譚西媞
(湖南科技大學(xué) 外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院,湖南 湘潭 411201)
《托媒》是2019年劉慶邦發(fā)布在《收獲》上的一篇短篇小說(shuō),文中充斥著濃郁的河南特色。該作品以第一人稱(chēng)“我”為敘述視角書(shū)寫(xiě)主角“劉本華”的故事,文章將“劉本華”打造成一個(gè)道德敗壞,對(duì)于男女關(guān)系沒(méi)有清晰認(rèn)知的人。他受人委托介紹文中的“我”和一個(gè)門(mén)當(dāng)戶(hù)對(duì)的人相互認(rèn)識(shí),但因其私欲,破壞了做媒人的準(zhǔn)則,對(duì)此事只字不提,最后被委托的婚事也因此不了了之。目前為止,在知網(wǎng)進(jìn)行檢索有不少關(guān)于劉慶邦的小說(shuō)分析,但有關(guān)《托媒》的內(nèi)容分析至今還未有研究,也未有人對(duì)其小說(shuō)進(jìn)行翻譯實(shí)踐。本文采用“求真—?jiǎng)?wù)實(shí)”連續(xù)統(tǒng)評(píng)價(jià)模式,從俗語(yǔ)、諺語(yǔ)以及方言三個(gè)層面對(duì)《托媒》英譯過(guò)程中針對(duì)鄉(xiāng)土語(yǔ)言的處理進(jìn)行研究,以期探析其翻譯實(shí)踐過(guò)程中向原文貼近的求真程度以及向讀者社會(huì)靠近的務(wù)實(shí)程度。
周領(lǐng)順(2016)根據(jù)鄉(xiāng)土語(yǔ)言的性質(zhì)將其分為方言/土語(yǔ)和熟語(yǔ)兩類(lèi),將熟語(yǔ)概念細(xì)化可以得到以下幾類(lèi):成語(yǔ)、方言、慣用語(yǔ)、格言、俚語(yǔ)、俗語(yǔ)等。并且在其專(zhuān)著《譯者行為批評(píng):路徑探索》中提出“求真—?jiǎng)?wù)實(shí)”連續(xù)統(tǒng)評(píng)價(jià)模式是譯者行為批評(píng)理論中的評(píng)價(jià)方法,其中“求真”是指“譯者為實(shí)現(xiàn)務(wù)實(shí)目標(biāo)而全部或部分求取原文語(yǔ)言所負(fù)載意義真相的行為;務(wù)實(shí)是指譯者在對(duì)原文語(yǔ)言所負(fù)載的意義全部或部分求真的基礎(chǔ)上為滿(mǎn)足務(wù)實(shí)性需要所采取的態(tài)度和方法”(周領(lǐng)順,2014)
本文試圖從以下俗語(yǔ)、諺語(yǔ)、方言方面探討《托媒》中鄉(xiāng)土語(yǔ)言英譯研究,借助“求真—?jiǎng)?wù)實(shí)”連續(xù)評(píng)價(jià)模式,分析應(yīng)該采取哪一種譯文,以達(dá)到貼近原文的“求真”,以及能夠使具有中國(guó)文化特色的“鄉(xiāng)土語(yǔ)言”起到感染英語(yǔ)目標(biāo)語(yǔ)讀者的“務(wù)實(shí)”目的。
俗語(yǔ)一詞是漢語(yǔ)的固有詞匯,具有自己的特定含義和文化底蘊(yùn),其‘俗’不僅具有通俗的、大眾的、約定成俗的、俚俗的等語(yǔ)義,尚有民俗的意思。(曲彥斌,1996)
例1:
原文:我們那里形容辦一件事比較難,往往會(huì)說(shuō)比登天還難。那么,劉本華當(dāng)上了飛行員,不是等于登上了天嘛!另外,在某種意義上,北京也被人說(shuō)成是天。劉本華到北京當(dāng)飛行員,不是一下子登上了兩重天嘛!老天爺,這可怎么得了!
譯文1:In our village, we usually described a difficult thing as more difficult than flying in the sky. So, when Liu Benhua was recruited as a pilot, it meant that he had successfully flew to the sky. As Beijing was also described as the sky in a sense, Liu Benhua’ s being a pilot in Beijing meant that he had flew to a height even higher than the sky. Oh, unbelievable!
譯文2:We describe something as more difficult to do, and we often say that it is harder than reaching the heaven. So, if Liu Benhua became a pilot, doesn’t it mean that he has reached the sky! In addition, in a sense, Beijing is usually compared to the sky. Liu Benhua went to Beijing to be a pilot, didn’t he reached the two heavens all at once! God, unbelievable!
譯文3:If we said something difficult, we would compare it as climbing the sky.In other words, being a pilot meant climbing the sky.The difficulty of being a pilot was equivalent to climbing the sky. Besides, Beijing was also said to be a sky. Liu Benhua worked as a pilot in Beijing. So people said that he climbed the sky twice. Oh my god!
