日本語作品の翻訳をめぐる問題 : 王昶雄「奔流」を例に

Wang Chang-Hsiung’s A Raging Torrent is used as a text to consider the various problems arising from the situation that the Japanese literature from the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan is generally being read through Chinese translations. No notable differences were confirmed between the two Japanese versions. One was published for the first time in July 1943 and the other was rerecorded in the “Taiwanese Novel Collection” published in November 1943. However, seven versions of the Chinese translations published between 1979 and 2002 contained significantly different content after revisions by the author. Previous studies have pointed out that this could be a way for the author to avoid moral/ethical criticism. On the one hand, the possibility that the translation will be changed intentionally is the first problem. On the other hand, even if the translation is not changed intentionally, a seemingly simple proper name such as a historical term or place names may fall out of alignment with the original composition presented by the translation method. Finally, the second problem was clarified by showing concrete examples among the translated Chinese versions.

本稿鑑於現今台灣學術界或讀者一般透過中文翻譯閱讀日本統治時代日語作品之狀況，以王昶雄於1943年發表的<奔流>為例，探討翻譯過程中可能會產生的一些問題。首先，先針對<奔流>刊登於雜誌≪台灣文學≫與≪台灣小說集≫收錄的兩個日語版本進行比較，釐清兩者之間並無顯著的差異。其次，再觀察1979年至2002年間出現的7種中文譯本，發現其中有一個版本是經過作者本身大幅修訂改寫的。關於這一點，已有研究成果指出，極有可能是作者為避免受「皇民作家」之辱不得已做出的抉擇，雖說情有可原，但改訂後的主角內心刻劃遠不及原作深刻細膩。除此之外，還有一個從未被提及的問題，就是譯詞的選擇也可能影響作品讀解。本稿所舉的4個例子，分別都是有關台灣人、內地人、日本人等專有名詞的譯法，結論出在翻譯過程中若受到現代歷史觀制約就無法還原日語作品真正的原貌。