什么是好的翻译？中英互译

Totheoutsideworld,literarytranslatorsarefamouslyinvisible.Beingatight-knitcommunityofsolitaryhomeworkers,though,wetalkalotamongstourselves.Recently,onebigthingwe’vebeentalkingaboutisreviewsofourwork.Ascriticscometonoticeourexistence,wegarnerbothpraiseand–inwhatfeelslikegreaterdepth–criticism.SoIthoughtitmightbeusefulto

askotherliterarytranslatorswhattheyaimfor,whatpositivecriteriawehaveforjudgingtheoutcomeofourwork.Iwasnotdisappointed.It’seasytosaywhatabadtranslationis.Theonesthatareaccidentallyjaggedlikethepersonwieldingthescissorswasdrunk.Theoneswheresomeonehasmisunderstoodtheoriginal,orperhapsmisinterpretedit.Theoneswhereallindividualityhasbeensmoothedout.But

howdoweidentifyasuccessfultranslation?Whenhavewedoneourjobwell?Whatisitwewanttoachieve,beyondmerefluidity?WhatIsaGoodTranslation?1DavidColmer(translatesfromDutchtoEnglish)Fluidityisnottobesneezedat,andisoftendifficulttoaccomplish,butagoodtranslationgoesfurtherandachievestheself-evidenceandurgencyoftheoriginal.Itsings,whispersandswearsliketheoriginalandleavesthereaderthrilled,disturbedandamusedinthesamewaystoo.Asensitivemonolingualreviewerdescribesthestyleofagoodtranslationintermsthatunknowinglyechothereviewsoftheoriginalnovelorpoetry.Agoodtranslationdoesnothavetobeimpeccablystarchedandironed,butdarestoberaggedandfranticwhenappropriate.

Whenpresentedwithafewlinesoforiginalandtranslation,abilingualreadermightnotbesurewhichiswhich.

ThevoiceofagoodtranslationisasdistinctiveinEnglishastheauthor’svoiceintheoriginallanguage,alsowhencomparedtootherauthorstranslatedbythesametranslator.AgoodtranslationacceptsthegiftsEnglishoffersandisnotanendlessprocessionofcompromiseandloss.

Agoodtranslationissomethingtoaspiretoand,inthisperfectionist’sprofession,agoodtranslationisnevergoodenough.首先，流畅度是不容忽视的。译文达到流畅的水平很难。但好的翻译会更进一步，实现原作不证自明的清晰与下笔时的紧迫感。好的翻译会还原原作的语感，读者能感到它在歌唱、呢喃或咒骂，并为之兴奋、不安或开怀。一位敏锐的单语评论家形容对好的翻译作品的评论是能够与原作的评论相互呼应的。好的翻译不是无可挑剔地拘泥刻板、齐齐整整，而是适当时候敢于表现得粗糙和狂放。当译文与原文同时出现在双语读者前时，好的翻译应当让读者分辨不出哪个是原文，哪个是译文。译者具有辨识力的声音应该留存于优秀的译文文本中，正如原文中作者的声音一样。且在这个译者翻译其他作品时，也能看得出其风格。好的翻译会接受译文语言的馈赠，且翻译的过程不是无尽的妥协与损失。我们都应追求好的翻译，在这个完美主义者的行当中，好的翻译永远都不够好。2AlexZucker(translatesfromCzechtoEnglish)Towriteagoodtranslation,atacertainpointIhavetoforgetthetextI’mtranslatingexists.

OnlythencanIreadmytranslationwithout“seeingthroughit”theforeign-languagetext“underneath”–thatis,thewayvirtuallyeveryoneelsewhoreadsmytranslationisgoingtoread(andassess)it.Beyondthat,Idon’tagreethatfluidityisnecessarilyalwaysagoal.

