英文摘要 |
Prevalent in the circle of translation in our country is the misconception that foreign translators tend to make mistakes in translation of Chinese classics. This, it seems to me, is the origin of what I have called “fanyi” ( )-- i.e.,“barbarization”-- of which many a foreign translator is wrongly accused. Irony comes when we realize the fact that even a native translator, with his/her not-so-perfect command of a foreign language, can never succeed in producing a “perfectly correct” translation into a foreign tongue much as a foreign translator who, with his/her limited linguistic competence in the Chinese language, cannot be immune to mistranslation of some sort. I argue that everything that requires translation is in the first place a thing with/of meaning, which in turn renders translation a meaningful act. The “participation” (à la Gadamer)-- i.e., “taking part in” rather than “taking part”-- of all translators, whether native or foreign and despite their translation talent, provides the momentum needed for the ever-changing “sublimation” (tantamount to the constant dissemination of meaning) of the original text. |