Résumés
Abstract
This article analyzes evidence of interpreting activities in first-century China between the Latter Han (25–220 AD) Chinese administration and non-Han Chinese minority tribes along the then Southwestern frontier (modern Yunnan and the west of Sichuan basin). Besides confirming the existence of interpreting events and the subsequent Chinese translation of three tribal sung poems, a tribal tribute to Emperor Ming (r. 58–75) in a Qiang dialect (without a written language, apparently), this piece of evidence is also of interest to historians of interpreting in four aspects, namely, the nature of interpreting activities in China in antiquity; possible political rewards for the amateur interpreter who was a frontier clerk by profession because of possible translation manipulation; textual traces from the Chinese translation of the poems that suggests a possible manipulation in meaning and style; and the (interpreter’s) superior’s part in the manipulation of the translation, which eventually found its way into the standard history of the Latter Han dynasty. Considering the political needs of Latter Han China to promote the Sinicization cause among non-Han tribesmen in the empire, this article argues, based on analyses of the four factors above, that the interpreter, with his rare knowledge of the tribal tongue in the imperial court, might have consciously shaped the translation of the poems to pander to the liking of his superior and the emperor. This article further shows how and why the interpreter, in his official capacity as a frontier clerk, might have capitalized on his competence in a tribal language and manipulated, albeit mildly, the historical records on the Chinese translation of the poems.
Keywords:
- interpreting history,
- sung poems translation,
- manipulation,
- interpreting and translation records in first-century China,
- interpreters and historical records
Résumé
Cet article analyse des preuves de l’existence d’activités d’interprétation pendant le premier siècle en Chine entre l’administration de la dynastie Han postérieure (25-220 apr. J.-C.) et les tribus minoritaires non-Han peuplant la frontière sud-ouest de l’empire (aujourd’hui la province du Yunnan et l’ouest du bassin Sichuan). En plus de confirmer l’existence d’instances d’interprétation et la traduction chinoise subséquente de trois poèmes tribaux chantés, un hommage tribal à l’empereur Ming (r. 58-75) dans un dialecte Qiang (qui ne semble pas avoir eu de langue écrite), ces preuves présentent un intérêt aux historiens de l’interprétation pour la façon dont elles éclairent les quatre aspects suivants : la nature des activités d’interprétation dans l’antiquité chinoise, les récompenses politiques offertes aux interprètes amateurs, commis frontaliers de profession, en échange de la manipulation possible des traductions; les traces textuelles dans les traductions chinoises des poèmes qui laissent supposer une manipulation possible du sens et du style; et le rôle du supérieur (de l’interprète) dans la manipulation de la traduction, laquelle se fraie éventuellement un chemin dans l’histoire de la dynastie Han postérieure. Compte tenu de la nécessité politique pour la dynastie Han postérieure de promouvoir la cause sinisante parmi les tribus non-Han de l’empire, cet article soutient, en se basant sur les analyses des quatre aspects énumérés ci-dessus, que l’interprète, doté d’une connaissance rare de la langue tribale dans la cour impériale, a pu modifier consciemment la traduction des poèmes pour les adapter aux préférences de son supérieur et de l’empereur. De plus, cet article montre comment et pourquoi l’interprète, en sa qualité officielle de commis frontalier, a pu se prévaloir de ses compétences dans la langue tribale et manipuler, quoique légèrement, les archives historiques de la traduction chinoise des poèmes.
Mots-clés:
- histoire de l’interprétation,
- traduction de poèmes chantés,
- manipulation,
- archives de l’interprétation et de la traduction chinoises du premier siècle,
- interprètes et archives historiques
Parties annexes
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