論臺灣現行譯本對納旦尼爾‧韋斯特的黑色幽默翻譯： 以《 寂寞芳心小姐》為例

Abstract

本論文以比較分析方式，探討臺灣現行譯本對納旦尼爾‧韋斯特所著《寂寞芳心小姐》（Miss Lonelyhearts）之黑色幽默翻譯。韋斯特為美國二十世紀頗具開創性之荒誕派小說家，作品富有大量黑色幽默元素，時常在角色和情節上注入「怪誕」（grotesque）元素，並以黑色幽默之「反理性主義」（anti-rationalist）特質，嘲諷美國1920至1930年代的社會、宗教、大眾文化現象等。有鑑於韋斯特在美國諷刺文學具有一定地位，「翻譯」韋斯特式的幽默成為了翻譯韋斯特作品時不容忽視的一部份。因此，本論文聚焦於臺灣目前三本現行譯本對此種黑色幽默的翻譯，並以動態對等、文本對等、翻譯目的論等功能派之翻譯理論，檢視三本譯本如何處理韋斯特的黑色幽默，以及是否成功翻譯出黑色幽默的批判主題。經過文本分析，本論文發現三本譯本皆大量採用直譯方式處理黑色幽默與美國當時之文化性元素，顯示出譯者可能對於翻譯黑色幽默並無意識。此外，其中一本譯本添加了大量譯註與評論，因此本研究也援引側文本與厚實翻譯等概念，檢視此譯本譯註的功能性。研究結果發現，此譯本之譯註多數為「為註而註」，譯註中的錯誤也屢見不鮮；此外，譯者過度添加譯註、甚至直接於譯註中「分析」的行為，在某方面也本末倒置地影響到了黑色幽默的呈現，破壞了韋斯特所營造之「似笑非笑」的衝突感。

Nathanael West’s 1933 novella, Miss Lonelyhearts, is widely recognized as a black-humor work. The narrative follows an advice columnist’s quest for religious transcendence during a dismal time, while intertwined with comic elements that satirize religion, mass culture, and society at large. Considering West’s role as a pioneer of American black humor, it is necessary to translate these comic elements. Readers are forced into a sort of “violence” between “to laugh” and “not to laugh” in reading the novella, yet if this violence is to be translated, it poses great translation challenges. This research aims to examine the translatability of this black humor through a comparative analysis of the novella’s three Traditional Chinese translations by Deng Shu-zhen, Shi Xian-rong, and Li Yi-ping. Exploring black humor’s comedic functions as the point of departure, this study conducts a textual analysis and finds that the three translations all rely heavily on literal translation. Therefore, the effectiveness of black humor’s translation is diluted. In addition, factors beyond translating itself also influence the rendition of these comic elements, including paratextual elements like annotation and translator comments. Among the three translations, Deng’s translation includes extensive annotations and even “comments,” attempting to preserve black humor in a different form. Nevertheless, the comicality of the novella is sometimes overemphasized in these paratextual elements. Thus, the comic effect of the conflict between “to laugh” and “not to laugh” may, in turn, be compromised.