吸引我進入漢學世界的五個原因

文/吳漠?。∕artin Woesler，德國） 譯/張佳藝

當?shù)聡臐h學家訪問中國時，我相信他們會像中國的德語專家訪問德國一樣感到賓至如歸。

I believe that when German sinolog ists visit China,they should feel at home as Chinese Germanists do when they visit Germany.

漢學世界深深吸引了我

外國漢學家最常被問到的一個問題就是為什么愿意投身于漢學研究。吸引我進入漢學世界的原因有五點。

原因之一是學校。幾位高中老師認為我畢業(yè)后會攻讀他們專業(yè)的學位，比如數(shù)學或德語，但其實我一直試圖從各所大學里搜尋哪些科目最難學，結(jié)果聽到的回答總是“漢學”。后來我找到一所大學，即德國最好的漢學家馬漢茂教授所在的波鴻魯爾大學。我在那里開啟學習之旅后，很快就成為Konrad Wegmann教授口中的“得力助手”。我的原則一直是“向最優(yōu)秀的人學習”，這句話我想送給所有初學者。因此，我選擇了馬漢茂教授作為我的首位博士生導師，顧彬教授作為我的第二位博士生導師。之后我在北京大學中文系學習，又受邀到哈佛大學學習了一年，先是師從李歐梵教授，而后是王德威教授。

原因之二是源于一件真實發(fā)生的事情。作為一個17歲的高中生，漢學讓我揭開了中國的神秘面紗。1987年，我的家鄉(xiāng)明斯特舉辦了一場“詩會”。中國是那一年的嘉賓國，當時有一個來自中國的詩人代表團到訪。一位老先生在那里用頗有異國情調(diào)但直擊人心的聲音朗誦了一首長詩。朗誦時，一滴熱淚順著他的臉頰流了下來。明斯特大學禮堂里的500多名聽眾全神貫注，全場安靜到即使一根針掉在地上也聽得見。在這位老先生朗誦后，詩歌的德譯本便送到了。這首詩的作者名叫綠原，來自北京。他的詩講述了他漫長人生中的悲慘經(jīng)歷，跌宕起伏。他的演講打動了他自己，也打動了500多名跨越文化鴻溝的聽眾。

詩會結(jié)束后，我得以和綠原交談，得知他前半生從一個著名詩人變成了一個“壞人”典型，不過后來得到了平反。他將自己加入詩人代表團當作一種對“缺失”的補償。他一直堅持自己對德國語言和文學的熱愛。他解釋說，許多中國人過去都有過類似遭遇，但堅持夢想很重要。作為一個17歲的德國青年，我聽罷這一席話后十分震驚。因為我是在天主教的明斯特地區(qū)長大的，我的童年是在一個受保護的、近乎天堂般的環(huán)境中度過的，周圍都是野馬，每時每刻都可以和大自然相擁。他的經(jīng)歷與我自己的生活形成了鮮明的對比。我很受觸動。

Chinese Studies attracts me deeply

One of the most frequently asked questions of foreign sinologists is why they chose to devote their lives to Chinese Studies.There are five reasons that drew me into Chinese Studies.

The first was school.Several high school teachers assumed that I would pursue a degree in their subject after graduation,such as maths or German.But I was looking for a test.So I looked around at various universities to see which subjects were the most difficult to learn.“Chinese” was heard everywhere.Then I looked for a university that was home to the best German Chinese scholar.It was Ruhr-Universit?t Bochum at the time,with Prof.Dr.Helmut Martin.I started studying there and quickly became his “righthand assistant”,as another esteemed colleague,Prof.Dr.Konrad Wegmann,put it.My guiding principle has always been to learn “from the best”,and I recommend this to junior scholars as well.As a result,I later chose Prof.Martin as my first doctoral supervisor and Prof.Wolfgang Kubin as my second.So I studied at the Chinese Department of Peking University,and later in life,I was invited to Harvard University for one year,first by Prof.Leo Ou-fan Lee and then by Prof.David Der-Wei Wang.

