The Translator: A Culturally Manipulated Manipulator

Translation, an activity as old as the tower of Babel, has exerted enormous influence on the evolution of history and society. But what is the role of the translator, the very person that takes upon this important task?Studying translation from a source text orientation, traditional translation theories hold that a good translator should be completely passive and neutral, like a faithful servant, serving the original author with whole commitment. This prescriptive, ideal concept of the translator has put translators in dilemma.Inspired by the "Cultural Turn" in translation studies, this thesis attempts to shift the vision from the ideal translator to the translator in a real socio-cultural context, study the role of the translator from a sociological perspective, arguing that the translator is a culturally manipulated manipulator.To the sociologists, human nature cannot be understood apart from society. We are, by our very nature, social beings. To develop a sociological imagination, it is essential to understand how culture affects people's lives. iThe influence of culture is profound; it touches almost every aspect of our life. Culture provides the lens through which we see the world and obtain our perception of reality. Culture shapes the personalities of its members; it has a lot of control over their behavior. The translator, as a member of the target society, internalizes culture in the process of socialization, and is subject to institutions and social controls. Throughout the translation process, from the selection of what to translate, to the interpretation of the source text, and to the decision on what translation strategies to take, the translator is underthe manipulationof the target cultural norms.Culture provides values and norms and ensures its stability through sanctions, but the final decision remains with the translator, who is, after all, not a robot but a human being capable of making decisions. The translator is not completely passive in the face of this manipulating force of the target culture. The translator can choose to go with the target system, to stay within the parameters delimited by its constraints, and by so doing consolidate the existing system in the target culture. The translator can also choose to go against the target system. This deviance on the part of the translator may get punished in one way or another, but by offering an alternative way of looking at life, or a different pattern of behavior, it gains the potential to produce change in the target system. When the change becomes generally accepted and establishes itself as a new norm in the target system, it will again act as a manipulating force upon the translator.Taking fiction translation in early modern China as the data for a case study, this thesis is mainly descriptive and target culture oriented. It rounds off with the conclusion that to reduce the role of the translator as a faithful servant to the source text is naive, far from enough to account for the complexity of translation as a socio-cultural event. The translator serves not only the source side, but also the target side. The translator is not neutral, but culture-laden, making decisions under the manipulation of the target culture; the translator is not just a passive "rule-soaker", but an active participant, manipulating the evolution of the target culture through his decisions of what and how to translate. The translator and the target culture are in a process of constant interaction.