從譯者與編輯的互動關係看影響商業財經書籍翻譯品質之因素

Abstract

一本翻譯書的出版有賴於編輯與譯者共同合作，翻譯品質更倚賴兩者共同把關。近年來出版界屢次傳出翻譯圖書譯文欠佳，遭到讀者及各界專家等嚴厲批判。然而大眾傾向將譯文品質的良窳歸於譯者，卻經常忽略編輯扮演著守門人角色，也需為品質負起責任。過去研究多著重於譯者的翻譯策略如何影響譯文，然而檢查修訂是編輯工作不可或缺的環節，卻鮮少有人探析其對譯文品質之影響。本研究欲同時從編輯以及譯者角度，探討兩者實際的互動以及各自的潤飾策略，藉此進一步瞭解雙方如何形塑翻譯商業財經圖書，以及對譯文品質之影響。 本研究訪談出版社編輯以及專職譯者各四位，首先分別瞭解兩者的職能、職責以及工作流程，接著再剖析兩者於合作過程中的溝通與互動。歸納訪談結果後發現，編輯與譯者雖是合作關係，但兩者間的互動其實不如想像中頻繁。編輯不會參與譯者的翻譯工作，譯者往往也無法得知編輯的潤飾過程。然而這樣的合作方式，不僅會造成雙方認知落差，有問題也無法即時解決，容易影響譯作品質。理想上譯者與編輯在翻譯中以及完稿後等工作階段，都應該要更積極的溝通協調。譬如編輯可以請譯者分批交稿，以便監督進度和檢驗譯文品質。譯者若有任何翻譯上的難題，也可藉機請編輯協助。同時在這階段共同研擬一份修訂檢核表，訂定往後的潤飾標準。定稿完成後，譯者要主動向編輯說明翻譯過程遇到的困難，並要求出版前再看過編輯潤飾的譯稿。 另針對潤飾策略，本研究參照Mossop（2001）以及Shih（2006）等人的研究，並從訪談結果彙整出一份適用於出版業編輯與譯者的修訂檢核表。此份檢核表的面向包含語言轉換、翻譯問題、譯文內容以及視覺呈現。不管是編輯或譯者，潤飾時都最留意譯文的正確性以及流暢度。翻譯問題則是指譯文中常見的西化中文，例如濫用被動句或代名詞等。對編輯而言，潤飾不僅限於內容文字，排版以及標題段落等視覺呈現，亦皆需經過修改潤飾。無論文字或視覺的修訂，目的皆在於提升譯本品質。綜上所述，良好的互動關係以及適當的潤飾，不僅有利於增進編輯與譯者兩者的工作績效，對圖書譯文品質亦有正面影響。In recent years, poorly translated books have caught the public’s attention. Translators and publishers are being heavily criticized for such low-quality translated books. Many believe that translators are responsible for such mistakes. However, editors also play an important role in the publishing of a book. Editors need to revise a translation draft for a few times before it can be published. Past studies mostly focused on the effect of translation strategies on translation quality, but no draft can afford to be published without proofreading and editing, therefore it is important that we also examine how revision process affects translation quality. This study adopts interview as the research method to learn about the competencies, responsibilities, and working process of editors and translators. Next the study further examines how the two interact and communicate in their cooperation. Results of the study suggest that there is little interaction between editors and translators. Ideally, translators and editors should communicate frequently throughout the working process. For instance, editors could ask translators to hand in the draft periodically to make sure that translators are working on schedule and on the right track. If there is any problem in the translation process, translators could also use this opportunity to ask editors for help. Besides, the two could discuss and come up with a revision checklist as the standard criteria for later revisions. Once the draft is done, translators should explain to editors what difficulties he/she has encountered. Translators should also demand to proofread again what editors have revised before the book gets published. The revision method is an important aspect for this study as it is most closely related to how drafts could be modified. The revision checklist is based on the revision parameters developed by Mossop’s guideline（2001）to self-revision and Shih’s study（2006）on how translators revise their own drafts. The revision checklist created by this study is divided into four categories, including language transfer, translation problems, content, and visual presentation. When editors and translators revise, they first look for accuracy and fluency of the text. Translation problems refer to issues such as being too closely attached to the source text linguistic structure. For editors, designing the layout and putting titles for each chapter are also important parts of revision. To conclude, good partnership and revision would not only improve the performance of translators and editors, translation quality would also be assured.