城市作為翻譯政治的場域──理論性的探索

City as A Field of Translation Politics: A Theoretical Exploration

本文試圖令城市理論與翻譯理論對話，開創都市研究視野，以兼顧城市的異質現實與倫理關切。本文在文化表意、社會交流和新陳代謝等三個層次上，討論城市作為翻譯政治場域的特質：（1）城市是多重異質的符號化觀念與資訊溝通的翻譯場域；（2）城市是多重的制度化互動的轉譯場域；（3）城市是技術中介的多重異質之物質與能量流動的轉換場域。這裡的翻譯，除了語意翻譯，也是交流、橋接與轉化的意思，亦即令相對自主的不同體系間得以互動結合而運作，並激發新可能。當然，翻譯、橋接和轉化都不保證成功，反而常是偏誤和衝突的來源。

This article tries to initiate a new perspective on urban theory by bringing it into a dialogue with translation theory, and thereby takes the heterogeneous reality and ethic concerns within a city into account. Cultural expression, social exchange, and metabolism are the three aspects which will be analyzed in this research to build the connection between these two theories. Taking this as a foundation, this article then begins a discussion on the qualities of translation field within a city focusing on three aspects: 1) A city is a field where symbolized concepts of manifold and heterogeneous quality and communication of information are translated between each other; 2) A city is a field where multiple structuralized interactions and routine activities are converted; 3) A city is a field where multiple heterogeneous materials mediated by technologies and the circulation of energy are transmuted. Translation here goes beyond semantics to suggest exchange, bridging, and conversion. It indicates that different yet relatively independent systems can work properly by cooperatively combining together, in which new possibility might be triggered. However, the exchange, bridging, and conversion might also fail and turns out to cause bias, distortion, and conflicts.