Imagination And The "Solidarity" In Literary Translation

Literature is generally considered a creation of imagination. Yet few translation theorists devote themselves to the research on the role imagination plays in literary translation. On the contrary, scholars, under the profound influence of the epistemology-centered thought, are apt to dig out the"ultimate"meaning of a given text in a logical way in literary translation study while unconsciously neglecting the intrinsic"anti-logic"orientation of literature. Literary translation may thus become an instrument of reason, which"transforms the foreign into the self"through logical reduction, with the Other consequently being ignored and suppressed. As a matter of fact, imagination, with traditional metaphysics tending to end and logocentrism under all-round criticism, is no longer confined to artistic creation, but has rather become an easy way for shaking off the fetters of reason to"fly freely"where concepts stop.Against such a background, this study on the relationship between imagination and literary translation, and on the possible role of imagination in literary translation, is significant in the following aspects: Firstly, it can reveal the necessity and possibility of breaking the fetters of logocentrism in literary translation; Secondly, it helps attain the"anti-logic"orientation of literary translation; Thirdly, it contributes to putting into effect the ethics of literary translation, namely the"solidarity"between the Other and the self; and Fourthly, it calls for examining the relationship between imagination and literary translation from a new perspective, so as to grasp the"poetic"essence of literary translation.As an integration of theoretical exploration and case study, the present paper centers around the relationship between imagination and literary translation. To begin with, this dissertation, in the light of Richard Rorty's thinking about imagination creating public"solidarity", lays bare the necessity and possibility for imagination to outstrip reason and explores the roles imagination can play in literary translation. Based on such theoretical investigation, a detailed analysis of translating activities with examples is to be conducted to demonstrate the rationality and feasibility of the present research, which boils down to the faith that imagination can achieve harmony or"solidarity"between the self and the Other in literary translation.This dissertation comprises six chapters.Chapter One is an introduction. It starts with the research background along with the significance of the study, and proceeds to review the current literature on this project at home and abroad. Following an analysis of the deficiencies of previous studies, some innovative points of the study, presumably the author's own, are advanced. After that are the theoretical basis, the object of the study, the methodology and procedures of the investigation, and the main contents of the entire research work.Chapter Two mainly demonstrates the possibility of imagination creating"solidarity"in literary translation.Beginning with an overall historical review, this chapter points out that the history of imagination has been one of breaking away from the dominance of reason to fly freely. Next, a definition and four prominent features of imagination are outlined in the context of"post-metaphysics". Imagination, so to speak, is a process or faculty to bring the absent back into existence to construct a concomitant unity of absence and presence through poesy. It is historical, free, creative, and ethical. Thirdly, this chapter sketches Rorty's idea of public"solidarity", and the roles imagination plays in it together with a brief introduction to his neo-pragmatism. Rorty defines imagination as a faculty of creating metaphor and argues that it can create public"solidarity"which, as the responsibility of the self for the Other, is related to tolerance and acceptance of the Other. The creation of public"solidarity"by imagination, in brief, involves"situating the self in the position of the Other"(the first role of imagination), construction of a utopia as a"poetic"context or space (the second role of imagination), and"redescription"(the third role of imagination). Finally, it demonstrates that imagination can be defined as a faculty of"redescription"and translation as a form of "redescription". In this sense, translation becomes a form of imagination, making the coexistence of the Other and the self, namely their"solidarity", possible.In view of the previous discussion, the dissertation proceeds to investigate, in the following three chapters, how imagination can create the"solidarity"in literary translation. The investigation goes with enriching and substantiating first the three roles played by imagination in creating public"solidarity", and then adopting them accordingly in the three phases of translation process (i.e. facing the Other, communicating with the Other, and finishing translating through"redescription").Chapter Three explores the role of imagination in the first phase of translation process——how the self, when facing the Other, identifies with the Other by means of imagination's"flying off presence". This chapter begins with a criticism of the dominance of"metaphysics of presence"in translation. Firstly, a description is given of presence and its manifestation——subject/object