文學翻譯的挫敗與挑戰－－以翻譯辛約翰《西部痞子英雄》為例

Frustration and Challenge of Literary Translation-On Translating J. M. Synge's the Playboy of the Western World

辛約翰向來被譽為二十世紀愛爾蘭文學的經典作家。在他的幾部劇作當中，又以《西部痞子英雄》最為人所稱道。本劇確實為愛爾蘭文學的經典之作，難怪它曾榮登葉慈等人創立的艾比劇場最常演出的劇本。正如批評家所言，辛約翰巧妙融合喜劇場景與嚴肅議題的技法高超，成為閱讀與詮釋該作品的一大挑戰。本文從筆者翻譯該劇本的挫敗與挑戰為出發點，探討其中語言、文化和文學翻譯的相關議題。翻譯絕非易事，而文學翻譯更是難上加難。本文指出譯者在翻譯《西部痞子英雄》的過程中難免感到挫敗，但同時也能進一步欣賞辛約翰的文字藝術與人生思考，並深刻體會語言、文化，以及社會之間的錯綜複雜關係。翻譯本身向外開放的多元意義，不只常使譯者感到挫敗，也同時為譯者帶來無窮的樂趣。

John Millington Synge has been well-acclaimed as one of the representative writers in twentieth century Irish literature. Of all the plays by Synge, The Playboy of the Western World is the most highly-regarded. So canonical is the play that it becomes the most popular work in the Abbey Theater, founded by W. B. Yeats in 1904. As some critics contend, J. M. Synge's superb blend of comic scenes and serious topics renders it much more challenging when interpreting the play. Based on the frustration and challenge the translator experienced while translating the play, this paper aims to discuss the problems related to language, culture and literary translation. It is a universal truth that translation is by no means easy; by contrast, literary translation is more than a difficult task. Hence while the translators of Synge's The Playboy of the Western World experienced a sense of failure and frustration in the rendering process, they also learned to appreciate the playwright's art and philosophy of life, and thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the complicated linguistic, cultural, and social relationship in the text.