文化翻译观视角下对余华《第七天》中死亡描写的英译分析

A Study on C-E Translation of Description of Death from Yu Hua’s “The Seventh Day” under the Perspective of Culture Translation Theory

摘要: 余华的长篇小说《第七天》以独特的叙事视角构建了一个介于生死之间的“亡灵世界”，通过丰富的死亡意象深刻剖析并批判当代中国社会的现实。该作品的英译本由知名汉学家白亚仁(Allan H. Barr)于2015年完成并出版，作为目前唯一的全译本，在促进中国文学跨文化传播与交流中发挥着举足轻重的作用。本研究以文化翻译观为理论框架，聚焦白亚仁译本中死亡意象的翻译策略，探讨译者如何跨越中西方文化差异传递文本的哲学内涵与社会批判。研究表明，白亚仁采用混合翻译策略，既充分保留了原文的文化特质，又兼顾西方读者的阅读习惯与接受能力，成功地维持了小说的陌生化艺术效果，同时完整保留了其社会批判功能。此外，本研究还进一步探讨了译者在应对文化差异时所发挥的关键作用，旨在为中国文学中涉及死亡主题的翻译实践提供借鉴，从而助力中国文化叙事在全球范围内的传播与推广，提升中国文学的国际影响力。

Abstract: The novel “The Seventh Day” written by Yu Hua describes a unique “netherworld” between life and death through a distinctive narrative perspect. By employing a rich array of death imagery, the novel reveals a profound critique of contemporary Chinese society. The English translation, completed and published in 2015 by renowned Sinologist Allan H. Barr, remains the only complete version and plays a crucial role in the cross-cultural communication of Chinese literature. This study, guided by culture translation theory, focuses on the translation strategies employed for death imagery in Barr’s English version. It explores how the translator navigates cultural differences between China and the West to convey the text’s philosophical depth and social critique. The findings suggest that Barr adopts a hybrid translation methods and both preserves the cultural traits of the original text and accommodates the reading habits and expectations of Western audiences. This approach successfully maintains the novel’s defamiliarizing artistic effect while preserving its social function. Moreover, the study further investigates the translator’s pivotal role in bridging cultural gaps, aiming to provide certain implications for future translation practices involving themes of death in Chinese literature. In doing so, it seeks to contribute to the global circulation of Chinese cultural narratives and enhance the international influence of Chinese literature.