中国翻译史上的“口译笔述”模式:必然、实然、应然

A Traditional Chinese Model of Collaborative Translation:The Why,How and Ought to Be of Its Development

“口译笔述”是中国历史上几次大规模文化、思想、科技引进过程中的主流翻译模式。本文从政治、历史、文化维度回顾该模式滋萌与沿用的历程,揭示其何以成为必然之举、分析其实然之困、探讨其应然之为。研究发现,该模式是外来文化植入和本土政治诉求调和下的必然产物,它反映出特定历史时期人才匮乏的无奈,隐藏着中西译者双方地位失衡的本质。该模式可以在文化对视中提升翻译成效,能够在条件所限时增添历史注脚。

A joint effort by linguistic interpreters,note-takers and target language text producers stood out as a predominant model of collaborative translation in Chinese cultural history.Despite the fact that such a model had been popularly adopted,especially in those periods when foreign cultures,ideologies,and technologies were being massively introduced into China,it has so far attracted very limited attention from translation scholars.This paper aims to identify the political,cultural and historical factors that shaped up the model and accounted for its rise to prominence,and to subject it to a critical examination so as to reveal its underlying assumptions and obligatory features.The study concludes that this paradigm of collaborative translation resulted necessarily from an interplay between foreign cultural infiltration and domestic political entrenchment.It reflects a set of historical conditions marked both by a dearth of skilled talents and an inequality of the statuses accorded to the collaborating parties.If practiced with a commitment to cultural parity,the model could yield superior products of translation and,under certain circumstances,may even contribute to the production of historically significant cultural texts.