者阅读期待的学者惯习影响,翟理斯放弃了全译《聊斋志异》的计划,而是从中挑选了164篇质量最好、最具代表性的篇目,同时在翻译过程中使用了纯洁化、调整结构、增添注释等策略,以使《聊斋志异》符合当时英国的诗学规范和读者的阅读期待,从而使《聊斋志异》这朵中国文学的奇葩成功嫁接到英国文学这棵异株上,并开出了别样的花朵。

Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological theory, this article explores why Herbert A. Giles decided to translate Pu Songling’s Liao Zhai Zhi Yi and why his translation Stories from a Chinese Studio was so popular among English readers. It finds that Giles’ translation of Liao Zhai Zhi Yi is not an accidental act, but a deliberate one under the influence of both subjective and objective factors. In the 19 th century, English Sinologists laid much emphasis on the practicability of research, and Chinese novels became a window through which they could understand China’s social reality. Against this background, Giles chose to translate Liao Zhai Zhi Yi out of his personal interest and for the purpose of getting symbolic capital. Giles was familiar with Chinese literature and culture. And he also knew British literary traditions and readers’ expectations very well. Thus,he gave up the plan to translate the whole 16 volumes of Liao Zhai Zhi Yi and only chose 164 representative pieces of good quality. In the translation process, he purified sexual descriptions in the source text, adjusted the structure of the source text, and added annotations to make these pieces conform to the mainstream British poetics and readers’ expectations at that time, thus making Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio a classic in the English world.