对严复译作中“信”的质疑

Queries for Faithfulness Observed by Yan Fu in His Chinese Works

Abstract
　　
The question about criteria of translation has been a controversial question for a long time. As the most famous translator in Chinese modern history, Yan Fu wrote in the preface of his Chinese work of Evolution, Ethics and Other Essays that there are three criteria in translation: “faithfulness, expressiveness, elegance”, which he called “xin—da—ya”. From then on, “xin—da—ya” became the most actual principle in the fields of translation permanently. Among the three principles, “faithfulness” is the core principle of translation which was advocated by the fields of Chinese translation, and it has the central position in translation steadily. In this thesis, in order to put forward queries for “faithfulness” in Yan Fu Chinese works, the connotation of “faithfulness” is explained to a further degree, and some well-known translators’ opinions about Yan Fu’s translating works are given. Besides, Yan Fu’s translating works are analyzed in the view of his language, his cultural background and his thought. This thesis also proposes that with regard to “faithfulness” in Yan Fu’s translating works, there should be more and more profound criticism. With some analysis, it was evident that because of Yan Fu’s living limitation and other reasons,, he misunderstood some of the Western thoughts, meanwhile, his political preference has heavily affected his Chinese works. Owing to this, Yan Fu’s Chinese works are not faithful to the original ones not only in language but also in thoughts. Moreover, Yan Fu’s misunderstanding is very representative, so the Chinese and foreign scholars should put forward more queries for “faithfulness” in his Chinese works.

Key Words: Yan Fu; queries; faithfulness; language; culture; thought

摘  要

翻译标准问题是个很有争议性的问题．作为中国近代史上最著名的翻译家，严复1986年在翻译《天演论》时指出：“译事3难，信达雅。”自此，“信达雅”在中国翻译界知道原则上长期占据绝对地位。而其中的“忠实”原则是中国翻译界公认的核心翻译原则，1直处于不可动摇的地位。本文对“信”这1翻译原则的内涵进行了进1步的阐述，并结合中国历史上的著名翻译人士的观点，在语言、文化和思想上对严复的译作作了分析，以探讨严复自己的译作是否忠实于原文。且该文在最后提出对于严复翻译的忠实性问题以后应有更多的，更加深刻的批评。作了1系列分析之后，得知由于严复的生活环境和另外的1些原因，导致严复对西方1些思想有所误解，而且他的政治取向也深深影响了其译作。因此，严复在其译作中，无论是语言或是思想方面，都没有忠实于原文。且严复的这1误解是很有代表性的，所以学者们应该更深1步探讨严复译作中“信”的问题。

关键词：严复、质疑、忠实、语言、文化、思想

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