| This study attempts to tackle the issue of translation by applying theories and methods from axiology, the philosophy of value that is concerned with the meaning, characteristics and classification of value, the nature of evaluation and the character of value judgment. It is not a study of translation strategies that can help to achieve "equal value", but rather a study of value itself. It aims at providing a relatively systematic description and generalization of the types and manifestations of the values of literary translation.Value is fundamental to our lives and livelihood. It is something we are bom with and are pursuing all through our lives. The pursuit of value is not only a motivating force for human progress but also the yardstick for human activities. Without value, our life would be incomplete and meaningless.Value is the means and ends of our knowing and doing. Understanding the values as embodied in something is fundamental to understanding the thing itself. Thus, to grasp the essence of translation, it is necessary to understand the values of translation. The issue of value in the field of translation studies is related not only to the translator's purpose and motivation, but also to the nature, principles, standards and methods of translation. It also has something to do with the social and cultural factors that influence the production and reception of translation. To study this issue, almost all aspects of translation can be taken into account, from those aspects at the macro-level to those at the micro-level, from the internal aspects to the external 6nes, from the purpose to the process, to the products of translation. Given its importance for understanding the essence of translation, the study of the values of translation shall be given more attention.A survey of the history of the practice and the theory of translation both in China and in Western countries before the late 1970s shows that neither have the values of translation been fully acknowledged nor has this issue received proper scholarly treatment. Traditional translation theory, both in China and in the West, and linguistics-oriented science of translation are concerned with the problems of the possibility and the transferring process of translation, showing little interest in this issue. The fidelity/equivalence based conceptions about translation and the discourses that prioritize the original work and author have resulted in a natural underestimation of the values of translation. The shift of perspectives in recent approaches from the source-side to the target-side since the late 1970s marks a tendency of reevaluating translation. Studies by polysystemic theorists, cultural studies scholars, feminist and post-colonist translation scholars, etc. challenge the traditional idea of translation being an inferior, subsidiary, marginal activity and foreground the translator's visibility and subjectivity. However, limited within their own small areas, no perspective has provided a relatively full picture of the values of translation.Translation studies is rising into an independent discipline, but different branches do not develop in parallel. The issue of values of translation is understudied. In particular, there are three major problems with the present theoretical studies on this issue, that is, lack of theorization, lack of systematic thinking, instrumentalism. Discussions and attempts to systematize values of translation are relatively rare.The term value is used in a confused and confusing way. At present, translation scholars are not using it consistently. Translation studies still needs conceptual analysis on this point, in order to arrive at an agreed interpretation of this key concept. Based on Marxist notions of value, the key points to understanding this concept are summed up as follows: (1) Value should be understood in terms of human existence. Value is the basic constitution of human existence, the link between man and the world. (2) The basis of the existence of value is human practice. Value is produced and realized in practice. (3) System is the mode of existence of value. (4) Value is the unity of subject and object, etc.. It is a subject's confirmation and awareness of its self-existence in objectivized activities. With this concept of value, translation is also understood in terms of its connection with human existence. Translation exists not because there is an original work that needs to be translated, but because we human beings need it and because it is a part of the very structure of human life, a mode of human existence. In this sense, translation is not a way of saying, but a way of doing things with words. It is a human practice in pursuit of the meaning and value of life, and translation studies is a value study targeting at value construction and meaning interpretation.The system of translation is the basis on which values of translation are generated and exist. Recent translation studies try to establish the autonomy of translation by describing its system. However, no consensus has been reached as to the fundamental questions pertaining to the system of translation. What are the elements in the situation of translation? Which are the subjective or objective elements? In what way are the elements interrelated? In general, the system models proposed are mostly based on either the subject-objective relations or intersubjective relations. Neither of the two models can represent the system structure of translation comprehensively. In this study, a description of the system of translation is made on the ground of the basic structure of subject-object-subject model in Marxist views on communicative practice. The system is a many-layered network consisting of intersubjective and subject-objective dialogic relations among the system elements. Priority is put on the analysis of the subject of translation as an outline of the relationship among author/translator/reader can help to dispel the lower status implied in the myth of translation as a secondary activity. It acknowledges that author, translator and target readers are all subjects in the situation of translation, but they are subjects in difference. As subjects of doing, they play different roles in the process of translation. As value subjects, the values of translation for them are not always the same. In this sense, the value system of translation may be described as consisting of the value relations between translation and the author, translation and the translator, translation and target readers.The system is also approached from a dynamic point of view, that is, the production of the values of translation. It points out that the production of the target text is a process in which the translator makes value choices and participates in the creation of values. In this process, the translator realizes his/her best capacities and potentialities in pursuit of a successful life and the achievement of a true or real life. It manifests the translator's awareness and confirmation of his/her self-existence and his/her participation in the value construction of his/her community and even of mankind as a whole. The reception of translation is a process in which target readers participate in the creation of values and realizes values. It follows then that both translating and writing are value production and value realization and that translation not only has a life in its own right, but also increases the values of the original work by establishing interaction between target readers and the original author. Translation and writing are but different stages of the same value chain that supplement each other in passing on the human spirit and life experience across time and space.Translation is a multi-dimensional human practice and is related to human existence in various ways. Seen