Cultural Approaches To Translation Studies: Dispute And Response

The focuses of cultural approaches to translation studies have been shifting since 1970s. Several unique research models have been established in different cultural contexts. They include polysystem theory originated from Israel, descriptive translation studies promoted by Gideon Toury and translation scholars from Low Countries, skopos and function theory of translation initiated from Germany, postcolonial translation studies shaped in colonial-related countries, and feminist translation studies focalized in Canada. Cultural turn in translation studies enlightened by cultural studies has become a turning point for cultural approaches to translation studies. Cultural approaches to translation studies renovate the notion of translation, and precipitate the emergence and development of translation studies discipline.Since the middle 1990s, cultural approaches translation theories have been introduced into China translation academia. They caused the boom of theoretic translation research, while they also aroused heavy debate. Some argued that translation studies discipline in China should have our own Chinese characteristics. Some argued that the cultural approaches to translation studies deviated from the discipline per se and suggested to return back to linguistics. Some argued that the cultural approaches to translation studies confused the notion of translation and jeopardized the translation practice. In what aspects have cultural approaches translation theories changed China present notion of translation? What effects have cultural approaches to translation studies brought to translation studies discipline? The thesis attempts to give responses to all sort of disputes by tracking the genealogy of cultural approaches, tries to reflect on their impact on translation research in China. The focus of the paper is on the impact of the notion of translation and the notion of the translation studies discipline.The main body of this study is composed of six parts. The introduction discusses the source of the question under consideration, the travel process of cultural approaches translation theories in China, the major debates, the methodology used and a brief study plan.Chapter one introduces the background of cultural approaches to translation studies. The trend to focus on culture in humanity studies has brought on the rise of cultural studies. The shift of translation object has changed the notion of translation. The Leuven Group of translation scholars, composed of cultural approaches researchers, has expedited the genesis and development of translation studies discipline.Chapter two reduces cultural approaches to their contexts of genesis with the method of eventualization to examine the genealogy of cultural approaches to translation studies. All cultural approaches since 1970s have been reconsidered in a way of contextualization. They include Even-Zohar's polysystem theory, Toury and other low countries scholars'descriptive translation studies, skopos and functional theory of translation, cultural turn in translation studies as a turning point, postcolonial translation studies and feminist translation studies. The main focus is on the change of the notion of translation and the development of translation studies discipline.Chapter three discusses the innovation of the notion of translation caused by the cultural approaches to translation studies, and gives response to the dispute about the notion of translation. Cultural approaches not only expand the traditional concept of translation, but also deepen its connotation. Cultural approaches to translation studies greatly transform our notion of translation, including the traditional translation conception, methodology, research focus, philosophic basis of research and others. The notion of translation has been completely changed ever since, so has the notion of translation studies discipline. The changed notion of translation has aroused heavy controversy and impact on the thousands of years of dominated conception of translation after its introduction to China. The academic ecology between translation theory and practice can only be balanced after differentiating the study on how to translate and why translations being like that, academic division between knowledge seeking and application orientation.Chapter four analyzes the effects that cultural approaches to translation studies have brought to translation studies discipline, and gives responses to all disputes related to the discipline. Cultural approaches translation scholars have constantly reconfigured the discipline map, enriched research object and re-orientated the nature of the discipline during the past forty years. Cultural approaches to translation studies have contributed to the fast development of the discipline in China since their introduction to China. The research on translation is not equal to or limited to the study on language. The new generation of linguistic approaches to translation studies has some common ground and differentiated features with cultural approaches. Cultural approaches and linguistic approaches are complementary; therefore it's unnecessary for the discipline to return to linguistics. The combination hypothesis between these two approaches will confuse their own features. The genealogy analysis of cultural approaches to translation studies indicates that different national features have established in different cultural contexts. Translation studies has developed into an interdisciplinary, multi-paradigm and non-boundary field, which breaks through the traditional notion of discipline.The conclusion part proposes that the dispute and misunderstanding of the notion of translation are caused by the incomplete knowledge about the cultural approaches translation theories. The dispute about how to develop translation studies discipline is caused by the lack of genealogy analysis of cultural approaches, and failure to understand the intergrowth among cultural approaches to translation studies, translation studies discipline, and cultural turn in translation studies. The most important enlightenment that cultural approaches have brought us is the multiple research methodology which puts translation in different contexts or framework to study.