冯友兰《中国哲学简史》中的哲学术语翻译研究

A Study on the Translation of Philosophical Terms in Fung Yu-lan’s A Short History of Chinese Philosophy

冯友兰的英文著作《中国哲学简史》在西方颇有影响力,其中的哲学术语翻译方法至今具有借鉴意义。总体而言,在其“翻译即解释”翻译观的指导下,冯友兰对中国哲学术语的翻译主要采取了三种方法,即音译加解释法、译意法(用日常英语词汇翻译中国哲学术语)和反向格义法(用西方哲学术语翻译或类比中国哲学术语)。其中,音译加解释是其主导翻译方法,解释信息包括英语中其他的对应词汇(翻译)、作者对相关术语的理解、对术语翻译本身的探讨等。三种翻译方法共同实现了“求真”与“喻俗”的双重目的,为英语读者营造了一种既陌生又熟悉的阅读体验,很大程度上促进了该著在英语世界的传播。

The methods used in translating Chinese philosophical terms in the seminal English monograph A Short History of Chinese Philosophy authored by Fung Yu-lan in the 1940s are still of great significance even in today’s context.Generally speaking,under the guidance of Fung’s translation view of “translation as interpretation,” he used three major methods in translating Chinese philosophical terms in this monograph,namely,transliteration plus explanation,translating original meaning with daily or ordinary words,and reversed analogical interpretation.Among these three methods,transliteration plus explanation is dominantly and extensively used by the author,and the explanatory information includes other corresponding words or terms for the transliterated original terms,the author’s own understanding and interpretation of relevant original terms,his discussion on the translation of Chinese philosophical terms and so on.These three methods jointly help to achieve the translation purpose of “seeking the truth” and “making the translation accessible to general readers” and create a kind of reading experience for target readers featuring both foreignness and familiarity,which,to a big extent,make Fung’s A Short History of Chinese Philosophy well received in the Anglophone world.