硕士学位论文-从译者主体性看《红楼梦》 诗词的翻译.doc

PrefaceHong Lou Meng (HLM for short in this thesis) is a great classical Chinese novel written in the mid-eighteenth century during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. Intertwined with the tragic love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu, this novel depicts multifarious contradictions in four big aristocratic families represented by the family of Jia, and displays many characteristics of Chinese feudal culture, including clothing, food, architecture, social system, conventions, philosophy, education and art, etc. The novel involves over two hundred beautiful and well-designed traditional verses which not only constitute an inseparable part of the whole work, but also reflect traditional Chinese culture. Up till now, HLM has been translated into over a dozen foreign languages including 9 English versions, among which Yang Xianyi & Gladys Yangs A Dream of Red Mansions and David Hawkes & John Minfords The Story of the Stone are complete versions and the two most outstanding ones. Compared with studies on the translation of the narration in this novel and the cultural information in various aspects in daily life, studies on the translation of its poetry are to be further deepened.In this thesis, the author would view the English translation of the poetry in this novel from the reproduction of the writers intentions and the conveyance of “Three Beauties”. By studying the translation of these poems, we may see the necessity and possibility of the translation of the poetry in this novel.The principle of the “Three Beauties” which is a guide to the translation and criticism of poetry refers to “beauty in sense, beauty in sound and beauty in form”. It has been put forward again by Professor Xu Yuanchong based on his predecessors research and his own practice. It means that the translator of poetry should endeavor to make his/her version faithful to the original. But he/she should not stop just here: from this point the translator must continue his/her effort to bring out the original beauties in sense, in sound and in form, that is, to transfer rhymed verses into rhymed ones. In this thesis, the analysis and assessment of the “Three Beauties” involve examination of the use of imagery, rhyme and rhythm and the arrangement of lines.Translation is considered as a process actualized by the translator who has his/her own subjectivity. But his/her subjectivity is closely related to the society in which he/she lives. Certain ideology and dominant poetics will definitely exert influences on an individual translator. Hence, different translators may adopt different translation strategies according to their own purposes.Besides, it is well known that although translation deals with languages, it actually tackles different cultures, particularly in literary translation. To bridge two cultures, some translators take the “domestication” as a way; the others take the “foreignization”. One function of translation, especially of literary translation, is to promote intercultural communication which should be based on mutual respect. Communication needs bilateral efforts: the translator and the reader. Neither of the two ways alone can achieve successful communication. Therefore whether the translator should be too considerate for the reader is under discussion. In this thesis the author is also trying to have a discussion on it. Chapter One Introduction1.1 The Current Study on the Translation of the Poetry in HLM Hong Lou Meng is regarded as an “encyclopedia” of Chinese feudal society not only for the richness of its content but for its successful integration of almost all the literary techniques. One of the most prominent accomplishments of HLM is a large number of verses which splendidly add to its artistic value, totally over 230 with various artistic forms, including shi(poem), ci(poetry written to certain tunes, patterns and rhymes), qu(a type of verse for singing), fu (rhyme prose), lei (funeral eulogy), pian(parallel prose), and lian (couplets).As far as the poetry in it is concerned, few Chinese readers can understand in true sense what they mean, so that the poetry is “omitted” or neglected in translating and reading. But in actual fact, poetry is an indispensable part of the novel. Not seeing into or understanding it while reading must be a great loss in getting the soul of the whole work. In recent years, relevant researches in the poetrys translation have flourished. Professor Wang Hongyin from Nankai University published诗词曲赋英译比较研究in 2001, which signified a good beginning of systematic research on HLM translation. Some postgraduates have also participated in the studies of poetry translation in HLM. Yang Li, once a postgraduate from Northwestern University, adopted Peter Newmarks “semantic translation” and “communicative translation” as her guidance in her dissertation “A comparative Study on Cross-culture Translation of Some Poems, Ci, Songs, Fu and Allusions in Two English Versions of Hong Lou Meng”(Yang, 2004) Liu Yumei from Sichuan University adopted Xu Yuanchongs “Three Beauties” in her dissertation “On Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yangs Translation of Poems in Hong Lou Meng (Revised)”(Liu,2004). Besides, various articles were written to research into the translation of poetry in HLM. Such as: “the Translation of Some Code Words in the Poems of Hong Lou Meng”(1994), “The Seven English Versions of Haoliaoge” (1996) ,“An analysis of Several Poems in the English Version of Hong Lou Meng by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang”(1998), “The Translation of the Cultural Contents of Poems in Hongloumeng” (2004), “The Comparative Study of the Haoliaoge Zhu” (2004), “On Foreignization and Domestication from the Poem Translation of Hong Lou Meng” (2004) etc.These books and articles are very helpful for the researchers and translators to deepen their studies in the poetry translation in HLM and improve their translation technique. 