A Study Of Historicality In Translation

Traditional translation studies once aimed to establish universal principles and a unified translation critic standard under which all translation activities would function. This notion, however, is built on a flawed assumption that any two language systems involved in a given translation are entirely equivalent. The emergence of a cultural turn in translation studies since the 1970s shifted the focus from language itself to cultural factors. In addition, the subjectivity of translators began to receive a wider recognition.After a brief summary of historicality from a philosophical perspective, this thesis asserts the concept of historicality in translation and places much emphasis on the time factor in translation studies. In addition, this thesis takes the position that the study of historicality in translation should be based on primarily translators' historicality, which is required to explain the historical reasons for the adoption of certain translation strategies.The field of historicality study covers many aspects and this study discusses four aspects: ideology, readers' expectations, foreign cultural acceptance and the target language. Two classical Chinese translations of Gone With the Wind-namely Fu Donghua's 1940 version and Chen Liangting's 1990 version-are used in this thesis as examples to analyze the specific historical reasons for the differences between versions.Moreover, the case studies of these Gone With the Wind translations illustrate that the introduction of historicality into translation studies may itself exert significant influence. First, historicality will enrich the breadth and depth of translator subjectivity studies. It should be noted that subjectivity is affected by changes in the timeline; therefore, translators' subjectivity functions under a limited historicality. Second, historicality provides a new, helpful perspective for translation studies, which shifts the research focus from inner text factors to outer text factors. Rather than being a self-reliant system, meaning is the product of the effects of history and the interaction between a translator's historicality and the text itself. Third of all, the critical standards for translation change with the presence of historicality in translation studies. The critical method shifts from the pursuit of pure objectivity to a close study of the historicality under which the translation was conducted. Finally, this thesis hopes to persuade translation experts to pursue further study of historicality.