Translation: Always On The Way Of Interpretation

In Traditional theories, translation is simply regarded as the transformation from source language to target language. With the significant linguistic turn in western philosophy, people have come to realize that translation is an creative process and translator is not simply the servant following the author absolutely but turns out as a subject with initiative and creativity.Hermeneutics relates closely with translation studies. In the phase of methodological hermeneutics, people hold that the task of the interpreters is to represent the meaning of author accurately. Hence, the translator's subjectivity has been neglected for a long time. In the phase of ontological hermeneutics, Heidegger expounds the multiplicity of interpretation and the indefiniteness of meaning, and thus the interpreter's subjectivity is becoming the central issue of hermeneutical studies. It is Gadamar and his philosophical hermeneutics that push the development of hermeneutics into a new phase. Adopting the theories in philosophical hermeneutics, this thesis analyzes that the principles of "Historicality of understanding", "effective-history" and "Fusion of horizons" relate closely with translator's interpretation.As a special case of interpretation, translation is subjective in nature. The openness of text calls for different interpretations from different interpreters. However, while stressing on the important role of interpreter's subjectivity, Gadamar's philosophical hermeneutics inclines to magnify the subjective arbitrariness to some extent. Focusing on this inclination, the thesis incorporates the hermeneutic theories of Hirsch and Eco to show that there is a dialectical unity in the finity and infinity of translator's interpretation, which prevents the mistaken tendency of overemphasizing translator's subjectivity. Nowadays, facing the trend of cultural diversity, this thesis emphasizes the task of modern translators is not only to transform source text into target text, but also plays an important role in cultural communication. Cultural diversity calls for different interpretations from diversified cultures. In translating practices, the interpretations of the source text are endless and the perpetual charm of translation is just represented in the way of eternal interpretation.