（外国语言学及应用语言学专业论文）从翻译伦理的角度比较《楚辞》两个英译本.pdf

iv 摘要摘要 翻译活动是一种伦理活动，正确处理翻译活动中所涉及的种种人际关系、协调外来文化与本土文化之间的冲突直接关系到翻译活动的成败， 对这些问题的探讨显然需要伦理学的指导。中西方翻译伦理研究起步较晚，但越来越多的学者开始投入到翻译伦理的研究中。近年来随着中国经济的发展，国际地位的提升，中国同样亟需在文化上获得认同。 典籍英译由于其本身的文化负载在文化输出中发挥巨大作用，而为了达到理想的输出效果，无疑也需要翻译伦理的指导。 楚辞是我国古代最早、最辉煌的浪漫主义诗集，它的英文译本可以为翻译比较研究提供丰富素材。本文从翻译伦理的角度，以荷兰翻译理论家安德鲁切斯特曼提出的四个伦理模型再现伦理、服务伦理、交际伦理、规范伦理为指导，对楚辞的两种英文译本（分别为许渊冲和孙大雨的译本） ，特别是离骚的两种译文，进行比较分析，解读影响英译作品不同的伦理因素。 本文首先从再现伦理的角度，在艺术形象、诗歌音乐效果和诗歌形态三个方面对楚辞的两种译本进行剖析，从文本的层面解析译者的不同翻译方法。其中，艺术形象一节分别就楚辞中出现的香草名、地名及历史神话人物展开论述；诗歌音乐效果一节分析楚辞中押韵和用衬字“兮”在译本中的再现；诗歌形态一节阐述汉语诗歌在形态上的特点以及英译本在音节上体现的形态再现。 其次，从再现伦理与规范伦理的冲突着手，指出译者在翻译中受到读者语言期待和译者责任的限制，并在服务伦理的要求下进行妥协，体现在对目标读者的考察和译本的体例编排。最后，以交际伦理为目的，从典籍英译的文化输出本质出发，本文尝试提出典籍英译的可行翻译方法。 关键词：典籍英译；翻译伦理；楚辞；许渊冲；孙大雨 ii abstract translation is an act of ethics and it is crucial to correctly cope with various human relations and coordinate the conflicts occurring between domestic and foreign culture during the actual translation activity, which concerns whether it will succeed or not. though the study of translation ethics began a little late both in china and abroad, more and more scholars have come to this field. as chinas international identity is improving for its economic development, a unique cultural identity is still needed. in this respect translating chinese classics into english is becoming especially important in the process of cultural exportation due to its nature of cultural load and should be guided by translation ethics so as to achieve an ideal effect of cultural exportation. chu ci is the earliest and most splendid poetry collection of romanticism in ancient china, whose different translations can provide rich materials for contrastive analysis of translation studies. from the perspective of translation ethics and guided by finnish translation scholar andrew chestermans four models of translation ethics, say, representation, service, communication and norm-based ethics, this thesis makes a contrastive study of two versions of chu ci (xu yuanchongs version and sun dayus version), especially, two translations of li sao, in order to explain the reasons why these two versions are so different and affected by ethical elements. first, under the guidance of ethics of representation, this thesis analyzes two versions of chu ci in aspects of artistic image, sound effect and form to explain why the two translators adopted different translation methods from the textual level. in artistic image, the author discusses the representation of names of herbs, places and fairy and historical figures; in sound effect, the representation of rhyme and the fill-in character; in poetical form, the formal characteristic of chinese poetry and the iii representation by the means of syllables. then, because of the conflicts between the ethics of representation and norm-based ethics, this thesis points out that there are restrictions, such as readers language expectation and translators responsibility, in translating the original text. at the same time the versions should be compromised in the demand of service ethics by considering the target reader and the book layout. at last, on the basis of the nature of cultural exportation, this thesis tries to propose a plausible method for the translation of chinese classics for the purpose of communication ethics. key words: english translation of chinese classics; translation ethics; chu ci; xu yuanchong; sun dayu 独独 创创 性性 声声 明明 本人声明所呈交的学位论文是本人在导师指导下进行的研究工作及取得的研究成果。据我所知，除了文中特别加以标志和致谢的地方外，论文中不包含其他人已经发表或撰写过的研究成果，也不包含为获得 合肥工业大学 或其他教育机构的学位或证书而使用过的材料。与我一同工作的同志对本研究所做的任何贡献均已在论文中作了明确的说明并表示谢意。 学位论文作者签字： 签字日期： 年 月 日 学位论文版权使用授权书学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解 合肥工业大学 有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，有权保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和磁盘，允许论文被查阅或借阅。本人授权 合肥工业大学 可以将学位论文的全部或部分论文内容编入有关数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存、汇编学位论文。 （保密的学位论文在解密后适用本授权书） 学位论文者签名： 导师签名： 签字日期： 年 月 日 签字日期： 年 月 日 学位论文作者毕业后去向： 工作单位： 电话： 通讯地址： 邮编： 特别声明特别声明 本论文是在我的导师指导下独立完成的。在研究生学习期间，我的导师要求我坚决抵制学术不端行为。在此，我郑重声明，本论文无任何学术不端行为，如果被发现有任何学术不端行为，一切责任完全有本人承担。 