「現代」：翻譯與想像

Abstract

“modern＂，中文譯為「現代」，如其他近現代中國新名詞，是通過翻譯，在中國形成、流傳的。本文通過考察「現代」一詞的來源、形成、含意變遷，追尋「現代」一詞如何描繪出一幅近現代中國人的歷史詮釋及觀念重構圖景；並指出，一外語名詞翻譯與含意之變遷，非但標示出個人或集體的文化想像之內涵轉變，也彰顯出翻譯主體的生成歷史及文化差異。而在近現代中國獨特現代文化脈絡中，「現代」一詞更具體而微地體現了一時一地之人對未來國家文化之想像。本文主要分成兩大部分，一是考察「現代」的翻譯歷程及傳統含意；二是探討面臨三千年未有之大變局，作為“modern＂ 一詞的中文翻譯─「現代」詞意之變遷與文化意涵。

This paper presents an analysis of the translation and formation history of a keyword in contemporary society- ”Modern” (xiandai), which means new and current, in the Chinese cultural historical context. According to Lawrence Venuti (1994), translation, as it accumulated, can replace the original and create aspiration for the readers. By sparking their imagination, the translation not only indigenizes foreign cultures, but also simultaneously invokes the construction of native cultural identity in the receiving country. In this regard, I argue that as a translated word, the conceptual history of ”modern,” can be examined under a historical framework that people take history as a linear process, and therefore ”modern” signifies a new and ongoing future that China is heading to. It provides and reflects a cultural precondition not only of the idea of modern in nowadays, but also the emergence of the ideas that China could be a new, progressive, and fresh country after catching up with the times.