翻譯酷兒性：以邱妙津《鱷魚手記》之許博理英譯本為例

Abstract

邱妙津所著之《鱷魚手記》為華語酷兒文學經典，其敘事語言細膩而強烈，生動刻畫酷兒個體在異性戀本位社會中面對自我認同、情慾與社會壓力時的內在掙扎與矛盾。然而，過往研究多聚焦於原作中的同志身分認同困境、同志愛慾、動物意象等主題，其英譯本鮮少受到學界關注。因此，本研究將研究焦點置於其由美國譯者許博理（Bonnie Huie）翻譯之英譯本，結合德蒙（Marc Démont）所提出的酷兒翻譯三種模式與貝克（Mona Baker）的框架策略，試從三個層面切入分析：酷兒主體性之重構、酷兒隱喻系統之變形及酷兒親密關係之重塑。研究發現，譯文雖大致保留邱妙津原作中的情感強度與寫作風格，但傾向將原本充滿張力、矛盾與自我否定的酷兒經驗轉化為較為穩定、更易辨識且更符合當代西方酷兒文化主流論述的敘事形式。具體而言，原作中有關內化污名、自我賤斥與存在危機的書寫，常被轉譯為自我認同與情感肯定的敘事；原本相互高度連結的酷兒隱喻網絡被拆解為較為孤立的意象，使得原作中作為酷兒個體的累積性痛苦與存在困境難以在譯文中完整重現；而原作中關於情感游移且帶有權力不對等的情慾及親密關係書寫，亦被重塑為更符合當代西方酷兒文化主流論述的酷兒親密關係模式。本研究認為，《鱷魚手記》之英譯本並非單純之語言轉換，而是1990年代台灣酷兒經驗與2010年代英語世界酷兒文化主流論述相互碰撞與協商下的產物。本研究除期望填補邱妙津及華語酷兒文學英譯研究之缺口外，更希望有助於重新思考酷兒文學翻譯中歷史脈絡、情感結構與文化權力之間的複雜關係。

Qiu Miaojin’s Eyu shouji is a canonical work of Sinophone queer literature. Known for its subtle yet raw narrative style, the novel vividly portrays the inner struggles of a queer protagonist negotiating queer identity, same-sex desire, and social pressure within a heteronormative society. While existing scholarship has largely focused on themes such as queer identity, same-sex desire, and animal imagery in the original text, its English translation has received relatively little critical attention. This study therefore shifts the focus to its English translation by Bonnie Huie. Drawing on Marc Démont’s typology of queer translation and Mona Baker’s concept of framing, the study examines the translation from three perspectives: the reframing of queer subjectivity, the reshaping of the queer metaphorical system, and the reconfiguration of queer relationality. The findings suggest that although the translation largely preserves the rawness and stylistic qualities of Qiu’s writing, it nevertheless tends to transform the original’s tension-filled, ambivalent, and self-negating queerness into more stable, recognizable, and normalized narrative forms aligned with contemporary dominant Anglophone queer discourses. More specifically, moments of internalized stigma, self-abjection, and existential crisis are frequently reframed as narratives of self-acceptance and emotional affirmation; the highly interconnected queer metaphorical system is fragmented into more isolated images, significantly attenuating the cumulative pain and existential struggles experienced by the queer protagonist; and the unstable, emotionally ambivalent, and imbalanced intimate relationships are reoriented toward more legible forms of queer intimacy within contemporary normative Anglophone queer discourses. This study argues that Notes of a Crocodile should not be understood as a neutral linguistic transfer, but as the product of a collision between the queer experiences of 1990s Taiwan and the dominant discourses of queer normalization in the 2010s Anglophone world. This thesis seeks not only to fill a gap in research on the English translation of Qiu Miaojin’s works and Sinophone queer literature, but also to contribute to broader discussions on the complex relationship between historical context, affective structures, and cultural power dynamics in queer literary translation.