变化中的翻译禁忌: 辩证视角下的探索

翻译禁忌是关涉翻译活动的一个现象,是人类社会的一种文化政治存在,但却甚少有人研究。本文秉承对译学新课题的探索精神,展开对翻译禁忌的讨论。文章立足于辩证论的思想观,认为翻译禁忌既具普遍性(即每个国家或社会都有缘起思想审查等文化政治制度和译者个体、机构信仰等意识形态因素的翻译禁忌),又有其特殊性(即翻译禁忌在不同国家、社会和时代必定有其不同的表现形式);它既是一个永恒存在,同时又具有动态的可变特质。正视这个现象的存在,并以开放而辩证的态度去研究其本质特征,有助于我们进一步认识翻译以及翻译的社会和文化政治意义。

Despite the fact that tabooing translation has been a well-observed social, cultural and political phenomenon in human existence, it has yet to attract much attention from researchers in translation studies. This paper attempts to make up for the negligence by taking a dialectic view on issues related to the topic. It argues that translational taboos are by nature a phenomenon at once universal and particular, and an existence simultaneously constant and variable. Their universality lies in their existence in all societies where efforts have been made not just to facilitate cross-cultural exchanges but also to curb and inhibit the very same exchanges through government/institutional or translatorial(self)censorship. Their particularity, on the other hand, lies in their tendency to change with time and socio- and culturo-political conditions.The paper calls for the adoption of an open and dialectic attitude towards studying translational taboos, arguing that such an attitude would ensure a better understanding of translation as both a linguistic and a socio-and culturo-political act.