中国传统诗学概念“意象”的英译研究①
2021-03-03章艳
内容摘要:“意象”是中国传统诗学中的核心概念,“意”“象”并立,但以“意”为鹄的。因此,“意象”不等于“象”,在英译时不应简单地对应于image或imagery。通过观察国内文献中“意象”一词的英译发现,翻译界和比较文学界的学者在英语摘要中普遍使用image来表达“意象”,而哲学界和美学界的学者则通过拼音或“拼音+翻译”来彰显其特殊性。在国外文献中,“意象”也有不同表达方式,分别是image/imagery、“翻译+拼音”和“拼音+翻译”。以image翻译“意象”虽然可以表达其基本语义,却遮蔽了中国传统哲学和诗学所赋予的丰富蕴涵。当代中国学者担负着沟通中西学术话语的使命,在外译中国传统文化概念或术语时应避免简单化的对应思维,自觉采用“深度翻译”策略,只有这样才能通过理解差异来丰富彼此的文化。
关键词:中国传统诗学;“意象”英译;深度翻译
作者简介:章艳,上海外国语大学教授,主要研究方向为翻译美学、文化翻译。
Title: How to Translate Yixiang as a Core Concept in Traditional Chinese Poetics
Abstract: Yixiang is a core concept in traditional Chinse poetics, with Yi (meaning) and Xiang (image) in juxtaposition while stressing Yi over Xiang. Therefore, Yixiang in Chinese does not equate with the concept of image in English. Scholars of translation studies and comparative literature studies in China tend to use “image” to refer to Yixiang in their English abstracts, while scholars specialized in philosophy and aesthetics highlight its difference by putting it in pinyin or “pinyin+translation”. Observation shows that “image/imagery”, “translation+pinyin” and “pinyin+translation” are used to explain Yixiang by overseas scholars. This paper points out that “image/imagery” can express the basic meaning of Yixiang, yet it eclipses the rich connotation of the latter in the context of traditional Chinese philosophy and poetics. Challenged by the task of bridging the academic discourse gaps between China and the West, Chinese scholars should avoid an oversimplified way of finding an equivalent expression in English when they translate any concept or term loaded with traditional Chinese culture. Instead, they should adopt the strategy of thick translation, for this is the only way to enrich cultures through understanding differences.
Key words: traditional Chinese poetics; English translation of Yixiang; thick translation
Author: Zhang Yan is professor at Shanghai International Studies University (Shanghai 200083, China). Her academic interests include Aesthetics and Translation, Culture and Translation. E-mail: yennyzhang@shisu.edu.cn
一、引言
在中文文獻中,“意象”是中国诗学、文学理论、文艺心理学、美学等领域中广泛使用的重要概念,除了单独使用外,还有“原型意象”“神话意象”“象征意象”“心理意象”“审美意象”等复合概念。但在不同学科的运用中,甚至是在同一学科的不同时期或不同学者笔下,“意象”的内涵和外延也存在巨大差异。有学者从诗学、文艺心理学与美学、文化学与文艺学三大学科领域的角度,对“意象”(image)在不同学科语域中的表义进行梳理与辨析,从中可以看出,除了中国传统诗学的“意象”外,有些“意象”其实是image、idea的汉译(胡立新 36-40),而image并不等同于“意象”,它作为名词的基本含义包括雕像、肖像、形象、镜像、影像、心象以及表象等等。……
