論文發表於 第十七屆口筆譯教學國際學術研討會（2013年3月22日於文藻外語學院）
論譯者的責任：一個經濟與實用的觀點
論譯者的責任：一個經濟與實用的觀點
翻譯研究往往著重於翻譯活動中的技術與藝術層面。以譯者的責任而言，班雅明〈譯者的天職〉堪稱此類著作中最有名的例子。但是，即便翻譯目的學派或翻譯產業研究對於翻譯行動的目的著墨甚多，但對於譯者本身的目的至今卻鮮少提及。為了彌補如此的不足，我們必須瞭解譯者於實際生活中不僅只是藝術家或技術人員，也必然是經濟個體，以自己提供的翻譯服務換取他人生產的商品與服務。本文據此互利互惠之基本經濟原理，重讀學界所發展的若干代表性翻譯理論及論述，並由個人主義方法論出發，主張個別譯者在期望改善自身福祉而採取行動之際，不僅需要達到技藝層面的要求，更肩負著更崇高的責任與義務，必須將來自其他語言及社會文化中最有價值的內容引介給本地讀者。此論文接著將討論這個命題在經濟、社會、與知識等方面中的涵義，以及為譯者帶來的挑戰及優勢。同時，本文將探討這些因素與企業家的關係，以及企業家的概念對譯者的意義。最後，本文將探討教育作為此論題邏輯之必然結果，並揭櫫譯者、企業家與教育者三者角色密不可分的關係。
The Duty of the Translator: An Economic and Practical View
For the most part, translation studies examine the artistic and
technical aspects involved in the activity of translation. As far as the duty
of translator is concerned, Walter Benjamin’s “Task of the Translator” is
arguably the most famous example. However, the purpose of translation for translators themselves by far is relatively
little discussed. Skopos theory falls short by
discussing the purpose of translation, and market research goes only as far as surveying different
sectors in the market by statistics and case studies. To address
such deficiency, one must take into account that translators in real life are
also economic (and not merely artistic or technical) beings. As such they obtain
goods and services from others by providing translation services for those who
need them in a mutually beneficial arrangement. With this basic economic principle
(or Say’s Law as known in classical economics), this paper revisits selected
writings on translation and on its theory developed in academic communities
from the viewpoint of individual translators acting with the belief to promote
their own well-being. With such methodological individualism, a view
propounded by Austrian economics, this paper argues that translator has an active
duty or responsibility to introduce what he thinks to be the best possible
contents from other source languages (or from dissimilar sociocultural contexts)
to people who share the same target language (and similar sociocultural
contexts) with him. Then, implication and challenges from the thesis regarding economic,
social, and intellectual aspects will be discussed. Then, the paper will discuss
how these concerns leads to entrepreneurship and education, and what they mean
for translator. Though inevitably requiring tremendous time and
effort, such duty or responsibility has to rely on
its practice by translators in the real world. As a result,
appeal will be made at the end to encourage translators to search for their
initiative and to perform such duty of their choosing.
Key Words: Translation studies, duty of translator, economics,
education, entrepreneurship
