论文总字数：30705字

摘 要

胡庚申教授把达尔文的“自然选择”与“适者生存”运用到翻译领域，在这一基础上于2008年提出了生态翻译学这一理论。此理论把翻译适应选择论作为核心，强调译者和翻译生态环境之间的关系。本文拟从生态翻译学视角，对时间间隔长达六十余年的《简爱》的两个中译本（李霁野和黄源深译本），进行对比研究，发现翻译生态环境的变化及其对翻译活动的影响。通过从语言维、文化维和交际维三个方面进行对比研究，可以发现李、黄两位译者分别运用直译、意译等翻译方法，在一定程度上从语言维、文化维、和交际维方面实现了对原文生态环境的再现。

关键词：生态翻译学；三维；适应与选择；《简爱》

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

2.1 An Overview on Eco-translatology 1

2.2 Previous Study on the Translation of Jane Eyre 2

3. A Comparative Study on the Two English Versions of Jane Eyre from the Perspective of Eco-translatology 4

3.1 Transformation from Linguistic Dimension 4

3.2 Transformation from Cultural Dimension 7

3.3 Transformation from Communicative Dimension 9

4. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction

The essence of literary translation lies in its aesthetic creation. As a special form of art creation, literary translation originates from translators’ study and artistic awareness of the original work. Eco-translatology, a new aspect of translation studies, places the translation into the ecological system and takes various dimensions of translation into consideration. It also puts forward a series of applied theories, which are of great importance in translation. Jane Eyre is the representative work of Charlotte Bronte, a famous British female writer in the 19^th century. It is widely believed that it is a work with autobiography color. Since its advent, it has always been one of the Britain’s most popular novels. At present, there exist several Chinese versions of Jane Eyre. There are many scholars who study and analyze different versions of Jane Eyre from various perspectives, but few of them have investigated from the perspective of eco-translatology. This thesis will have a take the two versions by Li Jiye and Huang Yuansheng as the study object to conduct a comparative study from this perspective. The whole thesis consists of four parts. Part one presents a brief introduction. Part two is a literature review, which introduces the development of eco-translatology and some of its basic concept. Part three gives a comparative analysis on the examples selected from two versions. The last part draws a conclusion. This thesis is aimed to study how Li Jiye and Huang Yuanshen respectively make adaptation and selection in their translational eco-environment. By comparison, the thesis tries to analyze the two versions from the linguistic dimension, cultural dimension and communicative dimension.

2. Literature Review

2.1 An Overview on Eco-translatology

Since the conception of eco-translatology was firstly put forward by Hu Gengshen in 2001, many related topics have become research hotspots in the field of translation. All kinds of academic journals, graduation thesis and conference papers published one after another. After more than ten years’ development, eco-translatology has made remarkable achievements both in theoretical construction and practical application. Eco-translatology has great significance in translation studies and draws much attention from translators both at home and abroad. From 2001 to now, Professor Hu Gengshen has published more than ten articles. The book “Translation as Adaptation and Selection” written by him was published in 2004. Then in 2008, Understanding Eco-translatology was published in Chinese Translators Journal. In this article, the basic connotation, background and research limitations of eco-translatology are discussed in detail. What’s more, Cay Dollerup highlighted the important role of eco-translatology on translation in his work Eco-translatology in Translation Theory Contexts (2010). Daniel Gile, in his article On Adaptation to the Translating Environment in Research on Translation, elaborated some constructive ways to adapt to the translational eco-environment in translation activity. In 2013, Hu Gengshen’s Eco-translatology: Construction and Interpretation is published, which gives a detailed illustration about the new theory.

At present, we can see the tendency that more and more scholars pay attention to eco-translayogy and it has been gradually used in various fields such as translation on advertising language and film title. With the guidance of Darwin’s principle “natural selection, survival of the fittest”, eco-translatology places the translator into an important position. Eco-translatology is a new model of translation theory, which defines translation as “selection activity of translators’ adaptation to translational eco-environment”(Hu Gengshen, 2003: 284). It provides literary translation with a new perspective. The novel Jane Eyre has always been welcomed by people from all over the world, and it has a lot of Chinese versions. Many scholars have made a comparative study on these versions of Jane Eyre from different perspectives, but few of them have applied the theory of eco-translatology to analyze these different versions. According to eco-translatology, a successful translation is produced by the translator’s adaptive transformation from multiple dimensions (Hu Gengshen, 2011:8). Therefore, this thesis is intended to compare and analyze two versions of Li Jiye and Huang Yuanshen from the perspective of eco-translatology.

