Optimality Theory And Its Explanative Competence In Translation

Transplantation~1 across subjects, which has played an important rolein the development of modern science, provides a new angle fortranslation study. Many foreign researchers have tried to introduce relatedsubjects into translation research since the 1960s, and have given avariety of analyses, explanations and conclusions on translation practicefrom different perspectives. Translation is a sort of transfer between twolanguages, so naturally the most relevant subject is linguistics (LiYunxing, 2000: 301). Therefore here comes the transplantation ofdifferent principles from various subjects into translation (ibid.).Optimality Theory has been developing rapidly since it was first putforward by phonologist Alan Prince and recognitive scientist PaulSmolensky in 1991, and its theoretical principles and analytical methodshave been applied to many other fields of language research (Rene Kager,2001: 3). For example, Richard in Sheffield University has appliedOptimality Theory to verse translation. What's more, it provides a newperspective for language analysis, and a new way for human languageresearch (Li Bing, 1998: 2).This thesis attempts to introduce and transplant Optimality Theoryinto translation through the analysis of its capability, necessity and guiding competence thus to construct a systematic theory of translation(Optimality Translation Theory) for the purpose of guiding translationpractice, analyzing translation phenomena, researching on translationtheories and further understanding the essence of translation. Therefore,the structure of this thesis comes as follows: the first part concentrates onthe general introduction of transplantation across subjects. Then, inChapter 1, the author mainly focuses on the history and theoreticalprinciples of Optimality Theory. Chapter 2 puts emphasis on thetransplantation of Optimality Theory into translation research, includingthree sections: the possibility, feasibility and guiding competence, andthus sets up a new translation theory named Optimality TranslationTheory. As for Chapter 3, the author analyzes the explanative competenceof Optimality Translation Theory in translation practice, including itsapplication in diction, the generation of the optimal sentences and texts.With various examples and charts, Chapter 4 tries to explore OptimalityTranslation Theory's application to translation quality assessment,including literary translation and non-literary translation. Chapter 5provides a dialectical view (including both merits and demerits) aboutOptimality Translation Theory in three sections: dialectical view aboutthe transplantation of Optimality Theory into translation; OptimalityTranslation Theory as an approach to translation practice and a model fortranslation quality assessment. The last section is the conclusion which states that although the attempt to transplant Optimality Theory intotranslation is helpful to both translation and the theory itself, for theimprovement of the new theory—Optimality Translation Theory, therehave been and will be various problems to handle.