Agoodtranslationrespectsand,therefore,reflectstheauthor’sstyleandvocabulary:Wheretheauthor’swritingischoppy,mineshouldalsobe.Whereit’sharshorstiltedoropaque,orlyricalandflowing,orunambiguous,mywritingshouldbetoo.Whentheauthorconformstoconvention,soshouldI;whentheybendorbreakit,Ineedtodothesame.Thisassumestheauthorintendedtheseeffects.Ontheotherhand,itcanhappenthatanauthor’swritingcomesacrossasawkwardwheninfactitwasaresultofpoor(ornon-existent)editing,ratherthanadeliberatestyle.Thisiswhereitcangettricky.Weallknowbynow,Ihope,thatthisdoesn’tmeaneverysinglewordorphraseinmytranslationmustpreciselycorrespondinstyleandeffecttoacounterpartintheauthor’stext.ButitdoesmeanthatIdon’thavethelibertytowritea“strange”workwhentheauthor’swas“normal”,or“normalise”thewritingwhentheauthormeanttobeunorthodox.IfIdo,theresultmaystillbe“good”,butratherthanatranslation,itmightbemoreaccuratetocallitanadaptation.做出好的翻译，某种程度上我要忘记原文的存在。只有当我自己在阅读译文时都可以忘记那译文底下的另一种语言，读者才能做到这样。以及，我并不承认流利是翻译的目的。好的翻译尊重并如实反映原文作者的风格与用词。当一位作者的写作是支离破碎的，我的译文也应当是这样。原文作者的写作风格可能是刺耳、生硬、晦涩的，亦或抒情流畅、毫不含糊的，那么我的译文也应该做到这些。原文的作者可能遵循传统，我便也遵循传统；当他们弯曲或者打破程式，我也随之打破。当然前提是，作者预料到了这些后果。另一方面，如下的情况也可能发生：一位作者的写作由于拙劣的编辑过程显得很尴尬，而非作者本人有意为之的风格。这就是问题的棘手之处了。正如我们目前所知的，我说的并不意味着我的译文中每一个词句在风格和效果上都要与原文的文本对应。我的意思是，当原作者的写作很普通，或者原作者就打算循规蹈矩地写出非正统的东西时，译者是无权译出一本“奇怪”的作品的。如果我作为译者真的这么做了，可能结果仍然是很好的，但我就不会说我在做翻译了，可能说是‘改编’更准确。3RosSchwartz(translatesfromFrenchtoEnglish)Agoodtranslationcapturesthespiritofatextwithoutslavishlyfollowingittotheletter.

Itcapturestheenergyandtextureandvoiceofthesourcetextandreplicatestheminthetranslation,drawingonalltheresourcesofthetargetlanguage.Agoodtranslationconveyswhatiswrittenbetweenthelines.Agoodtranslationexudesempathy.Agoodtranslationelicitsthesameemotionalresponseinthereaderasthesourcetextdoesinitsreaders.Agoodtranslationdoesn’tcolonisetheworkbutpreservesthejoysandbeautiesofits“otherness”withoutresortingtoweirdforeignisation.Agoodtranslationperfectlyresolvesthetensionbetweenmeaningandmusic,andthatofbeingsource-textorientedandtarget-readeroriented.

Agoodtranslationisboldandcreative,agoodtranslationsings.好的翻译无需死板地逐字翻译，就能捕捉到原文的神韵。它能捕捉到原文文本中的能量、纹理和声音，并动用译文语言中的一切资源，将这些逐一在译文中呈现。好的翻译能够传递出字里行间的意蕴，并流露出译者的共情；这样的翻译能够像原文引出读者恰当的情感反应那样引出译文读者的情感反应。好的翻译不会对作品进行殖民，不用诉诸奇怪的异国化也能保存其‘他者性’之美；好的翻译完美地疏解了意义与乐音间的张力，即‘文本中心论’还是‘读者中心论’。好的翻译是大胆而创新的，犹在歌唱。4AntoniaLloyd-Jones(translatesfromPolishtoEnglish)Agoodtranslationisimperceptible.Itreadsasifthebookwerewritteninthelanguageintowhichithasbeentranslated.

