任溶溶儿童文学翻译研究——兼评其《夏洛的网》汉译本.pdf

安徽大学 硕士学位论文 任溶溶儿童文学翻译研究兼评其夏洛的网汉译本 姓名：王爱琴 申请学位级别：硕士 专业：英语语言文学 指导教师：周方珠 2010-05 iv 摘要摘要 任溶溶（1923-）堪称当代中国儿童文学翻译界的泰斗。迄今为止，在其六 十多年的翻译生涯中他翻译了近 300 部作品，至今仍然笔耕不辍。他的译作绝大 多数为儿童文学作品。数不清的小读者从木偶奇遇记中的皮诺曹身上知道了 诚实，从安徒生童话全集懂得了同情和人性，从长袜子皮皮中学会发现 社会，从铁木儿和他的队伍中学到了勇敢。因为任溶溶的翻译，皮诺曹、 洋葱头、皮皮、铁木儿、古丽雅等许多外国儿童文学人物，在中国一代又一代小 读者心中深深扎下了根。此外，他还创作过不少儿童文学作品，这些土生土长的 人物形象如“没头脑”和“不高兴”等，也同样深受孩子们喜爱。然而，目前学 者们对他的研究相当匮乏， 仅有少数学者对他的儿童文学创作进行过较为粗略的 研究，而对翻译家任溶溶本人的系统、全面、综合性的研究或者专门针对其儿童 文学翻译的研究可谓寥若晨星。 自从上世纪七十年代以来，翻译研究的文化取向盛行，翻译家在翻译过程中 的主体作用凸显。译入语中制约影响翻译的诸因素都是通过翻译家来体现的，而 翻译家对文本、翻译方式、翻译策略的选择，反过来又折射出特定时代的社会文 化语境。要深入、细致地探讨翻译与译入语文化的关系就离不开对翻译家本身的 探讨。因此，对翻译家的系统研究对促进翻译事业的发展起着举足轻重的作用。 本文首先简要论述了儿童文学翻译家研究的现状及儿童文学翻译家研究的 重要意义， 并概括性地介绍任溶溶的翻译生涯和翻译作品及其在翻译界的地位和 影响，使读者简要了解翻译家任溶溶，明确研究的必要性及意义。接着对任溶溶 在解放后和新时期的翻译活动分别进行了较为详实的论述， 并概括性地介绍本文 用到的相关理论，即接受美学的理论和归化异化翻译策略。 其次，论文作者对任溶溶儿童文学翻译进行了描述性研究,分析其翻译思想 的形成原因、翻译目的、选材特点以及主要的翻译策略。与此同时，对任溶溶翻 译作品的两种主要体裁，即儿童诗和童话进行了具体研究，分析了其在翻译这两 种体裁的作品时主要采取的策略，并对其翻译活动进行了综合性评价,论述了其 翻译活动所起的重要社会作用。 最后，作者从词汇、句法、修辞、文化差异的处理等几个方面将任溶溶翻译 v 的童话夏洛的网同康馨的译本进行了对比分析,论述任溶溶是如何在自己的 翻译实践中贯彻其翻译思想和翻译原则的。 同时引入接受美学理论及归化异化的 相关理论，用于分析两个汉译本，在译本比较的基础上评价任溶溶翻译的得失。 通过系统研究， 本文作者发现任溶溶的儿童文学翻译在宏观上体现出了很强 的读者意识；在文本选择上非常注重趣味性和时代感；在翻译策略上将忠实于原 文看作指导原则，并在此基础上适当发挥译者的主动性和创造性，最终做到功能 对等。在具体的翻译过程中，任溶溶虽采取归化为主的翻译方法，但也大胆提倡 适度异化，以保持作品的原汁原味，从而在更大程度上促进国际文化交流。任溶 溶的译作通俗易懂、生动有趣、可读性强。他为中国一代又一代儿童提供了宝贵 的精神食粮，也为中国儿童文学创作者提供了可借鉴之处。他提出儿童文学工作 者要有一颗童心和积极的世界观，在创作时尤其要注重汉语的规范性，创作出来 的作品应当充满幽默感和童趣等。总之，任溶溶的儿童文学翻译极大地推动了中 国儿童文学事业的发展。 关键词：关键词：任溶溶，儿童文学翻译，接受美学，翻译策略，归化，异化 ii abstract ren rongrong (1923- ) is considered as the leading authority in the field of contemporary chinese childrens literature translation. up till now, he has already been engaged in the translation field for more than sixty years and has rendered over 300 works, the vast majority of which being childrens literature. numerous children got to know honesty from pinocchio, understood compassion and humanity from andersens fairy tales, learned more about society from the pippi longstocking series and learned to be brave from timur and his squad. thanks to his translation, the images of pinocchio, little onion, pipi, timur, liya and many other literary figures in foreign childrens literature are deeply rooted in the minds of generations of chinese children. in addition, he has created quite a few childrens literary works, and the native characters such as “mindless” and “unhappy”, etc. are also deeply loved by children. despite such a prominent translator, a limited number of researches have been done on him, and there is a distinct lack of systematic, comprehensive and integrated research on this great translator himself and his childrens literature translation in particular. the cultural turn in translation studies in the west after the 1970s foregrounds the cultural identities and roles of translators in the translation process. therefore, the translators subjectivities, as well as their cultural and aesthetic tendencies have become necessary and important research subjects for translation researchers. undoubtedly, the systematic study on translators plays an important role in promoting the development of the translation cause. this thesis begins with the introduction to ren rongrongs translation activities, focusing on his translation purposes, choice of the original and the social and cultural significance of his translated works. first, the author briefly narrates the current situation of translator studies and the studies on childrens literature translation. then ren rongrongs translation career is introduced in brief, indicating the necessity and significance of the study. next, the author elaborates on ren rongrongs translation activities during the post-liberation period and the modern times respectively, followed by the introduction to the theory of reception aesthetics. secondly, the author conducts a descriptive study on ren rongrongs translation thought, together with an analysis of the formation of his translation thought, his iii purposes of translation, his choice of the original and his translation strategies. in the meantime, his poem translation and fairy tale translation are studied. an evaluation of his translation activities and the social significance of his translation are also made. lastly, the author makes a comparative study of ren rongrongs translation of charlottes web and kang xins version. based on reception aesthetics, the author compares the two versions from the lexical, syntactical, rhetorical