学位论文作者签名： 缪 经 签字日期： 2011 年 4 月 21 日 1 chapter i introduction 1.1 objective of the research translation is an act of ethics; this point of view has drawn much attention in translation studies in recent years. though the study of translation ethics began a little late both in china and abroad, more and more scholars have come to this field. so it is crucial to correctly cope with various human relations and coordinate the conflicts occurring between domestic and foreign culture during the actual translation activity. all the research and studies concerning translation should be guided by ethics, so does translation of chinese classics. chinese classics are the essence of chinas thousands of years civilization. these works are still read and studied by people of the modern age. as chinas international identity is improving for its economic development, a unique cultural identity is needed; in this respect translating chinese classics into foreign languages, especially english, is an urgent job for translators. considering it is an activity which is beyond the textual level and involved in mixed issues, ethical elements should be taken into account and then guide the whole translation process. chu ci (楚辞), with the representative masterpiece li sao (离骚), is the earliest and one of the most splendid lyrics in ancient china. it is also the most important poetry style in the history of chinese literature. as the indispensable treasure of chinese culture, translating it into english or other languages is a significant issue. to find an appropriate way to translate it or other chinese classical works is necessary through analyzing the existing translations. different translations of chu ci can provide rich materials for contrastive studies. therefore, this paper is intended to make a contrastive study of two versions of chu ci (translated by xu 2 yuanchong and sun dayu) from the perspective of translation ethics, hoping to explain the reasons why these two versions are so different and how translation ethics modes influence the final publication. 1.2 significance of the research first, it can enhance the understanding of chinese classics for both chinese and native english speakers. in this day of age, reading classics becomes an luxurious activity due to fast pace of modern life and even chinese people read fewer chinese classics, which leads to lower ability to understand ancient chinese language. though this paper is concerning translation of chinese classical works, a branch of translation studies, it can, to some degree, invoke the interests of reading chinese classics for both foreign readers and modern chinese people. for foreign readers, this paper tries to provide a better translation method for a possible better version in the future; for the chinese, it can deepen our comprehension of all the great chinese classics through contrastive analysis of different versions. second, it can draw peoples attention to chu ci and its studies. among all works that can be called chinese classics, chu ci is more difficult for academic researchers and translators due to, according to lin geng (2010: 2), its lack of research raw material and wide divergence among annotators. different decipherment of the original text will lead to different translations. this paper, on one hand, is willing to draw peoples attention to this great work again, and on the other hand, can extend the study of english versions of chu ci to the level of translation theory thereby presenting a new angle for similar studies in the domain of english translation of chinese classics. third, it can broaden the horizon in this field of research by using one of the classical works as material for case study as increasing number of people have cast their eyes closely on translation ethics. focusing on one particular work and analyzing it in both micro and macro way, this thesis helps researchers to observe attentively the internal attributes in the translation of chinese classical works. that is to say, through contrastive examination of two english translations of chu ci under the guidance of 3 chestermans four models of translation ethics, it can provide a new research angle to studies of the english translation of chinese classics and make contributions to its own development. 