論瓦特‧班雅明的翻譯理論與實踐

Walter Benjamin's Translation: Theory and Praxis

瓦特‧班雅明（Walter Benjamin）的〈譯者使命〉（''Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers''）一直是翻譯研究中經常被引述的文章。這篇文章雖僅作為翻譯波特萊爾（Charles Baudelaire）詩作的序言，對班雅明來說，這篇序言對於他一直以來從事的文學、神學、語言哲學等的思考與研究，更具有宣示作用。或有班雅明的相關評論提到，班雅明的翻譯理論與實踐有其落差，這樣的說法必須從更深層的面向討論。其一，班雅明是在什麼樣的環境與心態下選擇《惡之花》（Les Fleurs du mal）中的〈巴黎風貌〉（''Tableaux parisiens''）|其二，班雅明在〈譯者使命〉這篇序言中想表達的究竟何意|其三，班雅明的翻譯實踐與序言的論述究竟有什麼樣的關聯。早在班雅明譯本出現前，《惡之花》已有不同德文譯本出版|其中，象徵派詩人格奧爾格（Stefan George）的譯作堪稱當時公認最好的版本。因此，班雅明在1923年以譯者之姿嘗試的譯作，選擇的竟是文學家多方嘗試翻譯的文本，他要表達的究竟為何？本文擬以班雅明的波特萊爾相關研究〈論波特萊爾的幾個主題〉（''Über einige Motive bei Baudelaire''）為主要輔助工具，比對格奧爾格及班雅明的德譯本，並輔以兩個以學術研究為目的的中文譯本為對照，期能了解並呈現班雅明的翻譯目的及當時讀者的接受現象，並依此重新閱讀〈譯者使命〉這篇作為文學批評準則與語言哲學論述的翻譯序言，檢視其理論與實務間的關係。

Walter Benjamin's ''Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers'' is one of the most often mentioned and quoted works in the field of translation studies. Published in 1923 as a preface, this article was clearly meant to accompany his Baudelaire translation. Yet as he mentioned in his letters, it was also intended to be a sort of commentary on his language, philosophical and theological studies. In order to shed new light on previous discussions of Benjamin's translation theory and praxis, especially given his theological interests, I propose to address the following three questions: (1) Why did Benjamin choose to translate the ''Tableaux parisiens'' section of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal as a way to make clear his own skills as a translator, even though there were already some other German translations? (2) What are Benjamin's main theological insights with regard to language-philosophy as we find them in ''Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers''? And (3), to what degree did Benjamin apply his translation ideas to his Baudelaire translation, even given that there exist some inevitable discrepancies between his own theory and praxis? In order to answer these questions, this study has conducted a comparative analysis of Benjamin's Baudelaire translation and Stefan George's earlier, and already well-accepted, German translation of Baudelaire. To better support my findings, I have included a close reading of Benjamin's later writing on Baudelaire-''Über einige Motive bei Baudelaire''-and two other academic Baudelaire translations into Mandarin, in order to present a wider spectrum of Benjamin's reading of Baudelaire and to revisit Benjamin's translation theory and practice.