翻譯中的形象：《城南舊事》英譯本中之老北京形象

Images in Translation: Old Peking in the English Translation of Memories of Peking: South Side Stories

本研究旨在利用形象學研究方法，探討臺灣作家林海音在《城南舊事》中 所呈現的老北京形象，以及《城南舊事》之英文譯本所呈現之老北京形象是否 與中文文本中的形象一致。為探索上述形象，本研究首先聚焦英文譯本，找出 譯文中創造異國情調的詞彙，之後再追溯至中文文本，並檢查中文文本所呈現 之形象。本研究藉助外部證據來確認中、英文本老北京形象之功能與來源是否 一致。此外，林海音於書中也提到，希望能夠重現1920 年代老北京城南的景 色和人物，因此本研究也將探討英文譯本是否能達成此一目標。本研究所分析 之形象，包含因人名、口音、行為與地名而呈現出之老北京形象。從形象學、 翻譯學與敘事學角度分析，研究發現文學翻譯除關注文本用字遣詞外，文字 以外所傳達之訊息同樣重要。在某些情況下，尤其涉及文化與方言之書寫時， 英譯文本之含義，較原文變得狹窄。儘管如此，譯者靈活使用各種翻譯技巧， 使得譯文保留必要訊息及精準度，提供讀者愉快且豐富的閱讀體驗。

This study uses methods from the field of imagology to explore the images of old Peking， as presented in the book Chengnanjiushi (Memories of Peking: South Side Stories) written by Taiwanese author Hai-yin Lin. The study will also try to determine whether the images presented in the English translation are consistent with those in the Chinese original. To identify these images， the study starts from the English translation， looking for words and phrases that will create an exotic feeling or atmosphere for English readers. These words and phrases are then traced back to the Chinese text， where the corresponding or associated images are examined. The functions and sources of these two sets of images are then compared with the aid of external evidence， in order to determine whether the images presented in the English translation are consistent with those in the Chinese original， so that the translation is able to achieve the goals of the author—to accurately portray the peoples and places of and in Peking during the 1920s. The images explored in this study include those conveyed or expressed by the names of characters and the accents， manners， and places that distinctly belong to old Peking. The study， then， uses the images presented in both the Chinese and the English texts to examine the translation of the source text. By analyzing the translation from imagological， translation-studies， and narrative perspectives， I argue that because literary translation is equally concerned with linguistic details and with what is “beyond the text，” in some instances， particularly where the depiction of cultures and dialects is concerned， there is a narrowing of meaning in the translation as compared to the original. Despite this familiar problem， the translators were able to use different translation strategies in order to achieve a necessary degree of precision in the English version， one that would give its readers a pleasurable and informative reading experience.