The second reason I chose Chinese Studies was a practical one: as a 17-year-old high school student,it brought me into contact with China.In 1987,there was a “poetry meeting” in Münster,my hometown.China was the honored guest that year.A poet delegation from China visited us.An elderly gentleman recited a long poem in an exotic but touching singsong there.As he did so,a tear streamed down his cheek.The 500 or so listeners in Wilhelm University’s auditorium were so engrossed that they thought they could hear a pin drop.The German translation arrived after the elderly gentleman had finished.The poet’s name is Lü Yuan,and he is from Beijing.In his poem,he processed his tragic experiences throughout his long life,which were full of ups and downs.His speech moved not only himself but the 500 Audimax listeners across cultural divides.

Following the reading,I had the opportunity to speak with Lü Yuan.He reported that he had gone from being a celebrated poet to an example for a “bad person” half a lifetime before.Only later had he been rehabilitated,and he also understood his inclusion in the delegation as a kind of reparation.He had stuck to his love of the German language and literature all the time.He explained that many people in China had suffered a similar fate in the past,and it is important to stick to your dream.As a German youth of 17,this was very shocking to me.After all,I had grown up in the Catholic Münsterland.I had spent my childhood in a sheltered,almost paradisiacal environment,surrounded by wild horses and spending every free moment in nature.As a result,this was a stark contrast to my own life.I felt moved.

I received a gift box containing a bamboo brush and an ink rubbing stone.According to Lü Yuan,“China appears to pique your interest.Why not learn Chinese the way I learned German and then write me a letter in it using this writing set?” I eagerly accepted the writing set and began studying Chinese.First in language courses at the Sinicum in Bochum.Later on,I wrote Lü Yuan several letters,but never with the writing set.This has a special place shelf and I Visited Lü Yuan in Beijing.Two years later,a piece of the Berlin Wall was added to the writing set.This was also given special consideration because I knocked it out of the Berlin Wall while standing on top of it on the night it fell.I was in East Berlin at the time and swam to the border with the crowds who were crossing the border for the first time.I was one of the first people to walk through the Brandenburg Gate and climb the Berlin Wall.As a result,I was also witnessing some life-altering events unfold in my life.

However,going back to the first item on my shelf,the writing set: why did I never use the bamboo brush? When I started learning Chinese writing,I unintentionally gained knowledge of Chinese culture.To a great poet of the older generation,writing my letters with the gifted brush would have been presumptuous,as it would have implied that I had mastered Chinese.A Chinese learner of German would hardly be able to claim to have mastered German in Chinese culture.Rather than that,I believe that I was learning Chinese at the time,that I am still learning Chinese at the age of 53,and that I will continue to learn Chinese for the remainder of my life.

后來，我收到了一個禮盒，里面有一支竹制毛筆和一塊硯臺。綠原說：“中國似乎引發(fā)了你的興趣，那你為什么不像我學習德語那樣學習漢語，再用這套筆硯用漢語給我寫一封信呢？”我迫不及待地收下了這套筆硯，然后開始學習漢語。首先是通過波鴻中央研究院的語言課程學習漢語，然后又給綠原寫了幾封信，但都沒有用到被我放在書架上特殊位置的這套筆硯。之后，我也在北京拜訪了綠原老先生。兩年后，柏林墻的一片殘垣破瓦也被特意放在了這套筆硯旁邊。這是柏林墻倒塌當晚，我站在墻頂撞出的一塊破瓦。當時我在東柏林，和第一次穿越邊境的人群一起過境。我是第一批走過勃蘭登堡門并登上柏林墻的人之一。因此，我也見證了一些重大轉(zhuǎn)折事件在我生命中展開。

說回到我書架上的第一套筆硯。為什么我從未使用過這支竹制毛筆呢？當我開始學習漢語寫作時，我也順其自然地學到了一些中國文化。用這份禮物——毛筆致信詩壇前輩是略顯冒昧的，這似乎意味著我已經(jīng)完全能駕馭漢語了。然而，在中國文化中一個學習德語的中國人也很難稱自己掌握了德語。與其如此，不如說我當時是在學習漢語，我53歲時仍在學習漢語，我也將在余生的歲月中繼續(xù)學習漢語。

