赵元任与冷杉《爱丽丝镜中奇遇记》译本对比分析

A Comparative Analysis of Zhao Yuanren’s and Lengshan’s Chinese Translations of Through the Looking-Glass

摘要: 儿童文学翻译需要在保留文学内涵的同时兼顾趣味，因而一直是翻译研究的重要内容。《爱丽丝镜中奇遇记》蕴含大量西方民俗典故、宗教文化意象与文化背景，对译者的能力提出了更高的要求。本文以功能对等理论、关联理论和译者显身理论为框架，选取赵元任与冷杉的《爱丽丝镜中奇遇记》两个经典中译本为研究对象，对比分析在“无厘头(nonsense)”表达的翻译中，赵元任的“形式再创”与冷杉的“内容解释”何者更能实现文化层面的功能对等。研究发现，赵元任在译本中更倾向于显身，他的“形式再创”虽然在表层增加了中文读者的阅读难度，但从功能对等理论来看，恰恰更精准地复刻了英语母语读者面对“无厘头”文字时既困惑又新奇的阅读体验，使目标语读者获得了与源语读者本质上相同的审美感受。冷杉的“内容解释”策略虽然提升了可读性，却在很大程度上消解了原作的“无厘头”文字游戏本身。两种策略的取舍本质上是不同的侧重：是还原异域文学的陌生感，还是优先服务于目标语读者。本文认为，在这一取舍中，赵元任的路径为儿童文学中“无厘头”成分的翻译提供了新的启发。

Abstract: Children’s literature translation has long been an important research topic in translation studies, as it needs to preserve literary depth while capturing the playful character of the original. Through the Looking-Glass contains a wealth of Western folk allusions, religious cultural images and unique backgrounds, imposing greater demands on translators. Based on the Functional Equivalence Theory, Relevance Theory and Translator’s Visibility Theory, this paper selects two classic Chinese versions of Through the Looking-Glass translated by Zhao Yuanren and Leng Shan as research objects. It conducts a comparative analysis of the translation strategies adopted for the textual “nonsense” expressions, namely Zhao Yuanren’s “formal recreation” and Leng Shan’s “content interpretation”, and explores which strategy better achieves cultural-level functional equivalence. The research shows that Zhao Yuanren presents a prominent translator’s visibility in his version. Although his “formal recreation” strategy increases the reading difficulty for Chinese readers at the superficial level, it precisely reproduces the confused yet novel reading experience that native English readers encounter when engaging with the original nonsense wordplay from the perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory, enabling target-language readers to acquire aesthetic perceptions essentially identical to those of source-language readers. By contrast, while Leng Shan’s “content interpretation” strategy enhances readability, it substantially dissipates the essence of the original nonsense wordplay. The choice between the two translation strategies essentially reflects distinct translational priorities: the restoration of the foreignness of exotic literature versus the prioritization of target readers’ acceptance. This study concludes that, in such translational trade-offs, Zhao Yuanren’s translational approach offers innovative insights for the translation of nonsense elements in children’s literature.