重讀班雅明〈譯者使命〉:觀看字在中英翻譯裡的「逾命」

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2017

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在翻譯學的研究領域裡,瓦特‧班雅明(Walter Benjamin)的〈譯者使命〉(“Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers”)是學者相當喜歡引用的文章之一。然而,學者在論及這篇翻譯「理論」時,特別是在中英文世界裡,大多是以文中的幾個關鍵字如”afterlife”、「來生」、「碎片」、「純語言」、「可譯性」等單獨的概念進行其各自的闡述,反觀各種中英譯本,各譯本間在論述邏輯的呈現上更有著極大的差異,甚或矛盾。有鑑於此,本文乃試圖從哲學詮釋學所關注的對話性出發,期望能藉著班雅明的其他文章發現到文章中彼此關聯的互文性,並藉此拓展視閾,以便更深刻地了解班雅明在〈譯者〉所欲展現的觀點。藉著詳細分析班雅明早期的另一篇重要語言哲學書寫〈論語言之究竟及論人的語言〉(”Über Sprache überhaupt und über die Sprache des Menschen”),筆者發現到兩篇文章之間極為密切的互文關係,許多字句甚至有「繼續討論」的跡象。而班雅明對語言哲學一以貫之的關懷,以及將語言置於形上學與神學層次予以討論的特殊論述模式,更是兩者間最明顯的共通性。而在《德國悲悼劇的起源》(Ursprung des deutschen Trauerspiels)之中,班雅明更明確地表示,其與眾不同的學術書寫是一種刻意為之的創造性批評文體,目的即在揭露人認知的侷限,並藉此推翻因傳統的累積而漸趨腐化的既定概念。 以此反觀〈譯者〉一文的中英譯本,筆者發現到,班雅明貫穿在各個片段書寫中宛如紅線貫穿的語言哲學脈絡,以及生前即難以為其同時代學者所理解的實驗式文體,常因時代的落差而在譯介過程中無可避免地被忽略。其中尤以1968年由漢娜‧鄂蘭主編的《啟迪》(Illuminations)中所收錄之宗恩(Harry Zohn)英譯本影響尤劇。為了更深刻地呈現這樣的忽略所產生的翻譯問題,本論文即以〈譯者〉與〈論語言〉兩者具有密切互文性的幾個關鍵哲學「概念字」,如:Erkenntnis(認知)、Mitteilung(傳達)、Sinn/Bedeutung(意涵/指涉)、Überleben/Fortleben(逾生/續命)、以及因自由與忠實之討論所衍生的Sinnwiedergabe/Wörtlichkeit(意涵再現/字譯)為代表,重新梳理〈譯者〉一文,並進而觀察這些字在宗恩譯本、後續再譯本、與中英評論中的流變。 在這樣的「字的鑽探」中,筆者觀察到眾多譯本所面臨的共同問題,亦看到文字在原作與各譯作之間/之上/之外所共同展現的無盡「逾生」與「續命」。以此重讀〈譯者〉,每個字因對話之交互作用而展開其無窮無盡的生命,而這樣的鑽探過程亦在在證明班雅明在〈譯者〉中所賦予翻譯的哲學使命。
Walter Benjamin’s “Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers” is one of the most mentioned works in the field of translation studies. Yet the most quoted from the essay, especially in the Chinese- and English-speaking world, are independent “concept words” in translation -- such as “afterlife”, “pure language”, “shard”, “translatability”, etc.. The commentators generally use these words to posit their own interpretation and argument. Examining different versions of translations in Mandarin and English shows that the narrative logic in each translation exhibits great discrepancies and even contradictions. To face these difficulties, I suggest examining “Die Aufgabe” through the lens of hermeneutic discourse. Through multiple critical readings of Benjamin’s other early writings, I contend that the intertextuality between these texts can help to broaden our horizon of expectation (Erwartungshorizont), and to acquire a deeper and wider understanding of themes lurking yet recurring in Benjamin’s scattered works. After a close reading and analysis of another one of Benjamin’s early language-philosophical writing “Über Sprache überhaupt und über die Sprache des Menschen”, I found that the two essays share many traits: dialectical and logical structure, unique rhetorical dispositions and writing style, constant emphasis on theological and metaphysical conception of language philosophy. These similarities point to the possibility that “Die Aufgabe” is a “continued discussion” of “Über Sprache”. The reading of Benjamin’s habilitation thesis Ursprung des deutschen Trauerspiels also helps indicate that Benjamin’s unique academic writing is a purposeful design as a creative critical genre, used to tease out and outline the limitation of human recognition; thus probing the unawareness of our own language that has been occupied by decayed traditional concepts. I argue that Benjamin’s focus on language philosophy, shown in the dialogicality of his works, is not reflected in many English and Mandarin translations. The Englisch rendition in 1968 by Harry Zohn, included in Illuminations edited by Hannah Arendt, serves as a representative example for me to present the problematics casued by this neglect, due to its enormous influence for the reception in English and Mandarin world. In order to reflect the interleaved translation problematic, I choose some key words that are constantly used and intertwined in “Die Aufgabe” and “Über Sprache” as philosophical “concept words” -- Erkenntnis (tentatively translated into English here as congition/knowledge), Mitteilung (informing/communication), Sinn/Bedeutung (sense/reference), Überleben/Fortleben (survival/continued life), and Sinnwiedergabe/Wörtlichkeit (sense restitution/wordliness) -- to re-read “Die Aufgebe”. In this rereading, I comb the philosophical ideas developed in the changing sense of words and trace the traveling of these words in different translations, re-translations, and commentaries in English and Mandarin versions. After this “drilling method” (Bohrmethode) of words, I found not only the common problemetic that many translators have faced but also the endless “Sur-vivial” and “continued life” that are constituted by all translations basing on/above/beyond the original work. The critical re-reading of “Die Aufgebe” in this dissertation thus serves as a testimony of Benjamin’s translation theory: that the mission of a translator is a philosophical one and that “word” that develops and expresses itself in a creative and endless way is the “Urelement” of a translator.

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班雅明, 翻譯理論, 詮釋學, 互文性, 對話, 語言哲學, Walter Benjamin, translation theories, hermeneutics, discourse, intertextuality, language philosophy

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