Translation Ethics And Translators

Translation as a social activity and a cultural phenomenon is both influenced bythe internal-textual factors and restricted by external-textual factors. Since the“cultural turn” is proposed by translation theorists, more and more translationtheorists begin to concentrate on the influences of external factors on translation.Ethics as a branch of philosophy is mainly concerned with moral regulations andcriteria followed by interpersonal relationships or communication between human andsociety. Translation is the exchange of different languages and the exchanges ofdifferent cultures, so it must be affected by ethical factors. The new phrase“translation ethics” emerged as required by the age. Firstly put forward by Frenchtranslation theorist Antoine Berman, it arouses such a wide concern that it becomesone of the most important translation theories.Translator as the agent in the whole process of translation plays an essential rolein the communication of human culture. In the process of translation translatorsalways directly or indirectly manipulate the text. Patrons, readers, society and otherfactors usually affect and condition the translators’ activity in their choice of text,strategies or methods, but of course, there are also subjective elements affecting thetranslators’ activity, including personal social experience, habits, expectation and soon. Both objective and subjective factors are attributable to ethic or ethical issues.Different countries or nations hold different ethics and morals, and in the mean timethe same country or nation may still have different morals and ethics at differentperiods. Thus, translators need to take the effect of dual factors into account tocomplete translation activity.The thesis is set in the period from the1st Opium War to the May4th Movement,studying the translation ethical effect on translators of this particular period. At thattime China was in a special condition, naturally, it had its own specific features.Natural science translation, social science translation and literary translationsuccessively appeared at this period. Besides translators’ own morals, the socialfactors, likewise, play important roles in translators’ activities. What is the temporalethics? What should translators translate? How do translators translate? Why do translators translate this text not that? Issues such as these are all discussed from theperspective of translation ethics.