《西遊記》五種英譯本韻文翻譯評析

Abstract

《西遊記》位列中國四大奇書之一，自十六世紀首度出版以來，一直都是中文圈最受歡迎的章回小說之一。歷經將近五世紀，書中的人物和故事眾所周知，也長久深受中文讀者喜愛，可以說得上是中國文學史上經典不敗的作品。最早的《西遊記》譯本是十八世紀出版的日文譯本，但第一本英文譯本卻到了西元1913年才出現。《西遊記》目前有五個主要的英文譯本，其中兩本為節譯本，首先是英籍宣教士李提摩太的1913年譯本，然後是英籍漢學家亞瑟偉利的1942年譯本。《西遊記》還有兩個英文全譯本，一是余國藩教授1977年的譯本，另一則是英籍漢學家詹納爾1982年的全譯本。此外，美籍作家兼詩人大衛克狄恩重新編寫了《西遊記》的故事，並於1992年出版。 雖然有學者針對個別譯本做過研究與評析，但各譯本之間異同的比較研究卻寥寥無幾。此研究將從《西遊記》中的韻文翻譯作為出發點，比較分析各譯者所採用的翻譯策略，解決翻譯問題的手法，以及各譯者之間翻譯風格的異同之處，期待經由這項研究，能夠初步了解經典中文章回小說《西遊記》翻譯成英文時，其中韻文翻譯牽涉到的文化轉化過程，以及譯者觀點差異的影響。

Regarded as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature, Xiyouji has been one of the most popular Chinese novels ever since it was first published in the 16th Century. As many of the characters and stories from this novel have been known to and loved by the general Chinese readers for nearly five centuries, it can be said with great confidence that Xiyouji is indeed a timeless masterpiece of Chinese literature. The first translation of Xiyouji was into Japanese in the 18th Century; however, its first English translation did not appear until 1913. Two of the most prominent English translations of Xiyouji are abridgements, one translated by Welsh missionary Timothy Richard (1845-1919) and the other by British translator Arthur Waley (1889-1966). Two complete English translations of the entire 100 chapters of the novel have also been published, first by literary scholar Anthony C. Yu (1938-2015) and later by English sinologist W.J.F. Jenner (1940-). Last but not least, an adaptation retelling the story written by Armenian-American writer David Kherdian (1931-) is also available. Although reviews and critiques of individual translation have been conducted, a more concentrated comparison between the different versions is still necessary. This research will focus on the strategies implemented in the process of translating Xiyouji’s verses into English, the various techniques used to solve translation problems, as well as comparisons of the distinct styles among the translators. It is hoped that through this research, a better understanding of the processes of cultural transition and differences in perspectives involved in translating the classical Chinese novel of Xiyouji into English may be achieved.