1.3 the structure of this paper this thesis is composed of six parts: chapter one, “introduction”, mainly deals with the objective and the significance of the research and then focuses on the structure of this paper. chapter two, “literature review”, gives a brief introduction to chi ci, its importance in chinese literature and the great poet q yuan, and then makes a review of english translations chu ci and relative studies about them. chapter three, “translation ethics and chestermans models of translation ethics” focuses on the development of translation ethics in both china and western world, and then gives a detailed discussion of theoretical bases four models of translation ethics. four subsections are given here to respectively deal with chestermans ethics of representation, ethics of service, ethics of communication and norm-based ethics. chapter four, “contrastive evaluation of two english versions of chu ci from the perspective of representation ethics” is a micro way of contrastive analysis that focuses on the text itself, mainly exploring how the two translators reproduce the original poem in three aspects: first, representation of artistic image with three subsections that are names of herbs, names of places and historical and fairy figures; second, representation of sound effect with a discussion of two important musical effects that are rhyme and “xi”; third, representation of form in which the author introduces the definition of form in poetry and then focus on the representation of syllables. chapter five, “cooperation and compromise of other models with representation ethics”, changes to a macro way of analyzing two translations under three other models of translation ethics. since there are other elements such as target readers language expectation and translators professional responsibility and cultural 4 difference, etc. to affect the final publication, to fully represent the original text is almost impossible. in this chapter, the author first points out that there are restrictions that confine the translator in a limited boundary. second, under the guidance of service ethics, the author discusses the cooperation among relevant parties of interests during the process of translation, finding out who the target readers are in sponsors mind and what the layout of the two books are like, by which way to. third, on the ethics of communication, the author claims that translation of chinese classics in this day and age is part of chinas cultural exportation and proposes a possible method of translating chinese classical works as a way of compromise with those restrictions. chapter six, “conclusion” summarizes the whole thesis that, in translating the chinese classical works into english, such as chu ci, models of translation ethics should be taken into consideration in order to create a comprehensively recognizable publication that meets the needs of the market thereby having the best effect of exporting chinese culture. admittedly, no translated work can reach full representation of the original text, especially for poetry, because not only the internal meaning a poem should be conveyed in translation, but also the external form, which still part of poetrys built attribute, should be rendered at the same time. in order to fulfill the task of exporting essential chinese culture, service ethics and norm-based ethics should be analyzed during the translation process and then an accepted version can be created under the principle of the communication ethics. 5 chapter ii literature review 2.1 chu ci and its status in chinese literature it is well known that from early years of western zhou dynasty (11th century b. c.) to the mid of spring and autumn period (6th century b. c.) is the golden age for the four-character poetry in china. these poems that were later collected and compiled by people of zhou into the first chinese poetry collection the book of poetry (诗经). three hundred years after the emergence of the book of poetry, chinese literature entered the age of prose. as a result, poetry had been overshadowed by the glory of historical prose and prose by pre-qin philosophers. the one who broke this pattern was q yuan by his creation of new form of poetry with the characteristic of state of chu. this new form of poetry is called chu ci verse of chu. just like the book of poetry of two thousand years ago, chu ci is one of the sources of chinese poetry and chinese culture in a broader sense. however, chu ci is widely different from the book of poetry since it was not sung by group but single persons composing; not realistic but romantic; placed emphasis not on writing of nature but subjective emotion expressing; portrayed not the scenery of northern china but pictures of southern china; used rhetorical devices not to single line but to the whole passage; adopted not the stereotyped four-character lines but flexible poetry form; turned out to be not short and repetitive passages but comprehensive and long works; presented a style not natural and rustic, but extensive and grace. (wu, 2008: i) this special form of poetry started a new poetical style in chinese literary history with the most