Withinthetext,thetranslatorisinvisible.Agoodtranslationremovesthebarrierimposedbyanunfamiliarlanguageandallowsthewritertocommunicatedirectlywiththeforeignreader.好的翻译是不留痕迹的，读来好像这本书本来就是译文语言所写就的。在文本中，译者是无形的。好的翻译会去除陌生语言的障碍，使得作者能与外国读者直接进行交流。Agoodtranslationdoesn’tsimplyreproducethecorrectmeaningoftheoriginaltext.Italsocapturesthevoiceandmusicoftheoriginalasthewriterintendedittobeheard,andreproducesitinawaythatisaudibletothenew,foreignreader.

Itissensitivetothemeaning,effectsandintentionsoftheoriginal,butalsotothebestwaystorendertheminthetargetlanguage.好的翻译不仅仅是重现原文正确的语义，它还能捕捉到原文作者想要传达的声音与乐音，并以外国读者能够听懂的方式再现。它能够敏锐地察觉到语义、语言效果及原作者的意图，更懂得如何将这些以最佳的方式在被翻译的语言中呈现。Insomeinstances,achievingthataimcanmeanmovingawayfromtheliteralmeaningoftheoriginal.Thisisprobablytruerfortranslationfromsomelanguagesthanothers;perhapsfortranslatorsintoEnglish,languagesoutsidetheIndo-Europeangroupwillneedadifferentapproachfromlanguagesthatbelongtoit.Differentgenresortranslatingforchildrencanalsohavedifferentrequirements.So

whileagoodtranslationistruetotheoriginalmeaningtheauthorwantstoconvey,itisn’tstraitjacketedbytheliteralmeaningoftheoriginaltext.在某些情况下，实现这个目的可能意味着要将原文的字面意思抹去。在某些语言的翻译中更为如此。因为或许对于那些将其他语言译成英文的译者来说，印欧语系之外的语言翻译的方法与印欧语系之内的并不相同。面对不同的种类或者不同读者，例如给儿童读者翻译，则也有不同的要求。所以尽管说一个好的翻译是忠于原文的，但它不为原文的字面意思所束缚。Agoodtranslationalsorecognisestheoriginalwriter’sstyleandvoice,buttoconveythemtotheforeignreaderinkeepingwiththewriter’sintentions,thetranslatormightneedtoretunethemslightly,usingdifferenttechniques.

Thisisparticularlytrueofpoetry,orofprosethatislyricalanddependentonrhythmorsound.好的翻译能够识别出原文作者的风格特点，在遵守作者意图的同时将其传达给外国读者。当然，译者在其中可能需要运用不同的翻译技巧轻微调试一下。这一点对于抒情性的、依赖韵律与声音的诗歌和散文尤为重要。5SandraHetzl(translatesfromArabictoGerman)Tomeagoodtranslationisonewhereyoualmostcan’tbelievewhatyou’rereadingwastranslated,fromsomethingintosomething,fromsomewheretosomewhere–islanguageaplace,orisitratherathing?Onewhereyoualmostcan’tbelieveitwasbroughtfromsomewheretosomewhere.Thatitwasunboxed,thenhastilytransported,ashapeless,unprotectedsomething,andcarefullyputintonewboxes.WhichmakesitsoundlikeIsustainthetheorythat

agoodtranslationissomesortofahoax.对我来说，人们读到好的翻译时，是察觉不出它是译文的，察觉不出这种从一个事物到另一事物的转换、从一个地方移动到另一个地方——语言到底是一个区域，还是某种事物呢？总之你不会相信它是从某地移动到某地的，它从箱子中取出，急匆匆地运往另一个地方，这个无形的、也不受保护的东西就这么被小心翼翼地放到了另一个盒子里。这听起来似乎是我坚信的那一套理论：好的翻译就是一场骗局。6SaskiaVogel(translatedfromSwedishtoEnglish)Isupposeagoodtranslationisagoodpieceofwritingandshouldhaveallthemarkersofthose.