原因之三是我在讀書時就已經(jīng)對中國文學欽佩不已，并在學習期間了解到歌德對中國文學的崇拜，以及他對中德人民之間心意相通的堅信不疑。

原因之四是德國是一個出口導向型的繁榮經(jīng)濟體。正如拿破侖之前所說，中國在20世紀80年代仍是一個發(fā)展中國家，是一條沉睡的巨龍。80年代末，我有種強烈的預感：這條巨龍正在蘇醒。盡管當時幾乎所有親朋好友都勸我不要研究這朵“幽蘭奇葩”，畢竟以后不可能靠它謀生，但我還是希望能見證這條巨龍歷史性的蘇醒。而今天，我終于站在了這個被稱為“永遠的東方巨龍”的體系中工作。

因此，即使在我2/3的大一同學放棄漢學研究時，我也從未質(zhì)疑過我的決定。1989年10月，我開始在波鴻學習中文，后來前往北京大學中文系學習中國現(xiàn)當代文學，這段本科學習經(jīng)歷持續(xù)了一年半。

原因之五是文化讓我著迷。遙遠的文化更加迷人，因為它們就像我們的一面鏡子，揭示了沉浸在自己文化中的我們所認為理所當然的事情是多么隨意與荒謬。文化研究存在一個系統(tǒng)性缺陷，即你是文化的一部分，因此永遠不能跳出其中看待這一文化。而觀察另一種文化則可以在一定程度上彌補這一系統(tǒng)性缺陷。

多年以后，我獲得了漢學研究的博士學位，并在哈佛大學和德國各大學的漢學系繼續(xù)深造。而后，我在南京大學教準備參加德國維藤/黑爾德克大學和南京大學合作碩士項目的學生學德語。大使館給了我一套德語教材《德國概況》，供上課使用。當全班同學看到關(guān)于德國統(tǒng)一一章的大幅照片時，我十分震驚：照片中十幾歲的我站在柏林墻上，刺猬般的頭發(fā)被吹得筆直，身著黑色皮裝。我當時甚至沒有意識到自己被拍了下來。

The third reason I chose China as a subject of study was that I had already developed an admiration for literature in school and had learned about Goethe’s admiration for Chinese literature and his presumption of a soul affinity between Germans and Chinese during my studies.

Finally,the fourth reason was that Germany was a prosperous economy with a strong export orientation.As Napoleon had previously stated,China was still a developing country in the 1980s,and she was a sleeping dragon.At the time,in the late 1980s,I had a sense that this dragon was reawakening.Even though almost all relatives,friends,and acquaintances advised me at the time not to study this exotic orchid subject as it would be impossible to earn a living from it later,I desired to witness this historical awakening of the dragon.Today,I work in a structure known as “The Rising Dragon.”

As a result,even when two-thirds of my freshman classmates dropped Chinese Studies,I never questioned the wisdom of my decision.So,in October 1989,I began studying Chinese in Bochum and later flew to Beijing to study Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature.The study lasted for one and a half years of my undergraduate studies at the Chinese Department of Peking University.

The fifth reason is that culture fascinates me.Distant cultures are all the more fascinating because they serve as a mirror to us,revealing how arbitrary the things we take for granted in our own culture are.Cultural Studies suffer from the systemic flaw that you are a part of the culture and thus can never look at your civilization from the outside.Looking at another culture can help to compensate for this systemic error to some extent.

Years later,after earning a doctorate in Chinese studies and furthering my education at the Chinese Studies Departments of Harvard University and various German universities,I taught German to Nanjing University’s students in preparation for a cooperative Master’s program with the Universities of Witten/Herdecke and Nanjing.The embassy had given me a class set of the German textbookFacts about Germanyfor the lessons.How surprised I was when the entire class saw the large photo of the chapter on German unification: As a teenager,I stood on the Berlin Wall with my hedgehog hair blow-dried upright and dressed in black leather gear.I hadn’t even realized photographs had been taken at the time.

