YanFu'sTranslationofEvolutionandEthics：ANarrativeAccount

黄敏莉

【摘要】隨着叙事学跨学科研究的兴起，叙事理论被广泛的运用到各个领域。自从莫纳贝克将叙事学引入口笔译研究之后，从叙事学角度去研究翻译学就越来越受到众多学者的关注。本文基于叙事理论在翻译学中的运用，结合建构理论分析了严复的翻译作品《天演论》，翻自英国著名学者赫胥黎的讲演稿。

【关键词】叙事理论 建构理论 天演论

Introduction

It seems that the notion of narrative is attracting increasing attention through its application to many activities and disciplines. One of these is the narrative theory in the translation studies. Narratives in translation studies mostly draw on the work of Somers （1997） and Somers and Gibson （1994）， which treats the narratives as a paramount mode by which individuals experience the world. They argued that “everything we know is the result of numerous crosscutting story-lines in which social actors locate themselves.”According to Baker， in such a social theory view of narrative， in order to explain how the narrative constructs our lives and affects them， the emphasis is not the actual 'ingredients' of narrative， but rather its distinguishable features. As what Bruner（1991：5） elaborated，“the central concern is not how narrative as text is constructed， but rather how it operates as an instrument of mind in the construction of reality.”

In view of the nature of narrative theory， this present thesis will provide a narrative account of Yan Fu's translation of Evolution and Ethics， aiming to study the process of translating Evolution and Ethics in which Yan Fu has successfully incorporated his patriotic ontological narrative into the conceptual narrative of Tomas Huxley through some framing strategies.

Features of Narrative

As for how narratives function as an instrument to construct the reality of the world， drew on Somers and Gibson （1994） and Somers （1997）， four major features of narrative has been highlighted by Baker： relationality， casual emplotment， temporality and selective appropriation. Relationality emphasizes that it is impossible to interpret an event without any relative context. As how Somers （1997： 82） and Somers and Gibson （1994： 59） put it， “narrativity demands that we discern the meaning of any single event only in temporal and spatial relationship to other events” and “renders understanding only by connecting （however unstably） parts to a constructed configuration or a social network （however incoherent or unrealizable） composed of symbolic， institutional， and material practices”. This is where a narrative taken from a different culture triggers related imagery and connotations in the receiving culture，this is clearly relevant to translation， given that translation is an effective intermediary in terms of connecting different cultures. Casual emplotment adds significance to individual attitudes and allows us to form personal interpretation on a certain event. Translators may have an effect on this causal emplotment through their decisions taken on ambiguities in translation. Yan Fu's translation of Evolution and Ethics can be viewed as reflection of the casual emplotment through his personal choices to reexpress the biologic theory of Tomas Huxley.

Temporality means that time and space is crucial to the realization of narratives because much of the meaning of narratives is attained from the “temporal moment and physical site of the narration.”（Baker， 2007） Selective appropriation shows that narratives should be treated with different emphasis. Through some evaluation work， some narratives may be precluded and others may gain privilege. This feature of narratives is particularly important in the analysis of Yan Fu's translation because some choices made by Yan Fu to include or preclude some contents of the original book are exact reflection of this feature. And also， selective appropriation is an essential strategy of framing in this case of Yan Fu's translation work.

Framing

When it comes to how to embody those features of narrative， the concept of framing has to be introduced. Framing can be understood as discursive work put in constituting a narrative by people involved. The concept of framing effectively explains how such discursive work has been done. According to Baker （2007）， there are two facets of the definition of the notion of framing. Framing can either be viewed passively as“understandings” which derive from interaction of different events and contexts or be perceived actively as 'deliberate' actions taken to form and thus affect others' attitudes towards a set of events. In Baker's （2007： 7） words， “The notion of framing is closely connected to the question of how narrative theory allows us to consider the immediate narrative elaborated in the text being translated or interpreted and the larger narratives in which the text is embedded， and how this in turn allows us to see translational choices not merely as local linguistic challenges but as contributing directly to the narratives that shape our social world.”The framing in this thesis is mainly such active and discursive work done by the translator Yan Fu to resist the dominant interpretation at that time and guide Chinese people's interpretation of how to save their motherland from the disastrous Opium War.

Yan Fu's Translation of Evolution and Ethics

Evolution and Ethics is written by Tomas Huxley who is an English biologist and a faithful advocate of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Published in 1984， the main concern of the work is that the evolution of species results from natural selection. According to Huxley's viewpoint in this work， all the living beings are constantly subjected to a governing law of evolution. In fact， this groundbreaking theory completely opposes against the public narrative of creationism at that time of British. It is a religious belief that humanity， life， the Earth and the universe are the creation of God.

Yan Fu translated this masterpiece into Tian Yan Lun in 1896. The reason for it is that he thought China was in desperate need of absorbing advanced western theories to save itself concerning that China has fallen behind with its long-lasting seclusion policies of the Qing Dynasty， not to mention he was long attracted by the western theories ever since he was sent to British for further study by the Chinese government. （Schwartz： 1964） The publication of Tian Yan Lun， similar to Tomas Huxley， means a direct challenge to the dominant public narratives in China. These public narratives were long embedded into every Chinese people. One of the narratives is that Emperor's right to rule the common people and govern everything in the country is entitled by the heaven. This narrative effectively legitimized and justified the feudal ruling for thousand of years. The other dominant narrative is sinocentrism， which perceives China as the center of the world and the most prosperous country in the world. To undermine these narratives and arouse Chinese people， Yan Fu's translation of Evolution and Ethics came into being. The following part will focus on the specific framing strategies adopted by Yan Fu to constitute a new narrative to resist the existing and dominant one.