Personally,Iappreciatemusicalityinatextandanabilitytocarrythroughthefeelingofeachline:thosesubtleshifts,forexample,whenattheendofaparagraphawell-placedwordorphraseelicitsalaugh,anoteoftragedyorirony.Iftextsaren’tmusicalinsomeway(cacophonousandmelodicalike),IfindthatIammorecriticalofthetranslation.Iwondertowhatextentagoodtranslationisn’talsoaboutabeinggoodfitwiththetranslator.IthinkabouttextswhereI’vehadtolabourperhapstoomuchtomakethevoicefeelauthentictotheauthor’s,andIcanthinkthatperhapsIwasn’tagoodfitforthattext.Ithink(hope)thishassomethingtodowithexperience.ThetextsI’mthinkingofwereearlyoninmycareer,whichmightbringmetomyanswerforwhatagoodtranslationis:

Whenthetranslatorfeelscomfortableenoughwiththetexttotreatitastheirown–allthewhilekeepingtheauthor’smusic,tone,emotion,voice,etc.,insight–andisabletocreate(ortranscreate?)apieceofwritingthatfeelsliketheoriginalandcarriestheoriginalthroughtothereader,howevermuchthetranslatorhasstayedfaithfultoordepartedfromtheoriginaltext.

Whentranslationsdon’tfeelliketheyhavebeenwritten–wherethereaderbecomestooawareofthemechanicsofthewriting–andsimply‘are’that’swhenthey’regood.Ifearthisallsoundsterriblyvague,andsoIthinkofdancingandreturntowhatyoubroughtupfirst:whenyouseesomeonecompetentlydoingthestepsbutnotbridgingtechniqueandfeeling,versusthedancerjustbeingintheflow.Flowiscaptivatingandgenerousinthatitallowsforallsortsofimperfectionsaswearebeingsweptalonginthemomentandmovement.我想好的翻译同时也是好的写作，并且拥有这两者的标志。个人而言，我欣赏文本的乐音感及在每一行文字中携带这种乐音的能力。有时这表现为微妙的转折：比如，自然段结尾处恰到好处某个词或词组会引人发笑、令人悲哀或感到荒诞。如果文字本身没有乐音感，我发现自己对翻译会更加苛刻。有时我会思考，好的翻译应该不仅仅是与译者合拍。我想起那些我需要费很大力气才能与作者的声音对应起来的文本，也许我与它们不太合拍。我认为（希望）这是与个人经历有关。我想到的这些文本在我职业生涯的早期出现，现在我可以回答到底什么才是好的翻译了：当译者能够较为舒适地处理文本，就像面对自己的文字那么舒适——同时保留原作者的乐音、语气、情感、声音等等，以及能够创作出一段与原文相似的、保留原文意蕴的文本（姑且不论译者是否已经远离了原文）。当译文不像是被写出来的，读者看得出来翻译的痕迹时……我想我还是说得太模糊了。还是拿舞蹈来打比喻吧，回到你之前的问题。两者的区别就像是你看到一个只是做动作而完全没有将技巧和感受联结起来的舞者与另一个一直处在流动状态的舞者的区别。这种流动状态是令人着迷的，并且很慷慨，因为它容许各种各样的不完美发生，我们只是被时间和动作裹挟其中。7JuliaSherwood(translatesfromSlovaktoEnglish)Formeagoodtranslationisonethatisonthesamewavelengthastheoriginaltext–apieceofmusicthathasbeenarrangedfordifferentinstrumentsbutevokesanemotionalresponseasclosetotheeffectoftheoriginalaspossiblegivenadifferentculturalbackgroundandreferences.

