“隱私”是個公德概念

∷林巍 文／譯

原 文

[1] “隱私”, 作為一個相對現代的概念, 在我們社會, 應當說是改革開放若干年之后的事; 在此之前，則是另外一回事。

[2] 改革開放前，我們的社會受“極左”思想影響深重，那時任何沾“私”的事情都與“公”相對立，都是落后、不光彩、甚至是反動的；而“隱私”更是“見不得人”和“骯臟”的代名詞。

[3] 然而，隨著我國商品經濟的進程及日益參與國際事務，人們逐漸發現，“隱私”其實是每個人所不可或缺的。道理很簡單，一個人——無論其職業、地位、身份、年齡等——在24小時的生活中，不可能時時刻刻都以同一種面目出現。若有人這樣，要么他是個十足的偽君子，要么他就是不懂得如何擔當自己不同的角色與責任。

[4] 通俗來說，“隱私”是指那些與他人無關、或是不愿意讓他人知道的私人信息。這些信息可能涉及到宗教、信仰、愛好、性取向、私人活動等，而一旦透露，則會給本人帶來歧視與難堪。一個隱私沒有安全感的社會，不會是安寧的社會。

[5] 二十年前，我移民國外，當時感受最深的一點，是對于他人私人空間的尊重。譬如，排隊時在人與人之間留夠了距離，不像在中國時“貼”得那么緊。又如，對于他人的私人信息絕不打聽，而中國人則視之為對于他人關心的細致入微。

[6] 一般公認的最基本的隱私信息，例如：政治信息、財務信息、醫療信息、家庭信息等等，都應具有相應的保護措施，甚至是法律。

[7] 只有具有相當道德的人，才會認同和尊重他人的隱私；而每人如此設身處地，自己的隱私才會得到尊重。這樣的人達到一定的數量，才能形成氣候與文化，那便是公德。讓每個人的隱私都得到認可和尊重，是構成社會安定、和諧的重要因素。可見，“隱私”絕不是一個簡單的私人概念，而是一個社會文明程度的標志。

譯 文

[1] The concept of “privacy” in our society is something relatively modern—a term publicly talked about only since the recent Reform and Opening Up.

[2] Before this historical change, China was under the influence of ultra-left thought, where everything related to“self” was deemed as backward, shameful, even reactionary,since they might be in contradiction to public interest.

Needless to say, “privacy” which was almost a synonym for shamefulness or dark soul.

[3] With the development of the commodity economy and China’s increasing engagement internationally,however, Chinese gradually realized that privacy is actually in everyone’s interest. Put simply, regardless of a person’s profession, position, status, identity or age, it is impossible for him or her to appear the same 24 hours a day unless a hypocrite or hiding failure to perform.

[4] Privacy is normally regarded as personal information that is unrelated to others, or that a person is unwilling to reveal. Information such as a person’s religion, belief, hobbies, sexual orientation or personal activities may cause discrimination or embarrassment if they are unfavorably disclosed. People may lack of a sense of safety in a society where privacy cannot be properly protected.

[5] One thing that impressed me most in a country where I emigrated twenty years ago was the personal space people left for others. For example, when people are queuing up they keep a quite distance from one another, unlike the Chinese always jostling each other.Concern for others’ personal information is traditionally a way the Chinese care for others, but in a western country can be regarded as intrusive.

[6] Essential personal information may include a personal’s political affiliation, financial status, medical conditions, family affairs and so on. These ought to be appropriately protected, even by law.

[7] A moral person should recognize and respect others’privacy, and deserves the same treatment. Social ethics and a healthy culture are thus formed when moral people are evident. Respecting individuals’ privacy is an integral part of a stable and harmonious society. In a way, privacy shouldn’t be simply viewed as a personal concept at all;rather, it indicates how civilized a society is.