Sites and Strategies of Framing

Process of Framing can draw on any linguistic or non-linguistic resources to set up an interpretive context for the reader. In many cases， it is through exploiting features of narrative： relationality， casual emplotment， temporality， and selective appropriation to frame a text， both in the site of paratexts such as preface and footnotes and within the translation. Yan Fu availed himself of following framing strategies to enrich the significance of the original text， making Tomas Huxley's conceptual narrative more comprehensible to Chinese readers.

Footnotes

Footnotes are a crucial site of framing for Yan Fu's translation work. It has been estimated that Yan Fu's notes altogether surprisingly take up one tenth of his whole translation works. In these sites， Yan Fu introduced many foreign scholars' opinions， including Darwin's Origin of Species， Spencer's philosophy， theories of Greece philosopher Tytler， Socrates， Plato， Aristotle and so on . Generally speaking， the comments added by Yan Fu in the version have two functions. One is to elaborate on the terms or concepts from the passage and the other one， of more importance， is to express his own proposition by connecting it to the specific context in China. The following note is an example to the point：

資生之物所加多者有限，有术者既多取之而丰，无具者自少取焉而啬；丰者近昌，啬者邻灭。此洞识知微之士，所为惊心动魄，于保群进化之图，而知徒高睨大谈于夷夏轩轾之间者，为深无益于事实也。

The notes is mainly about applying the notion of ‘survival of the fittestto the human society. The more people possess the more possible for them to survive and develop. Although in the passage from which the note is taken， Huxley confines his talks within the scope of nature（ all plants and animals）， Yan Fu， in his notes， further develop Huxley's theory through discussion of human progress， thus also making humankind subject to Huxley's evolution theory.Then Yan Fu makes his appeal for saving Chinese people from extinction and striving for progress（保群进化）. Effectively， Yan Fu uses notes as a site of reframing translation.

Strategy of Selective Appropriation

Through omission and addition， Yan Fu suppressed some particular aspects of Huxley's conceptual narrative. When translating the fourth passage， Yan Fu clearly expressed his disagreement and had to add a comment to explain and clarify.In the comment，he gave the proofs from the animals in the America and Europe to the plants in China， from the animals and plants to human beings in the world and finally from people abroad to the Chinese people.

至如植物，则中国之蕃薯蓣来自吕宋，黄占来自占城，蒲桃、苜蓿来自西域，薏苡载自日南，此见诸史传者也。夫无有迁地而良知此，谁谓必本土固有者而后称最宜哉？物竞既兴，负者日耗，区区人满，乌足特也哉！乌足特也哉！ （Yan Fu， 2009： 14）

The reason for Yan Fu to add this comment was to prove that the native species are not always the finest and this phenomenon was temporary，but permanent.In the last

sentence，he reminded his Chinese audience not to be arrogant. In fact，there were a number of people including the officials and the average citizens with a shared narrative for a long time that the Qing were a power in the world full of people， resources，lands and materials， and that the Qing were naturally superior to others. The Chinese people believed that since they had been living on the land for thousands of years，they were the fittest，and did not have to worry about competition.It was the wrong concept that was strongly opposed by Yan Fu. Instead， Yan Fu expressed that it is only through strengthening themselves that could China and its people become the fittest and thus to survive.

Conclusion

Yan Fu's Tian Yan Lun is of great significance in Chinese history. For one thing， it is a unprecedented trial to import western findings which is meaningful to a declining China. The other thing is that Yan Fu's introduction of the biological theory provides a possible approach that Chinese people can resort to save their motherland from further decay. Furthermore， it was inspired by Yan Fu's translation that his followers launched out into initiating an effective reform in military force or in the political system. This thesis interprets this influential translation work of Yan Fu from the perspective of narrative theory. It partly enriches the studies of Yan Fu's translation as well as the narrative theory itself.

References：

[1]Baker，Mona（2006）Translation and Conflict：A Narrative Account，London & New York：Routledge.

[2]Baker，Mona（2007/2010）“Reframing Conflict in Translation”，Social Semiotics 17（1）：151-169；reprinted in Mona Baker（ed.）Critical Readings in Translation Studies，London & New York：Routledge，113-129.

[3]Baker，Mona（2010）“Interpreters and Translators in the War Zone：Narrated and Narrators”，in Moira Inghilleri and Sue-Ann Harding（eds）Translation and Violent Conflict，Special Issue of The Translator 16（2）：197-222.

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[5]Bruner，Jerome（1991）“The Narrative Construction of Reality”，Critical Inquiry 18（1）：1-21.

[6]Schwartz，Benjamin（1964）In Search of Wealth and Power：Yen Fu and the West[M].Cambridge，Massashusetts：Harvard University.

[7]Huxley，Thomas（2002）Evolution and Ethics and Other Essays.New York：D.Appleton Inc.

[8]Somers，Margaret（1997）“Deconstructing and Reconstructing Class Formation Theory：Narrativity，Relational Analysis，and Social Theory”，in John R.Hall（ed）Reworking Class，Ithaca & London：Cornell University Press，73-105.

[9]Somers，Margaret R.and Gloria D.Gibson（1994）“Reclaiming the Epistemological “Other”：Narrative and the Social Constitution of Identity”，in Craig Calhoun（ed.）Social Theory and the Politics of Identity，Oxford UK & Cambridge USA：Blackwell，37-99.

[10]Yan，Fu嚴复（2009）.天演论[Tian Yan Lun].China Youth Press.