“比登天還難”和“一下子登上兩重天”中“登天”內(nèi)含豐富的中國(guó)文化背景。在中國(guó)文化中“老天爺”的存在在某一程度上起著和西方文化中的“上帝”相似的作用,對(duì)比三個(gè)譯文,譯文1和譯文3都將“登天”的天譯為sky,但考慮到目標(biāo)語(yǔ)讀者為英語(yǔ)國(guó)家背景,筆者認(rèn)為譯文2中所用的heaven一詞與宗教信仰息息相關(guān),更能體現(xiàn)其背后的含義。譯文3中登采用動(dòng)詞climb通常用于攀登山脈,與原文意義不符。因此,我們可得出譯文2最為“務(wù)實(shí)”的結(jié)論,考慮到了目標(biāo)語(yǔ)讀者對(duì)于中國(guó)文化認(rèn)知的不足,借用英文中相似的意象可以使讀者更能感同身受,有助于讀者理解上下文。而譯文1和譯文3“求真”過(guò)度,對(duì)原文進(jìn)行了直譯,沒(méi)有考慮目標(biāo)語(yǔ)讀者是否有足夠的語(yǔ)言背景來(lái)理解其意義。
諺語(yǔ)是人們?nèi)粘9ぷ鹘?jīng)驗(yàn)的概括和總結(jié),其內(nèi)容精辟、寓意深邃,具有廣泛的感染力,“在民間流傳的固定語(yǔ)句,用簡(jiǎn)單通俗的話(huà)反映出深刻的道理。
例3:
原文:不要以為我們劉莊店公社無(wú)人,有棗沒(méi)棗打一竿,我來(lái)寫(xiě)一篇試試。
譯文1: Don’t think that there is no one in our Commune could write such an article. Whether I failed or not.
譯文2: Do you think that our Liu Zhuangdian Commune is trifled with?Then I took a shot of writing one to take the potluck.
“有棗沒(méi)棗打一桿”意思是比喻把握得到好處的事要做,沒(méi)有把我得到好處的事也要做(百度百科),譯文1盡力還原“求真”于原文,但第一句“不有異味我們劉莊店公社無(wú)人”這句話(huà)過(guò)于直譯,帶有“翻譯腔”,而譯文2中對(duì)于“有棗沒(méi)棗打一竿”,采用了take the potluck這一短語(yǔ),可以看出譯者想要帶給目標(biāo)語(yǔ)讀者一種熟悉氛圍的想法,但take the potluck所表達(dá)的含義是吃便飯,與原作中意義產(chǎn)生了偏差,會(huì)讓目標(biāo)與讀者產(chǎn)生歧義,以上兩個(gè)譯文均未做到對(duì)于原文的求真以及面向目標(biāo)語(yǔ)讀者的務(wù)實(shí)。
地域方言詞往往以獨(dú)特的方式表達(dá)某一地方的語(yǔ)言表達(dá),它能表現(xiàn)地域色彩,又能反映文化背景的真實(shí)性,是其地方特色的一大 體現(xiàn)。
例4
原文:他是一個(gè)嫉妒心極強(qiáng)的人,他不能看到別人超過(guò)他,只要看到村里有人比他強(qiáng),他就氣不平,百樣生法也要把比他高的人往下拉。
譯文1:he was a jealous man. He could’t let others surpass him. If he see someone in the village who was better than him, he would be anxiety, and he would pull down people who were greater than him.
譯文2:he was extremely jealous and couldn’t see anyone else better than him, else he would feel uncomfortable and pull down them by every possible means.
譯文3:he was a jealous man. He cannot bear others surpassing him. As long as he saw someone in the village who was superior to him, he would envy others and defeat them by hook or by crook.
百樣生法在方言中意為想盡辦法達(dá)到目的,譯文1中并未將百樣生法這一層意義翻譯出來(lái),削弱了文中“他”的善妒的形象,針對(duì)這個(gè)詞而言是零求真。譯文2中by every possible means非常符合百樣生法的釋義,做到“求真”于原文本,但是此處的百樣生法帶有貶義性質(zhì),而譯文2中翻譯出來(lái)給人以中性詞的體會(huì)。反觀譯文3中使用的by hook or by crook意為不擇手段,為人物形象增添了反面形象的色彩,對(duì)于角色塑造更加具有推動(dòng)性作用,因此譯文3是相較而言最“求真”于原文本,且能使目標(biāo)語(yǔ)讀者理解的譯文。
本文通過(guò)“求真-務(wù)實(shí)”連續(xù)評(píng)價(jià)模式,分析如何處理翻譯《托媒》過(guò)程中的鄉(xiāng)土語(yǔ)言部分的重難點(diǎn),發(fā)現(xiàn)每種譯文都有自己獨(dú)特之處,但由于對(duì)鄉(xiāng)土語(yǔ)言的把握還不夠到位,以及對(duì)英語(yǔ)文化的不熟悉等等原因,只能部分重現(xiàn)鄉(xiāng)土文學(xué)特點(diǎn),通過(guò)注解以及找到類(lèi)似的英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)言表達(dá)以期增加譯文的可讀性,為中國(guó)鄉(xiāng)土文學(xué)“走出去”貢獻(xiàn)綿薄之力。