A DIALOGUE WITH THE TRANSLATOR

A DIALOGUE WITH THE TRANSLATOR

N=NIHAO L=LIN YUAN

Lin Yuan

Graduated from Xi'an

International Studies

University as B.A of

French studies, and

from Ecole Supérieure De Journalisme

De Lille as M.A.

Publications include

Un chasseur de lions

written by Olivier Rolin,Rien ne s'oppose à la nuit and D'aprèsune

histoirevraie written by Delphine de Vigan.

林苑，畢業于西安外國語大學法語專業，法國里爾高等新聞學院碩士。已出版譯作有奧利維埃·羅蘭的《獵獅人》，德爾芬娜·德·維岡的《無以阻擋黑夜》《真有其事》等。

N：How did you translate Back to Killybegs?

L：This was the fourth piece of French Literature I have worked with. While I was reading the beginning of the book, I realised I was not an expert on World War 2. Caught by the story I still accepted the job. This is a story about men. The keynote of the book is tough and the language is cold and concise. During translation, I usually dive right into the story. While working on this book, I preferred translating the novel alongside reading it, rather than translating it after reading. In this way, I managed to maintain the suspense of the book.

N: What are the differences when you read a book as a translator?

L: Primarily, a translator is a reader. Translation to him is a thorough reading deeper than any other readers. In the face of new words or unfamiliar backgrounds, it is the responsibility of a translator to go into every detail, when most readers would just let it go. However, we are lucky enough to be able to check the details from a variety of sources compared to the older generation. Particularly,we could contact the living authors. We are likely to obtain the e-mail address of the authors from the editors and dig for fi rst-hand information to answer our questions. Sometimes we become friends during the translation. Once the author of a book I was working on happened to visit Beijing, giving us the opportunity for a face to face meeting. We became very close friends after that,and sometimes we discussed the details in our translation. One day, he came to me and asked if I was willing to translate another book that he had just fi nished writing.

N: In the field of French Culture, which part touches your heart most?

L: While I was studying in France, I was impressed by their commitment to culture. You could fi nd a cultural centre in each block. The environment of cultural creation is deeply rooted. Though the qualities of the works vary, it benefi ts the people with cultural diversity and innovation. Not only do they have the ideas, but they are brave enough to realise them, with better education and facilities.

N：翻譯《重返基利貝格斯》的過程是怎樣的？

L：這本書是我翻譯的第四本法語文學作品。讀了開頭覺得雖然二戰的背景不是十分熟悉，但故事挺吸引人的，便接了這個翻譯。這本書講的是男人間的故事，整個書的基調比較硬，語言冷峻簡潔，翻的時候我會將自己代入其中。我不會先看一遍小說而是邊讀邊翻譯，想保持一種閱讀的懸念，跟著故事的發展譯下去。

N：從譯者的角度看一本書有何不同之處？

L：譯者首先也是一個讀者，可以說翻譯是最大程度的精讀。遇到生詞與陌生背景時，如果只是讀者看看就過去了，但翻譯必須去了解每一個細節。現在的譯者比老一輩幸運多了，有更多的渠道可以去求證。在世的作者也是可以交流的，一般會通過編輯獲得作者的郵箱，向其咨詢不理解的地方。很有緣分的一次是，我有一本書在翻譯之前，作家正好來北京，通過當面交流我們建立了比較好的聯系，翻譯過程中也聊了很多次。后來他寫了一本新書后，便直接來問我想不想繼續翻譯。

N：法國文化帶給你最大的觸動是什么？

L：在法國留學時給我印象特別深刻的一點，是法國人對于他們文化的投入。每一個街區都有文化中心，文化創作的土壤深厚，雖然產出的作品良莠不齊，但這讓他們的文化特別多樣與創新，他們真的有想法并敢于實現，配套、教育各方面都比較完善。