本研究基于《孟子》英译本语料库,运用层次聚类和多维分析等量化方法,对不同英译本文体特征的趋同性和差异性进行对比分析,探讨影响典籍复译的潜在因素。研究发现,体裁方面,大部分译本与非文学性的大众读物体裁聚为一类;语体方面,译本总体上呈现出交互劝导型特征,但由于译文受源文本及译者个体差异影响较大,个别章节出现语体变异;风格方面,译本差异性主要体现在劝导型和抽象型维度,语言特征差异项分析能够验证体裁特征和文体特征的分析结果。本研究为典籍翻译研究拓展了新的研究视域,对中国思想和中国文化的外译具有借鉴意义。

Based on the corpus of six full English translations of Mencius, this study uses hierarchical clustering and multidimensional analysis to examine the similarities and differences of the stylistic features, and explores the potential factors affecting the retranslation of classics. It is found that, in terms of genre, most translations and the non-literary genre of popular reading are grouped into one category. In terms of text type, the translations generally show the characteristics of Involved Persuasion and there exist stylistic variations in certain chapters, possibly due to the influence of the source text and individual differences of translators. In terms of style feature, the differences among translations are mainly reflected in the dimensions of Overt Expression of Persuasion and Abstract/Non-Abstract Information, and the differences in linguistic features can verify the results of genre and text type features. This study contributes to expanding the scope of the studies on the translation of classics and can serve as a significant reference for the translation of Chinese thought and culture.