翻译家与作家对话:中国文学英译过程中译者的“追问”价值——以《推拿》译介为例

Conversation between Translator and Writer:Exploring the Value of Translator's“Questioning”in the English Translation Process of Chinese Literature:Examples from the English Translations of the Novel Massage

在国际传播能力建设的语境下,中国文学对外译介已经成为我国向世界展现国家形象、传播中国文化、彰显民族精神的重要渠道。翻译是中国文学“走出去”漫长之路上的重要一环,译者固然在“走出去”过程中发挥至关重要的作用。美国著名汉学家葛浩文(Howard Goldblatt)与夫人林丽君(Sylvia Li-chun Lin)在2013、2014年合作英译中国当代长篇小说《推拿》的过程中,使用电子邮件与原作者毕飞宇开展了密切交流。译者总共向作者提出131个问题,包括其作为“第一读者”在阅读原作和翻译文本期间遇到的困难;作者在回信中一一解答,有效化解译者在词句理解、前后逻辑、创作意图等方面的困惑和矛盾。通过分析葛浩文在翻译《推拿》时与作家的来往电子邮件(1),可发现译者对于原作的“追问”充分折射出两国语言文化的差异,同时也在一定程度上帮助作者构建外部反馈视角,具有比较文学研究和文学翻译研究价值。考察译者在翻译过程中的动态行为不仅能为翻译档案的保存与交流提供新的思路,也为中国文学外译开拓新的研究范式,从而助力中国文学对外译介与海外传播之路。

In the current context of international communication capacity building,the foreign translation of Chinese literature has become a critical carrier for China to present its national image,spread Chinese culture and manifest its spirit to the world.As is known to all,translation is a guaranteed path for Chinese literature“going-out”,and translators play a vital role in the process of“going-out”.When the famous sinologist Howard Goldblatt and his wife Sylvia Li-chun Lin collaboratively translated the Chinese contemporary novel Massage in 2013and 2014,they communicated closely with its writer Bi Feiyu.They totally asked 131questions to the writer via e-mail while reading and translating the original work.And the author answered them one by one,effectively resolving translators'puzzles,including problems about words and phrases comprehension,the logic structure of the text and original intentions of writing.By analyzing these emails,it can be found that translators'“questioning”of the original literature work reflects the differences between Chinese and Western languages and cultures,and to some extent,helps the writer re-examine his own work from an external perspective.Therefore,the research based on correspondence between translators and the writer is of high value to comparative literature research and literary translation studies.The investigation of dynamic behavior of translators in the process of literary translation not only provides new ideas for the preservation and exchange of translation archives,but also opens up a new research paradigm for Chinese literary translation,so as to better present Chinese literature and culture to the world.