《阿Q正传》多个英译本差异性的多维分析

A Multi-Dimensional Analysis of the Differences in Several English Versions of The True Story of Ah Q

摘要: 鲁迅的《阿Q正传》作为中国现代文学的经典之作，其英译历程跨越近百年，是翻译研究的重要对象。本研究选取梁社乾(1926)、杨宪益与戴乃迭(1972)以及蓝诗玲(2009)的三个英译本，构建平行语料库，采用多维度分析(MDA)方法，系统考察译本在宏观文体维度上的分布差异，并揭示其微观语言特征动因。研究发现，三个译本在“叙述确定性”与“指称明晰性”两个维度上存在显著差异，模糊限制语与平均词长是导致风格分化的核心语言特征。从知识翻译学的理论视角看，译者在处理作品中“地方性知识”翻译时采取的知识重构策略不尽相同：梁译本追求“肯定 + 典雅”的古典化路径，杨戴合译本体现“肯定 + 通俗”的思想传递倾向，蓝译本则呈现出“试探 + 通俗”的当代化体验。

Abstract: As a classic of modern Chinese literature, Lu Xun’s The True Story of Ah Q has traversed nearly a century of English translation history, yielding multiple representative translations that have become important subjects of translation studies. This study selects three English versions translated by George Kin Leung (1926), Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang (1972), and Julia Lovell (2009) to construct a parallel corpus. Employing Multi-Dimensional Analysis (MDA) in conjunction with Principal Component Analysis and Regression Analysis, the study systematically examines the distributional differences in macro-stylistic dimensions across the translations and identifies the micro-linguistic features underlying these differences. The findings reveal significant variations among the three translations in the dimensions of Narrativity and Referential Explicitness, with Hedges (HED) and Average Word Length (AWL) emerging as the core linguistic features contributing to stylistic differentiation. Further interpreted through the lens of Transknowletology, this study uncovers three distinct knowledge reconstruction strategies employed by the translators in handling Chinese local knowledge: Leung’s translation pursues a classicizing approach characterized by “assertiveness + formality”; the Yangs’ translation embodies an ideational orientation marked by “assertiveness + colloquialism”; Lovell’s translation presents a contemporary experiential reconstruction featuring “tentativeness + colloquialism”. The study demonstrates that stylistic variations across translations are fundamentally products of translators’ cognitive stances and cultural contexts in the process of cross-cultural knowledge reproduction.