文刀:“女幹部”讓外媒懵圈,不好翻譯!
guancha
【文/文刀】
#延遲退休#引海內外熱議。國內外英文媒體報道時,躲不開一個棘手的翻譯問題:如何在英文中區分“女幹部”和“女工人”?
我國現行法定退休年齡為男職工60週歲、女幹部55週歲、女工人50週歲。從2025年1月1日起,以15年時間逐步將男職工法定退休年齡延到63歲,女幹部、女工人法定退休年齡則分別延到58歲、55歲。

退休人員手捧鮮花告別職場資料圖:新華社
新華社英文稿這樣表述:
The statutory retirement age for men will be gradually raised from 60 to 63 in the course of 15 years starting 2025, while that for women cadres and women blue-collar workers will be raised from 55 to 58 and from 50 to 55, respectively. (Sept. 13, Xinhua)
路透社、美聯社均以“白領”“藍領”來區分“女幹部”和“女工人”:
The retirement age will be raised for men to 63 years old from 60, while for women in white collar work it would be raised to 58 years from 55. For women in blue collar work it will be increased to 55 from 50. (Sept. 13, Reuters)
美國彭博社把“女幹部”界定為“擔任管理崗的女性”,以“ordinary workers”描述“女工人”:
Men will retire at 63 instead of 60. Women will retire at 55 instead of 50 for ordinary workers, and 58 instead of 55 for those in management positions. (Sept. 13, Bloomberg)
CNN比較機智,以“視工作崗位而定”進行模糊化處理:
Existing rules stated that men in urban areas could retire at 60 and receive their pensions, and women at 50 or 55, depending on their occupation. (Sept. 13, CNN)
最好玩的是《華爾街日報》,直接把職場女性分為“藍領(blue-collar women)”和“其他(other women)”,估計是不想在“女幹部”一詞上浪費太多腦細胞。請看:
Beijing on Friday moved to gradually raise the statutory retirement age to 63 for men and 55 for blue-collar women. The retirement age for other women will increase to 58 from 55. (Sept. 13, WSJ)
英文媒體這些五花八門的處理方式,真是讓人眼花繚亂!
“女幹部”“女工人”這樣充滿年代感的劃分,需要在中國特定的政治文化中去理解,很難在外文中找到對應詞,英文記者編輯選詞時往往陷入顧此失彼、窮於應付的尷尬境地。
實踐中,到底如何區分“女幹部”和“女工人”?據新華社報道:
“原來50週歲退休的是女工人,55週歲退休的是女幹部。目前多數地方主要根據工作崗位確定女性退休年齡,一般生產操作崗位按照50週歲執行、管理技術崗位按照55週歲執行。”人力資源社會保障部中國勞動和社會保障科學研究院院長莫榮介紹,決定有一個小細節,就是將二者統一為女職工來表述,避免了身份爭議,也順應了當前社會環境變化。
根據這一權威解讀,以上譯法似乎都包不住“女幹部”一詞的內涵。以帶有社會主義意識形態色彩的單詞“women cadres”來表達“女幹部”,大概也是無奈之舉。好在,以後應該統一用“女職工”來表述了!
很多時候,英文不好表述,根子在中文。“順應社會環境變化”調整文風,國際傳播工作或許更好乾一些。
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