随着《四世同堂》浦爱德英译全稿的发现,有关这部鸿篇巨制中残缺结局的中文回译便成了老舍研究界的热点事件。事实上,《四世同堂》的“译面”和“译心”分别历经海外译出路径中的“变形”以及国内译入路径中的“还原”。研究指出,《四世同堂》的回译目的决定了奉“原作者”为中心,视“原文本”为本体的“还原论”思想;其“求同”的回译策略使得译者主体性的发挥面临“一仆三主”的制约;但回译的结果绝不等同于“译底”的“复活”,而是原作(者)在新的时空语境下带着译者主体阐释烙印的“重生”(reborn)。正因如此,《四世同堂》的特殊回译现象体现了“逆后学”翻译研究的本质性特征,也在借助“译面”,透过“译心”寻找“译底”的过程中实现了文化的升值、复兴与反哺。

With the discovery of Ida Pruitt’s English version, back-translation of Four Generations in One House has become a hot issue. In fact, its fake original and fake targets have gone through deformation and reduction respectively. The study points out that the purpose of back-translation determines its nature of reductionism, taking the author as the center and the original text as the ontology. Under the rule of seeking equivalence, translator’s subjectivity is faced with restrictions. However, the result is by no means the resurrection of the original base, but the original reborn with the translator’s interpretation in the new spatio-temporal context. It is for this reason that the special phenomenon embodies essential characteristics of anti-postmodern translation studies. Meanwhile, the appreciation, revival, and feedback of culture have been accomplished during the process of seeking original base through fake targets, with the help of fake original.