许渊冲英译毛泽东诗词的历时修订研究:发现与启示

A Diachronic Research on Revisions in the English Translations of Mao Zedong's Poems by Xu Yuanchong:Discoveries and Insights

毛泽东诗词英译自20世纪30年代开始,迄今新译重译不断,其中许渊冲英译本存在数个版本,但鲜有研究历时考察不同版本之间的差异。本文首先论述了翻译修订研究和翻译史研究,在此基础上对比许渊冲1972、1993以及2020年三个毛泽东诗词英译本之间的修订差异并寻找合理的解释。研究发现,许渊冲的修订体现在形式和内容两方面,前者集中于标点润色和韵式修改等,而后者则关注文意深化和错译修正等,产生差异的原因包括毛泽东诗词本身价值重大、许渊冲对语言规范变化的遵循及其翻译理念的展现。本文也借此呼吁重视译文版本考察,呈现翻译家精神,进而拓展翻译史和翻译家研究。

Since the 1930s,new English translations and revised versions of Mao Zedong's poems have continuously appeared,but previous studies paid little attention to the differences among the existing Xu Yuanchong's English versions from the diachronic aspect.This article first discusses research on translation revision and translation history,then compares the differences among Xu's translations in 1972,1993 and 2020,and tries to find reasonable explanations.It is found that these revisions are embodied in form and content,the former of which mainly contains the revision of punctuations and rhymes and the latter focuses on the deepening of poetry meaning and the correction of errors.These changes are due to the paramount value of Mao Zedong's poems,the compliance with the change of language norms and the influence of Xu Yuanchong's translation thought.Besides,this article also calls on that translation history research and translator studies should focus on the version of the translated text and reflect on translator's spirit.