Abstract:

Since 1908, the century-long journey of introducing translations of Burns’ (1759—1796) poetry into China has been marked by numerous outstanding translators who collectively contributed to the evolution of Burns’ poetry translations. The translation of Burns’ poetry was exceptionally active during the Republic of China era (1912—1949), Yuan Shuipai being one of the representative translators at the time. In 1944, Yuan Shuipai published ten poems by Burns in the influential cultural publication Zhongyuan edited by Guo Moruo, and demonstrated his progressive ideology of using poetry as a tool to inspire the people. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Yuan Shuipai exhibited unique translator behavior in his translations of Burns’ poetry. In this paper, we examine Yuan Shuipai’s translator behavior from both the extra-translation and the intra-translation dimensions based on the Critical Theory of Translator Behavior, with a focus on his dual roles as a “social being” and as a “linguistic being”. We explore how Yuan Shuipai prioritized “truth-seeking” over “utility-attaining” in his pursuit of rationalized translations, thereby enriching the study of translations of Burns’ poetry and translator behavior.

Keywords: Burns’ poetry; Yuan Shuipai’s Chinese translation; translator behavior; intra-translation; extra-translation

摘要：

自1908年以来，彭斯诗歌在中国的译介已走过百年的历程，涌现出众多优秀译者，他们共同推动了彭斯诗歌翻译的演变与发展。民国时期，彭斯诗歌的翻译活动极为活跃，袁水拍便是这一时期的代表性译者之一。1944年，袁水拍在郭沫若主编的《中原》杂志上一次性地发表了10首他翻译的彭斯诗歌，展示了他以诗为器、激励民志的进步思想。与一般译者不同，袁水拍在翻译彭斯诗歌时表现出了独特的译者行为。本文从译者行为批评理论的翻译外和翻译内两个层次出发，考察了袁水拍在“社会人”和“语言人”双重角色影响下，为实现译文合理化而表现出的“求真”为本、兼顾“务实”和“求真”高于“务实”的独特译者行为，本文丰富了彭斯诗歌翻译与译者行为的研究。

关键词: 彭斯诗歌, 袁水拍汉译, 译者行为, 翻译内, 翻译外