《骆驼祥子》三种英译文对比赏析

A Comparative Analysis of Three English Translations of Rickshaw Boy

摘要: 本文以老舍的经典小说《骆驼祥子》为研究对象，选取Evan King (1945)，Jean M. James (1979)和施晓菁(1981)的三个具有代表性的英译本为分析文本，从翻译策略、文化意象处理、人物形象塑造及语言风格四个维度展开系统对比。研究发现，三位译者因文化背景、时代语境和翻译理念的差异，在专有名词翻译、句式结构转换等方面呈现出显著差异：施晓菁译本以“异化 + 归化”策略，注重语言形式的忠实性；Evan King译本采用“归化”策略，为迎合西方读者对情节和结局进行大幅改写；Jean M. James译本也试图在忠实与通顺间寻求平衡，结合威妥玛拼音与中式英语词汇传递文化特色。本文通过与已有研究成果的对话，揭示了不同译者在文化过滤作用下的策略选择差异，表明优秀的文学翻译需要在文化接受与文本忠实之间搭建具有阐释韧性的语义桥梁。

Abstract: This paper takes Rickshaw Boy, the classic novel by Lao She, as its object of study. It compares three representative English translations by Evan King (1945), Jean M. James (1979), and Shi Xiaojing (1981) from four perspectives: translation strategies, the treatment of cultural imagery, characterization, and linguistic style. The study finds that, owing to differences in cultural background, historical context, and translation philosophy, the three translators display significant divergences in such aspects as the rendering of proper nouns and the restructuring of sentence patterns. Shi Xiaojing’s version adopts a strategy combining foreignization and domestication, placing particular emphasis on fidelity to the linguistic form of the source text. Evan King’s translation, by contrast, employs a predominantly domesticating approach, substantially rewriting both the plot and the ending to accommodate the expectations of Western readers. Jean M. James likewise seeks to strike a balance between fidelity and readability, incorporating Wade-Giles romanization and Chinese-influenced English expressions to convey the novel’s distinctive cultural features. By engaging critically with previous scholarship, this study further reveals how translators’ choices differ under the mediating influence of cultural filtering. It argues that successful literary translation requires the construction of a semantically interpretive bridge between cultural accessibility and textual fidelity.