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#10 Nov 18 - Studies on Translation Theories

張貼者： NTNU GITI BLOG on 2009年10月27日 星期二
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#10 Nov 18 ‘Paradoxes and Aporias in Translation and Translation Studies’ Theo Hermans in Riccardi (2002): 10-23.

1 意見:

charlotte wu 提到...

In this article, Hermans re-examines the conventional myth of translation, that is, translation as a transparent, value free reflection of the source texts. Hermans uses the examples of translators’ voices to illustrate that translation is in fact a partial, untidy phenomenon. And the untidiness of translation is from the mediating factor of translation—translation norms. The translation norms would influence translators’ choice of what to translate and how to translate. Therefore, the translation norms would provide a self reference to the target culture. I think this self-referencing function is particularly crucial. It demystified the source text/ source culture oriented premise in the translation convention. The self-reference is best indication that in the process of translation, the influence of target culture may very likely have greater influence on the translation than the source culture.

Based on this self-referencing function of translation, Hermans further indicates that translation is ‘the translation of translation’. When translating, one has to translate the foreign text into what is considered as ‘translation’ in his/her own culture. In this sense, every translation is partial, as it has been ‘filtered’ by the norms of the target culture.

From the above, I think the implication of Herman’s viewpoint is that translation is never contextual-free. Rather, it is the embedded value of translation that provides the uniqueness to translation. Therefore, whether the target text is ‘equivalent’ to the source text should not, and also cannot, be the main concern of translators. Instead, it is even more important for translators to be aware of what kind of viewpoints that they are adopting; what kind of cultural frameworks they are confronted with; and what potential limitations that these frameworks might bring in. To sum, I think this is a brilliant argument to illustrate that translation is not merely the ‘transcoding’ of language; rather, it is a dynamic exchange of cultural norms.

2009年12月1日 下午6:16

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