從異化/歸化理論淺談科幻小說翻譯

摘 要：本論文探討了科幻小說的定義及其主要特點(diǎn)，從異化、歸化的角度分析了科幻小說的翻譯。通過對(duì)異化/歸化和直譯/意譯之間關(guān)系的分析，指出在翻譯中，異化/歸化策略側(cè)重于文化層面，而直譯/意譯側(cè)重于語言文字層面。由此，本論文提出了異化策略在科幻小說翻譯中的應(yīng)用，指出科幻小說翻譯采用異化策略有助于體現(xiàn)科幻小說的主要特點(diǎn)，即包括眾多“異文化”的科學(xué)幻想世界，比如時(shí)間旅行，外星世界和外星生物等。

關(guān)鍵詞：科幻小說；異化；歸化；直譯；意譯

作者簡(jiǎn)介：李玥，女（1983 —），四川成都人，碩士研究生，四川外語學(xué)院成都學(xué)院教師。

[中圖分類號(hào)]：H059 [文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識(shí)碼]：A

[文章編號(hào)]：1002—2139（2012）—18—0—02

1. Introduction

Science fiction is a special literary form， which suits both refined and popular tastes， welcomed by both the old and the young. With the development of science fiction， it is necessary to discuss the translation of this literary form. This paper will analyze the translation from the theory of Foreignization and Domestication.

2. The Theory of Foreignization and Domestication

In 1995， Lawrence Venuti put forward the terms of domesticating translation and foreignizing translation， which originates from the thesis “On the Different Methods of Translating” by Schleiermacher in 1813.

Venuti defined Domestication as a translation that conforms to the main values of target language （TL） culture， assimilates the source text and makes it cater to the canon， publishing trends and political requirement of TL country. And he defined Foreignization as a translation that deviates the main values of TL culture and reserves the language and cultural difference of source text. [1]

The definition shows that the strategy of domestication aims at assimilating the strangeness of the source text， whereas the strategy of foreignization aims for reserving the foreignness of the original and bringing the difference in culture and language to the TL readers.

And the terms of Foreignization/Domestication and Literal Translation/Free Translation are similar to some extent. They have a thousand and one links. Literal translation/free translation is the source of the foreignization/domestication. And the two pairs of terms have common in connotation. That is， both of them involve two aspects———language and culture. However， foreignization/domestication and literal translation/free translation should not be regarded as equal to each other. We should deal with it from different angles. Literal translation and free translation handle this problem linguistically， whereas foreignization and domestication more concern it from the aspect of culture.

3. The Characteristics of Science Fiction

As a special literary form， science fiction has possessed three distinctive characteristics in the course of development.

1） With the character of literature. Science fiction belongs to the region of literature. Therefore， it possesses all the essential factors of fiction， such as characters， plot/story， setting， emotion， dialogue， narration， description， and so on.

2） With the character of science. The difference between science fiction and other types of novel is that science fiction has the character of science.

3） With the Character of Fantasy. Fantasy is the soul of science fiction. Science fiction creates an imaginary world full of fantasies， which is the most distinct and attracting feature of science fiction. It is reflected by the unusual time and settings and odd alien creatures.

4. The Translation of Science Fiction

Generally speaking， the selection of translation methods in the translation of science fiction depends on its characteristics. According to the characteristics of science fiction discussed above， the following three criteria should be followed to evaluate the translated science fiction： 1） Being literary； 2） Being scientific； 3） Being popular.

According to the characteristics of science fiction， in the translation of science fiction， the strategy of foreinization should be adopted. The science fiction writers always present a fantastic world full of strangeness and foreignness. On this condition， the strategy of domestication would destroy this atmosphere. Furthermore， it is hard for the translator to find the equivalence of these novel conception and terms in TL. Thus， foreignization is more helpful in reserving the original as much as possible.

As for the translation of the specific literary form———science fiction， the translator should use literal translation as much as possible. But if the form of the SL is so different from the FL conventions that literal translation cannot produce fluent translation， free translation should be adopted. So， this methodology of translation is： Foreignization + Literal Translation or Free Translation. Look at the examples：

E.g.1 America itself was a little the worse for wear， this three thousandth anniversary. The sea that lapped its shores were heavy with a crimson crust of an anaerobic life； the mighty cities had fallen and their remains， nearly ground away by the never—ceasing sandstorms.

三百周年之際，美國(guó)本身有一些今不如昔了。拍打著美國(guó)海岸的海洋，充斥著艷陽(yáng)微生物的緋紅色浮渣；大城市已經(jīng)倒塌，城市的廢墟已經(jīng)差不多北永不停息的沙塵暴所磨滅。[2]（鄭秀玉 譯）

The method used in this example is Foreignization + Literal Translation. The language form of FL and TL is generally alike. And the metaphor and image of FL are reserved. For instance， the images of “anaerobic life” （厭氧微生物）， “crimson crust” （緋紅色浮渣）， “the remains” （城市的廢墟）， and “sandstorms” （沙塵暴） form a strange future world.

e.g. 2 The solar system will then have “gone to seed” as an indefinite number of world—ships drift outward in every direction.

到那時(shí)，太陽(yáng)系空間的四面八方，都漂浮著無數(shù)的居住了太空公民的飛船，就像花謝了后結(jié)出的種籽一樣。

This method is Foreignization + Free Translation. In example 2， the sentence sequence is changed completely. The adverbial in source text becomes the predicate in the translation and the verbal phrase “have gone to seed” is rendered into a metaphor “就像花謝了后結(jié)出的種籽一樣”， which can express its meaning clearly.

e.g. 3 He knew there was metal and silicone under that realistic skin. He knew a positronic brain， most advanced but only positronic， nestled in the hollow of the skull. He knew that Daneel’s “thought” were only short—lived positronic currents flowing along paths rigidly designed and foreordained by the manufacturer.

他知道，盡管達(dá)尼爾的皮膚看上去像真人一樣，但是，皮膚下面包著的卻是金屬和硅；他更清楚，在達(dá)尼爾的腦殼里，裝著正電子腦———不管這電子腦如何先進(jìn)，充其量不過是正電子而已。而且，達(dá)尼爾的“思想”僅僅是瞬時(shí)的正電子流，流動(dòng)在制作者預(yù)先設(shè)計(jì)和規(guī)定的線路上。[3]（郭建中 譯）

The method used above is Foreignization + Literal Translation + Free Translation. In example 3， the first two sentences use free translation. The sentence pattern is changed. The phrase “realistic skin” is rendered into a clause “盡管達(dá)尼爾的皮膚看上去像真人一樣”. And the part “most advanced but only positronic” is extended to a complete sentence “不管這電子腦如何先進(jìn)，充其量不過是正電子而已”. The last sentence is literal translation.

To sum up， literal translation and free translation deal with the linguistic problems such language form and the selection of words， whereas foreignization and domestication more concern the translation from the aspect of culture. Therefore， for the translation of science fiction， the strategy of foreignization should be adopted because of the most distinctive characteristic of science fiction———the character of fantasy. Science fiction mainly presents the readers an alien world. Only the strategy of foreignization can reserve the original alien atmosphere， which is the core of science fiction. And in the practical translation of science fiction， the strategy of foreignization can be used combinedly with the method of literal/free translation to make the rendition more fluent， and meanwhile， the alien culture can be reserved.

References：

[1]、 Lawrence Venuti. Strategies of Translation [M]. London and New York：Routledge，2001.

[2]、 [3] 郭建中. 科普與科幻翻譯：理論、技巧與實(shí)踐[M]. 北京：中國(guó)對(duì)外翻譯出版公司，2004.