Chinese and Western Thinking on Translation.docx
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Chinese and Western Thinking on Translation.docx
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ChineseandWesternThinkingonTranslation
ChineseandWesternThinkingonTranslation
InthefollowingpagesIshallmakeanattemptatcomparingChineseandWesternthinkingabouttranslation.Obviously,IamfarmorefamiliarwithwesternapproachesthanwithChinesethinkingonthesubject;whatinterestsmemainlyhere,however,istranslationitself.Preciselybecausehistoriesoftranslationareincreasinglybeingproduced,wearenowabletobegintohistoricizethephenomenonoftranslationitself.Inconsequence,wearealsoabletomoveawayfromthenormative(Of,relatingto,orprescribinganormorstandardapproachthathasobstructed(Toimpede,retard,orinterferewith;hinderourviewoftranslationforsolong.
Differentcultureshavetendedtotaketranslationforgranted,orrather,differentcultureshavetakenthetechniqueoftranslatingthatwascurrentatagiventimeintheirevolutionforgrantedandequateditwiththephenomenonoftranslationassuch.HistoriesoftranslationintheWesthaveshownincreasinglythatthetechniqueoftranslatinginWesterncultureshaschangedrepeatedlyoverthecenturies,andthatwhatwasacceptedas'obvious,atoneparticulartimewas,infact,littlemorethanapassingphase.Theimportantpointisthatshiftsandchangesinthetechniqueoftranslatingdidnotoccuratrandom.Rather,theywereintimatelylinkedwiththewayinwhichdifferentcultures,atdifferenttimes,cametotermswiththephenomenonoftranslation,withthechallengeposedbytheexistenceoftheOtherandtheneedtoselectfromanumberofpossiblestrategiesfordealingwiththatOther.Weare,therefore,finallybeginningtoseedifferentmethodsoftranslatingaswellasdifferentapproachestotranslationalpracticeascontingent,noteternal,aschangeable,notfixed,becausewearebeginningtorecognisethattheyhave,indeed,changedoverthecenturies.Paradoxically,onceitisacceptedthattranslationiscontingent,itbecomespossibletohighlightthecentralpositionithasalwaysoccupiedinthedevelopment,indeedtheverydefinitionofcultures.Thatcontingencyiseveneasiertoseewhentwodifferenttraditionsarecompared.Suchacomparisonmay,Ibelieve,shedlightnotjustonthetwotraditions,butultimatelyalsoonthephenomenonoftranslationitself.
InwhatfollowsIshallnotdiscusstheactivityoftranslating,theactualprocessthatleadstotheproductionoftranslatedtextsinthefielddelimitedbythelanguagepairChineseandEnglish.Rather,IshallconsiderwhatIwouldliketocall'translationalpracticebothintheChineseandWesterntraditions.BytranslationalpracticeImeanapracticethatintegratestheactualactivityoftranslatingintoitself.Itprecedesthatactivity(translating)inthatitgivescertainguidelines,whetherthesearefollowedbyparticulartranslatorsornot,that(guidelines)arethemselvestheproductofthinkingabouttheprocessoftranslationwithinaculture.Translationalpracticealsofollowstheprocessoftranslating,sinceitplaysapartinthereceptionoftranslatedtextsintheculture,orculturesforwhichtheyareintended.
Inshort,translationalpracticeisoneofthestrategiesaculturedevisesfordealingwithwhatwehavelearnedtocall'theOther’.Thedevelopmentofatranslationalstrategythereforealsoprovidesgoodindicationsofthekindofsocietyoneisdealingwith.ThefactthatChina,forinstance,developedtranslationalstrategiesonlythreetimesinitshistory,withthetranslationoftheBuddhistscripturesfromroughlythesecondtotheseventhcenturiesAD,withthetranslationoftheChristianscripturesstartinginthesixteenthcenturyAD,andwiththetranslationofmuchwesternthoughtandliteraturestartinginthenineteenthcenturyAD,sayssomethingabouttheimageoftheOtherdominantinChinesecivilisation,namelythattheOtherwasnotconsideredveryimportant.NorisChina,aswassometimeserroneouslybelieved,aloneinthatrespect.AmuchmoreextremeexampleisprovidedbyClassicalGreece,whichshowednointerestintheOther,didnotdevelopanythinkingabouttranslationandhardlytranslatedanythingatall.
