翻譯的生命：容閎、留學與跨國主體性

本文以容閎的跨國生命與中英自傳為起點，討論留學、翻譯與跨國主體性生成的交互關係。作為中國留學運動的先驅，容閎「翻譯的生命」點出了留學運動、西化教育與文化翻譯的密切關聯，同時也指出留學作為殖民現代性計畫的一環，如何形成了「脫亞入美」的情感結構，制約且創造了留學生的跨國主體性。中國自傳研究與亞美研究兩個領域對容閎自傳的忽視，更進一步讓我們看見了跨國主體與國族想像之間的曖昧糾結，以及跨國視角對於學科邊界的挑戰。透過容閎「翻譯的生命」，我們看見「亞美」內在於翻譯權力關係與跨國政治中的複雜處境。

關鍵字

容閎；留學；跨國主體性；翻譯；亞／美

並列摘要

Looking at Yung Wing's autobiography in both English and Chinese, this paper discusses the intricate relations between the study-abroad movement, translation, and transnational subjectivity. As an Asian/American pioneer, Yung Wing and his ＂translated life＂ demonstrate how, through the study-abroad movement, ＂leaving Asia for America＂ as a project of colonial modernity and a structure of feeling has come to shape the transnational subjectivity of Chinese overseas students. Moreover, the neglect of Yung's autobiography in both Asian American studies and the study of Chinese autobiography indicates the nation-state's ambivalence about transnational pursuits and the rigidity of the national paradigm in thinking about trans-border subjects. Yung's life in translation not only shows that life/text travels between languages and nations, but also the importance of an Asian orientation in the reshaping of Asian American studies. An Asian orientation, central to the transpacific engagements of overseas student, allows us to move away from discussions of citizenship and assimilation to those of diasporic crossings and mutations. It also enables a reconceptualization of Asian American, not merely as an ethnic group created by multiculturalist policies and civil rights movement, but also as a distinct location within the powers of translation and transnational geopolitics.