1.2 A Brief Introduction to Two English Versions of HLMAs a cultural book of Chinese people, Hong Lou Meng has aroused increasing interest among the foreigners. So far there have been only two complete versions of it. One is A Dream of Red Mansions translated by Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Yang, the other is The Story of the Stone by David Hawkes and his son-in-law John Minford. When the two versions appeared one after the other during 1970s, the translation field was shaken. They are successful and spoken highly of by the translation scholars and the press both at home and abroad. The publication of the two complete versions is a milestone on the way of Chinese cultural exportation and leads Redology to a new horizon. Professor Zhou Jueliang made his comment on the two versions as follows:Despite different styles presented in these two versions, both of them achieved the goals set by their translators. The version by David Hawkes is famous for its elegance, while Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yangs is remarkable for accuracyIf reading them together, those who are unable to read the original will acquire the real and complete picture about this novel as they do read(Zhou1994:350).The two versions are complementary to each other. These two versions vary greatly in their styles. For Yang, who has been under the great influence of Hong Lou Meng in his native culture, its not easy for him to shake off this influence. Gladys Yang expressed her pity “we enjoyed little freedom in our translation” (Henderson et al.1980:PP36). But Hawkes obviously enjoyed more freedom in his translation, because in his culture, only the Bible and works of Homer and Shakespeare and a few others can be included into “classical works” and Hong Lou Meng, as a Chinese novel, is certainly excluded out of its mainstream literature. Though since the 18th century, many western people have already discovered the charm of ancient Chinese classical works, these works are still refused outside the mainstream. Therefore, Hawkes shares much more freedom in his translation. (魏芳,2004:107121)1.2.1 The Story of the Stone by David HawkesIt was until the 1970s that the complete English version of HLM appeared. The Story of the Stone by the British Sinologist David Hawkes marks the start of the books complete translation period in the west. The whole version consists of five volumes and Hawkes son-in-law John Minford finished the later two volumes under the guidance of Hawkes. Penguin Books Ltd. of England published its first 26 chapters in 1973 and it was not until 1986 that its publication was finally completed.Hawkes makes a profound research into the original book and masters the comparatively updated information about the books background. He admits that “I have relied heavily on the published researches of Chinese scholars like Yu Pingbo（俞平伯）, Zhou Ruchang（周汝昌）,Wu Shichang（吴世昌） and Zhao Gang（赵刚）particularly the last, whose theories on a number of controversial issues seem to me the most convincing.”(Introduction,17).He points out in his Introduction that “the psychological insight and sophisticated humor with which it is written can often delude a reader into judging it as if it were a modern novelhis numerous rewriting and the various mythopoeic devices with which his novel is littered all testify to his struggle to find some sort of framework on which to arrange his inchoate material”. From this statement we can see Mr. Hawks keen insight of the artistic essence of the original book. He also tells that “My one abiding principle has been to translate everythingeven puns. For although this is, in the sense I have already indicated, an unfinished novel, it was written (and rewritten) by a great artist with his very life blood. I have therefore assumed that whatever I find in it is there for a purpose and must be dealt with somehow or other. I cannot pretend always to have done so successfully, but if I can convey to the reader even a fraction of the pleasure this Chinese novel has given me, I shall not have lived in vain.”(Introduction, 46). The educational Supplement to Times Newspaper regards Hawkes version as “one of the best translated works of English” and the magazine Making Friends holds that it is the milestone in rendering the Chinese literature works into English.1.2.2 The Yangs A Dream of Red MansionsIn 1978 and 1979, the Foreign Language Press of China (Beijing) published the translation A Dream of Red Mansionsthe complete English version in three volumes by the famous Chinese scholar Yang Xianyi (1915- ) and his wife Gladys Yang (1919-1999). This translation has been regarded as the most faithful one so far and is popular in China as well as accepted in English-speaking countries. Yang and his wife have devoted almost all their lives to the translating of the Chinese classics and have made great contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world. They take introducing the cultural heritage of China to the outside world as their responsibility and try their best to be faithful to the original works. Apparently, they do not have a comprehensive translation theory as some others do, but they do have their own principles. In 1980, when they were interviewed about some problems in literary translation by the chief editor of an Australian magazine Hemisphere, Mr. Yang said that, “translating the Chinese classic is not an easy jobone has to find an approximate translation, but at the same time, it must be accurate, keeping the meaning as close as possible to the original.” They also mentioned David Hawkes and his The Story of the Stone. Mrs. Yang spoke highly of Hawkes, “We take too few liberties, a translator we admire very much, David Hawkes, is much more creative than us. We tend to be rather pedantic and the readers lose their interest, we are too literal”, while Mr. Yangs opinion is that “one cant explain