马瑞志《世说新语》英译本的译者主体性研究

A Study on the Translator’s Subjectivity in the Translation of Shih-Shuo Hsin-Yü by Richard B. Mather

摘要: 本研究以译者主体性理论为框架，系统考察了美国汉学家马瑞志(Richard B. Mather)历时近二十年完成的《世说新语》全译本。论文采用文本细读与对比分析方法，将翻译实践划分为译前、译中、译后三个阶段，分别从文本选择、翻译策略和副文本建构三个方面，探讨译者主体性的具体表现。研究发现：1) 译前阶段的文本选择，体现了译者个人学术旨趣(为我性)与时代学术思潮(受动性)的交织；2) 译中阶段的翻译策略，展现了译者在处理文化负载词时的能动性与因语言、认知局限而产生偏差的受动性之间的辩证制衡；3) 译后阶段的副文本建构与长期修订，凸显了译者持续、自觉的能动性介入。文章最终认为，译者主体性的恰当发挥是基于对源语文化和目标读者的深刻理解而进行的创造性转化，马瑞志的案例可为中国典籍外译提供有益参照。

Abstract: This study, framed by the theory of translator’s subjectivity, systematically examines the complete English translation of Shih-Shuo Hsin-Yü (A New Account of Tales of the World) by American sinologist Richard B. Mather, a monumental project completed over nearly two decades. Employing close textual reading and comparative analysis, the paper divides the translation practice into three stages: pre-translation, mid-translation, and post-translation, and investigates the manifestations of translator’s subjectivity from three respective dimensions: text selection, translation strategies, and paratextual construction. The findings reveal that: 1) the pre-translation stage of text selection embodies the interplay between the translator’s personal academic interests (for-me-ness) and the prevailing scholarly trends of the era (passivity); 2) the mid-translation stage of strategy formulation manifests a dialectical tension between the translator’s initiative in handling culture-loaded terms and the passivity that gives rise to deviations due to linguistic and cognitive constraints; 3) the post-translation stage of paratextual construction and long-term revision highlights the translator’s sustained and self-conscious agentive intervention. The paper concludes that the appropriate exercise of translator’s subjectivity consists in a creative transformation grounded in a profound understanding of both the source culture and the target readership, and that Mather’s case may offer a valuable reference for the English translation of Chinese classics.