Translation Studies from the View of Hermeneutics 从阐释学角度看翻译研究.docx

Translation Studies from the View of Hermeneutics 从阐释学角度看翻译研究.docx

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TranslationStudiesfromtheViewofHermeneutics从阐释学角度看翻译研究

TranslationStudiesfromtheViewofHermeneutics

—ofFriedrichSchleiermacherandHans-GeorgGadamer

Hermeneuticshasbuiltacloserelationshipwithtranslationsinceitsbirth.Interpretingthesourcetextisoneofthetranslator’sprimarytasks,anditisimportantforthetranslatortounderstandtheproblemsofunderstandingandinterpreting.AndHermeneuticsisconcernedmainlywithunderstandingandinterpretation.Sinceanytypeoftranslationisboundupwithcomprehensionandexplicationofthesourcetext,thecloserelationshipofhermeneuticsandtranslationcanbedefinedasinnate.Thereisnotranslationwithoutunderstandingandinterpretingtexts,whichistheinitialstepinanykindsoftranslationincludingliterarytranslationofcourse.Inappropriateinterpretationinevitablyresultsininadequatetranslations,ifnotabsolutelywrongtranslations.

HermeneuticsisaninterpretivemethoddevelopedbytheGermanRomantics.Itcanbedefinedbrieflyasthescienceandmethodologyofinterpretingtexts.Actually,theword“hermeneutics”isoriginatedinthenameofthedivinemessenger“Hermes”inGreekmythology.HermessendstheGod’smessages（ofcommerce,transportation,farming,sportsandspeeches,etc.）tomen.Inviewofthehermeneuticschool,translatorsarelikeanewHermeswhosendstheauthor’smessagestoreaders.Thehermeneuticschoolemphasizesunderstandingandinterpretation.

Iwanttotalkabouttwofamousrepresentativesofhermeneutics:

FriedrichSchleiermacherandHans-GeorgGadamer.Theyfulfilledthehermeneuticbyhardstudyingandapplieditintotheirtranslationtheorieswhichmakegreatcontributiontothedevelopmentoftranslationstudies.

FriedrichSchleiermacher,aGermantheologianandphilosopherwhowasbornin1768andlivedinthetimesunderthegreatinfluenceofromanticism.Heestablishedmethodologicalhermeneutics，whichhadgreatinfluenceonthegrowthandestablishmentofthelatermodernhermeneutics.HeopposedtothetheocraticanddogmaticdecipheringoftheBible,expoundsthenatureofunderstandinginrelationtoallhumantextsandmodesofcommunicationanddevelopshermeneutictheories.Schleiermacheristhefirsttobringhermeneuticstotherealmofphilosophyandendowitwithaesthetics,ashebelievesthathermeneuticsisapartofthephilosophicalart.BeforeSchleiermacher,theoriesofhermeneuticsaremainlyconcernedwiththeinterpretingoftheBible.Schleiermacherdefineshermeneuticsastheartofunderstandingthemeaningofdiscourse.

『Tobeginwith,Schleiermachersaidthateveryproblemofinterpretationisaproblemofunderstanding.Heevendefinedhermeneuticsastheartofavoidingmisunderstanding.ForSchleiermacher,understandingasanartisthere-experiencingofthementalprocessesofthetext’sauthor.Itisthereverseofcomposition,foritstartswiththefixedandfinishedexpressionandgoesbacktothementallifefromwhichitarose.Thespeakerorauthorconstructedasentence;thehearerpenetratesintothestructuresofthesentenceandthethought.』-HuYehan,TheInfluenceofSchleiermacheronContemporaryWesternTranslationTheories.[D]June2007

Fromabove,wecangetthatweshouldstudythebackgroundandmotivesoftheauthorasmuchaspossiblebeforewedotranslation,whichcouldletusavoidmuchmisunderstanding.Let’stakePound’stranslationworksforexample:

“郎骑竹马来。

”——李白《长干行》

“Youcamebyonbamboostilts,playinghorse.”_translatedbyPound

Inthisversion,poundmistook“竹马”to“stilts”,whichmeans“eitherofapairofuprightpoleswithsupportsforthefeetenablingtheusertowalkatadistanceabovetheground”.Actually,inChineseculture,“竹马”istheimageofwhichalittlecouplewhogrowuptogether.Butforthelackofknowingthebackground,thetranslatormisunderstoodtheoriginaltext.Consequently,asatranslator,oneshouldalsorecognizetheintentionsbehindthewordssincetheyareinthesamesituationofthehistoryandsharingacommonhumannature.

AccordingtoSchleiermacher,successfulpracticeofinterpretationrequiresanunderstandingoftwosides:

grammatical/linguisticinterpretationandpsychologicalinterpretation.『Schleiermacherexplainsgrammaticalinterpretationinthefollowingway:

“Thevocabularyandthehistoryofanauthor’sagetogetherformawholefromwhichhiswritingsmustbeunderstoodasapart.”（1997:

113）.Thispsychologicaldimensioninvolvesenteringintothecreativemindoftheoriginalauthor,alsoknownas“authorialintent”.AccordingtoSchleiermacher,theanswertotheproblemofhermeneuticsistounderstandtheauthor’sindividualaimforthecompositionofthetext,andmeaningintendedbyhim/her.“Byleadingtheinterpretertotransformhimself,sotospeak,intotheauthor,thedivinatorymethodseekstogainanimmediatecomprehensionoftheauthorasanindividual”（1997:

