從余光中和張愛玲的譯作看英美散文中譯的風格

Abstract

Jean Boase-Beier（2020）在其著作《翻譯與風格》（Translation and Style）中提出，「文學翻譯可以視為風格的翻譯」，風格能展現作者的觀點、信念和對世界的認識，使意義的傳達更完整，對於文學的閱讀和理解，以及翻譯達到功能完備都極為關鍵。語言是表達風格的元素，是風格賴以成形的媒介，Boase-Beier（2020）提出採用上世紀末以來發展的認知文體學（Cognitive Stylistics）和關聯理論（Relevance Theory）概念探討原作風格，以及譯者的選擇在譯本上的呈現模式，以解釋如何傳達翻譯風格。本研究基於上述相關理論概念，透過文本語言分析，了解作者使用特定語言或表達方式的習慣所具有的認知基礎以及文學上的意義和功能，以更精準地判別原作風格是否適切地被理解、詮釋和翻譯，進而相對於作者和譯者的寫作風格，更客觀地評斷譯文的品質。本研究第一章緒論簡介以翻譯風格作為研究主題的目的和方法。第二章以中西方文論、散文風格寫作及研究理論為根據，歸納出風格的「言、情、意」三要素，深入風格的內涵，並且從翻譯理論探討語言與風格的關聯，讓翻譯評論落實於語言層面。第三章綜述翻譯評論的原則與方法，並提出脈絡化的「言、情、意」翻譯風格評論架構。第四、五章檢視余光中的創作和翻譯論，及張愛玲的創作論，以認知文體學和關聯理論剖析余光中與張愛玲的寫作風格與其散文翻譯風格的關聯，並論譯者的主體性。第六章以余、張兩人翻譯海明威的《老人與海》中篇小說，作為翻譯風格比較評論的實例。本研究期能以「言、情、意」翻譯風格評論模式，取代傳統信、達、雅的評論原則，以及歸化／異化二元模式的批評語彙，豐富翻譯批評的方式，為翻譯風格評論開啟新的篇章。

Jean Boase-Beier (2020) stated in her work Translation and Style that “literary translation can be seen as the translation of style” (p.132). Style reflects the author’s perspectives, beliefs, and understanding of the world, making the expression of meaning more complete. It is crucial for literary reading and comprehension, as well as for achieving fully the function of translation. Language is the means through which style is conveyed, the primary medium by which style takes shape. Boase-Beier (2020) proposed an exploration the original work’s style and the modes of expression adopted by a translator in translation using concepts from Relevance Theory and Cognitive Stylistics, which have developed since the end of the last century, aiming to explain how translation style is conveyed. The present study adopts the above theoretical concepts and, through textual linguistic analysis, seeks to elucidate the cognitive foundations and literary significance and functions revealed by the author’s specific language habits or patterns of expression, in order to more accurately determine whether the original style has been adequately grasped, interpreted, and translated, thus enabling a more objective assessment of the translation quality vis-à-vis the writer’s and the translator’s own writing styles.The Chapter 1 introduces the research purpose and methods on translation style as the subject of this study. Chapter 2 investigates theories of Chinese and Western literature, prose style writing and stylistic researchto distill the three elements of style: “language, sentiment, and meaning,” delving into the connotations of these stylistic elements and exploring the relationship between language and style from the perspective of translation theory, thus directing translation criticism back to the linguistic level. Chapter 3 reviews the principles and methods of translation criticism, and based on the three elements of style, puts forward a framework for contextualized translation style criticism. Chapters 4 and 5 examine Kwang-chung Yu’s observations on translation and Eileen Chang’s ideas on writing, and with Cognitive Stylistics and Relevance Theory, investigate the correlations between the individual writing styles of Kwang-chung and Eileen Chang and their prose translation styles, along with a discussion on translator’s subjectivity. Chapter 6 looks into the translations of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea by Yu and Chang as a case of comparative criticism on translation styles. The present research proposes a critical mode of “language, sentiment, and meaning” of translation style in an attempt to substitute the traditional criteria of faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance, as well as the critical term of the dual model of domestication/foreignization, hoping to enrich the methods of translation criticism, and open up a new way to translation criticism of style.