Roald Dahl’s Voices in Chinese: A Study of Two of His Translators and Their Translations

Abstract

<p>本論文從社會學角度，集中研究羅德達爾童書中譯本兩位出版甚豐的譯者：台灣的劉清彥和中國的任溶溶。文章探究兩位譯者的場域和習性，以及應用什麼翻譯策略處理達爾小說中的創新用語。結果發現，兩位譯者都以語意翻譯法處理達爾異常的語言形式；而無法於譯文重造同樣效果時，他們都偏向譯意，以符合兒童文學翻譯的規範，著重可讀性，也即是兒童文學的場域規範。縱使兩位譯者都具有豐厚的文化和象徵資本，可是其譯本都幾乎沒有譯者序，忽略譯者的角色，皆因兒童文學處於多元文學系統的邊緣，這也印證場域力量大於譯者的習性和能動力。此外，兩位譯者的習性都含有「召命」情操，很少將文化和象徵資本轉化為經濟資本。結論強調，要更深入分析譯文表現，應同時考慮譯者的習性與能動力。</p> <p> </p><p>From a sociological perspective, this study centres on two prolific Chinese language translators of Roald Dahl’s children’s books. It investigates the field and habitus of Liu Ching-Yen from Taiwan, and Ren Rongrong from China, and analyzes their translation strategies in handling the creative language in a few of Dahl’s novels. It is found that both followed the convention of semantic faithfulness in their treatment of Dahl’s linguistic anomalies. Where it is difficult to re-create the anomaly in the target language, they tend to opt for the sense over the form in line with their own translation norms for readability in children’s literature, which is also a conventional norm in the field. Despite their enormous symbolic and cultural capital, few of their translated works contain a translator’s preface for their visibility. This is one of the prominent features in translated children’s literature, which is peripheral in the literary polysystem. It also evidences the superior power of field over translators’ habitus and agency. In addition, because of their “vocational” ethos, they seldom convert their symbolic capital into economic one. This study highlights the importance of the habitus and agency of the translators in the analysis of translated works for more depth.</p> <p> </p>