Report On The Translation Of The Dialectic Of Sex(Excerpts)

Feminist translators regard translation as a reproduction act in which the meaning of a text is transferred from one language to another.They believe that even if the translation is not completely "faithful" to the original,it does not betray the original.On the contrary,it is the development and continuation of the original work,as the fresh blood input into the original work.Shulamith Firestone was a pioneering radical feminist whose book The Dialectic of Sex brought a lot of interpretation on feminism.Chapter 10 The Ultimate Revolution:Demands and Speculations of the book is selected as the original text for this translation project.In this chapter,after identifying the patriarchal family structure as the source of sex oppression,the author proposed “the establishment of the household as the alternative to the family for reproduction of children,combined with every imaginable life style for those who chose to live singly or in non-reproductive units” as the final resolution to all the dilemmas that arise from the family to obstruct human happiness.This translation practice adopts Feminist translation theory to guide the whole translation process.This report first introduces the nature and features of the source text and then analyses this translation practice in light of the features of academic works and its content.The three strategies,supplementing,prefacing and footnoting,and hijacking,are all important in guiding practice of translation,and this report mainly focuses on footnoting,through which the translator tries to explain her motives of gendered decision-making and arouse the readers’ attention to the author’s great endeavor in promoting gender equaltiy.