莎士比亚戏剧中的博物学及其汉语翻译

Natural History in Shakespeare's Drama and Its Chinese Translation

莎士比亚生活于英国历史上博物学勃兴的时代。他的趣味和文风受到时风的扇染,具有相当丰富驳杂的博物学元素。关于莎士比亚与博物学之关系,在维多利亚女王统治时期已有了多部专著,但是由于种种原因,这样的研究在中国百年莎士比亚研究史上,几乎付诸阙如,这严重影响了中国人对莎士比亚戏剧的读解。我们的早期翻译窄化了莎翁的博物学知识视野,矮化了他的博物学水平,甚至遮蔽了他的博物学兴趣。要想解决这些问题,中国译者必须在博物学上下功夫,以最大可能恢复莎翁的博物学面貌。

Shakespeare lived in a time when natural history as afield of study emerged and soon became fashionable.His taste and style were much influenced by this social fashion,as can be seen in the many natural-history elements in his works.Concerning Shakespeare's relation with natural history,many books and articles have been published since the Victorian age,but due to various reasons,this aspect of Shakespearean criticism has not received due attention in Shakespearean studies in China during the past century.Our early translation of Shakespeare's plays narrowed the horizon of Shakespeare's natural history,belittled his knowledge in this field,and even obscured signs of his interest in natural history.To solvetheseproblems,translators must make great efforts in the study of natural history,thus restoring its original significance in Shakespearean works.