“隐私”是个公德概念

∷林巍 文／译

原 文

[1] “隐私”, 作为一个相对现代的概念, 在我们社会, 应当说是改革开放若干年之后的事; 在此之前，则是另外一回事。

[2] 改革开放前，我们的社会受“极左”思想影响深重，那时任何沾“私”的事情都与“公”相对立，都是落后、不光彩、甚至是反动的；而“隐私”更是“见不得人”和“肮脏”的代名词。

[3] 然而，随着我国商品经济的进程及日益参与国际事务，人们逐渐发现，“隐私”其实是每个人所不可或缺的。道理很简单，一个人——无论其职业、地位、身份、年龄等——在24小时的生活中，不可能时时刻刻都以同一种面目出现。若有人这样，要么他是个十足的伪君子，要么他就是不懂得如何担当自己不同的角色与责任。

[4] 通俗来说，“隐私”是指那些与他人无关、或是不愿意让他人知道的私人信息。这些信息可能涉及到宗教、信仰、爱好、性取向、私人活动等，而一旦透露，则会给本人带来歧视与难堪。一个隐私没有安全感的社会，不会是安宁的社会。

[5] 二十年前，我移民国外，当时感受最深的一点，是对于他人私人空间的尊重。譬如，排队时在人与人之间留够了距离，不像在中国时“贴”得那么紧。又如，对于他人的私人信息绝不打听，而中国人则视之为对于他人关心的细致入微。

[6] 一般公认的最基本的隐私信息，例如：政治信息、财务信息、医疗信息、家庭信息等等，都应具有相应的保护措施，甚至是法律。

[7] 只有具有相当道德的人，才会认同和尊重他人的隐私；而每人如此设身处地，自己的隐私才会得到尊重。这样的人达到一定的数量，才能形成气候与文化，那便是公德。让每个人的隐私都得到认可和尊重，是构成社会安定、和谐的重要因素。可见，“隐私”绝不是一个简单的私人概念，而是一个社会文明程度的标志。

译 文

[1] The concept of “privacy” in our society is something relatively modern—a term publicly talked about only since the recent Reform and Opening Up.

[2] Before this historical change, China was under the influence of ultra-left thought, where everything related to“self” was deemed as backward, shameful, even reactionary,since they might be in contradiction to public interest.

Needless to say, “privacy” which was almost a synonym for shamefulness or dark soul.

[3] With the development of the commodity economy and China’s increasing engagement internationally,however, Chinese gradually realized that privacy is actually in everyone’s interest. Put simply, regardless of a person’s profession, position, status, identity or age, it is impossible for him or her to appear the same 24 hours a day unless a hypocrite or hiding failure to perform.

[4] Privacy is normally regarded as personal information that is unrelated to others, or that a person is unwilling to reveal. Information such as a person’s religion, belief, hobbies, sexual orientation or personal activities may cause discrimination or embarrassment if they are unfavorably disclosed. People may lack of a sense of safety in a society where privacy cannot be properly protected.

[5] One thing that impressed me most in a country where I emigrated twenty years ago was the personal space people left for others. For example, when people are queuing up they keep a quite distance from one another, unlike the Chinese always jostling each other.Concern for others’ personal information is traditionally a way the Chinese care for others, but in a western country can be regarded as intrusive.

[6] Essential personal information may include a personal’s political affiliation, financial status, medical conditions, family affairs and so on. These ought to be appropriately protected, even by law.

[7] A moral person should recognize and respect others’privacy, and deserves the same treatment. Social ethics and a healthy culture are thus formed when moral people are evident. Respecting individuals’ privacy is an integral part of a stable and harmonious society. In a way, privacy shouldn’t be simply viewed as a personal concept at all;rather, it indicates how civilized a society is.

