Translator Out Of The Shadow

This paper aims to bring the translator out of the shadow, by revealing how the translator functions as the final force controlling translation activity and process, and reevaluating the importance of the translator in enrichment of our culture.This paper starts with a review of the traditional theories on the function of the translator, and shows how these theories reduce the translator to the status of a faithful servant, a mere conveyor of information and an invisible medium. The paper then focuses on the studies of the translator in the contemporary framework of theories, which attempt to bring the translator out of the shadow. The paper tries to retrieve the translator's lost subjectivity, his or her decision-making in translation process and participation in the creation of the literary works. Then the study moves on to discuss the relationship between the translator and the original text, explaining how the translator can be betrayers, conquerors or even "cannibals". Finally, the discussion focuses on the interplay between the translator and the target culture in the light of theories in the cultural turn and political-consciousness environment. As the author becomes invisible, the translator becomes visible both in construction of national culture and in the facilitation of international communication. The paper concludes with the prospect of the translator's new image as a subjective, creative and visible entity.