阿瑟·韦利《西游记》英译本诗词删减原因探析

阿瑟·韦利因中国诗歌英译而声名远播,然而他在翻译《西游记》时却只是保留了原著中极为少量的诗词。我们认为,这是译者在当时历史语境下做出的自觉文化选择。一方面,对原著诗词的选择性翻译折射出译者的中国诗歌翻译观;另一方面,这与韦利在二战语境下刻意塑造孙悟空英雄形象的目的有着直接的关系。这两个方面构成了不可分割的有机整体,使韦利的《西游记》译本呈现出独特的风貌。

Arthur Waley is a giant in Chinese poetry translation;however, he surprisingly retains few poems in his translation work — Monkey. Given the historical background at that time, the paper holds the view that it is the conscious choice made by the translator. On one hand, the large omission of poems is a vivid reflection of Waley’s principle of translating Chinese poems;on the other hand, the retaining of poems has a lot to do with the characterization of Sun Wukong’s heroism. It is this combination of the two inseparable features that constitutes the unique style of Monkey.