from each dimension, the values of translation take on different forms. The old dispute of whether translation is science or art indicates different notions about the values of translation. The problem with the theorists involved in this dispute lies in the fact that they raise the wrong questions. They mistake some attributes and characteristics of translation as its being and consequently, their understanding of its values is instrumental and the different forms of values are isolated from each other. The study of both the essence and values of translation is to start from examining the constitution of its being. Following a phenomenological approach, it can be seen that literary images are the basic constitution of the being of translation. literary translation is a process of creating literary images, which consists of dialogues between translator and author, source text, target text and target readers. In all these dialogues there reside "beauty" and "truth", with both terms used in an existentialistic sense. Beauty is not a property of a thing or the thing itself. It is the value closely related to aesthetic needs—the highest and central needs in human life. Truth is not the agreement between understanding and things as it is traditionally used. It is, in Heidegger's sense, Dasein's (human existence) discloseness or uncoveredness, Dasein's openness to its possibilities, in this sense, the becoming of values in translation is a process of discovering beauty and disclosing truth. Translation is a cultural practice. Therefore, the cultural perspective is important to the issue of values of translation. With value being understood as "function", the cultural values of literary translation are often equated to what literary translation has done in developing culture. In this study, the concept of cultural value is termed as the cultural being of man, of what man "is" culturally. Thus, to describe the cultural values is to describe what constitutes the cultural being of man as embodied in translation activity and to describe what translation can do in cultivating the mind, promoting man's maturity and developing man's personality, and so on. Seen from this perspective, the artistic values of literary translation are a part of the cultural values of literary translation. Other parts of the cultural values lie in the ethical, moral and political implications of translation. In this sense, translation is an embodiment of man's concern with social reality and the pursuit for cultural ideal.The system of values of literary translation is a dynamic, comprehensive system. First, human existence is multi-dimensional and translation,activity takes place and develops with different motives and to meet various human needs. Secondly, there are multi-layered complicated relations within translation system. Thirdly, as a social-cultural practice, translation is also closely related to other social-cultural systems. Seen from different relations, the values of translation take on different forms. In general, the system can be seen as the organic unity of the true, the good and the beautiful.The study of values of literary translation has many implications. It provides a theoretical basis for valuing literary translation both at the micro-level and the macro-level and strengthens the notion of translation studies being academic study in a real sense. It provides a basis for examining why and how translation should be performed and leads to a better understanding of the essence and significance of literary translation. In so doing, it gives translation the right to life and wins respects for translators. What's more, recognition of the values of literary translation indicates a better understanding of ourselves.To sum up, literary translation is not merely a technical operation. It is an advanced human intellectual activity as well as literary writing. Literary translation shall participate in today's value construction and take on more positive roles.This dissertation consists of seven chapters.Chapter 1 is the introduction of this dissertation. It discusses the background, aim and research questions, methods and significance of this study.Chapter 2 offers a historical overview of ideas on the nature, functions, uses, effects and importance of translation, and examines how attitudes towards translation have been changing across time and space and how those changes have affected the disciplinary growth of translation studies. It also gives an account of the theoretical studies on the issue of values of literary translation, and points out that lack of theorization, lack of systematic thinking, and instrumentalism are the three major problems at present.Chapter 3 makes conceptual analysis of the term value and translation with a view to laying a solid theoretical foundation for the description and analysis of the system of values of translation. Given the fact that the term value is used in a confused and confusing way in the filed of translation studies, a conceptual analysis of the term value is made. Translation is defined as a human practice in quest of the meaning and value of life. This chapter also defines the scope and aim of the study of the values of translation and points out that it is an integrated part of the discipline of translation studies.Chapter 4 discusses the system of translation and analyzes the relationship between translation and the original in terms of value. Traditional idea of the values of translation is incomprehensive and misleading. Worse than this, translation is not treated as a vehicle of values in its own right. Therefore, to establish the autonomy of translation predicates the discussion of its values. By applying Marxist views on communicative practice, this chapter makes an analysis of the system of translation and discusses the relationship among author, translator and readers. It points out that they are all the subjects in the situation of translation who not only participate in the production of values but also are the value subjects. In terms of the relationship between the target text and the source text, the concept of intertextuality is applied. It concludes that translation increases the values of the original work.Chapter 5 provides an analysis of the artistic values of literary translation. A review of the disputes of whether translation is a science or an art is made in order to examine the notions about the values of translation behind the disputes. It points out that lying behind the disputes is the notion that translation is simply an instrument. It argues that translation is a process of building literary images, and that translation is the embodiment of beauty and truth, i.e. the discloseness and uncoveredness of Dasein (human existence).Chapter 6 discusses the values of translation from a cultural perspective. An analysis of literary translation being a creative cultural activity is made from three aspects: first, it analyzes the cultural character of the subjects of translation. Secondly, it summarizes the roles of literary translation in cultural development. Thirdly, it defines the position of literary translation in culture, that is, literary translation as ideological production. By analyzing the ethical, moral and political aspects of literary translation, it points out that literary translation is the embodiment of human concerns with social reality and the pursuit for the cultural ideal.Chapter 7 is the conclusion of this dissertation. It reiterates the major contributions of this dissertation and stresses again the significance of literary translation for translation criticism and evaluation. It also points out the problems with this dissertation and the future perspectives of the study of the values of literary translation. '...
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