too much in the process of translation. He should try the best of his ability in sticking to the original images, neither exaggerating nor adding something to them. Of course, if one can by all means find no equivalence of the original, some of the original meaning will surely be lost. However, overemphasizing the importance of the creativity is not right, because in that case, one is doing the rewrite instead of the translationwe must be very faithful to the original.” Of course, Yangs “faithfulness” is to the meaning of the original work as well as the Chinese culture and national self-confidence instead of mechanically sticking to the original words.1.3 Necessity of the ResearchAs for the high praise of the celebrated book, the various versions of the book appear. And with the versions occurring, there are more and more translation studies on the subject, whether it is from the perspective of culture, linguistics, image or aesthetics, etc. Once the significance of the poetry in the book has been ascertained, the translation study of poetry must have become in focus. But how to render the classical poetry into English and help foreign readers to appreciate better the charms of classical Chinese poetry has long been a tricky and controversial issue in the translation circle. Although the study of the book has concerned most aspects, the study on the poetry in the book comparatively does less.The translators subjectivity is involved throughout the procedure of translation, from the perspective of hermeneutics, translation should be understood as a process in which translators understand and interpret on the basis of their own linguistic competence and cultural background, etc. The translators subjectivity is one of the most important elements that directly affect the outcome of translation practice. A translator is more humble when he is fully aware of his existential limitation in his relation to the source text. As he admits that neither his reading nor his rendering is the absolutely right one, he can be more honest to his personal understanding and interpretation. Thus in this paper the discussion will be primarily focused on application of the translators subjectivity in the English versions of the poetry in Hong Lou Meng in order to show that the theory plays a practical and beneficial role in the translation study of the poetry.Chapter Two The Translators Subjectivity2.1 Definition of Translators Subjectivity As is known to all, the translator is the subject of translation. However, if we do not define translation only as the translating activity itself, but all the factors concerning the whole course of translating activity, then both the author of the original and the readers of the translated version should also be the subjects of the translation. Of the three subjects, the subjectivity of translator goes through the whole course of translation while that of the author of the original and the readers of the version are only represented in some parts concerned. In the paper A Hermeneutic Approach to Translators Subjectivity, Yuan Li (2003:74-78) constructs a new schema of four essential elements in which the translator is in direct connection with the other three: the original, the version and the world (including the readers of the version). By analyzing the schema, Yuan Li clearly points out that the translator is the centre of the cycle which is composed of the four elements. Just as what Berman says, the translating motive, the translating purposes and the translating strategies together with his tendency in making choices all make the translator the most active factor in doing translation (Xu Jun, 2003:6-11).Then what is translators subjectivity? At first, we should make clear what the subjectivity is. Subjectivity is the essential characteristic of the subject which are represented in the activity operated on the objects. Specifically speaking, subjectivity is the externalization of the essential powers in the activity performed on the objects and the characteristics to initiatively change, influence, control the objects and make the objects to serve the subject (Wang Yuliang, 1995:34-38).The object of the translators activity is the original. The translators task is to transform the original of the source language into version of the target language by making full use of his subjective initiative. Surely the subjectivity of the translator can never be abused without any limitation. He is to be restricted by many factors such as the different linguistic features and usage of the two languages, the culture and aesthetics of the original, the society the translator lives in, the translating strategies of that particular period, and so on.Therefore, the translators subjectivity is the subjective initiative represented in the translation activities which aim at the realization of translating purposes, with the presupposition of the respects of the translator to the author and the original. Its essential characteristics are the cultural consciousness the humanistic characters, as well as the cultural and aesthetic creativities.2.2 The “Cultural Turn” in Translation StudiesIt is not until the “Cultural Turn” in the 1970s that the inferior status of the translator began to change.“There have been two shifts in western translation studies in the twentieth century. One is the Linguistic Turn during the 1950s and 1960s; the other is the Cultural Turn since the 1970s. ” (Xie Tianzhen, 2004:3)Since the 1970s and 1980s, a group of literary translators such as Holmes, Lefevere, Bassnett, Vermere, and Venuti have questioned the linguistic approach to translation and advocated translation studies should develop as an independent academic discipline. They argue that translation should be understood more as a cultural than a linguistic transfer, and translation practice is no longer a “transcoding” from one context into another, but a kind of communication. In translation th