跨文化翻譯規範與策略分析－以多部臺灣短篇小說英譯選集為例

Abstract

始於1972年劉紹銘編選的臺灣短篇小說英譯選集，至2018年的《台灣文譯》冬季季刊，臺灣短篇小說英譯已累積了豐富的數量，亦出版過多部英譯選集。論其大者有1975年齊邦媛主編的《現代中國文學選集》。近20年來在臺灣出版的則有《中英對照讀台灣小說》（1999）；《島嶼雙聲》（2008）；《當代台灣文學藝術系列》（2011）；《回首塵寰》（2011)。在美國，The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature（1995, 2007）亦收錄了多篇現代臺灣短篇小說。無可否認地，臺灣文學英譯亦是跨文化的翻譯，並往往會受制於隱形的翻譯規範──這些規範包括了選集的素材（不同的時／空或出版機構對臺灣文學的定義、或想要達成的翻譯目的亦有所不同）；究竟要採取英譯主流的歸化譯法，或後殖民主義翻譯學者主張的異化譯法；而這又會影響到文化詞（如專有名詞）、隱喻、或多語文本的翻譯策略。立基於Toury的規範（norm）說，參考近代文化翻譯學派的理論，以及Newmark和Nida有關文化詞翻譯的討論，本論文旨在檢視多部短篇小說英譯選集（由1972年至2018年）裡的跨文化翻譯規範／策略。大體上來說，這些選集的選材明顯力求符合政治正確性，其翻譯策略以歸化翻譯為主，但亦有異化翻譯的因子。

Starting from Chinese Stories from Taiwan:1960-1970 (published in 1972) to The Taipei Chinese Pen (Winter 2018), there has been a wealth of translations of short stories from contemporary Taiwanese literature and anthologies. Other than the seminal An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Literature-Taiwan:1949-1974 (published in 1975), the past two decades have witnessed publications in Taiwan such as Taiwan Literature in Chinese and English (1999), Voices from the Beautiful Island (2008), Contemporary Taiwanese Literature and Art Series-Short Stories (2011), and Grand Impressions-A Selection of 20th-century Taiwan Short Stories (2011). In addition, many short stories from contemporary Taiwanese literature were included in The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature (1995, 2007), published in the U.S.A. Arguably, the translation of Taiwanese literature is also the practice of cross-cultural translation, subject to the translation norms from both the ST and TT, which may have a great impact on the selection of translation texts and the adoption of translation strategies. On the one hand, the definition of Taiwanese literature or the purpose hoped to achieve through translation may differ over time, space or institutions. On the other hand, whether to adopt the mainstream domesticating method of translation or the foreignizing method of translation advocated by post-colonial translation theorists is another issue, which, in turn, may influence the translation strategies of Culture-Specific Items (e.g., proper nouns), cultural metaphors, or multi-language texts. Based on Toury`s elaboration on translation norms, with reference to cultural translation theories as well as Newmark and Nida`s discussions on cultural translation strategies, this study aims to examine cross-cultural translation norms/strategies through the comparison and analysis of short stories in anthologies of contemporary Taiwanese literature from 1972 to 2018. It has been observed that political correctness often dictates the selections of translation texts in these anthologies. Also, the domesticating method of translation prevails, dotted with elements of foreignizing translations.