두 시공간을 잇는 작업, 헤로도토스 『역사』의 번역

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the problems of translating ancient Western historical writings, focusing on Herodotus’ Historiai. In chapter 2, it deals with the translation method of Herodotus’ Historiai. Herodotus’ Historiai needs to be faithfully translated as an academic book for readers who are concerned with ancient Western history. The text type and character of Historiai as a historical source demand source text oriented translation. These translation methods for Historiai almost accord with the concept of foreignization proposed by L. Venuti, one of the most influential theorists in translation studies. I think the concept of foreignization could be a most suitable translation theory for the academic and faithful translation of some historical writings such as Herodotus’ Historiai. In chapter 3, this article intends to examine how the foreignizing translation could be applied in translating Herodotus’ Historiai. Here the source-text foreign elements of Herodotus’ Historiai are divided into three categories, that is, the foreign elements in Herodotus’ world, those in Herodotus himself, and those in Herodotus’ text. Names(such as proper names, names of musical instruments) and conceptions(such as ethnos, polis) used by Herodotus in his Historiai belong to the foreign elements in Herodotus’ world. These names and conceptions should be translated faithfully to Herodotus’ own words in order to retain the foreign elements in Herodotus’ world. The foreign elements in Herodotus himself include some ideas, habits, and characters of Herodotus. In this article, Herodotus’ two opposing viewpoints, i.e. his Greek-centric mindset and multicultural awareness are treated as foreign elements in Herodotus himself. Some words and sentences showing those viewpoints also should be retained in translating the source text. The foreign elements in Herodotus’ text mean some peculiarities occurring frequently in his text. These are the division between the opinions of Herodotus’ and any other’s, use of introductory participles that repeat the main verb of the previous sentence, use of prospective sentences accompanied by forward-looking demonstratives(such as ὅδε, ὧδε, τοιόσδε), and use of γάρ sentences introducing the reason or cause of what precedes. These peculiarities are important for preserving the characteristic form of Herodotus’ text, and therefore should be retained unless they severely impair readability in the target language text.