2.2 Previous Study on the Translation of Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is the masterpiece of Charlotte Bronte, a famous British female writer in the 19^th century. It is widely believed that Jane Eyre is Charlotte Bronte’s “poetic life portraiture” and a work with autobiography color. Jane Eyre was published in 1847. At that period, many English novels tell the story that a pretty lady marries a rich young man. But in this novel, the heroine and the hero are of a different style. It tells a story that a small orphaned English woman constantly striving for freedom and dignity in front of all kinds of hardship, insisting on self and eventually get a happy life. The novel mainly describes Jane and Rochester’s love. The heroine Jane is a pure, thoughtful woman. She lives a poor life. But she has a stubborn personality and has the courage to pursue equality and happiness. Jane Eyre is a famous work that exercised a considerable influence on the whole world. Chinese readers also show much interest in Jane Eyre, which have many Chinese versions. Li Jiye and Huang Yuanshen’s versions are the influential ones.

Li’s version was published in 1936, which was in a turbulent age when Chinese people were suffering from oppression. Li Jiye hoped that he can wake up the sleeping Chinese people through translating foreign literature. It can be seen that both his choice of the novel Jane Eyre and his translation of the protagonist are affected and restricted by the specific environment. His translation embodies revolutionary spirits, which fit to social needs under the background of the New Cultural Movement. In addition, affected by Lu Xun and Qu Qiubai, Li Jiye advocates literal translation as a chief method and liberal translation as a secondary one. He often translates word by word and pursues the perfect harmony of form and contents. Huang Yuanshen’s version was produced in the 1990s, the most prosperous period in the history of Chinese literature translation. Along with the progress of times and the liberation of people’s thoughts, political influences on the literary translation have gradually disappeared. Huang Yuanshen thought that translators should put themselves into the same situation with characters of the original work and then select appropriate words and language. Huang Yuanshen tends to use liberal translation and concentrated on the presentation of the original’s artistic style.

In the thesis, Li’s version and Huang’s version will be chosen as the study object to see how the two translators reproduce the original ecological environment from linguistic dimension, cultural dimension and communicative dimension.

3. A Comparative Study on the Two Chinese Versions of Jane Eyre from the Perspective of Eco-translatology

3.1 Transformation from Linguistic Dimension

The adaptive transformation from linguistic dimension refers to the translator’s adaptive choice and transformation of language form in the translation process, and it is conducted in different aspects and levels (Hu Gengshen, 2008:13). In the translation or the process of translation, the first thing that a translator has to do is to adapt to translational eco-environment, and then he or she should make a proper selection of the translation that echoes the specific ecological environment. Thus, a successful translation will be produced. Translation is to serve a certain readership. At different times, readers’ consciousness of acceptation will invariably change according to culture, economy and political environment. The time interval of two versions that I select in this thesis is more than sixty years, and different choice of words reflects the evolution of language.

Example 1：We had been wandering indeed in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning…..

李译：不错，早晨我们已经在无叶的丛林中漫游过 一点钟了…

黄译：其实，早上我们还在光秃秃的灌木丛中溜达了一个小时…

According to the current understanding，“一点钟” is at one o’clock in the morning or one o’clock in the afternoon, while “an hour” just means the length of 60 minutes rather than a particular time. In 1927, Mr. Wu Jianguang also translated “an hour” into “一点钟” in his translation -- Gunv Piaoling Ji. Therefore, it can be seen that translation language is affected by the language habits at that time and carries some characteristics of era. In comparison, Huang’s version is close to current language style and convenient for people to understand.

Language can be understood from several aspects: one is the features such as vocabulary, phrases and sentences; the second is the understanding of linguistic theories and function and the third is the different national cultural background between different languages. As far as morphological syntax is concerned, there is a big difference between Chinese language and English language. Also, two languages show two nations’ differences in society, culture, geography and history. If the translator does not understand these differences of two languages, it will bring difficulties to readers’ understanding of the target language, and it is hard to fully meet the literary representation. Due to the asymmetry of the two languages, translators often add or reduce words to achieve correspondence between meaning and form.

