老舍《四世同堂》和《鼓书艺人》的无本回译研究

Lao She’s Sishi Tongtang and Gushu Yiren:A Study from the Perspective of Text-less Back-translation

《四世同堂》和《鼓书艺人》或多或少是老舍旅美期间异域写作的产物,这两部作品写成之后,中文手稿即在老舍与译者的合作下被翻译成了英文。由于种种原因,《四世同堂》结尾部分和整部《鼓书艺人》的中文手稿佚失,而这两部作品的及时英译,使之很幸运地免遭永久性灭失,并最终以回译的方式获得重生。根据回译的最新概念和分类,这种回译可以定性为特殊的无本回译。从异域写作到无本回译,《四世同堂》和《鼓书艺人》有着独特而有趣的经历,见证了翻译生态环境的变迁、不同历史文化语境下的文本操控、无本回译的被经典化以及经典化回译本的可能幻灭。

Lao She wrote Sishi Tongtang and Gushu Yiren partly or wholly overseas during his sojourn in the United States.As soon as they were completed,their manuscripts were translated into English by means of author-translator collaboration and their English versions,The Yellow Storm and The Drum Singers respectively,were published in the United States.For some reasons,the ending chapters of Sishi Tongtang and the whole of Gushu Yiren had never been published in Chinese before their manuscripts disappeared,resulting in the loss of the original.Luckily enough,the timely English versions made it possible for them to be eventually resurrected in the Chinese culture through back-translation which,according to latest definitions,could be classified as unusual text-less back-translation.Going from overseas writing to text-less back-translation,Sishi Tongtang and Gushu Yiren have made a unique and interesting journey,witnessing the mutation of eco-environment for translation,the manipulation of texts under different historical and cultural contexts,the canonization of text-less back-translation in a certain period,and the possible disillusionment of canonizing back-translated texts.