历史背景下的翻译家严复

Reinvestigation of Yan Fu as a Translator in Historical Context

严复的“信达雅”自提出以来便备受关注,质疑之声与赞美之词并行,但其翻译观点的先进性与巨大的影响力却是毋庸置疑的。历史时局所需对严复翻译作品的选择起着巨大的影响,他对语言发展的判断和对时代先锋群体的辨别使其在译介国外书籍时选用古文作为翻译语体。历史要素在严复翻译的各个方面都起着重要的作用,因此本文将尝试深入历史背景,一分为二,更为客观地认识翻译家严复。

The criterion of “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance” has received much attention since its introduction. The voice of doubt and praise about Yan Fu’s idea of translation has coexisted for more than one hundred year, but the advanced nature and huge influence of its translation viewpoint are beyond doubt. The historical situation has a great influence on his selection of translation works. His prediction about the progression of language and high expectation of the knowledgeable group that should have great contribution to national strength make him choose ancient Chinese in his translation. This paper will try to take historical context into consideration so as to uncover a more objective translator Yan Fu as the historical elements have great impact on his translation.