文以载俗：《牡丹亭》成语德译中的中国古代世俗文化形象建构

Literature Embodies the Secular: The Construction of Ancient Chinese Secular Cultural Image in the German Translation of Idioms from The Peony Pavilion

摘要: 本研究以德国汉学家洪涛生(Vincenz Hundhausen)翻译的《牡丹亭》为研究对象，从“形象学”理论视角出发，探讨其对剧中汉语成语的翻译如何建构了中国古代“世俗文化”的“他者形象”。文章首先将剧中的184个成语依据功能与内涵分为人物形象、空间描写、社会伦理、哲理典故四类。随后，通过分析每一类别中代表性成语的翻译策略，论文考察了译者在传达原文情感内核与适应德语读者接受习惯之间的平衡。研究发现，洪涛生的翻译有选择地弱化了中国特有的制度性、礼制性文化符号，而强化了以家庭伦理、自然情感和人生哲理为核心的普适性文化元素，最终在德语世界中塑造了一个重亲情、讲礼教、贴近自然且富有生活智慧的中国古代世俗文化形象。论文进一步从一战后德国的“中国热”这一译入语背景和译者本人的诗人身份与翻译观两个方面，探析了此种文化形象重构的动因。

Abstract: This study takes the German sinologist Vincenz Hundhausen’s translation of The Peony Pavilion as its research object and, from the perspective of imagology, investigates how his translation of Chinese idioms in the play constructs the “image of the Other” of ancient China’s “secular culture”. The article first classifies the 184 idioms in the play into four categories based on function and connotation: character portrayal, spatial description, social ethics, and philosophical allusions. Subsequently, by analyzing the translation strategies of representative idioms in each category, the study examines the translator’s balancing act between conveying the emotional core of the source text and accommodating the reception habits of German readers. The findings reveal that Hundhausen’s translation selectively downplays institution- and ritual-specific cultural symbols unique to China, while reinforcing universal cultural elements centered on family ethics, natural emotions, and life philosophy. Ultimately, it shapes in the German-speaking world an image of ancient Chinese secular culture that values family bonds, respects ritual norms, is close to nature, and is imbued with practical wisdom. The paper further analyzes the motivations for this reconstruction of cultural images from two aspects: the “China fever” in post-WWI Germany as the target-language context, and the translator’s own identity as a poet and his views on translation.