The Innovative Incorporation Of Newmark's Communicative Translation Into Legal Translation

As the specialty of legal texts, there is still no systematic and specialized legal translation theory. Many general translation theorists attempt to apply general translation theory into legal translation, such as Newmark's semantic and communicative translation. Newmark thought that legal documents belong to the expressive text and they should be translated with more semantic translation. But the author argues that legal documents are not purely expressive, they also have vocative function to some extent. So communicative translation is very necessary in legal translation in order to convey the vocative function of the source text. The theoretical underpinning of this viewpoint is Sarcevic's view on the many goals of legal translation. They are: 1) The semantic equivalence in legal translation is an illusion; 2) the legal effect of the source text should be retained in legal translation; 3) The ultimate goal of legal translation is to express the real intention of the author. So only semantic translation is not enough in legal translation, and communicative translation is very necessary in order to achieve the last two goals.But communicative translation is a general translation method without any examples. Is it feasible in the practice of legal translation? In the author's opinion, communicative translation is feasible in legal translation and it can be embodied as the following two approaches: dynamic and interpretative approaches. Dynamic approach is decided by the characteristics of legal language, which is a combination of many contradictory features: precision vs. vagueness; conciseness vs. complexity; stability vs. dynamity; specialization vs. generality. Thus legal translator should take a dynamic view on the features of legal language and make a correct choice in different context. Interpretative approach refers to legal translator should make legal interpretation in legal translating as the specialty of legal texts. Legal interpretation can be conducted in the following ways such as to interpret the legal denotations of legal terms and phrases, to differentiate legal terms from general words etc. in order to assure the accuracy of legal texts and avoid ambiguity. These legal interpretations can be expressed by choosing the most appropriate word, and when necessary, they can be added in the translation. The theoretical underpinning of interpretative translation is in the field of legal Hermeneutics, some people argue that legal translator should have the right of legalinterpretation. While its practical underpinning is that in some foreign countries, legal translator has been changed from the mediator of the source text and the target text to the co-drafter of the legal texts. This fact shows that legal translator is entitled to more freedom in legal translation.In general, this paper intends to argue the necessity and feasibility of communicative translation in legal translation by showing some supporting theories and examples. But as the specialty of legal texts, communicative translation should not be reflected only in these two aspects: dynamic and interpretative approaches. Its other aspects should be explored by the author and other experts further.