and cultural aspects. through systematic research, the author finds that reader-orientation is obviously seen in ren rongrongs translation. in his choice of the original, he lays great emphasis on fun and sense of the times. as to his translation strategies, he regards faithfulness as the dominant principle, on the basis of which he displays his creativity so as to achieve functional equivalence. although domestication is the major strategy adopted during his translation process, ren boldly advocates the appropriate use of foreignization, which helps to keep the texts exotic flavor and benefits the intercultural communication. ren rongrongs translated works, with their lively and humorous language, plain and relaxing style, serve as an exquisite book banquet for generations of children in china. meanwhile, his translation offers much reference to writers of childrens literature. according to ren, childrens literature writers are supposed to have childlike innocence and a positive outlook on the world; they should pay attention to the correct use of standard chinese; they should lay emphasis on humor and fun, etc. in a word, ren rongrongs translation considerably motivates the development of childrens literary cause in china. key words: ren rongrong; childrens literature translation; reception aesthetics; translation strategy; domestication; foreignization. ii chapter one introduction 1 chapter one introduction ren rongrong is a prominent and prolific translator of childrens literature in modern times in china. with more than sixty years engagement and more than 300 translated works, he is surely incomparable in this field. the present thesis offers a tentative study on this great translator. 1.1 necessity and significance of the study translator study has been proved to be a valuable topic in recent years, and childrens literature translation has long been ignored or been paid insufficient attention to. such being the case, the present thesis, a study on a childrens literature translator, becomes all the more significant and worthwhile. 1.1.1 on translator studies throughout the long history of translation studies both at home and abroad, the emphasis was mainly laid on translation properties, translation criteria and skills, while very few systematic and profound researches were done with respect to the subject of translation the translator. although researches have shown that translator studies in china started very early, intentional and systematic studies on translators didnt appear until the 1980s, when china was under the influence of the “cultural turn” in translation studies in the west, which, according to a dictionary of translation studies, aims to study the cultural origin of the translated texts and explore their impacts on the politics, economy, society and ideology of the target language culture. the cultural turn has brought about new dimensions and approaches to translation studies and provided theoretical backups for the researches on the translator. xu jun (1999) once said, “translation, as a practice of human activity, is firstly the activity of a certain person. the social, historical and cultural environment that this person lives in is bound to affect his translation activities. the particular purposes, including political, religious, educational, cultural, or aesthetic purposes a translator hopes to achieve in certain historical circumstances and under certain social conditions to a large extent determine the strategies and methods of translation.” therefore, the translators cultural identities and roles as well as his cultural and aesthetic tendencies have become a significant and indispensable subject for translation researchers. mu lei (2003) points out that although encouraging achievements have been made in chinas translator studies in the past two decades, on ren rongrongs translation of childrens literaturea case study of his translation of charlottes web 2 there is still a long way to go, especially in the monographic study on a certain translator. he also indicates that in monographic study, we should attach more importance to the study of those litterateurs who are both writers and translators, such as liang qichao, lu xun, guo moruo, hu shi and bing xin. these litterateurs not only made great contributions to modern chinese literature translation, but also enriched the connotation of the relationship between chinese and foreign literature. ren rongrong is one of them but meanwhile differs from them in a noteworthy wayas a professional and specialized translator of childrens literature. 