北京第二外国语学院学报 ›› 2018, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (5): 84-96.DOI: 10.12002/j.bisu.175

• 翻译研究(中国文学外译专栏 主持人:马会娟) • 上一篇    下一篇

鲁迅小说英译本在美国的接受研究——以王际真译本、杨氏夫妇译本和莱尔译本为例

张奂瑶()   

  1. 北京外国语大学英语学院,100089
  • 收稿日期:2017-10-19 出版日期:2018-10-15 发布日期:2019-01-09
  • 作者简介:张奂瑶,北京外国语大学英语学院,100089,研究方向:翻译学。
  • 基金资助:
    国家社会科学基金项目“中国现当代文学在英语国家的翻译和接受”(13BYY041);北京外国语大学校级规划基金项目“中国现当代文学在英语国家的翻译和接受”(2013XG002)

Survey of Reception of English Translations of Lu Xun’s Stories in the USA

Huanyao ZHANG()   

  1. Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing 100089, China
  • Received:2017-10-19 Online:2018-10-15 Published:2019-01-09

摘要: 本文首先梳理关于鲁迅小说的英译活动,选取不同时期具有代表性的三个英译本,再从译本再版或重印、读者评价、选集收录和文献引用等方面分析它们在美国的接受状况,并结合政治历史背景探讨影响接受状况的因素。研究表明,王际真译本出版后曾获得美国媒体广泛关注,但囿于政治局势骤变和中美文学传统差异,译本传播范围有限;尽管受冷战环境和意识形态冲突影响,杨氏夫妇译本仍是20世纪50年代到80年代美国学术界和教育领域流通的主要译本;莱尔译本获得的读者反馈良好,却未能成功打开美国大众读者市场,主要与出版社、销售渠道等因素有关。此外,20世纪末鲁迅小说作为了解中国的社会历史文本的重要性下降,也影响了该译本在美国的接受状况。

关键词: 鲁迅小说; 英译本; 中美文学交流; 政治历史背景; 译本接受; 海外传播

Abstract:

This paper selects three representative ones after reviewing available English translations of Lu Xun’s stories. These three versions were translated by Wang Chichen, Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang, as well as William Lyell respectively. Through an investigation into their reprints/reeditions, readers’ feedback and presence in the English publications, the paper describes their reception in the US and discusses influencing factors behind their reception against the historical background. It finds that Wang Chichen’s translations won wide publicity in the US. But their readership was rather limited due to the sudden change of the political environment, as well as the different reading habit of US readers when compared with that of their Chinese counterparts. Despite the Cold War, the Yangs’ translations were the most accessible translations of Lu Xun’s stories in American universities and academia between the 1950s and the 1980s. Lyell’s translations received many compliments from US scholars, but they were published by an academic press and did not enter the mainstream distribution channel. Furthermore, English translations of Lu Xun’s fiction were no longer seen as important tools to know the history of Chinese society at the end of the 20th century. These are part of the reasons why Lyell’s translations were not widely read by ordinary US readers.

Keywords: Lu Xun’s stories;; English translations; China-US literary exchanges; political and historical contexts; translation reception; oversea dissemination

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