On Interpreting Strategies Of Realizing Faithfulness In Light Of The Interpretive Theory Of Translation

In the history of interpreting researches, the interpreting quality evaluation criterion has always been a controversial and hot issue on discussion. However, after an overall retrospection of the previous researches, it is easy to conclude that although these criteria vary from one to another, they all share one thing in common, that is an interpretation must first and foremost be faithful. As for what the"faithfulness"refers to, different theories and schools analyze it from common but differentiated perspectives.The interpretive theory was established in 1980s. It has always been the guiding theory in the western interpreting field for its improving theoretical framework and remarkable theoretical achievements.The interpretive school has an original viewpoint on what a faithful interpretation is. They state that the process of interpreting is actually a process of conveying the sense. A faithful interpretation must be faithful to the"sense"of the original speech grasped during the procedure of deverbalization, yet not simply the information on the surface or its form of expression. Faithfulness proposed by the interpretive theory is made up of three aspects, they are: (1) faithfulness to the message originator; (2) faithfulness to the target language; (3) faithfulness to the message receiver. Each of the above three aspects is indispensable. To achieve faithfulness, the three must work together. An interpretation is only considered faithful when the three aspects are all realized. Any one that only being faithful to one or two of the three but neglecting the others can not be called a faithful interpretation since"faithfulness to the sense"will not be reflected to a full extent.Besides, from the interpretive school's point of view, interpreting, as a special kind of translating, is not just translating or transcoding. However, it is a specific and complicated cross-cultural communication activity, with language serving as its carrier and approach. Through exploration and study of the interpretive theory and its research results, the author herself is enlightened with some of her own opinions. She believes that an interpretation must first be able to convey the communicative sense as interpreting is a communicative activity. What's more, in such a dynamic activity as interpreting, the principle of faithfulness is bound to be affected by some human or nonhuman factors to some extent on real interpreting occasions. Thus the faithfulness in interpreting activities should be given a relatively broader notion, taking into account its dynamics and flexibility. Under certain circumstances, some so-called unfaithfulness is actually faithful. It doesn't violate the principle of faithfulness based on the interpretive theory. On the contrary, the flexible interpretation not only clearly expresses the sense of the originator, carries out the intention of the interpreting activity but also achieves an even more effective communication result.In this dissertation, the author has given faithfulness a broader notion based on the interpretive theory and analyzed it in detail by a large number of examples. In the end, some major strategies and suggestions are proposed by the author to help realize a faithful interpretation.