作为现代性建构手段的现代文学早期英译———以 《天下月刊》 的 《雷雨》 译介为例

Expectations of Modernity in Early English Translation of Modern Chinese Literature—Take the Translation of Thunder and Rain in T’ien Hsia Monthly as an Example

摘要:

20 世纪 20 至 40 年代, 在新文学主将们以外国文学的译入作为实现中国文学、 思想乃至社会 现代化的手段的同时, 也有一些中国知识分子, 尝试着把刚刚诞生不久的中国现代文学译介到西方。 这种 实践包含着现代性的努力和期许, 却往往为研究者所忽略。 1936 至 1937 年, 英文期刊 《天下月刊》 连载 姚莘农翻译的 《雷雨》 , 这是曹禺这部重要剧作的首个英文译本。 《天下月刊》 从其 “阐释现代中国” 的 办刊理念出发, 试图以 《雷雨》 作为中国现代文学的优秀代表, 与世界文学 “对话” , 从而帮助中国获取 现代国际共同体中的成员资格。 这种以翻译作为现代性建构手段的诉求, 既体现在了 《 天下月刊》 对 《雷雨》 的评价和定位上, 也决定了作为译者和 《天下月刊》 编辑的姚莘农在翻译中采用了颇受争议的直 译策略。 《天下月刊》 同仁与五四作家们形成了一种 “接力” , 在创作与翻译的不同领域, 共同为中国文 学和文化的现代性转型努力。

Abstract:

The translation of a large number of foreign literary works had greatly influenced Chinese modern literature and promoted the process of Chinese modernity，which has been acknowledged by scholars on modern Chinese literature. But from the 1920s to the 1940s，some Chinese intellectuals had already tried to translate the newborn modern Chinese literature to the West. However，these translation practices，as efforts and expectations in the process of Chinese modernity，are often ignored by researchers. T_’ien Hsia Monthly_’s translation of Cao Yu_’s play Thunder and Rain is such a case. The mission of T_’ien Hsia Monthly，in the words of Chief editor John. C. H. Wu，was to _“explain China to the West_”. Their basic attitude was to see the West as a partner of dialogue and communication rather than a reference for imitation. To be specific，the colleagues of T_’ien Hsia Monthly wanted to realize such a concept of modernity through translation—not only to let the West understand China and complete the construction of modern Chinese cultural image，but also to re-examine China itself，learn the essence of the West to help the modernization of national culture. Starting from the above conception of modernity，the colleagues of T_’ien Hsia Monthly translated Thunder and Rain into English as a representative work of modern Chinese drama. They saw Thunder and Rain as a landmark work in modern Chinese drama and hoped it would serve as a window for Western readers to develop an interest in modern Chinese culture and modern China. In this process，we can see their urgent desire for modern China to shake off its scorned status and achieve the recognition of _“modern_” Western society. Also，starting from the pursuit of modernity，the translator Yao Hsin-nong had chosen the strategy of _“literal translation_”. This choice was intended to preserve the cultural characteristics carried by the source language，such as values，world views，beliefs，customs，etc. In this way，it would enable western readers to expand the cultural depth and understand the real Chinese culture while reading，so as to achieve the purpose of constructing the image of modern China. The translation of Thunder and Rain in T_’ien Hsia Monthly is not only a text-to-text translation activity，but also a cultural exchange practice with clear intentions and goals. Yao_’s translation of Thunder and Rain is not only the first English version of this drama，but also one of the earliest English translations of modern Chinese drama. With the wide circulation，T_’ien Hsia Monthly became a name card of modern Chinese literature. The colleagues of T_’ien Hsia Monthly，following the steps of the May 4th writers，actually formed a kind of relay race with them. They worked together in different fields of creation and translation，and in different ways，for the modernity transformation of Chinese literature and culture.