Communicative Rationality And Construction Translation

The inter-disciplinary studies of translation has freed people from the binary opposition and closed self-sufficient system of structuralism, providing a multi-dimensional perspective for translators. Rational thinking is crucial to any kind of discipline. As a highly comprehensive science for inter-cultural communication, translation should be guided by a more scientific rationality. Communicative rationality, advanced by Habermas, aims at transferring subject-oriented paradigm to inter-subject-oriented paradigm so as to prevent the dominance of instrumental act. At the same time, it makes up for the deficiency of instrumental rationality and counters the pervasion of irrationality. It thus reorients translatology toward rationality and provides normative guidelines for translation and language studies. In a word, communicative rationality is the bridge connecting language and communication and also the core element of communication.The central issue of translation is language. However, the innate rational characteristics of language have long been neglected. Many philosophers even believed that beyond language there existed a "logos" in control of man's thought and cognition. This so-called Logos-centrism once occupied a dominant position in the history of human thinking. The classification of rationality made by Kant has inspired people to reexamine rationality. As the core of communicative action theory of Habermas, language has its own rationality. Translation is a speech act, in which the actors involved are supposed to abide by the criticizable validity claims - truthfulness, sincerity and rightfulness. Only in this way can a dialogue or communication proceed rationally.Translation studies guided by communicative rationality changes the research paradigm from semantic to pragmatic. It brings the inter-subjectivity into full play and ensures balanced development for the participants' linguistic and communicative competence. It also calls attention to and recognition of the social factors of language. The view of communicative rationality on translation enables the subjects of speech to start from rationality, strictly follow universally-recognized speech rules and argumentative process, and show their sincere wish for pursuing truth. As a result, the speech right of each subject is protected in the translation process, in both procedure and rules. Translation-2-studies guided by communicative rationality discard speech hegemony and make communicative act more rational. Guided by communicative rationality, translators can eventually achieve the goal of rational communication.