Creative Treason Revisited--A Pragmatic Perspective

This dissertation revisits creative treason in literary translation from a pragmatic perspective of adaptation. Since the adaptation theory is newly developed by Jef Verschueren for pragmatic investigation, the dissertation starts by explaining its major components, then explores their implications for and application in translation, and finally comes to address the question of creative treason with the help of the important notions and along Verschueren's dimensions of pragmatic investigation. As proved in the dissertation, the three properties of language advanced by Verschueren, i.e. variability, negotiability and adaptability, can explain many translational phenomena and help to understand existing principles and strategies in translation practice. What is more, the translator can benefit from analysis of translation from the four angles of pragmatic investigation, i.e. contextual correlates of adaptability, structural objects of adaptability, dynamics of adaptability and salience of the adaptation process. Inspired by Verschueren, this dissertation proposes that translation is a process of making adaptation with regard to linguistic structure and context in a dynamic way at various levels of salience. Adaptation between linguistic structure and context is largely adaptation between language and culture. The making of adaptation in translation is realized in a dynamic manner. And major factors of salience have been analyzed. It should be noted that the concept adaptation as defined by Vershueren (1999) in the adaptation theory refers to the interrelationship of inter-adaptation instead of one of the two contrary translation strategies, i.e. alienation and adaptation, in dealing with cultural elements. On the basis of the above pragmatic investigation of translation, the dissertation applies the same to creative treason, a particular phenomenon in translation. As a frequent phenomenon in translation, creative treason consists in the successful making of adaptation under circumstances where direct linguistic transcoding or cultural transfer is difficult. It can be realized to different extents and in various forms. On the belief that fidelity to the source text is fidelity to its adaptation, the dissertation explores reproduction of the adaptations of the source text in the target text, and points out imitation and substitution as two ways for this purpose. Owing to the three properties of language, creative treason can be realized in a dynamic manner. The translator should give full play to his/her creativity in exerting the capacity of expression of the target language to adapt linguistic choices to the context in its complexity, thus serving his/her translation purpose(s). In order for the translator to better achieve creative treason, this dissertation has summed up some principles and strategies.