Translation: Different Purposes And Different Strategies

Translation as a tool is normally used to help communicate various kinds of information between speakers of different languages. The translator, accordingly, is supposed to be faithful to the original, producing faithful translations. However, a look at the history of translation in China and abroad reveals that there are a great number of instances of unfaithfulness on the part of the translator. In these instances, the translator either adds something which is absent in the original or omits something which is present in the original. Indeed, in certain cases, the translator alters the original in a way that the translated text is diametrically different from the original.In an attempt to find a plausible explanation for the large number of so-called unfaithful translations, this thesis explores the nature of translation and analyzes the terms faithful vs. unfaithful. To highlight the nature of translation and to avoid the vague terms faithfulness vs. unfaithfulness, the author proposes a different pair of terms normal use of translation vs. abnormal use of translation, proceeding from the Hans J. Vermeer's Skopos theory and Andre Lefevere's Three-Factor theory. Thus, the research question of this thesis is: How different purposes determine different translation strategies? This question is divided into three sub-questions: (i) Why are there unfaithful translations? (ii) What are the common ways of unfaithfulness? (iii) How can unfaithful translations be accepted? These questions are examined within the theoretical framework of both the Three-Factor theory and the Skopos theory, amodified combination.This research is hoped to contribute to a better understanding of the nature oftranslation as a tool of cultural activity and so as to help explain the paradox of faithfulvs. unfaithful translation. On the other hand, the research helps the author to be properly translated, enables the translator to produce the desired translations, and allows the reader or anyone concerned (e.g. the publisher) to have access to the required kind of translation.By exploring the research questions, the thesis argues that translation, far from being a mere tool of cultural communication, is a tool that can be used in various cultural activities for various purposes. Faithful rendition is only one of the innumerable potential purposes and is only one of the means to achieve a higher purpose. Therefore, unfaithful translations are justified to a certain degree.Further research is recommended as to the exploration into the reason why there is the general requirement of faithful translation in literary translation, a problem this thesis fails to address adequately.