內容簡介
本輯選譯臺灣新文學作家楊逵八篇小說，包括：綠島時期的著名作品〈春光關不住〉（後改題為〈壓不扁的玫瑰花〉）；奠定作者小說家地位的〈新聞配達夫〉；其他篇章為〈模範村〉、〈無醫村〉、〈增產の蔭に－吞氣のな爺さんの話〉、〈泥人形〉、〈水牛〉與〈鵞鳥の嫁入〉。閱讀楊逵如何透過文學，真實且批判性地反映時代與社會。楊逵（1906-1985）是日治時期最早獲得日本文壇肯定的台灣小說家，自稱 「人道的社會主義者」，透過文學作品追求實踐理想而投入農民勞工運動、社會政治運動，以及文化運動的實用主義文學家。
本書在選擇作品時，承楊逵孫女楊翠教授推薦，我們最後決定短篇小說八篇，兼顧作品的思想性和文學性，可以說是最足以代表楊逵在小說方面的代表作。其中，〈增產之背後〉和〈泥娃娃〉是根據日文首次翻譯成英文。叢刊第20集翻譯的〈鵝媽媽出嫁〉，是根據中文版本，本書特地推出根據日文的英文譯本。由於楊逵作品屢經作者修改，引起評論家張恆豪呼籲〈存其真貌—談〈送報伕〉譯本及其延伸的問題〉。為讀者參照方便，我們特地重刊Robert Backus根據日文精心翻譯的〈新聞配達夫〉，或許較近原貌，可以為楊逵作品日中英三種版本比較研究提供方便的資料。
Yang K'uei (1906-1985), the first Taiwanese writer recognized in the literary circles of Japan during the period of Japanese rule, referred to himself as a “humanitarian socialist.” He was a pragmatic author who used his literary works to pursue the realization of his ideals, while throwing himself into the farmers and laborers movement as well as promotion of social, political and cultural reforms.
For this special issue on Yang K’uei, we thank Professor Yang Tsui (Yang K’uei’s granddaughter) for her recommendation of works, from which we selected eight stories with particular consideration to both the theme and the literary quality of the works, as well as to which works are most representative of Yang K’uei’ fiction. Among them, “Behind the Increases of Production” and “Clay Dolls” are translated from the Japanese texts into English for the first time. The translation of “Mother Goose Gets Married,” published earlier in Journal No. 20, January 2007, was based on the Chinese texts, and in this issue we have purposely provided a new version based on the Japanese texts. Since Yang K’uei’s works have often been revised by the author, we have responded to the critic Chang Heng-hao’s appeal to “keep its true features,” as stated in his article, “Cun qi zhenmao—tan ‘Songbaofu’ yiben jiqi yanshen wenti.” [Keep Its True Features— On Translations of ‘Newspaper Carrier’ and the Issues Derived.] For reference convenience, we have reprinted the translation of “The Newspaper Carrier” published in the journal, which was carefully translated from the original text by Robert Backus. This version is hopefully close to the original features and will provide a reference point for a comparative study of the different versions of Yang K’uei’s works in Japanese, Chinese, and English.
For this special issue on Yang K’uei, we thank Professor Yang Tsui (Yang K’uei’s granddaughter) for her recommendation of works, from which we selected eight stories with particular consideration to both the theme and the literary quality of the works, as well as to which works are most representative of Yang K’uei’ fiction. Among them, “Behind the Increases of Production” and “Clay Dolls” are translated from the Japanese texts into English for the first time. The translation of “Mother Goose Gets Married,” published earlier in Journal No. 20, January 2007, was based on the Chinese texts, and in this issue we have purposely provided a new version based on the Japanese texts. Since Yang K’uei’s works have often been revised by the author, we have responded to the critic Chang Heng-hao’s appeal to “keep its true features,” as stated in his article, “Cun qi zhenmao—tan ‘Songbaofu’ yiben jiqi yanshen wenti.” [Keep Its True Features— On Translations of ‘Newspaper Carrier’ and the Issues Derived.] For reference convenience, we have reprinted the translation of “The Newspaper Carrier” published in the journal, which was carefully translated from the original text by Robert Backus. This version is hopefully close to the original features and will provide a reference point for a comparative study of the different versions of Yang K’uei’s works in Japanese, Chinese, and English.