Oragoulashorasoufflépreparedfromlocallyavailableingredientsthatcomesoutwithatextureasstodgyorfluffyandthatburnsyourpalateorticklesyourtastebudsinthesamewayastheoriginal.在我看来，好的译文是与原文在同一个波长上的，是被不同的乐器演奏的同一段音乐，即使是在与原文不同的文化背景下，也仍能引发相似的情感共鸣。或者说，像是使用当地的配料烹饪而成的炖牛肉或酥皮，其质地或粗糙或松软，都使你的味蕾像感受原来的配方时那样骚动。8SamBett(translatesfromJapanesetoEnglish)Agoodtranslationwantstoberead.

Itscleversolutionswillkeeptothesurface,nomoreconspicuousthantheslipperythingstheyventuretoapproximate.Thestrengthsandcuriositiesofthesourcewilldaretobepresentalongsideitsdullerpointsandweaknesses,butallwillhavebeenreimagined,naturallyandeffectively,ataremovefromtherulesoftheoriginalstyle.好的译文渴望被阅读。它聪明的地方显而易见，和译者们冒险含糊了事的那些部分一样明显。原文的精彩之处也可能和它无聊乏味的地方并列，但这些都需要（译者）从原文的风格中解放出来，重新想象。9SophieLewis(translatesfromFrenchandPortuguesetoEnglish)Ithinkit’saboutanear-magicalbalance

beingstruckbetweenchannellingthetranslator’sperceivedideaofthetext’soriginalsoundandintentionanditsre-enactmentthroughthetranslator’sownvoice,

thewaytheypersonallywouldexpressthesestylesandideas.It’saboutthecarefulandalwaysconsiderateminglingofthesetwoimpulsesorperceptions–whichmeansyoucan’talwaystellthatyou’rereadingagoodtranslation!Thenatureoftheanimalisthatyoucan’tbesuretoidentifyitassuch,thoughyoumayhaveagoodfeelingaboutit.我认为（好的翻译）是一种近乎魔术般的平衡，译者理解下的原文的声音和意图与译者以自己的声音对这些进行的再现之间的平衡，他们会从个人角度来表达原文的风格和语义。所以好的翻译其实在于小心行事，并能够体会到这两种不同脉搏和感受之间的混杂——即你有时候不能分辨你在读的是不是译文。动物的天性就是，你可能无法对某个事物下一个百分百的定义，但你有很强的直觉。10DavidBoyd(translatesfromJapanesetoEnglish)Agoodtranslationhums.Itlivesintheear.Itshattersourexpectations,redefiningwhattranslationcandointhefirstplace.好的译文会在你耳中嗡嗡作响。它动摇我们的期待，并重新定义翻译所能完成的任务。Whenyoureadagoodtranslation,theusuallabels(literalvsliberal,etc.)quicklylosetheirvalue.

Greattranslationsmakeitpainfullyclearthatwelackthecriticallanguagenecessarytotalkabouttranslationasanart,onitsownterms.当你读到一个好的翻译，平常的那些标签或分类，比如意译或者直译之类的，都黯然失色。好的翻译会让我们痛苦而直观地感受到，我们缺少描述翻译这门艺术的语言。Thislackofcriticalclarityisexactlywhatmakesyourquestionsuchahardone.ToborrowfromPotterStewart,weknowagoodtranslationwhenweseeit,right?Complicatingmattersfurther,

eachgoodtranslationisgoodinitsownway.Ihopethatdoesn’treadlikeacop-out.Ithinkit’strue.

