A Comparison Of Polysystem Theory By Even-Zohar With Plural Complementarism Of Translation Standard By Gu Zhengkun

For anyone, the importance of whatever activity must be presented through its final product. What an individual consumer is interested in is just the finished product rather than those factors that control industrial production. However, if we want to know these complex industrial activities, relying on its product only is not enough for a thorough analysis although product seems to be the only reason for industrial operation. The cognitional function of theory is to help people know external things reasonably, including human practice. For example, linguistic theory cannot help to promote the learner's ability to speak but deepen the acquaintance with language. It is the same case with translation theory. Although it could not influence specific practice directly, it guides translation practice through its applied theory holistically or macroscopically, directly influences the decisions made by translators, or guides criticism and appreciation of translations. It explores the in-depth reason and pushes development of translation practice forward through the analysis and evaluation of translation. Therefore, the exploration of theory is necessary and urgent.Itamar Even-Zohar, an Israeli scholar, proposed Polysystem Theory in the 1970s. This theory regards social symbols such as literature and culture as heterogeneous and interdependent components in a system. At the same time, different components in this polysystem compete with each other and their competition pushes forward the evolution of the bigger polysystem they are in. The competition between the different components is embodied in the form of the conversion between the primary and secondary models, say the transformation between canonization and non-canonization. Polysystem theory provides a fresh perspective and beneficial findings for translation studies, especially for the study of translation history. In addition, he points out the status and function of translation literature in literary system and thinks that the status of translation literature influences translation practice, which is meaningful for the construction...