好翻译的标准

What Are Good Translations?

本文尝试提出一个通俗易懂、切实可行的翻译标准。文章首先分析了严复“信、达、雅”的内涵,讨论了严复的翻译实践;然后结合翻译实例,深入论证了好翻译的标准,即译作不能违背原作的主要思想、译文要有可读性、神似与形似兼顾;最后进行归纳总结,得出如下结论:好的翻译应在似与不似之间,是直译和意译的结合。

This paper intends to propose a set of simple and easy criteria for good translations.We begin with a discussion of“Xin Da Ya”(信达雅)by Yan Fu,what do they mean?Are Yan Fu’s translations up to the standards?Then we come to our own proposals,substantiated with examples:(1)a translation should not be in confl ict with the central theme of the original;(2)translated works should be readable;and(3)the translator should aim at both spiritual likeness and formal likeness at the same time.The conclusion is:a translation will by its nature be at variance with the original in some way.In other words,a translator will have to do a hard job within all kinds of constraints.