【作者】 陈卉；

【导师】 梅德明；

【作者基本信息】 上海外国语大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2014， 博士

【摘要】 本论文对蒯因提出的翻译不确定性论题进行了理论梳理，并将这一语言哲学论题与英汉/汉英翻译的理论与实践相结合，提出了一种以翻译意义为依据的，既具有客观性，又能容纳不确定性的新的翻译观念。首先通过文献归纳与概念分析，对蒯因的翻译不确定性论题进行了批判性审查。持行为主义意义观的蒯因设想了一个彻底翻译的思想实验，在这个思想实验中，观察句是基础，刺激－反应是判断的标准。他通过分析发现：以同一个语言事实为观察基础的几个翻译手册之间可能会互不相容，因为彻底翻译思想实验的三个步骤——兔子跑过时语言学家对语词的猜测、土人同意或不同意、语义上升后的分析假设——全部隐藏着意义的不确定性，特别是第三步分析假设阶段，并由此得出翻译不确定性的结论。这一论题对以意义事实为基础的传统翻译观提出了挑战。在对这一论题的进一步阐释过程中，蒯因体现了自己的整体论观念、实用主义思想及新经验主义立场。论文进一步分析了蒯因提出翻译不确定性论题的三点理由：指称的不可测知性、证据对理论的非充分决定性，以及本体论的相对性。指称的不可测知性类似于一种弱意义上的翻译不确定性，它预设的是语词的物化，即我们对客观世界的感知和认识会随着时间的推移而失真的特性。这种指称的不可测知性表现在语言学习的四个阶段、指称本身的异常多变性（模糊性、歧义性及不透明性），以及语言的特异性三个方面。证据对理论的非充分决定性类似于一种较强意义上的翻译不确定性，它预设的主题是其由感觉证据赋予的经验内容，是指我们关于世界的科学理论超越了我们对世界的观察。而本体论的相对性是指相对于特定的背景知识，相对于分析假设和相对于对存在量词的不同理解方式。但是，按照蒯因行为主义的意义观，几个相互竞争的翻译手册中，没有证据能够证明哪一个是正确的，而没有正确的翻译意味着没有意义的存在，由此导致了意义怀疑论，翻译的可能性也受到挑战。因此，蒯因的理论需要进一步修改和完善。于是，我们引入戴维森的真值条件意义论，并通过彻底诠释、诠释不确定性及三角测量模式来阐述从诠释到翻译的可能性。在上述讨论的基础上，论文进而探讨了翻译不确定性论题与翻译理论及实践的关系。首先，对所谓不可译性的几个方面进行了分析与讨论，并尝试提出可能的解决办法。然后，通过对翻译不确定与可译性及不可译性之间关系的讨论，再次论证翻译的可能性。接着，论文例举翻译实践中存在的几个方面的差异与不匹配，并提出了可行的解决方法。基于翻译是可能的，但有不确定性的特点，本文对Dorit Bar-On提出的翻译意义概念进行了修正、改善，将它视为介于源语文本与译语文本之间的一套特征。这些特征是通过概念整合而形成的，具有语境依赖性、时间性、协商性、生成性及动态平衡性。翻译意义被引入翻译评价体系，作为判断翻译好坏的标准。最后，本文结合翻译不确定性论题，通过典型案例分析法，对英汉互译中的一些理论问题和实践问题做了批判性的考察，提出了一些启发性的见解。通过比较研究的方法，对比同一源文本的不同翻译版本之间的联系和区别，主张以保存翻译意义的多少作为评价标准来区分好坏与优劣。也就是说，翻译意义保留得越多，翻译就越好，反之则越差。翻译意义对翻译文本的评价指标分为准确、最佳、相当、更好四个基本类型。此外，本文还将翻译意义作为协调一种既能容纳不确定性，又具有基于文本类别不同的客观性的新的翻译观念的手段，并以语境原则及翻译意义作为协调信达雅的分析框架，重构了一组可用于评价英汉互译对错与优劣的合理性标准。更多还原

【Abstract】 Upon the analysis of Quine’s indeterminacy of translation, this dissertationcombines the thesis with the theory and practice of English Chinese translation in bothways, and puts forward a new idea of translation containing both the characteristics ofobjectivity and indeterminacy on translation meaning (tr-meaning).To begin with, Quine’s thesis is critically investigated through documentaryinduction and conceptual analysis. Holding the meaning concept of behaviorism,Quine assumes a thought experiment named radical translation in which observationsentence is regarded as the basis and stimulus-response as the criterion of judgment.Quine argues that translation handbooks based on the same language facts areincompatible with each other. This is because of the meaning indeterminacy hidden inthe three steps of radical translation: linguists’ guess in the process of rabbit running,aborigines’ assent or dissent and analytical hypothesis after semantic ascent,especially the last step. And thus the conclusion of indeterminacy of translation isreached, which poses challenges to the meaning-fact oriented traditional translationconcept. In the argumentation process of the thesis, Quine demonstrates his concept ofholism, pragmatism and new empiricism.Quine’s three arguments are then analyzed: the inscrutability of reference, theunder-determination of theory by evidence and ontological relativity. Theinscrutability of reference, in a weak sense like indeterminacy of translation,presupposes the topic of reification which means that our sense of the reality subjectsto gradual distortion over time. The following three aspects embody the inscrutabilityof reference: four stages of language study, vagaries of reference (i. e. vagueness,ambiguity and opacity) and regimentation. The under-determination of theory byevidence, in a robust sense like indeterminacy of translation, presupposes the topic ofempirical content endowed by perceptional evidence, which implies that our physicaltheory about the world transcends our observation. Ontological relativity is assumedon specific background knowledge, analytical hypothesis and the differentunderstanding ways for the existential quantifier. However, according to Quine’smeaning concept of behaviorism, no evidence verifies the correct one in several competitive translation handbooks, which suggests that there is no meaning at all.This conclusion leads to skepticism, and challenges translatability between languages.It is obvious that Quine’s thesis needs to be modified. Then Davidson’s truthconditional theory of meaning is introduced to demonstrate the argumentation processfrom interpretability to translatability through the analysis of radical interpretation,indeterminacy of interpretation and the triangulation mode.Based on the above discussion, the relation between the thesis of indeterminacyof translation and the theory and practice of translation is analyzed. Possible methodsare proposed to solve the problem of so called “untranslatability”. Through thediscussion of the relation between the indeterminacy of translation and translatabilityand untranslatability, the translatability is further discussed. Practicable methods areproposed to account for the differences and mismatches in translation practice. Inview of the idea that translation is possible and indeterminate, tr-meaning proposed byDorit Bar-On is modified, which is a set of features integrated by concepts betweensource text and translation text, including context reliability, timing, negotiation,generation and dynamic balance. Tr-meaning is introduced in translation assessmentsystem to judge the quality of translation.Finally, in the light of Quine’s thesis, some heuristic opinions are proposed forthe theory and practice of English-Chinese and Chinese-English translation throughan in-depth examination of typical translations. Among the different versions of thetranslation based on the same source text, the candidate version which preserves moretr-meaning will be better, and vice versa. There are in total four levels for tr-meaningassessment, i. e. exact translation, best translation, equally good translation and bettertranslation. Besides, tr-meaning is also used to coordinate the new idea of translationcontaining both the characteristics of objectivity and indeterminacy. Context andtr-meaning are regarded as coordinators in the analysis frame of “truthfulness,expressiveness, and elegance” of translation criteria.更多还原