神性權威、參考文化與翻譯觀

Divine Authority, Reference Culture, and the Concept of Translation

一份值得文化模仿與傳播的原始文本是翻譯的必要條件，《聖經》翻譯為吾人提供一種將翻譯視為僅只是依文改寫的神性權威模式。然而，在以自我為中心的「參考文化」中，如古代希臘或中國，外來語言或文本被認為不具價值，因此並未發展出翻譯的概念。此類參考文化對於文本翻譯所抱持模棱兩可之心態，為吾人提供另外一種探討翻譯的模式，並對學界將翻譯做為一現代概念的重新思考提出了挑戰。適切的翻譯必定界於前述兩種極端之間，並且有助於將一份文本的流通、影響和接受度提升至更為寬廣的層面。

Translation presupposes a source text worthy of cultural emulation and transmission, and biblical translation offers a model of divine authority and translation as mere dictation. In a self-centered 'reference culture' like that of ancient Greece or China, however, no foreign language or text was considered worthy, and thus no concept of translation was developed. The ambivalence of the idea of translation in such 'reference cultures' offers another model and presents a challenge to reconsidering translation as a modern concept. Adequate translation is always located between the two extremes and helps bring a text to a much wider sphere of circulation, influence, and reception.