文学批评：以James Legge 英译《诗经》为例

2014-05-04 22:01阅读：

http://blog.sina.cn/dpool/blog/u/3814814148

1. 首先，什么是文学批评
百度百科是这样定义的：
文学批评属于文学理论研究的范畴，既是文学理论研究中的不可或缺的重要内容，又是文学活动整体中的动力性、引导性和建设性因素，既推动文学创造、传播与接受，又影响文学思想和理论的发展。其涵盖内容宽泛，从作品评介到理论研究都包含其中，在西方几乎是文学研究的同义语。
2. 文学批评的意义是什么
文学批评从文学实践出发，又反作用于文学实践。文学批评通过对文学作品进行分析和评论，既能影响作家对文学的理解以及文学作品创作的发展，又能影响读者对文学的鉴赏以及文学社会功能的发挥。优秀的文学批评不仅会对同时代个别作家作品起到支持、鼓励和指导作用，还会对同时代作家群体的创作思想和艺术倾向产生很大影响，甚至能改变一代文学风尚。它不仅能提高读者的接受能力和艺术趣味，还能促进社会和时代的审美理想的形成。
3. 关于James Legge
James Legge (/

l ɛ ɡ/; Chinese: 理雅各; December 20, 1815 – November 29, 1897) was a noted Scottish sinologist, a Scottish Congregationalist, representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong (1840–1873), and first professor of Chinese at Oxford University (1876–1897). In association with Max Müller he prepared the monumentalSacred Books of the East series, published in 50 volumes between 1879 and 1891.
Legge's most enduring work has been The Chinese Classics: with a Translation, Critical and Exegetical Notes, Prolegomena, and Copious Indexes, 5 vols.
以下是James Legge 英译《诗经.关关雎鸠》：
Hark! From the Islet in the stream the voice
Of the fish hawks that o’er their nest rejoice!
From them our thoughts to that young lady go,
Modest and virtuous, loath herself to show.
Where could be found, to share our prince’s state
So fair, so virtuous, and so fit a mate?
4. 赵彦春老师对该译文的评论
It is a rewriting, or an imitation in John Dryden's terms! You might say it is his own versification based on the hints or clues from the original. First, let us compare it with the original in terms of form. The original is a four line stanza with the rhyming scheme of aaba while the translation is a six line stanza of three couplets, aabbccdd; the original is tetrasyllabic while the translation is iambic pentameter, that is to say, the original is composed of 16 syllables while the translation is of 60 syllables, a vast difference. If form is necessary to a poem, this translation has a different form from the original. As Shakespeare says, brevity is beauty. If the original is a slim girl, the translation is a humpty-dumpty. Because it is a humpty-dumpty, you can easily see its proud flesh: “that o’er their nest rejoice”, “From them our thoughts to that young lady go”, “loath herself to show” and “to share our prince’s state” are additions, redundant indeed, not to mention the misinterpretations like “osprey”. It is not only redundant but also, because the worldliness of “to share our prince’s state” detracts from the purity of love. Besides, the textuality is different because the author, unlike that of the original, comes onto the stage, exclaiming “Hark!” and showing his presence by saying “our thoughts” and “our prince's sate”, thus adulterating the original. In short, although the poetic form is represented in a way, the content and style deviate from the original.
赵老师从两个大的方面和四个小的方面进行了评论：
（1）译文整体的水平。一开始即指出该译文属于rewriting or imitation，说明它跟原文不符，没有达到翻译的意义。
（2）对比译文和原文。
a. 韵律。The original is a four line stanza with the rhyming scheme of aaba while the translation is a six line stanza of three couplets, aabbccdd.
b. 风格。原文是four line stanza，而译文却是six line stanza. 原文简洁、有节奏感，译文繁杂冗余、没有节奏。
c. 意义。意义是翻译中最重要的部分，翻译是好与差大部分程度上取决于对原文意义的传达。译文中出现的“that o’er their nest rejoice”, “From them our thoughts to that young lady go”, “loath herself to show” and “to share our prince’s state” 等都是原文没有而译者擅自添加的，而“our thoughts” and “our prince's sate”也显然不符合原文的意思。
所以，从这几个方面来看，该译文没有准确传达原文的意思，不是《诗经.关关雎鸠》的好的译文。

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