Thegoodonesmakeusseetranslationinanewway.这种语言的匮乏让你的问题变得很难回答。借用波特·斯图尔特的话，当看到好的翻译时，我们就会知道。对吗？如果进一步把问题复杂化，每个好的翻译都有它们的妙处。我希望这读起来不像是个蹩脚的理由。因为我真的这么想，好的翻译能够让我们以崭新的方式来看待翻译这回事。WhyDoesItMatter?Recently,ChadPostwroteanentertainingpieceaboutreviewingtranslations,arguingwithhimselfintherolesoftranslationadvocateandreviewer.Whatmademesitupandthinkwasthispassage,inthevoiceofPost’sinnerunderpaidcritic:Deepdivesintotranslationtheoryandhowtoreproducealanguage’ssyntaxinEnglishare100%guaranteesofboringthepissoutofageneralreader.[...]Thereare,what?,20,000readersofliteraryfictionoutthere?And,let’sbehonest,thetranslationswe’retalkingaboutareworksofliterature,notspynovelsorromancesorwhatever.Ofthose20,000readers,probably500orsoreadactualbookreviews.Ifyouwantthesereviewstobepromotionaltoolsforinternationalliterature,weneedtoupthatnumber.Andtoupthatnumber,

wehavetofocusonwhatreaderswant:plotdescriptions,informationaboutwhatmakesabookunique,whyit’sworthreadingandwhataboutitmightnotworkforeveryone.Andyouknowwhat?He’sgotapoint.Justliketranslators,criticsworkunderconstraints.

Igenuinelybelieveitispossibletoidentifyhallmarksofsuccessfultranslations–liketransferringhumourandwordplay,recreatingcadenceandrhythm,preservingastrongsenseofplace,andallthethingsmycolleagueshavepointedoutabove.

Butmaybedoingthatrequiresanextramentalshift,anextralayerofthoughttoworkoutwhatexactlythetranslatorhasdonehere,andwhichaspectsareentirelytheauthor’sdoing.Andmaybeifyou’rebeingpaidapittanceandallyouwanttodoisencouragereaderstobuyabook,ortellthemwhyyouthinktheyshouldn’tbother,thatshiftisn’tworththeeffort.Icanseethat.Forusastranslators,though,Ithinkit’sextremelyimportant.

Weneedrolemodels,weneedsomethingtostrivefor–andweneedtofindwaystodefinegoodworkthatgobeyondthenegative.

AsDavidBoydputsit,goodtranslationsmakeusseetranslationinanewway;theycanshakeusoutofcomplacency,encourageustotrynewthings.OneofthethingsIloveaboutliterarytranslationis,asDavidColmerpointsout,thatit’sajobforperfectionists,foreverreachingfortheimpossible,orthe“hoax”asSandraHetzlcallsit.

It’saprofessionforoptimists.Muchofourworktakesplaceonanintuitivelevel,readingverydeeplyandthenwritingourownversionofatext,sometimeslessconsciousofthechoiceswemakethanclosereadersmightbe,atleastinourfirstdraft.Hence,Isuspect,someofthelanguageweusetoexplainwhatwe’retryingfor:dancing,cooking,music,somethingnear-magicalandnear-invisible.Theseareallusefulmetaphors.But

ifwe’retocontinueourstrivingandpassitontonewgenerations,Ithinkit’salsohelpfultofindexamplesofgoodtranslationsandinvestigatewhatitistheydowell.Letmetellyouaboutacoupleofmyrolemodels.

ChristinaMacSweeney’sEnglishversionof

TheStoryofMyTeeth

byValeriaLuiselli

absolutelysparkleswithwit.Shegivesusastrong,consistentandfunnyvoiceandfindstrulyinnovativewaystohelpherreadersunderstandthenovel’scontext,addingawholeextrachapterofherown.

BreonMitchell’stranslationof

TheTinDrum

byGünterGrass

does,whatDavidColmermentions,embracethegiftsoftheEnglishlanguage’shugevocabulary,whiledeftlywranglingGrass’windingsentences.Irecentlyadmired

SusanBernofsky’sEnglishtranslationof

MemoirsofaPolarBear

byYokoTawada,whichreallycapturesthestrangenessofaSovietpolarbearwritingherlifestory,usingamixofslightlystiltedandcolloquiallanguageandagainchoosingherwordswithgreatjoy.Forme,thisisalsoanexampleof