Translation, Projection And The Futility Of The Translator

The paper makes a historical restoration of Yan Fu and his translation of"On Liberty", holding that the"non-authentic"translation actually reflected the initiative exploration and personal values of the translator in a special social circumstance, and that any criticism on him for"infidelity"in ignorance of the above facts lacks legitimacy.Yan Fu was a great translator, yet he distrusted translation at the same time. For which the paper, after a thorough analysis within the framework of DTS, proposes that Yan Fu's translation is actually projection, a reverted selection initiated from the target society, by which the final version of any translation is actually determined. With the change of the target society, there will be a multiplicity of translations operating in different historical phrases, paralleling and complementing with the original text to fully depict the same object.Translators are pivotal in translating, who infiltrate all social-cultural elements. Under the traditional ethic of"fidelity", however, they are inferior to the original author in status, laboring like Sisyphus hopelessly for the luminous summit. The essay reinterprets the role of translators with Existentialism by integrating the ideas and perspectives from"DTS","Manipulative School","Deconstruction","Polysystem", etc, concluding that the pursuit of"perfect"faithful translation is but a futile energy.The essence of translation and the role of translator are finally logically integrated:"translation is projection"overthrows the sacred status of the original work and its superiority, meanwhile, translators surpass their fate, making themselves master of translation. Those two aspects closely combine under the Existentialism, speaking a new translation ethic of"whatever exists is rational"and"all is well".