1.1.2 on childrens literature translation childrens literature translation, though a kind of literary translation, has long been neglected in literary researches because of its peripheral status within the literary polysystem. chinese childrens literature translation studies have not been given due attention. however, when looking at the development of chinese childrens literature, we can easily see that since the qing dynasty, chinas history of childrens literature has been closely attached to the translation of foreign childrens literature. “china has traditionally been an adult-based society, in which children hardly enjoy any high position, thus there is a distinct lack of literary works composed exclusively for children”. (ma li, 1998: 52) such being the case, translated childrens books are of singular importance to the young generations in china, especially in some particular historical periods, for instance, after the may-fourth movement and the post-liberation period, when childrens literature was considered as an educational instrument which supplements the school education. translated childrens works not only opened the eyes of our children but also provided our writers, editors and publishers with numerous works of colorful subjects and brilliant styles and brought to them new insights into the development trends of childrens literature in the world. the mischievous, independent, daring and dreamy images of children in the swedish writer astrid lindgrens novels, the continuous efforts made by erich kastner, the great german writer of children to guide the younger readers to understand conscience, family, friendship, freedom, compassion, and justice, and the fantasies in the fairy tales of the well-known american essayist e.b white etc. have greatly broadened the minds of chinese writers of childrens literature and encouraged new inspirations in them. the vigorous development of childrens literature in china in the new era owes a great deal to the nourishment chapter one introduction 3 taken from foreign works. shou mingxia once pointed out that the present researches into childrens literature translation in china can be divided into three categories: to discuss childrens literature translation from a historical point of view, to explore the translation strategies of childrens literature and to conduct systematic studies on the translators of childrens literature. among the three, the third category seems to enjoy much popularity recently due to the “cultural turn” in translation studies. since translators are the media of childrens literature communication, their concepts of children, translation strategies, personal temperament and preferences, their educational levels as well as the social contexts they live in will directly affect their interpretation of a certain piece of literary work. therefore, a thorough exploration into certain translators will certainly contribute to the creation of better translated works for children and thus promote the development of childrens literature in china. translators such as zhou zuoren(周作人)，lu xun(鲁迅), mao dun(矛盾), ye junjian (叶君健)and zhao jingshen(赵景深) have already been discussed. however, the subject of the present thesisren rongrong seems to have been ignored by the researchers. 1.2 objectives of the study ren rongrong is a famous chinese translator and writer of childrens literature in the modern times, who devotes almost all his life to translating and producing childrens literature. ren rongrong can translate from russian, english, italian, and japanese. since the translation of his first childrens literature from the turkey writer sadri ertems novelfried meat made of clay 粘土做成的炸肉片in 1946, childrens literature became his lifelong career. he translated lots of foreign childrens literature, such as the pushkin fairy tale poems, mayakovski and marschaks childrens poetry, the italian fairy tales pinocchio, the adventures of the little onion, the british fairy tales peterpan, the wind in the willows and mary poppins, the swedish fairy tale pippi langstrump and so on. ren rongrong has always possessed a serious and earnest attitude toward childrens literature translation, and he had careful selection concerning the choice of the originalthere is either a perfect combination of ideological content and