批评之批评:翟理斯《聊斋志异》英译之“去秽亵”的再思考

Revisiting Bowdlerization in Herbert Giles’Translation of Liaozhai Zhiyi:A Critical Dialogue

翟理斯英译之“去秽亵”策略是国内《聊斋志异》翻译研究讨论的重要话题,引发了译介学人各种解读、分析与批评。本文回顾了翟理斯中国文学纯洁观、以儿童为目标读者、维多利亚时代语境论等三种代表性观点,指出其错误、片面或不足之处。以丹纳艺术生产整体观为指导,从历时、共时两个维度拓展翻译比较与描写研究,从翟理斯的翻译活动、维多利亚时代的翻译与出版规范、英语文学中性欲书写的历时变化等三方面进一步探讨翟理斯的“去秽亵”策略,认为这种策略是其《聊斋》英译出版、走向读者的必然选择,为后来的中国文学对外传播与接受打下了基础。

Herbert A.Giles’bowdlerization in his English translation of Liaozhai Zhiyi is a much-discussed topic which has yielded a variety of interpretations,analyses and criticisms.This paper first revisits three representative views which attribute Giles’bowdlerization respectively to his insistence on chastity of the Chinese literature,his taking children as the target reader,and the Victorian social and cultural context,before pointing out their inaccuracy,partiality,or inadequacy.Within the framework of Hippolyte Taine’s art philosophy,this paper expands the comparative and descriptive studies from synchronic and diachronic dimensions and explores Giles’bowdlerization by discussing Giles’translation activities,Victorian translation and publishing conventions,and the diachronic change of sexuality in English literature.Giles’bowdlerization is a natural,inevitable choice for its publication and reception in the 19century Britain.