On Translatability And The Limits Of Translatability

The problem of translatability and untranslatability has been controversial in translation studies for a long time. There are many disagreements on whether languages are translatable or untranslatable, or in certain cases, to what degree they are translatable, so came into being the claims such as "translatability", "absolute untranslatability", "relative untranslatability", "linguistic untranslatability", "cultural untranslatability" and so on. As a person gets involved in translating, his obtaining a clear idea about the problem of translatability is helpful to his translating practice. Therefore, the study of translatability is of practical significance.Adopting the dialectical view, the author of this thesis is in favor of the idea of "relative translatability". Relying on semiotics, the author discusses the theoretical foundations of translatability and the limits of translatability respectively from the perspective of language and culture by using a great number of examples so as to verify the fact that the translating activities are possible but the limits of translatability inevitably exist in the process of translating.This thesis consists of three chapters.The first chapter gives a historical overview on the translatability and untranslatability, introducing some different understandings and important ideas about the problem of translatability in translation circles throughout the long history of translation. The second chapter analyzes the translatability and its theoretical foundations. By expounding four aspects, i.e. the identity of cognitive signified and the principle of isomorphs within semantic systems, the identity of thought pattern, the regularity of grammatical differences and equivalence between semantic systems and cultural infiltration, this chapter concludes that the translation is possible and the translatability surely exists.The third chapter discusses the limits of translatability and their foundations. First it points out that the identity mentioned in chapter two is relative, which causes the limits of translatability; next, it starts with the conduct modes of linguistic signs and explains the possibility of translation limitation; at last, it enumerates obstructions occurring in interlingual transfer, namely, the obstructions in the field of language structure, usage, expression, semantic and culture, so as to expose the phenomena of the limits of translatability in the translation practice.This thesis is intended, with the combination of theories and practices, to give a reasonable judgment to the problem of translatability and its limits through a systematic and comprehensive analysis, hoping to be referential to those who are engaged in the field of translation.