《古文字趣谈》汉译英中不可译现象及应对策略

Untranslatability and Coping Strategies in the English Translation of Gǔwénzì Qùtán

摘要: 本文以一部介绍古汉字的书籍《古文字趣谈》的英译为研究对象，重点分析了翻译过程中的难点与不可译现象。书中涉及的古汉字文化及历史背景在跨语言转换中面临诸多挑战，例如汉字的象形意义难以与译入语兼容，以及中文特有的习语在英文中的转换所导致的语意缺失。通过具体案例分析，本文揭示了汉英翻译中文化内涵的不可译性，并探讨了在存在文化隔阂的情况下，如何尽可能保留原文的文化深度与学术价值，从而助力中国古汉字文化的国际传播与理解。

Abstract: Taking the English translation of Gǔwénzì Qùtán, a popular introduction to early Chinese writing, as its case study, this paper examines the principal obstacles and moments of untranslatability encountered in the transfer process. The book’s dense cultural and historical baggage frequently resists straightforward cross-lingual rendering: the pictographic rationale of many graphs clashes with the phonographic logic of English, while culture-bound idioms dissolve into semantic gaps when forced into the target language. Through close readings of representative examples, the study foregrounds the cultural untranslatability inherent in Chinese-to-English work and tests a spectrum of compensatory strategies—ranging from thick annotation to creative re-metaphorization—that aim to preserve the source’s intellectual depth and scholarly value despite irreducible cultural distance, thereby fostering the global circulation and understanding of China’s ancient script culture.