翻譯及修訂《紅樓夢》德譯本是我的主要任務(wù)之一

當在波鴻和北京大學學習漢學時，我又被《紅樓夢》深深吸引了。翻譯德譯本及其修訂成了我此后幾十年的主要任務(wù)之一，未來幾十年里仍然如此。

《紅樓夢》展現(xiàn)了大約250年前的中國。對于今天的西方讀者來說，當時的中國因其各方面的考究已經(jīng)非常先進與完美了。它提供了一種更為輕松、更有教養(yǎng)的生活方式。至少對于作者來說，這種生活方式完全可以與今天的世界相媲美。作者曹雪芹將其晚年獻給了年輕人、窮人和殘疾人，他撰寫了史無前例的中國絕佳小說，這也是世界文學的永恒之作?！都t樓夢》向全世界展示了中國文化的方方面面。當然，這也是我在翻譯時遇到的困難之一。如果不熟悉、不理解中國歷史與傳統(tǒng)，其間的文化元素是無法直譯的。為解決這一翻譯難題，我試著咨詢過許多中國朋友和紅學專家，包括中國藝術(shù)研究院紅樓夢研究所的專家，并通過文本或腳注為讀者提供補充解釋。當我無法用另一種語言再現(xiàn)復雜的原文時，我便解釋人名與地名的含義，有時甚至還是雙重含義。此外，小說還描繪了一個年輕人的身外世界和內(nèi)心世界。他長大成人，墜入愛河，對天堂般的童年感到幻滅。大觀園的毀滅則是這種幻滅的象征，這讓西方讀者聯(lián)想到被逐出伊甸園。無論來自哪種文化背景，讀者們都要有成年后打開眼界的經(jīng)歷。我希望西方讀者能夠忘記時代和文化的差距，對小說中的主人公產(chǎn)生認同感。

我的翻譯遵循目的論原則，追求翻譯之信實，忠于原文。當然，翻譯時并不能保證逐字對應，所以我用意譯的方法在注釋中為感興趣的讀者作釋。就我個人而言，我提出了一種新的翻譯策略，即“恰當性理論”。這意味著翻譯時不僅要保證最好的功能對等性，還要爭取做到最適當?shù)墓δ軐Φ刃浴＿@便為現(xiàn)有的翻譯理論增設(shè)了倫理責任的維度，平衡了作者和其他文化行為者（如翻譯發(fā)起者、出版社和讀者）彼此之間偶爾沖突的利益。我認為，譯本應被視作與原作一樣有價值，因為幾乎所有獲得諾貝爾獎的文學作品都是通過譯作而非原作而廣為傳閱的。

German translation and revisions of A Dream of Red Mansions has been one of the essential tasks for me

When I started to study Chinese at Bochum and Peking University,I was dragged intoA Dream of Red Mansions.German translation and its revisions would become one of the essential tasks for decades,and still,it is for decades to come.

A Dream of Red Mansionsdepicts a Chinese world around 250 years ago that was already very advanced and perfectionism in its complexity for today’s Western readers.It allowed for a more relaxed and educated lifestyle,at least for people like the author,and this lifestyle was completely comparable to today’s world.Cao,the author,devoted his later life to the young,poor,and disabled.He wrote the best Chinese novel ever written and a timeless work of world literature.It is capable of displaying Chinese culture in all of its facets to people all over the world.This,of course,was one of the difficulties I encountered while translating: Culture elements that can only be understood if one is unfamiliar with China’s history and traditions cannot be directly translated.I attempted to solve this problem by consulting with many Chinese friends and Redology experts,including those at the Chinese National Academy of Arts’ Red Chamber Research Institute,and providing additional explanations in the text or footnotes.When I couldn’t recreate the complexity in the target text,I explained the meanings of names and places,sometimes with double meanings.Furthermore,the novel depicts the outer and inner worlds of a young man growing up,falling in love,and becoming disillusioned with his paradisiacal childhood,which is symbolized by the destruction of the garden,which reminds Western readers of the expulsion from paradise.Readers of all backgrounds share this experience of opening one’s eyes when coming of age.I hoped that Western readers would forget the gap in time and culture and identify with one of the protagonists.

