馬戛爾尼使華的翻譯問題

Translation in the Macartney Embassy to China

王宏志(Lawrence Wang-Chi Wong)

《近代史研究所集刊》 63期 (2009/03) Pp. 97-145

https://doi.org/10.6353/BIMHAS.200903.0097

摘要

儘管不少中西學者對馬戛爾尼訪華作過研究，但長久以來仍然忽略了一個重要元素：翻譯在這次中英第一次交往中所扮演的角色。本文透過對原始資料的疏理，以及中英兩國文件的文本對比，除整理和分析當時中英雙方的譯者背景及翻譯活動外，更論證譯者對重要文件的改動構成了嚴重的溝通問題，甚至是馬戛爾尼被乾隆視為貢使的重要因素，也是馬戛爾尼無法完成任務的主要原因。然而，本文亦指出，這責任不在譯者，他們的翻譯是在中英不同的政治及外交文化的制約下運作的。種種的改動，儘管產生嚴重的後果，但也是無可避免的了。

關鍵字

馬戛爾尼使團 ； 翻譯研究 ； 朝貢制度

並列摘要

In 1792, George Lord Macartney was sent by King George of Great Britain to visit Emperor Qianlong to open the tightly closed door of China. Unfortunately, this first encounter of the two greatest powers on earth was a complete failure, and Macartney, after meeting the emperor briefly a couple of times, left empty-handed. Western and Chinese historians have tried to identify the reasons for this failure from a variety of perspectives. This article looks into a key issue that has long been neglected: the translation activities that took place during the mission. It demonstrates that translation played a vital role throughout the mission. This article begins by looking at the primary materials that tell us much about the qualifications of the translators of both sides; it then moves on to analyze the translations themselves. This article shows that the performance of the translators and their translations seriously affected the outcome of the embassy, in particular in relation to the tributary issue.

並列關鍵字

Macartney mission ； translation studies ； tributary system

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