翻译方法新视野——翻译是互文意境中的篇章连贯重构

Translation Process Revisited ——Translating as Reconstruction of Textual Coherence in an Inter-textual Context

本文分析了语言学翻译理论和功能翻译理论, 以此为基础认为这两大翻译理论是从等值、功能、抑或目的诸方面对翻译进行评价。众所周知,在翻译行为中,一方面源语语篇的语言功能必须在目的语语篇中得到体现;另一方面,隐含于源语语篇中的社会功能也必须在目的语语篇中得到恰如其分的体现。然而,初步文献考察表明,在翻译理论或方法的研究中,如何根据互文语境重构篇章的连贯这一问题迄今很少为人关注,如何通过互文语境中篇章连贯的重构使目的语篇章在新的文化环境中产生意义这样的问题尚未得到解答。对篇章连贯、互文性、语境、言外之力等概念的解析可使以下问题有望得到深入的探讨:如何在互文语境中重新建立起篇章连贯?应当如何确定与解释互文语境中篇章连贯与翻译中的语用解释力?等等。本研究旨在以一新的角度阐明这一观点:翻译过程就是互文语境中重新建构篇章连贯性的过程。

The paper begins with an analysis of linguistics-based and skopos-based translation theories. In such theories the target text is construed as the product of a translation process that seeks equivalence, functionality, and the achievement of a certain purpose. In view of this, both linguistic and social functions of the source text should be taken into consideration in the production of a translation as a coherent text. A preliminary survey of the literature, however, reveals that little attention has been paid to the reconstruction of the target text's textual coherence that is responsible for its sense-making in an inter-textual context. In this study, such reconstruction is presented as construction of a network of conceptual relations accountable for the illocutionary force behind each translational act. Based on their research, the authors propose to define translating as a process of reconstructing textual coherence in an inter-textual context.