My translation method is to reach a similar “skopos”with my target text as I understand the original author had intended with its original text.Of course,there are not always direct equivalencies,so I use the method to explain things in annotations for the interested reader.Personally,I have developed the “Appropriateness Theory” as a new translation strategy– striving not just for the best equivalent but for the most appropriate one.This adds dimensions of ethical responsibility to existing translation theories,balancing the sometimes conflicting interests of the author and other cultural actors such as the initiator of the translation,the publishing house,and the readers.I believe that a translation should be regarded as valuable as the original,as almost all of the Nobel Prize-winning literature has been read in translation,not in its original form.

我對中國文化的熱愛越來越深

2020年我被授予中國政府友誼獎。這對我來說是一項崇高的榮譽，加深了我與中國人民的友誼和我對中國文化的熱愛。我一直提倡溝通和交流，即使步履維艱時也是如此。

從宏觀歷史視角來看，中國文學在世界上的知名度仍然遠低于外國文學在中國讀者中的知名度。非德國文學占德國全部文學的12.5%，而中國文學只占德國全部文學的0.3%。在我從事翻譯工作之前，我們每年有11部中國文學作品被翻譯成德語；但是在我參與后，這一數(shù)據(jù)大約翻了一番。

我打算在華駐留得更久一些，幫助前途無限光明的、年輕的中國學術(shù)界達到國際標準。中國有許多有才華的年輕學者，我們應盡一切可能讓他們?yōu)槲磥砀偁幖ち业娜蚧蜆I(yè)市場做好準備。中外學者應該在研究和教育方面更加緊密地合作，建立符合國際最高標準的中外聯(lián)合專業(yè)學院。國際合作與交流越多，中國便越有機會向世界其他國家學習，同時世界其他國家也能向中國學習。

我打算在湖南師范大學建立一個“國際漢學研究中心”，并將用盡畢生精力翻譯優(yōu)秀的中國文學作品。目前，我正在翻譯中國作家韓少功、徐則臣、張煒和韓寒的作品，也在撰寫學術(shù)史和概覽。我也希望能有更多的時間來撰寫我自己的小說和短篇故事，適當?shù)貙⑽业闹袊罱?jīng)歷融入其中。當我覺得自己變得越來越像一個地道的中國人時，滿腔自豪感與責任感便油然而生。

My love for Chinese culture is growing

I was awarded the Chinese Government Friendship Award in 2020.It was an incredible honor for me,and it strengthened my friendship with the Chinese people and my love for their culture.I have always been an advocate for communication and exchange,even during trying times.

From a historical macro perspective,Chinese literature is still far less well-known in the world than foreign literature is to Chinese readers.Non-German literature accounts for 12.5% of all literature in Germany,but Chinese literature accounts for only 0.3%of all literature.However,prior to my involvement in translation,we had 11 Chinese literary works translated into German each year.This figure has roughly doubled as a result of my engagement.

I intend to spend more time in China and assist the country’s promising young academic community in attaining international standards.There are numerous talented young scholars in China,and we should do everything possible to prepare them for future’s highly competitive globalized job market.Chinese and foreign scholars should collaborate more closely on research and education.Additionally,we should establish joint foreign-Chinese specialized colleges that meet the highest international standards.The more international cooperation and exchange there is,the better China will be able to learn from the rest of the world,and the rest of the world will be able to learn from China.

I intend to establish an “International Chinese Studies Center” at Hunan Normal University and devote the rest of my life to translating outstanding Chinese literature.Currently,I am translating the works of Chinese authors Han Shaogong,Xu Zechen,Zhang Wei,and Han Han,as well as writing scholarly histories and overviews.I also hope to find more time to write my own novels and short stories,incorporating my Chinese life experience as appropriate.And when I feel like I’m becoming more Chinese,I’m filled with pride as well as responsibility.