150）』-WangLisong,Schleiermacher’sHermeneuticsandTranslator’sSubjectivity.[D]June2007

Whatwecanlearnfromaboveisthattheinterpretershouldcomplementlinguisticinterpretationwithpsychologicalexperience,bymeansofwhichthereadercanreconstructandunderstandtheauthorialcreatingmotivesandimplicitassumptions.ThefollowinginstanceisPound’stranslationversionofLiuChe’s（thegreatestkingofHandynasty）《落叶哀蝉曲》:

　罗袂兮无声,　　Therustlingofthesilkisdiscontinued,　玉墀兮尘生。

　Dustdriftsoverthecourtyard.　虚房冷而寂寞。

　Thereisnosoundoffoot-fallandtheleaves.　落叶依于重扁。

　Scurryintoheapsandliestill,　望彼美女兮安得,Andshetherejoiceroftheheartsisbeneaththem:

　感余心之未宁。

Awetleafthatclingstothethreshold.Theoriginalpoetexpressedhisfeelingdirectlyinhispoembythewordssuchas“虚”，“冷”，“寂寞”，“心未宁”，whilethetranslatorexpressedthefeelingimpliedlywhichtransferthespiritofimagistpoetrygreatly.Thisisakindofreconstructionwhichdeliverytheauthor’ssorrow.AsanEnglishpoet,PoundintegratedhimselfintraditionalChinesepoemsandexpressedthesouloftheoriginaltext.Accordingtothistranslationtheory,atfirst,onemustexaminethewordsinrelationtothesentences,andthesentencesinthecontextsoftheparagraphs（includinggrammaticalrules,figuresofspeechandlinguisticcharacteristics）andsoon,untilunderstandingofthetextcanbeaccuratelyreached.Thelinguisticinterpretationmethodinvolvestheunderstandingoftexts,whichrequiresthecomprehensionofthewordsandcommonlanguage.Languageisboundbythelifeofthepeopleandthesharedinterestsofthecommunity;thereforecreatinganewgenrewhichreflectsthehistoryoftheauthor.AccordingtoSchleiermacher,theinterpretermustbecomeacquaintedwiththeauthor’slifeandtimes.Familiarityofthebiographicalandhistoricalcontextsoftheauthoristheprerequisiteforthepsychologicalinterpretationmethod.Ofcoursebothsidesofinterpretationarenecessaryandinfactconstantlyinteract.

『Healsoproposedtheimportanttheory“Hermeneuticscircle”whichmeansthat“wecannotunderstandthemeaningofthewholetextapartfromunderstandingthemeaningoftheindividualsentences,andevenwords,inthetext.Ontheotherhand,wecannotproperlyunderstandtheindividualpartsapartfromsomegraspofthewhole.”（Stiver,1996:

89）』-WangLisong,Schleiermacher’sHermeneuticsandTranslator’sSubjectivity.[D]June2007

Asweallknowthatweunderstandsomethingbycomparingittosomethingwealreadyknow.Whatweunderstandformsintosystematicunities,orcirclesmadeupofparts.Thecircleasawholedefinestheindividualpart,andthepartstogetherformthecircle.Withitsspatialimage,thehermeneuticalcirclesuggestsanareaofsharedunderstanding.Sincecommunicationisadialogicalrelation,thereisassumedattheoutsetacommunityofmeaningsharedbythespeakerandthehearer.Onemustalreadyhave,insomemeasure,knowledgeofthematterbeingdiscussed.Thismaybetermedtheminimalpre-knowledgenecessaryforunderstanding,withoutwhichonecan’tleapintothehermeneuticalcircle.Whenwebegintotranslateatext,atfirstweshouldgraspthewholebywhichwecandeepentheunderstandingoftheparts.Andinturnthedeepunderstandingofthepartsalsoisgoodforthefurtherunderstandingofthewhole.

AfterSchleiermacher,thereisanotherperson,HansGadamer,whocontributedalottomodemhermeneutics.ThebirthofGadamer'sphilosophicalHermeneuticsisoneofthemostimportanteventsinwesternHermeneutics.ForGadamer,traditionandprejudicearethestartpointsifinterpretation,whichmakeunderstandingpossible.HismainHermeneuticprinciplesarehistoricityofunderstanding,fusionofhorizons,andeffective-historyinterpretedinbookTruthandMethod,whichwaspublishedin1960inhis60s.FromGadamer’sperspectives,understandingandinterpretationarethewayofbeing,andtheproblemsofphilosophicalhermeneuticsareontologyratherthanmethodology.Gadamer’smainHermeneuticprinciplesarepre-understanding，fusionofhorizons，andeffective-history.

（1）Fore-understanding

『Gadamerpointsout,fore-understandingconstructsthefoundationofallinterpretation,thatistosay,interpretationbeginsfromthehistoricalgivenotherthansubjectofinterpretation;interpretationbelongstofore-understanding.Everyoneisahistoricalexistence,andprofoundlyinfluencedbyhispreconceptions.Whenwearereading,ourmindsarenotempty,andthereisthefore-understandingcomingfromhistorythatguidesus.Whetherwearewillingornot,historicalexistencewouldfusedeeplyintous,formthefore-understanding,herebycauseitseffect.』-TanWenjie,TaoistCanonTranslationandGadamer'sPhilosophicalHermeneutics:

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