Example 2：Gathering my faculties, I looked about me. Rain, wind and darkness filled the air.

李译：我振起精神，向周围看望。风雨和黑暗充满了空中。

黄译：我定下神来, 环顾四周, 只见雨在下, 风在刮, 周围一片黑暗。

Literary translation is different from technical translation, which focuses on conveyance of information and tries to avoid adding and deleting the original message. But in literary translation, special attention should be paid to the arrangement of words and sentences and the preservation of the original text charm (Zhang Yanming，2004). By comparing two translations, it can be found that Mr. Li prefers literal translation. But as is stated earlier, “English and Chinese are asymmetric”, so strict literal translations may not achieve lasting appeal of the original text. Li’s translation is more rigid and less in line with modern reading habits. Of course, it is subject to age restrictions. In my opinion, Huang’s translation is more appropriate. It is faithful to the original and conveys the flavor of the source by adding some words such as “雨在下, 风在刮, 周围一片黑暗” in the target text.

Example 3：Reader, though I looked comfortably accommodated, I am not very tranquil in my mind.

李译：读者呵，虽然我看来是被安顿得舒舒服服，我心里却并不是很平静的。

黄译：读者, 我虽然看来安置得舒舒服服 , 但内心却不平静。

Jane went to Thornfield Manor to be a tutor. On the way, she had such a famous monologue in the hotel. It is clear that she is feeling uneasy about her future. In order to let the reader understand Jane’s state of mind, Li Jiye added the function word “呵” that does not exists in English. In comparison, Mr. Huang didn’t take the original background into consideration, so his translation seems to be blunt and lack of original charm. Besides, Li’s translation is better in that his choice of words and expressions is more appropriate and accurate. For example, “accommodated” translated as “安顿” , which is more proper than “安置”; the sentence“我心里却并不是很平静” also sounds more smooth and fluent.

Polysemy occurs both in English and Chinese. Literary translation must be based on the accurate understanding and interpretation of the source text. Only according to logical connection in the context, precise words and accurate phrases can we realize the original purpose in the target text.

Example 4：The cut bled, the pain was sharp: my terror had passed its climax; other feelings succeeded.

李译：破处流血，疼的厉害；我的恐怖过了最高点，其他的感情接着来了。

黄译：碰出了血来，疼痛难忍。我的恐惧心理已经越过了极限，被其他情感所代替。

This sentence describes Jane’s feelings after the injury that her head hit the door when John threw a book to her. Jane’s attitude to John turns from “fear” to “anger”. The biggest difference in the above two versions is that Mr. Li translated “other feelings succeeded” into “其他感情接着来了” and Mr. Huang translated it into “被其他感情所替代”. According to logical connection in the context, when humiliation has gone, Jane’s feeling of fear was replaced by her anger over John. Therefore, the word “succeeded” should be translated as “代替” or “取代”. Thus it can be seen that Huang’s version is more appropriate in conveying meaning and also consistent with expression habits of Chinese.

In English-Chinese translation, the choice of words and phrases should be adapted to Chinese customs and habits of Chinese readers. Only in this way, a successful version can be created.

Example 5：All in that region was fire and commotion.

李译：在厨房里只有火与忙乱。

黄译：那里火光熊熊,一片混乱。

English and Chinese are different in the habits of expressions. In English, it is not strange to find that they use nouns to describe a scene. In contrast, Chinese language tends to add some adjectives to make it more vivid. So in the process of English-Chinese translation, translators should fully give consideration to the characteristics of English and Chinese language and habits of Chinese readers. In the above translation, Mr. Li put “fire and commotion” into “火与忙乱”, which belongs to literal translation. The sentence sound a little stiff and uncomfortable. Mr. Huang translated it into “火光熊熊, 一片混乱”, which presents readers a vivid scene and fits to habits of Chinese expressions.

From the analysis of five examples above, we can see that the reproduction of the original text from the aspect of language is the core of translation process. No matter how different social background and cultural background are, and what translation strategies translators adopt, translations should be achieved by specific language. Therefore, translators should make adaptive selection on the language form and then produce wonderful works.

