在接受理论视角下的英译汉比较研究-以《老人与海》为例_英语论文

A Comparative Study on E-C Translation of The Old Man and the Sea from Reception Theory Perspective

摘要

《老人与海》是美国作家海明威的一部巨作，为他带来了无数的声誉，包括诺贝尔文学奖和普利策奖，奠定了海明威在世界文学中的突出地位，也是他本人认为最重要的作品之一。《老人与海》初次发表于1952年，同时这部短篇小说也被翻译成多种语言，在1954年，著名作家张爱玲将它翻译成中文，这也是《老人与海》的第一个中译本，但由于文化大革命的原因，直到1984年，大陆翻译家吴劳才重新翻译了《老人与海》，这也是大陆流传最广的译本，然而出于政治和文化隔阂等多种原因，中国读者对美国文化所知不多，这对翻译出的文本能否被读者接受也造成了考验。

本文首先从《老人与海》入手，分析海明威的创作背景和写作风格，同时也分析了海明威对张爱玲的影响以及作为一个作家身份对翻译可能造成的影响。最后在接受理论的视角下，以吴劳和张爱玲的两个《老人与海》的译本作为对象，从字词的翻译上入手，对比两个译本在读者的接受和理解程度以及对作者原文意图上的传达的不同。

本文认为在接受美学视角下，这部作品的英译中应该能传达作者本身的意图并准确还原出作者的写作风格。在翻译者预先理解作品之后能站在更为客观的视角而不是加入自己主观的理解和情感，在跨文化的事物上应该加以注释，使读者能更容易理解。

关键词：接受美学 海明威 老人与海 吴劳 张爱玲  

Abstract

The Old Man and the Sea is a masterpiece of Ernest Hemingway which brought him numerous reputation including the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Pulitzer Prize. It left an indelible mark and laid Hemingway prominent position in the world literature and was also considered the most important works of him.

The Old Man and the Sea was published in 1952, made big sensation over the world. This short story was then translated to many countries. In 1954, Eileen Chang, the outstanding female writer of China translated it into Chinese, it was also the first time The Old Man and the Sea was translated in Chinese. But because of Cultural Revolution, it didn’t bring big influence to mainland of China. Until 1987, Chinese translator WuLao re-translated The Old Man and the Sea. This edition was read most. In 1960s, because of political reason, or some other reasons, Chinese reader knew little about American culture. It caused Challenge to translators.

First, this thesis analyze Hemingway’s life story and his writing style of The Old Man and the Sea. Then it also analyze the life story of Eileen Chang and how her writer identity influences her translation. Finally, this thesis compares Wu Lao and Eileen Chang’s translation of The Old Man and the Sea in words and sentences’ degree from the reception theory perspective to find out how readers accept it and different from the writer’s original meaning.

This thesis believes that the English translation of this work should be able to convey the author’s own intentions and accurately reappear the author’s writing style from the reception theory perspective. After translators pre-understand the works, they should stand on a more objective perspective rather than add their emotions and subject understanding. Finally in cross-cultural things should be annotated so that readers can understand them better.

Key Words: The Old Man and the Sea, Reception Theory, Hemingway, Wu Lao, Eileen Chang

Contents

1. Introduction 6

2. Literature Review 6

2.1. Development of Reception Theory 6

2.2. Characteristics of Reception Theory 7

3. Case Study 7

3.1. Ernest Hemingway and The Old Man and the Sea 7

3.2. Two Chinese Translators 10

3.2.1. Introduction to Eileen Chang 10

3.2.2. Introduction to Wu Lao 12

3.2.3. The Features for Chinese Reader’s Reception 12

3.3. Comparative Study 13

4. Conclusion 19

Bibliography 21

Acknowledgements 22