A Cultural-Translation Study of Paratexts via Victor H. Mair's English Translation of the Tao Te Ching

梅維恆《道德經》英譯：副文本之文化翻譯探討

10.29912/CTR.201809_11(2).0003

陳致宏(Chih-hong Rudy Chen)

Tao Te Ching ； thick translation ； cultural translation ； paratexts ； ideology ； 《道德經》 ； 厚實翻譯 ； 文化翻譯 ； 副文本 ； 意識形態

編譯論叢

11卷2期（2018 / 09 / 01）

61 - 98

英文

This paper looks at the authoritative sinologist and philologist Victor H. Mair's English translation of the Tao Te Ching. It examines Mair's use of paratexts to support his cross-cultural transfer of such highly Chinese-culture-bound religious and philosophical terms as Tao, Te and Ching from the Chinese source text into English. More specifically, it looks at Mair's interpretative assumptions as well as methodologies. This brings into play several relevant issues with regard to the role of cultural translation within the wider field of translation studies. Firstly, the paper explores Kwame Anthony Appiah's ＂thick translation＂ approach, and such cross-cultural linguistic practices as the use of annotations and of other forms of scholarly paratexts, in order that (in Appiah's words) an ＂academic' translation＂ is produced. Secondly, selected elements of these paratexts are examined in the light of André Lefevere's notion of ideology and Lawrence Venuti's notions of foreignization and visibility, to help us better understand the external factors requiring Mair's careful considerations in the ＂transaction＂ of meaning across languages and cultures. This cultural translation study on Mair's translation of the Tao Te Ching with extensive preface, annotations and back matter seeks to shed light, then, on the depth and complexity of the art of cultural-translation, itself so vital to cross-cultural understanding.

本文透過觀察當代權威漢學家及文字學家梅維恆（Victor H. Mair）之《道德經》英譯本，檢視其試圖將具有中文文化特殊性（culture-bound）之宗教哲學（religiophilosophical）詞彙，例如其核心概念「道」、「德」與「經」在翻譯上達成跨文化語意轉換上所採取之詮釋考量及手法，可見於其副文本（paratexts）之大量使用，並探討其翻譯學上之文化翻譯（cultural translation）相關課題。本文首先將其置於阿派爾（Kwame Anthony Appiah）的「厚實翻譯」（thick translation）視角下觀察，以利於透過如附註（annotations）及其他學術文本形式的副文本等語言活動應用於跨文化之間的理解，即阿派爾所謂「學術翻譯」。接著，再將特定之副文本元素透過勒菲弗爾（André Lefevere）之意識形態（ideology）與韋努第（Lawrence Venuti）之異化（foreignization）及譯者能見度（visibility）之視角下觀察，以理解譯者在不同語言及文化間處理語意時之外部影響因素。本文期盼透過文化翻譯之檢視方式，探討梅維恆使用大量前言、注釋及附錄進行翻譯之《道德經》英譯本，能更深入理解賦予於學者型譯者（scholar-translator）的責任及其翻譯過程中之各種考量，以提供古文經典翻譯中原意呈現之跨文化轉換知見。

