诗体移植:poetic form transplantation
参考:1、黄杲忻.英诗汉译学[M].上海;上海外语教育出版社.2007.
2、黄杲忻(2001).译诗进化的方向:英诗汉译百年回眸.外语与翻译,29 (2),1—12.
3、黄杲忻(2004).诗体移植是合理而可行的追求——从胡适的一条译诗“语录”谈起.外语与翻译,41(2),4-16.
英语格律诗的汉译,至今已有一百多年的历史。回顾前人的翻译实践,发现英语格律诗究竟怎么翻译,有着很大的争议,归结起来,主要有三种译法,即民族化译法、自由化译法及诗体移植译法。
The Chinese translation of English metrical poetry has a history of morg than one hundred years,but there exists much controversy over how to translate English metrical verse into Chinese.Chinese translators have hitherto devised three methods to render English metrical poetry:sinolization,liberal translation,and poetic form transplantation.
参考资料一:
黄杲圻在经过大量的译诗作品分析后,总结出英诗格律汉泽规律。英诗汉译百年来的尝试与实践证明,现代汉语诗歌中的字和“顿”,与英语诗歌中的音节和“音步”有着大致相近的“意义容量”。在比较诸如“民族化”、“自由化”、“字数相应”、“以顿代步”、“兼顾顿数与字数”等译法后,提出诗体移植的可行性,从而避免过度的简化或繁化。
下面用例子进行分析(以诗译诗):
Epitaph Intended for Sir Isaac Newton
Nature and Nature’S law lay hid in night:
God said,Let Newton be! And all was light.
by Alexander Pope
作者亚历山大·蒲柏(Alexander Pope,1688—744)是18世纪英国最伟大的诗人之一,他的诗多
用对句或“英雄双韵体”,其中许多词句写得工整、精练、富有哲理性。这是蒲柏为牛顿写的著名的墓志铭。黄杲圻认为,蒲柏的对句是十个音节五音步的抑扬格。第一行中有三个词以“n”开头的,两个词以“l”开头,形成头韵节奏。蒲柏对于天才牛顿的赞美之情,也投射在双韵体中。这种英雄双韵体是英诗中最古老诗体之一,也是蒲柏最擅长的表现手法。他将牛顿的成就与
上帝创世相提并论。
自然和自然法则,在黑夜中隐藏。
上帝说要有牛顿!于是都有了光。
(黄果圻译)
黄杲兴先生对于英诗汉语学的构想是可行的,至少在客观上能够发挥规范并促进格律诗歌翻译活动。诗体(行)移植属于一种构成的翻译法,一种追求“信达雅”境界、“以似致信”、“以诗
译诗”实践的宝贵经验的概括。诗的可贵是因为情景交融,意境难言。因此,诗体移植应避免仅考虑形式而不兼顾诗意,切不可舍本逐末,须以“诗”译“诗”。
参考资料二:
The SO-called method of poetic form transplantation refers to the practice of imitating the versification of the original English metrical poem.It has three directions:replacing English syllable witlh Chinese character,replacing English foot with Chinese dun,and replacing both English syllable and foot with Chinese character and dun(Huang Gaoxin,2004,P.8).
1、Replacing English Syllable with Chinese Character
We have in the above mentioned that there ale two different views about the rhythm unit of pai—hua poetry,one taking Chinese character as the rhythm unit,the other taking dun as the rhythm unit.Translators who take Chinese character as the rhythm unit of pai-hua poetry replace English syllables witll Chinese characters in their poetic form transplantation practice.In their eyes,Chinese character is the equivalent of English syllable in poetry translation.What they are concerned about is the neatness of the number of Chinese characters.
