The Influence Of Nida's Translation Theory On Chinese Translation Studies

Dr. Eugene Albert Nida (1914-) is one of the most outstanding contemporary translation theorists in the West. As one of the representatives of linguistics-oriented translation theory, he advocates studying translation in a scientific approach. Drawing vastly upon the knowledge of science of communication, linguistics and information theory, he sets up what he calls a science of translation. His important position in the study of translation is established in the 1960s. His book, Bible Translating: an Analysis of Principles and Procedures (1947) was commented by the famous German translation theorist Wilss as"the mark of the beginning of modern translation"and he is also called"father of modern translation"for another one of his major works, Toward a Science of Translating (1964).Nida's theory is a systematic analysis of the problems of translation, which consists of its theoretical foundation, the definition of translation, the principles of translation and the procedure of translation. He is generally recognized as the most influential one among all the contemporary translation theorists. His theory has exerted a tremendous influence on translation studies not only in western countries but also in Asian countries, especially in China. Under the influence of his science of translating, Chinese translation theorists begin to make painstaking efforts to establish "translatology", and at the same time, the Leipzig school in Germany starts to explore translation in a scientific manner, and many translation workshops have been set up in the United States.As the first and the most systematically introduced western contemporary translation theory into China after the reform and opening to the outside world of the country, Nida's translation theory was quickly accepted by many Chinese translators and translation theorists. Ever since the theory's entry into China in the early 1980s, Nida and his theory have been a hot topic in the country. The interest in his theory is so great and lasts for so long that Professor Chen Hongwei names this situation "Nida Phenomenon". His translation theory has greatly influenced the translation practice and research work in China and contributes a lot to Chinese translation studies.Basing her research on the studies of the predecessors, the author of the thesis tries to carry a further research on the influence of Nida's translation theory on Chinese translation studies. The influence is summed up in the following seven respects: 1) It provides a new perspective to Chinese translation studies,broadens the vision of Chinese translation world and hence brings enlightenment to Chinese translation studies; 2) It stimulates the rethought on traditional Chinese translation theories and initiates a heat of translation studies; 3) It arouses the interest in learning and studying Western theories and brings more Western theories into China; 4) It inspires the improvements in translating practice, especially the practice of translation teaching; 5) It contributes to the training of qualified translation personnel; 6) It helps to build a bridge for communication between Western translation studies and Chinese translation studies; 7) It helps to waken the awareness of the independent academic discipline of translation studies and contributes to the formation and construction of the discipline of translation studies in China.The thesis is composed of six parts, including the introduction and the conclusion. Each part is now briefly explained as follows:The first part of the thesis, the introduction, briefly introduces the main content of the thesis, including 1) the main content of Chapter One, a review of Nida's academic career and the major aspects of his translation theory, the position he enjoys in the translation world of the West; 2) the main content of Chapter Two, a brief review of the spread and acceptance of Nida's theory in China; and 3) the main content of Chapter Three, a brief introduction of the influence of his theory on Chinese translation studies.Chapter One mainly introduces Nida's academic career and focuses on the introduction of his translation theory in the three stages in his translation studies, providing some basic knowledge of his theory. After a brief review of his academic career and a scan of his major works and articles, it moves on to an introduction of his major achievements in the three stages. Then it goes on with a discussion of his position in the translation world of the West and ends with comments on his theory, including both the contributions and the limitations of his theory.Chapter Two focuses on a review of the experience of Nida's translation theory in China, a review of its spread and acceptance in the country. It introduces the social conditions of the country at the time when his theory was introduced into the country and the change in attitude towards Nida's translation theory of the Chinese translation world.Chapter Three provides a detailed analysis of the influence Nida's translation theory exerts on Chinese translation studies in the above-mentioned several respects, including the new perspective and enlightenment it brings to the translation world of the country, the rethought on traditional Chinese translation theories it stimulates and the heat of translation studies it initiates, the interest in learning and studying Western theories it arouses and the result of more Western theories spreading into China, the improvements in translating practice, especially the practice of translation teaching it inspires, the bridge for communication between Western translation studies and Chinese translation studies it helps to build, the awareness of the independent academic discipline of Translation Studies it helps to waken and the move to maturity of Chinese translation studies, and so on.Chapter Four provides a dialectical view on both the deficiencies and limitations of Nida's translation theory and the problems occurring in the course of spreading and accepting his theory in China.The thesis ends with a summary of the influence of Nida's translation theory on Chinese translation studies together with a list of lessons we have learnt from the process of spreading and accepting Nida's theory, asserting that the theory did exert great influence on Chinese translation studies in the last twenty years of the 20th century and that the lessons we have learnt may contribute to a more scientific and efficient construction of the newly-emerged discipline of Translation Studies in China.