Afirstandverytentativegeneralisationcouldrunasfollows:
culturesthatseethemselvesascentralintheworldtheyinhabit,arenotlikelytodealmuchwithOthers,unlesstheyareforcedtodoso.TheGreekswereforcedtodosobythePersianinvasionfirst,whichtheysuccessfullyrebuffed(Torepelordrivebackandcouldthereforeaffordtoignore,andthenbytheRomanoccupationwhichtheycouldignorenolonger.Yettheydidnotsuffermuch,becausetheirlanguageandculturewerehighlyvaluedbytheirconquerors.TheChinesewereforcedtodealwiththeOtherbythespreadofBuddhism,whichdidnotthreatenthefabricofsociety,andthereforecouldbeacculturatedrathereasilyonthetermsofthereceiving,Chinesesociety.Thisisapparentnotjustfromthemanneroftranslating,butevenmoresofromthefactthatTaoistconceptswereusedintranslationstoacculturateBuddhistConcepts.Thestorywasnotverydifferentinthenineteenthcentury:
YanFu(YanFu(YenFu)1854-1921Translator,writerandlate-Qingreformist.BorninFujian,YanFuinitiallyreceivedaneducationintheConfucianclassics,butin1867passedtheentranceexamstothenavalacademyinFuzhou.AfterfiveyearstherelearningEnglish,modernsciencesandnavigation,hewasselectedforadvancedprofessionaltrainingoverseasin1877andattendedtheGreenwichNavalCollegefortwoyears.Onhisreturn,YanFubecameinvolvedinthereformmovement,writingessaysforvariousnewspapers.In1887,hepublishedhistranslationofapartofThomasHuxley'sEvolutionandEthicsandOtherEssays,thefirstofaseriesofimportanttranslationsYanmadeoveradecade.Inlatelife,YanwrotecommentariesontheWangBitextoftheDaodejingandZhuangzi.Healsowrotepoetryintheshiandciforms)andLinShuhcouldstilltranslateintoclassicalChinese,followingthetraditioncreatedbytheirpredecessors,andtranslateonChineseterms.OnlytheabolishingofclassicalChineseasthelanguageofcommunicationbetweenofficials,literati,andintellectuals,andtheconcomitantriseofWesterninfluenceinChinarenderedthisstrategyofacculturationimpossibleinthetwentiethcentury.
CulturesthatdonotpaymuchattentiontotheOtherarenotjustculturesthatconsiderthemselvescentralinthegreatschemeofthings;theyarealsoculturesthatarerelativelyhomogeneous,asisborneoutinthecaseofbothclassicalGreekandChinesecultures.Culturesthatarerelativelyhomogeneoustendtoseetheirownwayofdoingthingsas‘naturally',theonlyway,whichjustasnaturallybecomesthe'best’waywhenconfrontedwithotherways.Whensuchculturesthemselvestakeoverelementsfromoutside,theywill,onceagain,naturalisethemwithouttoomanyqualmsandtoomanyrestrictions.WhenChinesetranslatestextsproducedbyOthersoutsideitsboundaries,ittranslatesthesetextsinordertoreplacethem,pureandsimple.Thetranslationstaketheplaceoftheoriginals.Theyfunctionastheoriginalsintheculturetotheextentthattheoriginalsdisappearbehindthetranslations,notleastbecause(=therewereseveralreasonsbutthiswasanimportantone)manyofthosewhoparticipatedinChineseculturedidnotknowthelanguageorlanguagesoftheoriginal,whichmadeitverydifficultindeedeventocheckwhatthetranslatorswereactuallydoing.
Thehomogeneityofacultureisalsoamatterofthenumberofparticipantsinthatcultureand,asimportantly,amatterofhowwedescribethatculture.Again,thesimilaritiesbetweenChineseandclassicalGreekcultureareinstructiveinthisrespect.ThroughoutChina'shistory,uptothebeginningofthiscentury,thenumberofthosewhoreallyparticipatedintheliterateculturewassmall,whichwouldalsohelptoexplainwhyitwasrelativelyeasytomaintainuniformstandardsforwhatwouldbeacceptabletothataudience,alsointhematterofwritingstyleanddiction(Choiceanduseofwordsinspeechorwriting.InclassicalGreece,asiswellknown,slavesfaroutnumberedthefreemen(womenwerenotreallyincluded)whoparticipatedinliterateculture.TheaudiencesdevelopeddifferentlyinChinaandtheWest,however.Throughoutthevagariesofhistory,thoseaudienceskeptexpandingintheWest,asopposedtoChina.
Itshouldnotcomeasmuchofasurprise,inthelightoftheabove,thattranslationactivityaroseintheWestinculturesthatwerenothomogeneousthatwere,infact,internallydividedbylinguisticdifferences,orcertaindegreesofbilingualism.YetinboththeWesternandtheChinesetraditions,translationactivityseemstohavebegunwiththeinterpretationofspoken,ratherthanthetranslationofwrittentext.Thisisimportantforatleasttworeasons.One,thoughnotthemostimportant,isthattranslationactivitydoesnotfinditsorigininthetranslationofsacred,orevenliterarytexts,butinthetranslationoforalcommunicationsthatconcerntrade.Thissituationemphasizestheimportanceoftheinterpreter(asweshallbecallingthetranslatorfornowasaperson),asamediator.Italsostressestheimportanceoftheactualsituationinwhichinterpretationtakesplace.
Attheoriginsoftranslationinbothtraditions,communicationwasmoredirectandfeedbackmoreimmediatethaninlater,translatingsituations.Theimportantpointwasforbothinterlocutorstounderstandeachother,andthetranslator/interpreterwouldconsiderhistasktobeaccomplishedsuccessfullywhenthatunderstandinghadindeedtakenplace.Ofcourseitwasmucheasierfortheinterpretertogaugeunderstandinginanygi
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