旅行，為了轉瞬即逝的希望：試析錢鍾書《圍城》中的旅行書寫

<p>錢鍾書的《圍城》因其獨具一格的行文、諷刺和暗喻而聞名於世，該小說對中日戰爭初期的中國文人進行了辛辣且幽默的嘲諷及批評。然而，截至目前，學界鮮少討論錢鍾書在《圍城》中的旅行書寫。傳統上，旅行往往被視為是一個文化影響、發現他者及自我的過程；極端情形下，旅行甚至是征服的開始。本文認為，錢鍾書通過旅行的情節，揭露了人性的黑暗面，例如自大、虛偽、貪婪和算計，而這些陰暗面的存在無關種族、性別、階級、教育或地區。《圍城》的男主角方鴻漸本就是一個自卑且悲觀的人，經過數次旅行之後&mdash;&mdash;從歐洲到上海、從上海到湖南、從湖南回到上海，他的這些性格特徵愈發明顯。他的一生是由一個接一個的圍城所構成，而從此圍城到彼圍城的旅途給了他短暫的可以喘息的時間和空間，這些旅行也給了他轉瞬即逝的虛假希望，那便是，他在下一站將迎來更好的機遇。</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>Famous for its masterful diction, satire, and metaphor, Qian Zhongshu’s Fortress Besieged is a sharp, humorous, and sarcastic criticism of Chinese intellectuals at the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War. Until recently, scant attention was paid to Qian’s travel writing in this novel. Travel is traditionally considered a process of cultural influence, the discovery of the other and the self or, radically, the beginning of conquest. This essay argues that Qian adopts the plot of travel to display a bleak picture of humanity, filled with pretentiousness, hypocrisy, greed, and manipulation, the existence of which is not impacted by race, gender, class, education, or region. For the novel’s protagonist Fang Hongjian, his habitual low-esteem and pessimism become more explicit after his several trips from Europe to Shanghai, from Shanghai to Hunan, and from Hunan back to Shanghai. His life consists of besieged fortresses one after another. The journey from here to there gives him temporary space and time for breathing, as well as a false and fleeting hope that he will have better chances in the next stop.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Analysis of Metaphor Translation from the Perspective of Relevance Theory—A Case Study of the Translation of Metaphor in Fortress Besieged

Fortress Besieged is a unique satirical novel in the history of Chinese contemporary literature. It is deeply loved by readers at home and abroad for its humorous and refined language. There are abundant Chinese metaphors in the novel, so it is of certain significance to explore the translation of metaphors for the cultural exchanges between China and the West. Taking the English translation of Fortress Besieged as the research subject, this paper explores how to translate metaphor in novel from the perspective of relevance theory. It is found that the translator adopts the following methods in dealing with metaphor translation: retaining the original metaphor image, transforming the original metaphor image, retaining the original metaphor image and annotating it, explaining or omitting the original metaphor image.

A Winged Word on Marriage

A foreign saying on marriage became widely known in China through Qian Zhongshu’s 1947 novel Fortress Besieged. As the novelist tells us, this saying has its source in both English and French literature, and in its different versions, marriage is either likened to a besieged fortress or a bird cage. This paper examines the origin and transmission of the saying in Greek, Arabic and Syriac sources, and argues that this saying originated in the so-called literature of the Christianized Socratic-Cynic philosophy, which once flourished in Syria. It became popular in the Byzantine and Arabic world after having been included into several famous Greek and Arabic gnomologies. Then it was introduced into modern languages, developed into different versions, finally came to China and became a household word among Chinese people.