1. Appiah, K. A.(1993).Thick translation.Callaloo,16(4),808-819.
2. Bassnett, S.(ed.),Lefevere, A.(ed.)(1990).Translation, history and culture.London, UK:Pinte.
3. Boucher, D.,Schmid, N.,Sen, T.(2006).The scholarly contributions of Professor Victor H. Mair: A retrospective survey.Asia Major,3(6),1-12.
4. Boyce, C.(2012).The Dao De Jing minus ninety-six percent: A troubled text relieved of its politics and bloat; and another look at the Indic influence puzzle.Sino-Platonic Papers,221,1-29.
5. Chesterman, A.(2017).Reflections on translation theory: Selected papers 1993-2014.Amsterdam, Netherlands:John Benjamins.
6. Conrady, A. (1906). Indischer Einfluß in China im 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr [Indian influence in fourth-century BC China]. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 60(2), 335-351. Retrieved from https://ia801406.us.archive.org/17/items/zeitschrift60deutuoft/zeitschrift60deutuoft.pdf
7. Edkins, J. (1871). China's place in philology: An attempt to show that the languages of Europe and Asia have a common origin. Retrieved from https://archive.org/download/chinasplaceinphi00edkirich/chinasplaceinphi00edkirich.pdf
8. Geertz, C.(1973).The interpretation of cultures.New York, NY:Basic Books.
9. Genette, G.,Lewin, J. E.(Trans.)(1997).Paratexts: Thresholds of interpretation.Cambridge, UK:Cambridge University Press.
10. Goldin, P. R.(2002).Those who don't know speak: Translations of the Daode jing by people who do not know Chinese.Asian Philosophy,12(3),183-195.
11. Grafflin, D.(1998).A southwest Asian voice in the Daodejing ?.Sino-Planotic Papers,79,1-7.
12. Greenham, D. C.(1992).Textual scholarship: An introduction.New York, NY:Garland.
13. Hermans, T. (2003). Cross-cultural translation studies as thick translation. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.623.8181%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi7i8Ol0cvcAhXQMN4KHSZoBw8QFggSMAI&usg=AOvVaw3XxuVViHa-oNT528na1IDp
14. Kenny, D.(Ed.),Ryou, K.(Ed.)(2007).Across boundaries: International perspectives on translation studies.Newcastle upon Tyne, UK:Cambridge Scholars.
15. Kohn, L.(Ed.),LaFargue, M.(Ed.)(1998).Lao-tzu and the Tao-te-ching.Albany, NY:SUNY Press.
16. Lefevere, A.(1992).Translation/history/culture: A sourcebook.London, UK:Routledge.
17. Lefevere, A.(1992).Translation, rewriting and the manipulation of literary fame.London, UK:Routledge.
18. Li, F.(1971).Studies of archaic Chinese phonology.Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies,9,1-61.
19. Liao, M.(2004).On the variety of the translation of Daode Jing.Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities (Humanities & Social Sciences),25(9),333-336.
20. Mair, V. H.(1990).[The] file [on the cosmic] track [and individual] dough[tiness]: Introduction and notes for a translation of the Ma-wang-tuimanuscripts of the Lao Tzu [Old Master ].Sino-Platonic Papers,20,1-68.
21. Mair, V. H.(1997).Whose ancestors are they?.Anthropology Newsletter,38(1),9-11.
22. Mair, V. H.(1990).Tao Te Ching: The classic book of Integrity and the Way (by Lao Tzu).New York, NY:Bantam.
23. Mallory, J. P.,Mair, V. H.(2000).The Tarim mummies: Ancient China and the mystery of the earliest peoples from the West.London, UK:Thames & Hudson.
24. Riccardi, A.(Ed.)(2002).Translation studies: Perspectives on an emerging discipline.Cambridge, UK:Cambridge University Press.
25. Robertson, I.(1987).Sociology.New York, NY:Worth.
26. Shuttleworth, M.,Cowie, M.(1997).Dictionary of translation studies.Manchester, UK:St. Jerome.
27. Simon, S.(1996).Gender in translation: Cultural identity and the politics of transmission.London, UK:Routledge.
28. Swofford, M. (Producer). (2012, October 9). Sinology then and now: Methods and aims [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkoPGEHaqPo
29. Vasil'ev, L. S.(2014).Dao and Brahman: The phenomenon of primordial supreme unity.Sino-Plantonic Papers,252,1-36.
30. Venuti, L.(1998).The scandals of translation: Towards an ethics of difference.London, UK:Routledge.
31. Venuti, L.(1995).The translator's invisibility.London, UK:Routledge.
32. Xin, H.,Gao, S.(2008).Diachronic description of Tao Te Ching in the English world.Journal of Nanjing Agruicultural University (Social Sciences ed.),8(1),79-84.
33. Zhang, J.(2008).Taiyuan, China,Taiyuan University of Technology.
34. Zhou, J.(2003).Correspondences of cultural words between Old Chinese and Proto-Indo-European.Sino-Platonic Papers,125,1-19.
35. Zhou, J.(2002).Correspondences of the basic words between Old Chinese and Proto-Indo-European.Sino-Platonic Papers,115,1-8.
36. Zhou, J.(2005).Old Chinese "*tees" and Proto-Indo-European "*deus": Similarity in religious ideas and a common source in linguistics.Sino-Platonic Papers,167,1-17.