《尘埃落定》英译本对我国民族文化安全的危害

Study on the English Version of Chen Ai Luo Ding from the Perspective of Security of National Culture

以葛浩文(Howard Goldblatt)和林丽君(Sylvia Li-chun Lin)翻译的《尘埃落定》英译本为研判个案,通过文本对比剖析发现,《尘埃落定》原文本中书写的藏族文化在英译本中被严重扭曲、歪曲、颠覆,变得面目全非,中国民族文化安全受到严重危害。为维护国家安全,对有危国家民族文化安全的翻译行为,应及时干预、做出纠正。建议成立外译中国图书译稿审察委员会,对译稿从国家安全和翻译质量方面进行严格审察,把好海外出版关,铸牢国家文化安全底线,加强文化自觉,提升文化自信,铸牢中华民族共同体意识。

Translation,especially translation of Chinese literature into foreign languages,might involve the issue of China s national security.This issue is seemingly implicit and subject to negligence.But national security is by no means a trivial matter.We should pay attention to it rather than shut our eyes to it.This paper takes the translation of Chen Ai Luo Ding by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin as an example to explore the corrosion of China s national cultural security made by the foreign translators as well as to put forward pertinent suggestions on this issue.Specifically,some of the Tibetan musical instruments depicted in the novel are wrongly translated into non-musical or European instruments.And some of the Tibetan folklore symbols are changed into other ridiculous signs.In some places,Christian culture replaces Tibetan Buddhist culture in the source text and penetrates into the target text.In the original Chen Ai Luo Ding,“汉人”(Han people)and“汉地”(Han land)refer to people of the Han ethnic group and the land inhabited by the Han people,which merely indicates the different ethnicities that people belong to.But in the English version,Goldblatt and Lin translate“汉人”(Han people)into“the Han Chinese”and“汉地”(Han land)into“the land of the Chinese”.By deliberately adding“Chinese”in the translation,the translator seems to intend to differentiate people in terms of nationality.The English readers are characteristic of dualistic thinking in that they tend to deem the people,things or places marked with“Chinese”are in contradiction to those unmarked with“Chinese”in the English version of Chen Ai Luo Ding.In other words,the Tibetan people are expelled from the Chinese in the novel translated by Goldblatt and Lin.As a consequence,this translation looks to be a grotesque distortion of the truth,to the detriment of China s sovereignty and security.Therefore,it is not conducive to promoting the Chinese culture to go global.Conversely,it has distorted or falsified Chinese culture,one can conclude it is imperiling China s cultural security.This paper proposes that a management and control mechanism should be established to investigate translations and international publications ofChinese books subsidized by the government in order to tell a true story of China,make our voices heard,and safeguard China s national security.If foreign translators show disrespect for Chinese culture and randomly rewrite content when translating Chinese books,if they distort or falsify the Chinese humanism,values,eco-geography,or facets of culture,or when they imperil Chinese culture and China s sovereignty,action ought to be taken to rectify any mistakes made by foreign translators to safeguard China s dignity and sovereignty.Cultural awareness should be strengthened,cultural self-confidence enhanced,and a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation be consolidated.