artistic form or a unique style of its own, which are not only beneficial to the younger readers, but also play an important role in the creation and promotion of childrens literature in china. the distinctive on ren rongrongs translation of childrens literaturea case study of his translation of charlottes web 4 features of his translation are “smooth and straightforward language, loyalty to the style of the original, yet conformation to the norms of chinese, and full of fun for children”. ( pu manting, 1991: 376) so prolific and renowned a translator as he is, ren rongrong deserves much attention from the researchers. however, few systematic and comprehensive researches have been done on him, so the present thesis attempts to conduct a study on the great translators translation practice. through analyzing his translation features, cultural attitude, as well as his translation strategy, the author attempts to absorb quintessence from his insightful thoughts on translation and provide some reference for future translators and writers of childrens literature. 1.3 organization of the thesis this thesis is made up of five chapters. the first chapter briefly introduces the background information of the present studythe necessity of translator studies and the significance of childrens literature translation, as well as the objectives of the study. the second chapter introduces ren rongrongs major translation activities and the previous researches done on him, in addition to a brief introduction to the relevant translation theoriesreception aesthetics and venutis domestication and foreignization. a complete and detailed discussion of ren rongrongs translation thought is presented in chapter three, with its special emphasis laid on his translation of poems and fairy tales. an evaluation of his contributions is also provided in this part. chapter four is a case study, a comparative study between his translated version of charlottes web and kang xins version. the comparison is carried out at the lexical, syntactical, rhetorical and cultural levels. then it goes on to explore the limitations and enlightenment of his translation. the last chapter summarizes the thesis and concludes the quintessence of rens translation so as to provide references for future translation activities. in the meantime, the limitations of the study are pointed out and suggestions for further research are made. chapter two literature review 5 chapter two literature review 2.1 introduction to ren rongrong as a translator ren rongrong, with ren genliu(任根鎏) as his real name and ren yiqi(任以 奇)， yi qi(一七)， yi lan(易蓝) and tuo hua(托华) as his pseudonyms, was born in a small businessmans family in shanghai in 1923. ren rongrong is actually his daughters name, which he uses as his most popular pseudonym. 2.1.1 ren rongrongs life experience and education ren rongrong spent his infancy in shanghai, when he was once enrolled in an old-style private school but escaped from it because of the grave-looking teacher. he then spent several months in a kindergarten-like private school and enjoyed the life there. in 1927, ren rongrong moved to guangdong, his ancestral home, together with his parents and elder brother. the then guangdong was governed by stratocracy, and the primary education was experiencing a period of alternation between the old feudal academic structure and the new educational system. the new primary schools were newly founded and the old-style private schools were still struggling to exist. at the age of five, ren rongrongs father sent him to an old-style private school, thinking that he could learn more there, but the students there still had some chances to read the new and fresh books, because of the reform. during this period, ren rongrong read books such as the three character classic( 三字经 ), the thousand character classic(千字文), analects of confucius(论语) and mencius(孟子). rens father attached great importance to the education of his children, so he not only sent ren rongrong to the old school but also allowed him to go to the new- style primary school, thus in 1931, ren went to ling nan school (the branch school of ling nan university, located in litchi bay), which was a religious school and completely adopted the new educational system. during this period, ren got into the habit of reading and continued his interests in ancient chinese classics. meanwhile, thanks to the school library, he was exposed to a number of new literatur