叙事学中的“语体”指叙述者感受故事的方式，即故事是从谁的视角叙述的，“语体”因而主要指叙述视角。视角也称“聚焦”，包括全知视角、人物视角、外视角（包括第一人称外视角、第三人称外视角），或零聚焦、内聚焦、外聚焦。视角与叙事眼光密切相关，因而语体既涉及空间，也涉及时间。鲁迅勇于采用西式新体创作小说，故用外视角和人物视角等“展示”模式叙述故事成为其作品的鲜明特色。以下拟从这两种视角的传递，考察鲁迅小说的英译。

在外视角模式下，语篇是由“一个悄悄的故事外叙述者”展示的。所谓“悄悄的”，即叙述者不作任何评论，而将人物动作、状态、情景等展示给受叙者和读者，令其自己作判断。译者因此不能添加判断性词语，也不能忽略或者粗略化处理相关细节或信息。鲁迅小说与其中的细节往往蕴藏丰富而深刻的社会文化信息，译者应特别注意叙述者以貌似“客观”的方式“展示”的信息。兹以《离婚》的一个情节为例：

他跳上岸，爱姑跟着，经过魁星阁下，向着慰老爷家走。朝南走过三十家门面，再转一个弯，就到了，早望见门口一列地泊着四只乌蓬船。（鲁迅，2005b：151)

姚莘农的译文：

Startled from his musing, Chuang Mu-san looked up to see the shrine of Kuei-hsin immediately in front of him. Ai-ku followed him ashore. They passed the shrine and moved on in the direction of Master Wei's home, where the negotiations between the two families were to take place.

They passed about thirty doors, moving in a southerly direction, turned a corner, and they were there. Four dark-sailed boats stood at anchor in front of the big gate. (Lu et al., 1936: 89)

王际真的译文：

He jumped ashore, followed by Ai-ku, passed by under the tower and walked in the direction of His Honor Wei's house, which was reached after passing about twenty or thirty houses and making a turn at the end. There were boats moored in a row in front of the

house. (Lusin, 1941: 35)

杨宪益夫妇的译文：

Chuang jumped ashore, and Ai-ku followed him. They passed the pavilion and headed for Mr. Wei's house. After passing thirty houses on their way south, they turned a corner and reached their destination. Four boats with black awnings were moored in a row at the gate. (Lu,1956:266;1970:265;1972:219;1954年译本未含此篇）

William A.Lyell的译文：

Zhuang Wood-three disembarked, followed by his daughter, and together they walked past the temple and headed off toward the Wei house. Moving southward along the bank,they passed some thirty gates,took another little turn, and there they were. Long before arriving, they had noticed four black-canopied boats moored at the Wei family's place. (Lu, 1990: 381)

Julia Lovell的译文：

Musan stepped ashore, Aigu following behind. Once past the pavilion, they went on towards Mr Wei's house. Heading south they left some thirty dwellings behind them, until one more turn brought them to the Weis' dark lacquered gate, next to which four boats, each with black awnings, were moored.(Lu, 2009: 287)

原文里的“他”是爱姑的父亲庄木三，此刻父女两人正赶往庞庄。爱姑数年前嫁到庞庄，丈夫后来有了婚外情。经过文化人“慰老爷”和“七大人”说和，夫家拟以赔偿结束婚姻。当中有以下两点值得特别注意。

其一，采用外视角记录人物疾行的情景。外视角也称摄像头叙事模式，该模式“具有较强的逼真性和客观性，并能引起很强的悬念”。庄父觉得女儿为离婚已闹了三年，故希望尽快接受赔偿了事。姚译中的where the negotiations between the two families were to take place 系译者的补充，但有悖于原文的叙述特点，且庄氏父女到庞庄后也未经协商。慰老爷原本让爱姑前夫家多备钱，结果只增加十元（共九十元），便让庄氏父女稀里糊涂地同意离婚。原文里“他跳上岸，爱姑跟着”至少包含两层意思：（1）小说人物有类型化特点，有其各自的生活天地，庄木三是渔民，“上岸”意味着他可能在陌生世界任人摆布。姚译未显这两个句子，显然欠妥；（2）上述两个句子反映了父权社会父女的主次关系，也隐藏不稳定因素，即略受新思想影响的爱姑对父亲不放心，因此她紧“跟”在父亲后面。由此看来，王和Lyell用被动式（followed by）不如杨和Lovell用主动式（followed、following）妥当。另外，为突出父女俩匆匆赶路的情形，原文按时间和空间顺序使用了一连串短句，当中包括“经过”、“向……走”、“走过三十家门面”、“再转一个弯”等词语，暗示庄氏父女对这段路已很熟悉，但它弯弯曲曲，象征爱姑曲折的离婚过程。译者应依照原文顺序译出这些短句，以再现人物急速行进的情形。姚把这段话译成两段，补充了信息，且使用较长句子，因而未能传递上述效果。