Research on the translation strategies of some Jinling riddles in A Dream of Red Mansions from a feminist perspective: a case study of Hawkes’ English translation
女性主义视角下《红楼梦》中部分金陵判词的英译翻译策略研究——以霍克斯英译本为例

摘要

《红楼梦》在世界文学领域地位重要，金陵判词揭示书中主要女性的性格与命运。本研究以女性主义翻译理论为依据，剖析霍克斯英译本中部分金陵判词的翻译策略。女性主义翻译理论兴起于20世纪后期，常用前言和脚注、增补、劫持等策略。霍克斯翻译判词时，在王熙凤判词翻译中，通过改写词汇、舍弃部分叙事等，强化女性主体地位；同时借助增补策略改变语态、替换意象等，重构女性形象。钗黛判词翻译中，改写部分典故译法，突出女性智性权威；增补内容，提升女性主体价值。元春判词翻译里，增补信息展现其智慧韧性，改写译文避免女性竞争评判、隐喻性别权力关系。这证明女性主义翻译理论在文学翻译中可行且有价值，为《红楼梦》跨文化传播提供新视角，有助于推动性别平等观念交流。

Abstract

A Dream of Red Mansions holds a significant position in the world of literature. The Jinling Riddles reveal the characters and fates of the main female characters in the book. This study analyzes the translation strategies of some Jinling Riddles in Hawkes’ English translation based on feminist translation theory. Feminist translation theory emerged in the late 20th century and commonly employs strategies such as paratextual intervention (forewords and footnotes), supplementation, and hijacking (rewriting). When translating the riddles, for Wang Xifeng’s riddle, Hawkes strengthened the female’s subject status by rewriting vocabulary and omitting part of the narrative, and reconstructed the female image by using supplementation strategies such as changing the voice and replacing images. In the translation of the riddles for Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai, he rewrote the translation of some allusions to highlight female intellectual authority and supplemented content to enhance the female’s subjective value. In the translation of Yuanchun’s riddle, he supplemented information to show her wisdom and resilience, and rewrote the translation to avoid competitive judgment among women and metaphorize gender power relations. This proves that feminist translation theory is feasible and valuable in literary translation, providing a new perspective for the cross-cultural dissemination of A Dream of Red Mansions and contributing to the exchange of gender equality concepts.