dichotomy, which has three features, i.e. objectivity, logocentrism, and the sameness. Next, the representation of the three features in translation is analyzed from the perspective of translation theory construction, translating behaviors, and specific version analysis, with an intention to reveal how translation, in the predominance of"metaphysics of presence", is reduced to an instrument for reason which"transforms the foreign into the self". Thirdly, imagination's"flying off presence"is introduced to lift translation out of its instrumental status."Flying off presence"involves leaving presence, transcending (metaphysics of) presence and"situating the self in the position of the Other", which can be realized through empathy. Empathy means that the self sees the Other as the same individual as his/herself and experiences the Other"as it is"in the union of the self and the Other in order to pave the way for"solidarity". Finally, this chapter investigates how empathy frees the Other from the suppression and violence of reason, and accomplishes the self's identification with the Other in the Other's position in translation. The study shows that the introduction of empathy in translation can revise the violent tendency in the"hermeneutic motion"propounded by Steiner, correct the violent translation behaviors, and transcend the conceptual mindset so as to intuitively contemplate the Other on the whole.With the Other assuming individuality comes the question: how should the self communicate with the Other?Chapter Four elaborates on how imagination, in the second phase of translation process, can achieve a"poetic"unity of the self and the Other by means of the"poetic unification in-betweenness". In the first place, this chapter points out that the"poetic unification in-betweenness"signifies that imagination is capable of creating a"poetic"space in which the self and the Other can start their communication face to face, and eventually attain their"poetic"unification, which aims not at conceptualization or homogeneity, but hybridity with their respective differences. In the second place, it argues that logocentrism is intrinsically related to the absence of"in-betweenness", which may reduce translation to a microphone of metalanguage for reason, and eventually to the absence of translation itself. Thirdly, it shows that the construction of the"poetic"space by imagination can guarantee the"in-betweenness"of translation while realizing the"poetic"unification of the self and the Other in the form of hybridity. With the help of typical case study, this chapter ends with an analysis of the possible manifestation of hybridity from the aspects of the union of conceptualized thinking and imagination, the chorus of the writer and the translator as well as the consonance of the source culture and the target culture.It is inevitable that the"poetic"unification of the self and the Other will"flower and bear fruits"in the target language. Therefore, the following chapter will be devoted to the recreation of literary"image"in the target language——the role of imagination in the third phase of translation process.Chapter Five argues that imagination can achieve the"solidarity"of literary translation by means of"image recreation". It first defines"image"and figures out its function on grounds of a historical review. It is held that"image", rather than representing an invariant concept, is created to express life imbued with energy and vigor in the form of language but transcending the conceptualization of language. Based on an analysis of Shelley's and Croce's ideas about translation, this paper points out that"image"can not be copied mechanically. Next is an elaboration on how"image"can be recreated in the target language through the"redescription"by imagination. The recreation, as a result of empathy and communication, is characterized by its"communication in difference". Finally, it affirms that the hybridity of the recreated"image"predicates that the self, though starting for their own sake, will not return to an invariant self. As a matter of fact, we will not only change the self and the Other, but also languages and cultures in which we coexist with each other. The change shows that the communication between the self and the Other will not result in singularity or the sameness through reduction, but will accomplish the"anti-logic"orientation and the"solidarity"of literary translation.Chapter Six is the conclusion. It summarizes the main contents of the research and points out the limitations of the present study and the direction of further studies on the subject as well. The dissertation, with the introduction of imagination in the"post-metaphysics"context to literary translation study on the basis of Rorty's theory that imagination can create public"solidarity", concludes that translation can guarantee the energy and vigor of literary works in the target language because, with the help of imagination, it is capable of realizing the ethics of the Other, the"solidarity"of the self and the Other, and at the same time foregrounding literature's"poetic"essence.The present study, as a tentative research on the relationship between imagination and literary translation, leaves room for further research. Among othe things, say, it could also be conducted from the perspective of the role imagination plays in individual creation, and in historical changes.