A "New Rhetoric" Approach To Translation

The translation studies in our time has become an interdisciplinary endeavor marked by a plurality of approaches, covering a great variety of topics and methods. It has witnessed several "turns" in the process of its development, such as the "linguistic turn", the "deconstructionist turn", the "functionalist turn", the "communicative turn", the "descriptive turn", the "cultural-sociological turn" and the "translator's turn." What is taking shape in this field is a "U turn," a return to a focus on language itself. However, this does not mean a retreatment to the same old tradition. Rather, it signals a re-emphasis on the translation text itself by placing it within different frameworks and approaching it from all kinds of perspectives. By drawing on insights from linguistic analysis, translation scholars seek to better explain translation processes and to better guide the translation practice.While we hail the great achievements translation studies has scored as a result of taking all the above-mentioned "turns," some very basic but important aspects are yet to be given due attention. For instance, the study of the audience in translation remains marginalized even though the term has been casually referred to all the time. And the translation as a special mode of symbolic power is similarly neglected, which is all the more striking if we consider the fact that too much attention has been given to macro and external factors of translation.To address these issues, the dissertation tries to introduce "New Rhetoric", also understood as contemporary Western rhetorical theories, into the study of translation. Developed out of classic rhetoric, "New Rhetoric" is an integrated linguistic theory fully committed to the centrality of audience and its interaction with the rhetor, and with a dominant interest in studying how symbolic power is generated through effective use of symbolic resources in all discursive practices. Within its theoretical framework, rhetoric becomes a cognitive approach as well as a social practice.Proceeding from where rhetoric and translation converge in the real-life discursive practices, the dissertation makes an attempt to redefine translation by rendering salient the audience and the verbal symbols as two of its key factors. Attempts are also made to apply contemporary rhetorician Kenneth Burke's notion of "dramatic pentad" to a reexamination of the participants in translation and, in particular, of the interactive relationship or cooperative partnership between the translator and the audience.Ours has been a time when translation is becoming more and more oriented toward the "real world." It is imperative that we understand, explain and practice translation with a heightened rhetorical awareness. Major concerns should be given to the symbolic power generated by and embodied in all socio-cultural and discursive acts in terms of the influence these acts exert on those involved. Translation is no exception. In this regard, the "New Rhetoric" approach provides valuable insights into how translators could address their current concerns and, in particular, solve the perennial problem of poor quality of translation of publicity for an international audience. The introduction of "New Rhetoric" to translation and related discussions is both theoretically and practically illuminating. The project contributes to the correcting of translation scholars' "pre-understanding" or "traditional" conception of rhetoric as simply figurative or stylistic devices. And it also opens a new vista for a better understanding of translation in general, especially of its relevancy to the real-world concerns and needs.