Translation Criticism: A Multilateral Dialogue

Translation criticism, an essential part of translation studies, is an important link between translation theory and translation practice. However, either in theoretical construction or in practice, the work in this field is far from satisfaction. Especially in view of the facts that since 1980s, translation activities have become many-faceted and translation studies more and more scientific, which call forth the mutuality of translation criticism, many critics and scholars in China are worrying about the status quo of translation criticism. From the perspective of modern hermeneutics and Bakhtin's dialogism, the thesis explores the dynamic nature of translation criticism, and makes an attempt to construct a new translation criticism paradigm, in the hope of promoting translation criticism studies.The thesis firstly makes a review of the research made on it at home and abroad, and then points out that translation criticism is far from satisfaction with the comparison with the full development of translation theory. Then the thesis summarizes three main criticism paradigms: the source text author-centered paradigm, the source text-centered paradigm and the target text reader-centered paradigm. After presenting their characteristics, it points out their defect in common, that is, these three traditional translation criticism paradigms cut the link among factors involved in the criticism process, so that they turn translation criticism into a"monologue of somebody", which have seriously obstructed the development of translation criticism. And even its efficiency and rationality have been questioned.Hermeneutics is a subject on understanding and interpretation. The shifts of hermeneutics focus and the theoretical turn of translation studies correspond to each other. In the 20th century, the linguistic turn in hermeneutics overthrows many views of traditional hermeneutics. The analysis of hermeneutic fusion of"meaning", the new definitions of"understanding"and"interpretation", the theory of"fusion of horizons"and so on inspire the new insights to translation studies. On the other hand, Bakhtin's dialogism holds that all the factors involved in the dialogue are equal and interdependent. Every factor should sustain its own characteristics and avoid being dissolved, but should not monopolize the whole dialogue. Only through making the dialogues with other factors, can they reach the fusion of horizons. Therefore, modern hermeneutics and Bakhtin's dialogism provide strong theoretical support for translation criticism's the turn from monologue to dialogue.From the perspective of modern hermeneutics and dialogism, translating process in nature is a dialogue between the source text author and the translator via the source text and the target text, in which the target text reader takes part in an indirect way. The work of the translator is a dialogic participation. Correspondingly, translation criticism turns to be an active participation of the critic in the above dialogue. In this thesis, the author defines translation criticism as a multilateral dialogue among the critic, the source text author, the translator and the target text readers who are equal in several levels of dialogue by means of the source text and the target text in the whole process. And we ought to have an open, historical and multi-dimensional spirit towards the translation criticism paradigm which is made up of several dialogues: the dialogue between the critic and the source text author, the dialogue between the critic and the translator, and the dialogue between the critic and the target text reader, which are based on the dialogue between the translator and the source text author via the source text. In this paradigm, the position of the critic is shifting, and the actual meaning of criticism lives in these dialogues which include discussion, reconciliation, agreement or even contradiction among these factors involved in the process of translation criticism. From these dialogues, the critic could revise his own views on a translated text in order to make the evaluation more objective and rational.Under the framework of this translation criticism, making use of the method of case study, the thesis probes into Zhang Guruo's Chinese version of Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy so as to test the validity of the dialogical paradigm of translation criticism, especially in literary translation criticism. By analyzing each dialogue in the whole criticism process step by step, we can see whether or not each dialogue has succeeded in fusion of horizons of the factors, which offers us a new criticism perspective. Overall, this thesis puts forward translation criticism should not be the mere analysis or comparison on the linguistic level between the target text and the source text, but a multilateral dialogue involving the interaction of every elements like the critic, the source text author, the target text reader and the translator.Through the above analysis, the thesis tries to justify the dialogical nature of the translation criticism, and clarify the criticism process and the factors involved. This new translation criticism paradigm proposed by the thesis does not only keep up with the new trend in translation studies, that is, from subjectivity to inter-subjectivity, but also provides an effective guidance for translation practice.