A Study on Translation Criteria after Culture Turn

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摘 要:Translation criterion has always been a key issue in translation studies. However, there are still a lot of problems to be solved. Monographs in translation criteria studies can scarcely be found and translation criteria studies still focus on the interpretation of traditional criteria such as Tytler’s “Three Principles” and Yan Fu’s “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance”. This paper will make a sketch of the evolvement of translation criteria in both Chinese and western translation studies, and study the translation criteria after the cultural turn.

关键词: translation criterion; faithfulness; cultural turn

中图分类号:G40文献标识码:A 文章编号:1005-5312(2009)30-0067-02

Translation Criteria had been a key issue of translation studies for about two millenniums and its authority had never been doubted. However, unfortunately, its importance is dropping on a slope in recent several decades when the translation studies are booming. In fact the translation criteria have changed in the two translational paradigm shifts. After the linguistic turn in translation studies in the first part of 20th century, translation studies became more scientific, which ask for more practical translation criteria to guide the translation practice. In the same way, translation criteria also have changed after cultural turn. However, the studies of criteria after cultural turn has not been pay much attention to.

1. Definition of Translation Criterion

In China Translation Dictionary, translation criterion is explained as “the criterion that an interpreter activity must be followed; the yardstick of weighing the quality of the translated text; the goal that translators should make great efforts to reach too”. This definition is a comprehensive understanding of translation criterion. (Lin Huangtian 977)

To different kind of texts, we should have different criteria for criticizing and guiding.

Are criteria constant or contingent? Our cognition of the world changes according to the paradigm shifts of the cognition. Translation criteria studies are no exception.

2.Translation criteria studies in China and the West

Western translation criteria study follows the line of: Horace’s Faithfulness, Tytler’s Three Principles and Nada’s Equivalence. While Chinese translation criteria study, according to Luo Xinzhang, follows the line of:“案本――求信(信、达、雅)――神似――化境” (Li Tefu 57). The fact that the astonishing similarity between Yan Fu’s “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance” and Tytler’s “Three Principles” in Chinese and western traditional translation criterion studies, though they are based on different philosophy basis, tell us a reasonable fact that “faithfulness” or “fidelity” is the first and the most fundamental criterion of translation.

3.Translation Criteria after culture turn

It is generally considered that the cultural turn, the second turn in translation studies in 1990s by Susan Bassnett and André Lefevere. However, the philosophical basis of it, the Deconstruction movement, initiated by Jacques Derrida started in1960s and 1970s. Companying with the rise of Deconstruction movement are Post-colonialism and Gender studies. It is not until the late 1990s that Post-colonialism and Gender studies were applied in translation studies and arouse the cultural turn in translation studies. So, it is reasonable to divide Cultural Turn into two main branches: Theoretical Studies and Field Studies. Theoretical studies refer to the studies leaded by Susan Bassnett and André Lefevere while Field Studies the studies applying Post-colonialism and Gender theories.

3.2 Post-colonialism and Translation Studies

3.2.1 A Sketch of Post-colonial Studies

In Orientalism, Said describes a phenomenon: in a long period, there are more works written by the western about the orient than works written by the orient about the western while at the same time, more works been translated by the orient about the western than works translated by the western about the orient. In the few works about the orient translated by the orient into the western, fewer received welcome. This phenomenon is a good example of Richard Jacquemond’s “translation across power differentials”. (Robinson 31)

In fact, Said’s orient is not the orient we are talking today but the Nearly East in geology and Arab world in culture. That’s why Spivak prefers the term “the third world”. However, Said’s studies open for us a new perspective to see the world and provide us a new thinking pattern. Strategies of post-colonialism translation are tools for the third world to make their voice.

3.2.2 Strategies of Post-colonialism Translation

Haroldo de Campos puts forward cannibalism. Cannibalism “…is important because it provide us with a clear post colonial metaphor that can be applied to the history of literary transfer and to the history of translation. Traditional notion of translation saw it essentially as a ‘copy’ and ‘original’. In fact, cannibalism can also be seen as a strategy of post-colonial translation. One of the most important purposes of cannibalisation is to make the cannibal more powerful. Translation should not be a copy but a creation and nourishing act. Through the absorbing of the source text, the translator should create a target text that will benefit the readers.

3.2.3 Translation Criteria under Illumination of Post-colonialism

Just like feminists see the world as phallus-central world and traditional translation as patriarchy translation, the post-colonists see the world as western-central world and traditional translation as colonial translation. Through the “cannibalisation” strategy, the translator can make the dominated culture decolonized; while through the “foreignizing” strategy, the translator want to make the dominated culture be heard. Under these two strategies hides the post-colonial translation criterion, that is “decolonial fidelity”.

4.Conclusion

“Faithfulness” or “fidelity” has been considered the first and the fundamental criterion in traditional translation studies. While after the cultural turn in translation, this criterion is doubted by both feminists and post-colonists.

It seems that these criteria are quite different and even polar opposite to each other; however, no matter what Translation Criterion it is, Fidelity is always the first Criterion. The argument of Translation Criteria in fact lies in the struggle for the discourse power. That is why the cultural turn in translation to some extent can be called power turn in translation too.

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