情态动词视角下《孟子》英译中的人际意义重构:以《大中华文库》英译本为例

Study on Reconstruction of Interpersonal Meaning in the English Translation of Mencius via Modal Verbs:Based on the English Version of Library of Chinese Classics

儒家经典著作《孟子》是我国古代哲学思想精华,在我国乃至世界哲学史上都占据重要地位。作为一部说理性散文,《孟子》展现了孟子高超的论辩技巧和谈话艺术,塑造了坦率直言、无所顾忌的孟子形象,其英译本对语篇内外人际意义的重构是影响其再现原文磅礴文风和孟子鲜明个性的关键因素,也是影响读者接受的重要因素。研究以系统功能语言学为理论基础,以情态动词为切入点,采用语料库方法,对比《孟子》原文与《大中华文库》英译本的情态动词使用特点,分析评价英译本对原文语篇内外人际意义的重构效果,以期对中国古代哲学典籍的外译有所启示。

Mencius,the classic work of Confucianism,is the essence of ancient Chinese philosophy and has an important position in the history of Chinese and even world philosophy.As an argumentative prose,Mencius is a perfect demonstration of Mencius’superb argumentative skills and art of conversation,which has shaped a frank and unrestrained image of Mencius.The reconstruction of interpersonal meaning in its English translation is the key factor that affects its recreation of the magnificent style of the original text and Mencius’distinctive personality,and also an important factor that affects readers’reception.Based on systemic functional linguistics,the study adopts a corpus-based approach to compare the features of modal verbs in the original text of Mencius and its English version in Library of Chinese Classics,so as to analyze and evaluate the reconstruction effect of the English version on the interpersonal meaning inside and outside the original text.It is hoped that the research will shed some light on the translation of ancient Chinese philosophical classics.