Abstract

Based on Darwin’s principle of “natural selection” and “survival of the fittest”, the eco-translatology led by Chinese scholar Hu Gengshen explores the philosophical theories and the feasibility of translation activities from the macro, meso and micro levels, providing a new perspective for translation studies. At present, many scholars have spared no efforts to introducing eco-translatology into the translation of ancient books, public signs, and film subtitles, but the application of eco-translatology in the translation of literary works, especially in essays is rarely seen. Hence, this thesis is designed to apply the eco-translatology theory to study the two Chinese versions (from Wang Zuoliang and He Xin) of Bacon’s Of Studies. Through detailed analysis on a number of examples, it is found that, in the process of translating, Wang and He have respectively adopted foreignization and domestication strategies to make selective adaptation from linguistic, cultural, and communicative dimensions. Moreover, by flexibly employing different specific translation skills such as literal translation, free translation, amplification and omission, the two translators have, to the greatest extent, restored the original ecology and produced two excellent versions. Besides, the technicality and practicability of translation have been achieved in the two versions. The thesis is expected to attract more academic attention to the application of eco-translatology in the essay translation.

Key words: Of Studies; Eco-translatology; translation strategies;translation skills

摘要

由中国学者胡庚申领衔创立的生态翻译学，借鉴达尔文的“自然选择，适者生存”这一原理，从宏观、中观、微观三个层次对翻译活动进行研究和探讨，为翻译研究提供了新视角。目前已有众多学者从生态翻译学对古籍翻译、广告翻译、电影片名及字幕翻译方面做了诸多努力和研究，但生态翻译学在文学，特别是散文方面的应用研究并不多见。本文拟运用生态翻译学理论对培根的《谈读书》两个中文译本（王佐良与何新的译本）进行研究探索。经过深入对比分析，发现两位译者在语言维、文化维、交际维上分别运用了异化、归化等翻译策略做出了适应性选择，而直译、意译、增译、省略等具体翻译技巧的灵活使用，不仅最大限度地再现了原文生态，实现了优质的翻译输出，亦体现了翻译的技巧性与实用性。希望本文对生态翻译学在散文翻译领域的研究能够起到抛砖引玉之效。

关键词：谈读书；生态翻译学；翻译策略；翻译技巧