ABSTRACT

Paratext is designed to mediate between texts and readers, but few studies have analysed the paratextual evolution of the same translation and its function in relation to a work’s reception. This article examines how spatial changes to paratexts in eleven editions of Rongrong Ren’s Chinese version of Charlotte’s Web have a bearing on the translation’s reception. A qualitative analysis of reader comments on social media shows that: (1) an allographic preface adapted from a book review arouses some readers’ interest but acts as a spoiler for others; and (2) changing the translator’s preface to a postscript reduces the risk of giving the plot away in advance. In addition to demonstrating the role of paratext in relation to translation reception, the article further argues that, on a methodological level, researchers should note the paratextual differences between editions when conducting reception studies.

摘要

副文本旨在调解文本和读者之间的关系，但很少有研究分析同一译文的副文本演变及其与作品接受相关的功能。本文探讨了任蓉蓉的中文版《夏洛特的网》的十一个版本中副文本的空间变化。关系到译文的接受程度。对社交媒体上读者评论的定性分析表明：（1）改编自书评的异体序言引起了一些读者的兴趣，但对另一些读者来说却是一种剧透；(2)将译者的前言改为后记，降低了提前泄露情节的风险。除了论证副文本在翻译接受中的作用外，文章进一步认为，在方法论层面上，研究者在进行接受研究时应注意版本之间的副文本差异。