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1IntroducingTranslationStudies—TheoriesandApplicationsName:ZhuMiClass:English1122013/12/242IntroducingTranslationStudies—TheoriesandApplicationsI.Mainissuesoftranslationstudies1.1TheconceptoftranslationThetermtranslationitselfhasseveralmeanings:itcanrefertothegeneralsubjectfield,theproductortheprocess.Theprocessoftranslationbetweentwodifferentwrittenlanguagesinvolvesthetranslatorchanginganoriginalverballanguageintoawrittentextinadifferentverballanguage.—interlingualtranslationTheRussian-AmericanstructuralistRomanJakobsoninhisseminalpaper”Onlinguisticaspectsoftranslation’gavehiscategoriesasintralingualtranslation,interlingualtranslationandintersemiotictranslation.1.2Whataretranslationstudies?Writtenandspokentranslationstraditionallywereforscholarshipandreligiouspurposes.Yetthestudyoftranslationasanacademicsubjecthasonlyreallybeguninthepastfiftyyears,thankstotheDutch-basedUSscholarJamesS.Holmes.Reasonsforprominence:first,therehasbeenaproliferationofspecializedtranslatingandinterpretingcoursesatbothandundergraduateandpostgraduatelevel;second,othercourses,insmallernumbers,focusonthepracticeofliterarytranslation;the1990salsosawaproliferationofconferences,booksandjournalsontranslationinmanylanguages;inaddition,varioustranslationeventswereheldinIndia,andanon-linetranslationsymposiumwasorganized.1.3AbriefhistoryofthedisciplineThepracticeoftranslationwasdiscussedby,forexample,CiceroandHoraceandStJerome;theirwritingsweretoexertanimportantinfluenceupuntilthetwentiethcentury.Thestudyoftranslationofthefielddevelopedintoanacademicdisciplineonlyinthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury.Beforethat,translationhadnormallybeenmerelyanelementoflanguagelearninginmodernlanguagecourses,knownforthegrammar-translationmethod.WiththeriseofthedirectmethodorcommunicativeapproachtoEnglishlanguageteachinginthe1960sand1970s,thegrammar-translationmethodfellintoincreasingdisrepute.IntheUSA,translationwaspromotedinuniversitiesinthe1960sbythetranslationworkshopconcept.Runningparalleltoitwasthatofcomparativeliterature.Anotherareainwhichtranslationbecomethesubjectofresearchwascontrastiveanalysis.Thecontinuedapplicationofalinguisticapproachingeneral,andspecificlinguisticmodelssuchasgenerativegrammarorfunctionalgrammar,hasdemonstratedaninherentandgut3linkwithtranslation.Anditbegantoemergeinthe1950sand1960s.—EugeneNida1.4TheHolmes/Toury“map”JamesS.Holems’s”Thenameandnatureoftranslationstudies”wasregardedas“generallyacceptedasthefoundingstatementforthefield”.Heputsforwardanoverallframework,describingwhattranslationstudiescovers.IthasbeensubsequentlypresentedbyGideonToury.AnotherareaHolmesmentionistranslationpolicy,whereheseesthetranslationscholaradvisingontheplaceoftranslationinsociety,includingwhatplace,ifany,itshouldoccupyinthelanguageteachingandlearningcurriculum.“Translationpolicy”wouldnowadaysfarmorelikelyberelatedtotheideologythatdeterminestranslationthanwasthecaseinHolmesdescription.1.5Developmentssincethe1970sContrastiveanalysishasfallenbythewayside.Thelinguistic-oriented“science”oftranslationhascontinuedstronglyinGermany,buttheconceptofequivalenceassociatedwithithasdeclined.Germanyhasseentheriseoftheoriescentredontexttypesandtextpurpose,whiletheHallidayaninfluenceofdiscourseanalysisandsystemicfunctionalgrammar,whichvieslanguageasacommunicativeactinasocioculturalcontext,hasbeenprominentoverthepastdecades,especiallyinAustraliaandtheUK.Thelate1970sand1980salsosawtheriseofadescriptiveapproachthathaditsoriginsincomparativeliteratureandRussianFormalism.ThepolysystemistshaveworkedwithaBelgium-basedgroupandtheUK-basedscholars.The1990ssawtheincorporationofnewschoolsandconcepts,withCanadian-basedtranslationandgenderresearchledbySherrySimon,theBraziliancannibalistschoolpromotedbyElseVieira,postcolonialtranslationtheory.II.Translationtheorybeforethetwentiethcentury2.1“Word-for-word”or“sense-for-sense”?Upuntilthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury,translationtheoryseemedlockedinwhatGeorgeSteinercallsa”sterile”debateoverthe“triad”of“literal”,”free”and“faithful”translation.ThedistinctiongoesbacktoCiceroandStJerome.Cicerosaid,”…keepingthesameideasandforms…butinlanguagewhichconformstoourusage…Ipreservedthegeneralstyleandforceofthelanguage.”Hedisparagedword-for-wordtranslation.StJeromesaid,”…whereeventhesyntaxcontainsamystery—Irendernotword-for-word,butsense-for-sense.”2.2MartinLutherLutherfollowsStJeromeinrejectingaword-for-wordtranslationstrategysinceitwouldbe4unabletoconveythesamemeaningastheSTandwouldsometimesbeincomprehensible.HefocusesontheTLandtheTTreaderandhisfamousquote:”Youmustaskthemotherathome,thechildreninthestreet,theordinarymaninthemarketandlookattheirmouths,howtheyspeak,andtranslatethatway;thenthey’llunderstandandseethatyou’respeakingtotheminGerman.”2.3Faithfulness,spiritandtruthFloraAmosnotesthatearlytranslatorsoftendifferedconsiderablyinthemeaningtheygavetotermssuchas“faithfulness”,“accuracy”andeventheword“translation”itself.LouisKellyinTheTrueInterpretercallsthe“inextricablytangled”terms“fidelity”,”spirit”and“truth”.Kellyconsidersthatitwasnotuntil