“译”与“不译”之间:早期欧洲传教士对中国神话的翻译(1575-1688)  

To translate or not to translate: Early translation of Chinese myths by European missionaries(1575-1688)

作　　者：王敏 WANG Min(Dept,of English and International Studies,China Foreign Affairs University,Beijing 100037,China)

机构地区：[1]外交学院英语系,北京市100037

出　　处：《外语教学与研究》2021年第2期273-283,F0003,共12页Foreign Language Teaching and Research

基　　金：2020年度教育部人文社科研究青年基金项目“中国神话在欧洲翻译史论(1689-1793)”(20YJC740063)的研究成果。

摘　　要：早期(1575-1688)欧洲传教士翻译中国神话时所秉承的态度十分矛盾,在"译"与"不译"之间徘徊。本文作为中国神话翻译史研究的序曲,考察了早期欧洲传教士翻译中国神话的动机和条件,即大航海时代前西方对东方的奇异想象传统与中西方神话记忆的交错、文艺复兴时期欧洲的神话观念以及明清时期中国志怪传统的盛行。然而,他们虽具备翻译中国神话的土壤,却并未对中国神话文献给予正面重视。相较于儒家典籍的译介,对中国神话文献的有意识翻译相当滞后。袁珂(1982,1988,1996,1998等)的广义神话论影响深远,本文以此为基础,重新界定了译域中的中国神话文本,确定了中国神话翻译研究的对象范围,并对长久以来被研究者所忽视的早期欧洲传教士笔下的中国神话译介状况给予了概览式的辩证性论述。Early European missionaries in the period of 1575-1688 held ambivalent attitudes towards the translation of Chinese myths. The question of "to translate or not to translate" beset them both consciously and unconsciously. The paper, as a prelude for studies on the translation history of Chinese myths, investigates the motivation and conditions around which early European missionaries might decide to do it or not. They include the Western tradition of mythical imagination on the East before the Age of Exploration and the interlacing mythical memories between China and the West, myth conception in Europe during Renaissance, and the prevalence of zhiguai tradition during Ming and Qing dynasties in China. However, the research finds that in spite of these conditions, the translation of classic works containing Chinese myths was not given conscious attention and lagged far behind in time compared with that of Confucian classics. By taking the profound theory of "Broad-sense Chinese Myths" developed by Ke Yuan(1982, 1988, 1996, 1998) as a foundation, the paper then redefines "Chinese mythic text in the field of translation", sets the scope of research objects under discussion, and offers an overview analysis on the suject during this period.

关 键 词：中国神话 翻译 传教士 1575-1688 

分 类 号：H059[语言文字—语言学]