important contribution done by q yuan. q yuan (340 278 b.c.), the most representative chu poet, was born during 6 the warring states period in danyang (the now zigui of hubei province). he was considered as a patriotic poet and a magnificent politician and thinker as well. although he was one of the aristocrats, he loved his people and state. he always stuck to his righteous standing and spared no effort to fight against vicious power on the court. in the end, frustrated with the emperor and the non prospective political future, he desperately drowned himself in miluo river. after his death, more and more people, not only in his state of chu, but also in all the other states, mourned the tragic death of this great poet. as time passes by, the whole chinese people around the world, especially the han majority, has mourned him through some particular rituals. every year on the day of q yuans death, people commemorate him by rowing dragon boats and eating zongzi (steamed glutinous rice stuffed with pork or mashed red beans). todays dragon boat festival falls on the 5th day of the 5th moon by the lunar calendar and has been a happy occasion to commemorate q yuan in china for thousands of years. q yuan left twenty-six pieces of poems, including sorrow after departure(离骚), his masterpiece, which is the longest romantic lyric in the history of chinese literature. in this poem, q yuans great and noble spirit can be perfectly embodied and, to certain degree, a true face of state of chu and fierce political combat of that period of time can be vividly seen through the poets description of his tragic sufferings. in the book of history (史记), sima qian (司马迁) says: “the folk songs of the fifteen states (国风) are romantic without being obscene, while the poems set to refined music (小雅) are critical without being radical. as far as li sao is concerned, we can well say that it has all the virtues of both.” (wu, 2008: 563) another important poems by q yuan that are worth mentioning includes the nine songs ( 九歌 ), asking heaven ( 天问 ), the nine elegies ( 九章 ), the far-off journey (远游), divination (卜居) and the fisherman (渔父). the nine songs consists of eleven poems including the almighty lord of the east (东皇太一 ), to the lord of river xiang ( 湘君 ), to the lady of river xiang ( 湘夫人 ), etc. they were created by people of chu but reprocessed artistically by q yuan. according to zhan antai (2010: 82), though the contents of these poems had fewer 7 links to q yuans life, they still should be considered as q yuans works because they were reproduced and settled by q yuan. asking heaven gives expression to the poets critical mind about the convention and to his scientific spirit of seeking the truth by raising more than 170 questions concerning such fields as astronomy, geography, history, sociology, ethics, literature and philosophy. the nine elegies narrates the poets frustration and criticizes the mean people on the court and expresses the poets patriotism and political ideal. the far-off journey recounts that the poet imagines his traveling in the fairy world, meeting fairy figures to express his discontentment with the real world and his love for this country and truth. divination and the fisherman embodies the poets philosophy of life through the dialogue and the divination. chu ci is the earliest collection of romantic poetry which was compiled in 3rd century bc in the area of southern china by poets of the largest state of chu along the yangtze river. the poems are permeated with rich imagination and strong emotions. the culture of state of chu brilliantly combines mystical world with individual aspiration, which is also one of the sources of the chinese literary tradition. on the whole, q yuans works are rich in both form and content, in which flowery vernacular of chu and many local tales of legend are used brilliantly and expressively. chu ci, having broken through the forms of expression of the book of poetry, enhances the expressiveness of poetry and produced a great impact on the formation of 赋 of han dynasty and has opened up a new horizon for the development of chinese poetry. according to jin kaicheng (2010), chu ci contributes a great deal to chinese culture, especially to the creation of poetry of chu style. culturally speaking, chu ci successfully embodies cultural communication and fusion. it put culture of chu into the mainstream chinese culture and combines them together to create great pieces of poetry. stylistically speaking, chu ci, especially q yuans poems, set