译 注

“隐私”作为一种概念，在标题中用了a sense of... 而在[1]中则还原为concept,而其本身未译成通俗意义上的shameful secret, 而是作为整体概念的privacy。这里的 “改革开放”也是特有所指——中国1979年之后的改革，故应以大写示之。对于“在此之前，则是另外一回事”一句，考虑到上下文，其含义已出，故未单独翻译。

在[2]中，“改革开放前”，未重复前面的Reform and Opening Up，而以this historical change代之。“那时任何沾‘私’的事情都与‘公’相对立，都是落后的、不光彩的，甚至是反动的”，其中的“私”和“公”分别以self和 public interest 译出，同时将句中的成分次序颠倒，以利于英文句式的表达：...where everything related to “self” was deemed as backward,shameful, even reactionary, since they might be in contradiction to public interest. 此外，“肮脏”并未译作通常意义上的dirtiness等，而为dark soul，即灵魂深处不可见人之物。英文里，类似如：Another ordinary school.Another teenager with a dark soul and a gun. Another harvest of young corpses（又是发生在一所普通的学校，同样一名少年怀着罪恶的念头拿着枪支，到处可见幼小的尸体）; But it is this part of the current crisis that the dark soul admires most （但是目前该危机的这一部分, 最受那些阴险人士的推崇）等。

在[3]中，“‘隐私’其实是每个人所不可或缺的”，以反向译为：...that privacy is actually in everyone’s interest.对于“在24小时的生活中，不可能时时刻刻都以同一种面目出现。若有人这样做，要么他是个十足的伪君子，要么他就是不懂得如何担当自己不同的角色与责任”，则在语意和结构上作出较大调整：...it is impossible for him or her to appear the same 24 hours a day unless a hypocrite or hiding failure to perform, 主要是求得意义上的吻合。

在[4]中，“一旦透露”指的是不情愿地被人知道，故用了are unfavorably disclosed，其中的unfavorably或unfavorable是一种比较委婉的说法，如：He is a unfavorable person（他是个不太受欢迎的人)； Actually, the existence of rivals is not always unfavorable（原来，对手的存在,并非都是一种坏事）； I think it’s way too early to go out on a limb on any stock in the sector. The odds are still unfavorable on a bill, and the shape of any legislation is anyone’s guess（我认为就该版块的股票而言，现在押注还为时过早，无人确定是否宜于提案；加上现在股市疲软的表现，我会选择观望）；“我从来不对孩子说，他比别的孩子差”（I never compare my child unfavorably to other children）；“中国的人均农业土地面积比不上世界上其他许多国家”（China compares unfavorably with many other countries in terms of per capita agricultural land）。“一个隐私没有安全感的社会，不会是安宁的社会”，将其中的“安全感”变通为人的感觉，即people may lack of a sense of safety in a society，而意为“若隐私得不到保护”：...where privacy cannot be properly protected.

在[5]中，“不像在中国时‘贴’得那么紧”，这里的“贴”未用stick to, nestle, keep close to等，而是用了jostle，该词不但有 to exist in close proximity之意，而且表示to make one’s way by pushing and shoving or crowding，故更能准确地传达此意。“对于他人的私人信息绝不打听，而中国人则视之为对于他人关心的细致入微”，其中的“绝不打听”，略强调为intrusive，而“视之为对于他人关心的细致入微”可淡化为care for others，都是一种必要的变通。

在[6]中，对于“政治信息、财务信息、医疗信息、家庭信息”亦作了相应的变通：political affiliation, financial status,medical conditions, family affairs，以求更为确切；而“都应具有相应的保护措施，甚至是法律”，在英文中则不妨另起一句，同时突出“受法律保护之意”：These ought to be appropriately protected, even by law. 类似的变通，在中英翻译中是常见的，如: Competent scientist constantly have tried to defeat their hypotheses,theories and conclusions. 为加强语势，不妨将其中的 defeat 分别译出：“务实的科学家们总是设法否定自己的假设，推翻自己的理论以及放弃自己的结论”。

在[7]中，“只有具有相当道德的人”，未按字面意思译成a person with certain degree of morality, 而是常用的a moral person；“自己的隐私才会得到尊重”则简化为deserves the same treatment.“这样的人达到一定的数量，才能形成气候与文化，那便是公德”，对于此句做了较大的变通，其中“气候、文化、公德”等概译为social ethics and a healthy culture，而“达到一定的数量”，不必译成reach certain numbers of people, 而仅处理成are evident。“构成……的重要因素”，似可译成 an important component of ... 但此处不如 an integral part of ... 更贴切。“‘隐私’绝不是一个简单的私人概念，而是一个社会文明程度的标志”，若译成 Privacy is not simply a personal concept but an indication of social civilization，便颇显呆板，而其实际含义为在怎样的程度上反映了该社会的文明。