達爾文《小獵犬號環球航行記》中譯之翻譯史研究

Abstract

The Voyage of the Beagle是著名自然學家查爾斯．達爾文（Charles Darwin）的著作，記錄下他隨小獵犬號於1831年至1836年進行考察時的觀察，也成為啟發達爾文演化論的重要作品與事實依據。本書於臺灣的譯本共有兩本，因達爾文於第二版中新增了關於演化論的敘述，因此本研究選擇中國譯者周邦立譯、中國譯者葉篤莊修訂的《小獵犬號環球航行記》作為分析文本。本書修訂者葉篤莊於前言中提到，本書為十分優美的散文作品，而周邦立的翻譯「佶屈聱牙、不忍卒讀」，因此幾乎修訂了或重譯了本書中的每一個句子。本研究先行論證本作應以科普翻譯的標準評判，並運用郭建中的科普翻譯作為分析準則，接著對照達爾文的原文、周邦立的翻譯與葉篤莊的修訂三個文本，並以皮姆（Pym）的翻譯史及勒菲弗爾（Lefevere）的改寫與操控理論，分析葉篤莊的修訂標準、形塑其修訂標準的可能原因，以及所產出之譯文可能對臺灣科學知識傳播的影響。 研究結果發現葉篤莊在一般敘述文字上的修訂成功之處不少，但將相同的文學修訂標準套用至科學內容上時，往往會犧牲科學的準確度，如未修正周邦立原譯中的錯誤，甚至產生原譯沒有的新錯誤等。運用勒菲弗爾的操控理論，本研究發現葉篤莊個人的文學觀及對《小獵犬號環球航行記》一書的定位，使他在修訂過程中較為重視文字是否優美，將科學準確性視為次要。運用皮姆的翻譯史，本研究認為形塑葉篤莊修訂準則的可能因素除了當時主流的翻譯標準和個人經驗之外，也可能來自於他將《小獵犬號環球航行記》定調為文學而非嚴格科學著作，且當時科普翻譯之常規尚未成形所致。因為許多臺灣讀者對於達爾文的認識並不完整，除《物種起源》（On the Origin of Species）之外，本書可能是讀者想瞭解達爾文思想時的第二選擇，因此本書中的錯誤很有可能導致臺灣讀者對達爾文思想形成過程的錯誤認知，並可能影響科學知識的傳遞。

The Voyage of the Beagle is the travel account of the renowned naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882), documenting his expedition on H.M.S. Beagle from 1831 to 1836, which also served as an important source of inspiration and records that contributed to his theory of evolution. Only two translations of the book have been published in Taiwan. This study focuses on the translation of Darwin’s second edition by the Chinese translator Zhou Bang-li, as revised by fellow Chinese translator Ye Du-zhuang, because Darwin incorporated his thinking about evolution into the second edition. As stated in his preface, Ye positioned this work as a beautiful work of personal essay, criticized Zhou’s translation as “convoluted, inarticulate, and difficult for readers to endure,” and therefore almost edited and re-translated every sentence in the book. This study first argues that The Voyage should be evaluated as a work of popular science translation, adopting Guo’s standards for this genre as an analytical framework. Darwin’s original text, Zhou’s translation, and Ye’s revision were then compared and analyzed, drawing on Pym’s translation history and Lefevere’s manipulation theory to examine Ye’s editorial priorities, the possible reasons behind his editorial decisions, and the effects these decisions may have on the transmission of scientific knowledge in Taiwan. The study found that although Ye’s revisions were often successful in general descriptions, applying the same literary standards to scientific content frequently compromised translation accuracy, leaving Zhou’s original errors uncorrected or introducing new errors of Ye’s own. Applying Lefevere’s theory of manipulation, the study found that Ye’s personal poetics and his positioning of The Voyage led him to prioritize literary quality over scientific accuracy throughout the editing process. Drawing on Pym’s principles of translation history, the study further found that the reasons behind Ye’s editorial decisions may be traced to the dominant translation norms of his time, his personal experiences, and his characterization of The Voyage as a literary rather than scientific text, and the still-forming norms of popular science translation during this period. The errors in the translation, particularly those affecting scientific observations, have the potential to impact the transmission of scientific knowledge in Taiwan, since Darwin’s theories remain partially known to the general public, and beyond his most celebrated work, On the Origin of Species, The Voyage of the Beagle may serve as the primary source that Taiwanese readers turn to when seeking to understand the development of his thinking.