变译理论视角下历史文学文本英译策略研究——以《故宫里的中国史》翻译实践为例

English Translation Strategies for Historical-Literary Texts from the Perspective of Variational Translation Theory—A Case Study of Translating The History of China in the Forbidden City

摘要: 历史文学文本兼具史实信息与文学表达：既要传递事件、制度、人物等信息，又要保留叙事节奏、修辞意象与文化隐喻。面对跨文化读者的知识背景差异，单纯依赖“全译式”的逐句对等往往会造成信息负担或文化误读。变译理论强调译者在特定条件下为满足特定读者需求而进行“变通”，通过增、减、编、述、缩、并、改等变通手段对原作进行有取舍的重构，从而实现信息浓缩、逻辑显化与文化可理解性的提升。本文以《故宫里的中国史》(第一章)英译实践为语料，选取十二个具有代表性的案例，探讨变译七种变通手段中的“增、减、编、述、并、改”在历史文学文本英译中的适用场景与操作要点，并在此基础上总结可供同类文本翻译借鉴的策略组合路径。

Abstract: Historical-literary texts integrate factual historical content with literary expression. Their translation must not only convey information about events, institutions, and historical figures, but also preserve narrative rhythm, rhetorical imagery, and cultural implications. Given cross-cultural differences in readers’ background knowledge, a strictly sentence-by-sentence, “full-translation” approach may impose cognitive overload or cause cultural misinterpretation. Variational Translation Theory emphasizes flexible adaptation to meet the needs of target readers under specific conditions. By employing techniques such as adding, deleting, editing, narrating, integrating, and altering, translators can selectively restructure the source text to condense information, make implicit logic explicit, and enhance cultural intelligibility. Drawing on the English translation practice of Chapter One of The History of China in the Forbidden City, this paper examines twelve representative cases and discusses the applicable contexts and operational points of the six techniques—adding, deleting, editing, narrating, integrating, and altering—within the framework of the seven adaptation techniques proposed by Variational Translation Theory. On this basis, it further summarizes a combinatory strategic route that may serve as a practical reference for translating similar historical-literary texts.