In their translation practice,translators following this approach use,in every line,the same or approximately the same number of Chinese characters to replace the syllables of the original.As to the rhyme,they try tO imitate that of the original although they sometimes make minor alterations.Take Dai Liuling’S translation of the first stanza of Shakespeare’S Sonnet eighteen as all example:
Shall I compare thee tO a summer’S day? a
Thou art more lovely and more temperate: b
Rough windsdo shake the darling buds of May, a
And summer’S lease hath all too short a date: b
我怎样能把你比做夏天? a
你比她更可爱也更温和: b
五月的娇蕾有暴风震颠, a
夏季的寿命很短就渡过: c
The original has four poetic lines,with each line comprising five iambic feet and ten syllables,and rhyme scheme being abab.In Dai's translation,every poetic lineconsists of ten Chinese characters,the ratio of syllables to Chinese characters per line being 1:1;and the rhyming is abac,which is slighfly different to that of the original.Reading such a translation which has neat form and identical number of Chinese characters in each line,readers can easily and safely infer that the original is a regulated verse.
2、Replacing English Foot with Chinese Dun
Translators taking dun as the rhythm unit ofpai—hua poetry advocate replacing English foot with Chinese dun;the number of dun per line should be the same as the number of foot in the original.To the number of Chinese characters per line they, however,do not pay much heed;the number of Chinese characters may not be exactly the same as the number of the original syllables.As to the rhyming,they hold the same idea as those favoring replacing syllable with Chinese character.In the following,we will take Bian Zhilin's translation of the first stanza of The Isles of Greece as an example to illustrate the characteristics of the method of replacing English foot with Chinese dun:
The isles of Greece!The isles of Greece!
VVhere burning Sappho loved and sung.
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
Where Delos rose,and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all,except their sun,is set.
希腊I 群岛啊,I希腊I 群岛! a
从前有I 火热的l 萨福I 唱情歌,b
从前长I 文治I 武功的I 花草,a
涌出过l 德罗斯,I 跳出过l 阿普罗!b
夏天来I 镀金,I 还长久I 灿烂——c
除了I 太阳,I 什么都I 落了山!C
Bian uses four dun to replace the four iambic feet,and the rhyme pattem of the Chinese version is the same as that of the original,which is ababec.Compared to translations replacing English syllable wi廿l Chinese character,this kind of translation is not SO neat in appearance,the number of Chinese characters in each line not being the same.
3、Replacing Both English Syllable and Foot with Chinese Character and Dun
This approach was first devised by Huang Gaoxin in 1980s.Although he advocates dun being the rhythm unit in Chinese,he thinks that translators should also pay attention to the number of Chinese characters,since the syllable number in the original is rather neat.Aware that translations using“replacing syllable with Chinese characters”well-arranged in appearance and translations adopting“replacing foot with dun”is neat in sound,after arduous exploration and much translation practice,he puts forward the method of“replacing both syllable and foot with Chinese character and dun,and reproducing the original rhyming.”Compared to the two previous ones,this approach's faithfidness to the original metrical form is greater.And the requirement for translators using this method is indeed comparatively more demanding.The properties of this approach can be observed from the example below:
I Strove with None
I strove with none,for none Was worth my strife; a
Nature I loved,and,next tO Nature,art; b
1 warmed both hands before the fire of life; a
It sinks,and I am ready to depart. b
This iambic pentameter quatrain is written by Walter Savage Landor:
我与世l 无争,I 因为我I 不屑I 与谁争; a
大自然I我热爱,I 自然I 之后I 数艺术。b
生活的 I火上,l 我把手I 烘得I 热腾腾; a
火现在l 快熄灭,l我已l 准备好I 离去。b
(Translated by Huang Gaoxin)
Huang's rendition has five dun per line,which exactly reflects the foot number of the original poem;and the rhyming is also reproduced.He,however,has made some alteration to the number of Chinese characters in the dun.In the rendition,every line has twelve Chinese characters,the ratio of syllable number tO Chinese character number being expanded to 1:1.2.Such minor unvarying expansion of the number of Chinese characters for each line,in Huang's words,can provide translators with a little freedom,and thus is tolerable(Huang Gaoxin,2007,P.86).In the translation of“A Book of Verses underneath the Bough”which has been mentioned above,we cail perceive the exact transplantation of the original metrical form;both the dun number,Chinese character number and rhyming all exactly reflect their equivalents in the original.