通俗佛學翻譯--由《不要綁架自己》談起

Abstract

本文旨在由《不要綁架自己》(Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience) 一書的翻譯，探討通俗佛學翻譯，全文共分為五章。第一章說明筆者翻譯後，產生探討通俗佛學翻譯的動機，並略述論文架構。第二章為追本溯源，將佛教翻譯分為三類，略述通俗佛學的源起及翻譯特性，並扼要點明通俗佛學翻譯的難題重點。第三章交代《不要綁架自己》一書作者背景，並簡單敘述書籍內容，順帶簡單探討禪修在美國的歷史流行。第四章切入本文重心，通俗佛學翻譯策略，並兼探討兩本通俗佛學傳世之作-- 《西藏生死書》及《當和尚遇到鑽石》，以加添本文探討通俗佛學翻譯的深度廣度及說服力，從三書的異同綜論通俗佛學翻譯傾向採取的策略，並將這些策略大致分類。第五章總結筆者翻譯的心得，並提議比照推廣科普的動機及作法，將「佛普」獨立為一學門，供後來有心學者及譯者傳遞研究。

This thesis aims at exploring the translation of popular Buddhism books based on the experience of translating Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter provides the background to the motive and purpose of this paper. The second chapter traces the sources of Buddhism translation, divides Buddhism translation into three categories, and briefly describes its characteristics and the main difficulties a translator may face during the process of translation. The third chapter offers the author’s background and briefly introduces the book’s content along with the history of meditation in America. The fourth chapter discusses the strategies of popular Buddhism, with the addition of two important books in this field—The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying and The Diamond Cutter, with a view to enhancing the depth and width of our discussion and making this thesis more convincing. The fifth chapter concludes the translator’s findings and points of view; furthermore, it recommends singling out popular science as an independent field of study, in order for the latecomers to research, explore and accumulate findings more easily.