回譯與重敘研究: 以彼得・海斯勒「中國三部曲」英中翻譯為例

Translated title of the thesis: Back-translating as re-narrating: a case study of the Chinese translations of Peter Hessler's 'China trilogy'
  • 吴音然

    Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis

    Abstract

    中國題材英文作品翻譯成中文時,出現了一種特殊翻譯現象:「回譯」。本課題將源文本的「中國」視為在英文語境中形成的建構物,而回譯則是在中文語境中對這個「中國」建構物進行的重構。本研究參考蒙娜.貝克的社會敘事翻譯理論,將回譯理解為一種「重敘」,並借鑒敘述學「聚焦」概念,進一步把重敘中國人物、事件的回譯現象具化為一種「重新聚焦」過程,意在探究隨著聚焦者觀察中國人物、事件的視角轉變,聚焦者視野裡的「焦點」如何變化,進而重構出不同於源文本的「中國故事」。在參考里蒙--凱南提出的「聚焦側面」類型(即感知、心理、意識形態「聚焦側面」)的基礎上,本研究構建出適用於探究語言標記變化的「重新聚焦」文本分析模式,通過考察三種「聚焦側面」之間的相互轉化及「聚焦側面」的內部變化,分析中文譯本投射出的「重新聚焦」模式,以此揭示回譯重敘機制。本課題圍繞中國題材當代英文敘事新聞作品的中譯展開研究,選取美國作者彼得.海斯勒「中國三部曲」(即《江城》、《尋路中國》、《甲骨文》)的回譯進行案例分析。其中,簡體譯本為主要研究對象,而在台灣出版的繁體譯本則用於對比與參照。本研究發現,在大陸譯本中,聚焦者屬性呈現出由「局外人」到「局內人」的轉變。透過「局內人」聚焦者重塑出的「中國故事」,折射出中國百姓對自身所處社會時空的集體認知,及中文譯者/讀者對中國人物帶有的情感連結。回譯重構並不是一種單純的政治改寫,而關涉以「局內人」聚焦者為主體的「敘事共建」過程。The translation into Chinese of works written in English on China, or China-related topics points to a specific translation phenomenon: 'back-translation'. 'China' in the English texts is a construct and its back-translation involves re-constructing the 'China' based on contextualised Chinese factors. In light of Mona Baker's socio-narrative theory, this type of back-translation is conceived as a form of 're-narration'. With further reference to the narratological concept of 'focalization', the process of this back-translation is considered 're-focalization' that takes place between the target and source narratives. The study explores the shifting perspectives observed in original and translated narratives on these Chinese characters and events and examines how the 'focus' as perceived through the original focalizer is re-developed in the back-translation process, thus giving rise to a different China story. Drawing upon Rimmon-Kenan's three facets of focalization (i.e. perceptual, psychological and ideological), the project proposes an analytical model, which traces changes in linguistic markers, to analyse how one facet of focalization is altered into another and what changes are made within the same facet. The analysis contributes to the revelation of a re-narrating mechanism embedded in the back-translation phenomenon.Focusing on the Chinese translations of contemporary English narrative journalism about China, this project uses the Chinese translations of Peter Hessler's China Trilogy (i.e. River Town, Country Driving and Oracle Bones) for case studies, with the simplified Chinese translations as the main object of analysis, and the traditional Chinese versions published in Taiwan as a point of comparison. It is found that the re-focalization mechanism in the mainland Chinese translations is characterized by changes in the status of focalizer from that of an 'outsider' to that of an 'insider'. The China story, as re-focalized through an 'insider', aligns with ordinary Chinese people's collective understandings of the social space they belong to and reflects a sense of attachment that the Chinese translator(s)/readers may develop with the Chinese characters. This reveals that the back-translation is not a fully politically-motivated re-writing, but a narrative co-construction process that centres around the 'insider-focalizer'

    Date of Award27 Feb 2019
    Original languageChinese (Traditional)
    SupervisorZaixi TAN (Supervisor)

    User-Defined Keywords

    • Translating and interpreting.

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