3.2 Transformation from Cultural Dimension

The adaptive transformation from cultural dimension, namely the translator concentrates on the transmission and interpretation of bilingual culture connotation in the process of translation (Hu Gengshen, 2008:11). This kind of adaptive transformation is aimed to focus on the difference between the source language culture and the target language culture, and avoid misunderstanding from the view of the target language culture. For real successful translations, knowing two cultures is more important than grasping two languages (Nida, 2003:12). Translators should adapt to the whole culture system that the language belongs to when they convert the source language. American translation theorist Eugene A. Nida said: “the role of language in culture and culture’s influences on words and idioms are so widely that it is difficult to make proper understanding on the text without careful consideration” (2001:1). For the same text, translators under different social cultural background often make different responses to it and reveal their own political views.

Example 6：You must regard me as a plotting profligate--a base and low rake who has been simulating disinterested love in order to draw you into a snare deliberately laid, and strip you of honor and rob you of self-respect.

李译：你一定看我是一个诡计的放荡人--是一个卑鄙下流的恶汉，假装着对你有无私心的爱情。使你落入敌人故意安排的陷阱，剥夺你的荣誉和你的自尊心。

黄译：你一定认为我是一个诡计多端的浪子--低俗下贱的恶棍，煽起没有真情的爱，把你拉进预先设置好的圈套，剥夺你的名誉，打消你的自尊。

Li’s version “使你落入敌人故意安排的陷阱” reflects the class struggle in that turbulent times. This is a conversation between Mr. Rochester and Jane. Jane is going to marry Rochester, but she doesn’t know Rochester has a legitimate crazy wife. Bertha’s brother, revealed the secret on their wedding. Jane was very sad and disappointed, and then Rochester had this long and sincere talk with Jane. In the original sentence, we can’t find any words related to the “enemy”. For Mr. Rochester, Jane is his lover rather than the enemy. Li’s “enemy” and “trap” suggested the class contradictions in that society. In contrast, when Mr. Huang translated Jane Eyre, Chinese people lived in the peaceful and stable political environment. Therefore, it can be found that Huang’s choice of words is more euphemistic.

Example 7：A private fear had haunted me, that in thus acting for myself, and by my own guidance, I ran the risk of getting into some scrape.

李译：因为我私心里常常有一种恐惧，怕这样凭了自己的领导来做事，我冒了一种落入陷阱的危险。

黄译：我曾暗自担心，我自作主张、独自行动，会有陷入某种困境的危险。

Mr. Li deepens the meaning of “fear” and translates it into “恐惧”. Mr. Huang’s translation “担心” is closer to the real meaning of “fear” in the original. In fact, Mr. Li used several “恐惧” in his whole translation, which was affected by people’s psychological state in that chaotic period. Mr. Li interprets this novel from the political perspective, including many revolutionary words. If Mr. Huang also uses the phrase “陷阱”, it may make the reader feel stiff and awkward.

Example 8：I found some of these heavy-looking, gaping rustics wake up into sharp-witted girls enough.

李译：我发觉这些张着嘴的笨样乡下人中，有几个倒觉悟过来，成为十分伶俐的人了。

黄译：我便发现一些神态迟钝、目瞪口呆的乡巴佬，蜕变成了头脑机灵的姑娘。

Their translations of words “heavy-looking”、“rustics” and “wake up” have some kind of bias, which reflects translators’ political leanings. In 1930s, many translations included words like “革命”, “反抗”, “觉悟” etc. Li Jiye’s choice of words is enough to prove that the specific political environment has great influences on literary works. These words give readers the impression that Jane is a revolutionist, and she thought she should help and save those who were deprived of education rights and dignity. On the contrary, Huang Yuanshen lived in a peaceful time, his translation “乡巴佬”、”蜕变” is suitable for readers’ understanding.

Religious belief is an important part in British and American literature. Western literatures are all influenced by religious doctrine, religious stories and religious literature. In the novel Jane Eyre, the author also cited a lot of stories from the Bible. As a result, translators should employ some approaches to realize the cultural implication of the source text in translation. In addition to the influence of the church on the arrangement of plot and story, the use of language is also full of the shadow of “God”. Such as “God”, “thank God” , “God pardon me” or some words with indirect meaning.

剩余内容已隐藏，请支付后下载全文，论文总字数：30705字