譯 注

“隱私”作為一種概念，在標題中用了a sense of... 而在[1]中則還原為concept,而其本身未譯成通俗意義上的shameful secret, 而是作為整體概念的privacy。這里的 “改革開放”也是特有所指——中國1979年之后的改革，故應以大寫示之。對于“在此之前，則是另外一回事”一句，考慮到上下文，其含義已出，故未單獨翻譯。

在[2]中，“改革開放前”，未重復前面的Reform and Opening Up，而以this historical change代之。“那時任何沾‘私’的事情都與‘公’相對立，都是落后的、不光彩的，甚至是反動的”，其中的“私”和“公”分別以self和 public interest 譯出，同時將句中的成分次序顛倒，以利于英文句式的表達：...where everything related to “self” was deemed as backward,shameful, even reactionary, since they might be in contradiction to public interest. 此外，“骯臟”并未譯作通常意義上的dirtiness等，而為dark soul，即靈魂深處不可見人之物。英文里，類似如：Another ordinary school.Another teenager with a dark soul and a gun. Another harvest of young corpses（又是發生在一所普通的學校，同樣一名少年懷著罪惡的念頭拿著槍支，到處可見幼小的尸體）; But it is this part of the current crisis that the dark soul admires most （但是目前該危機的這一部分, 最受那些陰險人士的推崇）等。

在[3]中，“‘隱私’其實是每個人所不可或缺的”，以反向譯為：...that privacy is actually in everyone’s interest.對于“在24小時的生活中，不可能時時刻刻都以同一種面目出現。若有人這樣做，要么他是個十足的偽君子，要么他就是不懂得如何擔當自己不同的角色與責任”，則在語意和結構上作出較大調整：...it is impossible for him or her to appear the same 24 hours a day unless a hypocrite or hiding failure to perform, 主要是求得意義上的吻合。

在[4]中，“一旦透露”指的是不情愿地被人知道，故用了are unfavorably disclosed，其中的unfavorably或unfavorable是一種比較委婉的說法，如：He is a unfavorable person（他是個不太受歡迎的人)； Actually, the existence of rivals is not always unfavorable（原來，對手的存在,并非都是一種壞事）； I think it’s way too early to go out on a limb on any stock in the sector. The odds are still unfavorable on a bill, and the shape of any legislation is anyone’s guess（我認為就該版塊的股票而言，現在押注還為時過早，無人確定是否宜于提案；加上現在股市疲軟的表現，我會選擇觀望）；“我從來不對孩子說，他比別的孩子差”（I never compare my child unfavorably to other children）；“中國的人均農業土地面積比不上世界上其他許多國家”（China compares unfavorably with many other countries in terms of per capita agricultural land）。“一個隱私沒有安全感的社會，不會是安寧的社會”，將其中的“安全感”變通為人的感覺，即people may lack of a sense of safety in a society，而意為“若隱私得不到保護”：...where privacy cannot be properly protected.

在[5]中，“不像在中國時‘貼’得那么緊”，這里的“貼”未用stick to, nestle, keep close to等，而是用了jostle，該詞不但有 to exist in close proximity之意，而且表示to make one’s way by pushing and shoving or crowding，故更能準確地傳達此意。“對于他人的私人信息絕不打聽，而中國人則視之為對于他人關心的細致入微”，其中的“絕不打聽”，略強調為intrusive，而“視之為對于他人關心的細致入微”可淡化為care for others，都是一種必要的變通。

在[6]中，對于“政治信息、財務信息、醫療信息、家庭信息”亦作了相應的變通：political affiliation, financial status,medical conditions, family affairs，以求更為確切；而“都應具有相應的保護措施，甚至是法律”，在英文中則不妨另起一句，同時突出“受法律保護之意”：These ought to be appropriately protected, even by law. 類似的變通，在中英翻譯中是常見的，如: Competent scientist constantly have tried to defeat their hypotheses,theories and conclusions. 為加強語勢，不妨將其中的 defeat 分別譯出：“務實的科學家們總是設法否定自己的假設，推翻自己的理論以及放棄自己的結論”。

在[7]中，“只有具有相當道德的人”，未按字面意思譯成a person with certain degree of morality, 而是常用的a moral person；“自己的隱私才會得到尊重”則簡化為deserves the same treatment.“這樣的人達到一定的數量，才能形成氣候與文化，那便是公德”，對于此句做了較大的變通，其中“氣候、文化、公德”等概譯為social ethics and a healthy culture，而“達到一定的數量”，不必譯成reach certain numbers of people, 而僅處理成are evident。“構成……的重要因素”，似可譯成 an important component of ... 但此處不如 an integral part of ... 更貼切。“‘隱私’絕不是一個簡單的私人概念，而是一個社會文明程度的標志”，若譯成 Privacy is not simply a personal concept but an indication of social civilization，便頗顯呆板，而其實際含義為在怎樣的程度上反映了該社會的文明。