On Constraining Factors Of The Contradiction Between Translators’ Translation Standard And Their Own Practice

This thesis mainly discusses relevant translating issues about the constraining factors of the contradiction between translation standard and practice of the translators in the period of the literary school of translation studies, which is also named as the period of Chinese traditional translation theories. Chinese translation has a long history. Since the beginning and wide conduction of translating activities, scholars in our country have constantly discussed the issue of translation and therefore have put forward various translation theories. And the issue of translation standard has been a core concern in translation theories. The most prosperous period of translation in China is the period of the literary school of translation studies, which began with Yan Fu’s translation standard “faithfulness, expressiveness, elegance” and was developed by other famous Chinese translators who point out their own translation standards such as Fu Lei’s “similarity in spirit” and Qian Zhongshu’s “transmigration”. The achievements of their translation theories help create a new era of translation and lay the cornerstone of the initial system of translation theories. However, scholars have never escaped from the shackles of “fidelity” per se in this period. With the “cultural turn” in translation studies and the birth of deconstructionist theory and some other western translation theories, traditional translation theories, emphasizing absolute fidelity and a total equivalence between the source text and the target text, are pushed to the forefront of translation criticism. Many scholars argue that the pursuit of “fidelity” is doomed to failure due to the differences of two languages by the deconstruction of “fidelity”. Therefore, “multi-complementary translation criteria” which focuses on the multiplicity of translation criteria is raised and widely promoted. Because of the important role of the traditional translation standards in translation studies and the questions and criticisms in translation academia on their feasibility in practice, it is logical to make an analysis on the constraining factors on the basis of their contradictory relation.In terms of the researches on translation standards, most of them are characterized by a dominant amount of discussing attributes of both Chinese and western translation standards to state the view that none of the translation standards can be regarded as the best one, advocating its multiplicity. On the other hand, they study on the factors affecting translation standards, confusing them with the constraining factors of translation. Studies on the influencing factors of translation mainly talk about and conclude the factors affecting translation activities from distinct perspectives such as context, norm, culture, purpose, translation process, etc., supported by some scattered instances, and the studies are not often discussed with the researches of translation standards. Meanwhile, most of the researches focus on the relationship between translation theory and practice in a macro situation or just discuss one translator ’s theory and practice and their unity as well instead of a comprehensive summary of the disunity between translation standard and practice of many translators.This thesis applies value theory, skopostheorie, theories of fuzzy linguistics and philosophical hermeneutics, and constructs a theoretical framework of explaining the constraining factors. Based on that, it makes a layer-by-layer analysis on the essential features of the traditional translation standards and linguistic and extra-linguistic factors in translation from the aspects of the constraints of translation standard and practice by employing research methods of comparative analysis and induction and integrating theory elaboration and case studies. Based on the combination of analyses of the two aspects, the contradiction is intended to be presented and the factors of contradiction are explained.This thesis first introduces the background of this research, points out the significance of this study, and concludes the basic framework of the research. In literature review, it briefly describes the scope and characteristics of Chinese traditional translation theories, probes into the research achievements of translation criteria, translation constraints and the relationship between translation criteria and practice at home and abroad, and points out clearly the existing problems. It discusses the connotation of value theory and the relationship between value and translation with value and needs as the starting point, introduces skopostheorie and its relationship with value theory, and elaborates fuzzy linguistics and philosophical hermeneutics. Thereupon, a theoretical framework based on them is constructed. And it analyzes specific features of traditional translation standards from the perspectives of the background and their aims. Finally, it sums up the factors affecting translation, which are ignored by traditional translation standards.The research shows that traditional translation standards demand a complete copy between translated texts and original texts and translators shall always be subordinate to authors. The presupposition of the relations between original texts and translated texts, authors and translators is actually the embodiment of “translators’ invisibility”. Translation is considered as an isolated process of language transformation, neglecting the influence of some other factors. In fact, translation is a communication activity connecting cultures of the source language and the target language in which translators are inevitably involved and as a result “translators’ imprints” emerge. Therefore, translation process will be influenced by the factors dominated by translators or functioning on translators, which include some extra-linguistic factors ranging from poetics, ideology, translation purpose and translators’ abilities. Meanwhile, attributes of translation standards are determined by the conditions and aims of the emergence of them. In a word, attributes and limitations of traditional translation standards and the constraining factors of translation consequently form the conclusion of this thesis.Significance of the research: this thesis, discussing the nature of traditional translation standards, is aimed at contributing to the construction of Chinese translation standards. Summarizing factors affecting translation activities will hopefully help scholars fully consider and weigh each factor, finally creating more excellent translated texts.Innovative points of the research: as it chooses traditional translation standard and practice of Chinese translators as the subject, the research subject is specific and clear; it detailedly explains the attributes of traditional translation standards; it methodically classifies factors involved in translation process combined with examples; it poses the issue of contradiction by integrating constraints of translation standards and translation practice.