《邊城》四種英譯本之比較分析

Abstract

《邊城》是中國優秀作家沈從文的代表作品之一，自一九三O年代刊行以來，便廣受海內外評家與讀者的贊賞與喜愛。其間因詭譎複雜的政治情勢使然，中國大陸與台灣不約而同禁止沈氏的作品公開發行達三十餘年。然而時過境遷，其代表作《邊城》重新獲得應有的評價。 回顧本書四個不同時期的英譯本，不難發現四譯本在迥異的時代脈絡下，運用翻譯策略，賦予原作不同的風貌。本研究旨在觀察《邊城》四種英譯本的翻譯表現，探討操縱學派提出之「翻譯即改寫」現象。 本論文共分六章，第一章說明研究動機、目標與範圍，章節安排及文獻回顧。第二章概述《邊城》及沈從文之歷史評價，介紹四組譯者之生平，以及四譯本產生之年代背景。第三、四、五章為論文主體。第三章檢視生活層面文化詞與文史典故，探究四譯本之歸化、異化策略。第四章討論不雅文字之翻譯策略，包括俚俗語、粗話與諧謔，以及情愛與性暗示的譯法。第五章審視四種譯本如何迻譯人物動作與風景描述。第六章為總結，歸納四種譯本之表現，供未來研究者參考。

Since its first publication in 1934, Shen Congwen’s Biancheng (or Border Town) 邊城 has been critically acclaimed as a modern masterpiece in Chinese literature. A decade after the publication, however, Shen’s literary works had been banned in both mainland China and Taiwan because of the author’s political ambiguity for over 30 years. Things have changed since then, and Shen’s works have resurfaced to gain popularity with the reader. This thesis compares four English translations of Biancheng and observes their respective translation strategies. With long-spanning years of publication, four sets of translators have submitted very different English versions of Biancheng. Hence this thesis examines the strategies employed in four translations from the perspective of “patronage,” “ideology,” and “poetics” noted by Lefevere and discusses “translation as rewriting” from social contexts. This thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter One states the motivation, the objectives and scope and the structure of this research, and conducts literature reviews. Chapter Two gives a brief introduction of Shen Congwen and the source text, provides publication information regarding four translations and translators. Chapter Three scrutinizes the translation approaches that were taken by these translators to deal with culturally loaded phrases and literary allusions. Chapter Four discusses how the translators translated impolite language, mainly about slangs and colloquial usages, and sexually suggestive expressions. Chapter Five examines how they employed strategies to translate the sequence of events and scenery so as to make their translations even more comprehensible and fascinating. Chapter Six summarizes the respective translational strategies with which these above-mentioned translators employed to render their translations and suggests how future translators may endeavor to render all-around English translations of Chinese classics.