A Research Into Douglas Robinson's Somatics

Douglas Robinson, a modern American translator and translation theorist, was a professor in Mississippi University from 1989 to 2010. At the moment, he works at Lingnan University in Hongkong as the head of the Department of English. He puts forward Somatic Theory, which is grounded on the human social interaction which is called the somatic exchange. And particularly he manages to work out a living and self-adjusting organism.In contrast to the traditional approaches, Douglas Robinson's Somatics starts from the translator's subjective bodily responses and personal experiences to discover a totally different way to conduct a practical research into translation field. Somaticity has a close relation with our emotions and feelings. If it has something to do with feelings as regulation channel, its another aspect would be performativity on the basis of J. L. Austin and Grice's theory. By means of combining translation with taboo the study focus of translation was transferred away from linguistic field; meanwhile, some new elements, such as the empire, politics and power were included into the scope of translation study. Douglas Robinson systematically introduces the production and development of postcolonial translation theories in his book, Translation and Empire:Postcolonial Theories Explained. Douglas Robinson's book Translation and Taboo highlights a central theory that there exist kinds of taboos during the translation history in the west; they have penetrated into every aspect of theory and practice and restricted the development of translation theory and translation study.Different from the traditional research approaches provided by linguistic school, functional school or cultural school, somatic translation theory of Douglas Robinson promotes a transformation from the existed study field to an investment in brand new prospects.