班雅民《譯者的任務》中「逾命」與「純粹語言」概念對散文翻譯策略的啟發

Concepts of ＂Afterlife＂ and ＂Pure Language＂ in Walter Benjamin's ＂The Task of the Translator＂ and Inspirations for Prose Translation Strategies Therefrom

陳佳伶(Chen, Chia-ling)

《譒》 3期 (2021/10) Pp. 103-124

摘要

班雅民在《譯者的任務》中提出，譯文為原文的延伸和「逾命」（Überleben），注重表意模式而非與原文意義相仿，補足原作的語言，使原作達到更高、更純粹的語言（pure language）境界。譯者的任務就是找到作用於譯文中的意向性，而譯者所追求的，是透過自身語言的再創造將純粹語言從原作中解放出來，此為譯作最重要的功能。班雅民提出的純粹語言概念，使譯文取得高度的地位。文學翻譯中，特別是散文類翻譯，為翻譯研究中相對較少觸及的領域。散文翻譯著重結構的完整性，不同於詩或戲劇重視形式，在詞彙的運用上尤其講究精確達意，亦體現班雅民之譯文補足原文，使語言臻於成熟、重生的理念。本文將聚焦探討班雅民之「逾命」以及「純粹語言」概念對於散文翻譯策略上的啟發。

關鍵字

逾命 ； 來世 ； 純粹語言 ； 可譯性 ； 散文翻譯 ； 翻譯策略

並列摘要

The concepts of translation delineated by Walter Benjamin in ＂The Task of the Translator＂ focus on translation as an extension and ＂afterlife＂(Überleben) of the original text, emphasizing the mold of signification rather than similarity of meaning to the original, complementing the language of the original work and bringing it to a higher realm of pure language. The translator's task is to find the intentionality directed toward the translated text and to achieve the intended effect. The aim the translator seeks after is to liberate the pure language from the original through recreating his own language, which is the foremost function of a translator. The concept of pure language proposed by Benjamin have elevated the status of the translation. In literary translation studies, the genre of prose has gained relatively less attention. Unlike poetry and drama, which emphasize formal expressiveness, prose translation demands structural integrity. The precise use of language is especially crucial to achieving meaningfulness in the end-product, which also embodies Benjamin's concept of translation complementing the original text and bringing the language to maturity and rebirth. This paper will investigate Benjamin's concepts of ＂afterlife＂ in the relationship between the translated and original texts, as well as the pure language, and the light such concepts shed on the purpose and strategies of prose translation.

並列關鍵字

afterlife ； pure language ； intentionality ； translatability ； prose translation ； translation strategy