A Tentative Study Of The Aesthetic Criteria In Translation Aesthetics

A lot of research work has been done in the field of translation studies. Different translation theories have been combed into different categories, they are interrelated and even interdependent. On the whole, we can say that the most important contributions to translation studies have been made in the field of translation theory. However, the links between different branches of translation studies, and the links between translation studies and other disciplines are still well worth noticing and exploring. In this thesis, our main concern is Translation Aesthetics. Aesthetics, we know, is the science of the beautiful and the feeling it creates in human beings, while Translation Aesthetics is an interdisciplinary subject that applies aesthetic theories in translation studies. Surely certain achievements have been scored in certain aspects of Translation Aesthetics, but they are far from satisfactory, much remains to be done. This thesis mainly deals with the aesthetic objects, the aesthetic subjects and the aesthetic activities in translating, puts special emphases on the analyses and discussion of concrete language materials without any denial of the importance of theoretical guidance of Translation Aesthetics, aiming at exploring some defining properties of the aesthetic criteria for translating, say, the dependency, sociality, contemporaneity and relativity. The main motivations for this author's wishing to do this are both intrinsic and utilitarian. We recognize that in a rapidly changing world in which knowledge is expanding at an unprecedented rate, information transfer and communication is coming to depend more and more on efficient and effective translation. And from the point of view of Translation Aesthetics, we believe that the exploration in this field to be inherently interesting and valuable as a vehicle for regulating and modifying the processes, appreciating the aesthetic constituents, and evaluating the translation product, for many aesthetic problems in translating often find their due close relationship with the aesthetic criteria for translating. It is the author's sincere wish that this thesis may have some enlightenment on the study and practice of Translation Aesthetics.