Keywords: feminism; Translation theory; Translator's style; Contribution; limit
In the 1960s, the feminist movement in the West surged. This ideological war initiated by intellectual women spread to all aspects of social superstructure such as politics, culture and literature, and promoted the development of feminism in the academic field. Translation researchers have found similarities between feminism and translation, and think that there is serious gender discrimination in translation, and begin to question the translation theory that implies masculinity. Therefore, the feminist translation view came into being.
First, feminism and translation.
For more than two thousand years, the field of translation has been full of various gender metaphors, such as comparing translation to "the beauty of infidelity". Translation is placed in the same position as women. The hierarchical authority of the original text for the reproduction of the translated text is related to the images of men and women: the original text is considered as a strong and prolific man, while the translated text is a low and weak derivative woman. Western feminist translation theorists believe that translation in this weak position is the result of long-term oppression by patriarchy. Translation studies under patriarchal clan system transplanted the gender ethics that men are superior to women in social culture, making translation, a cross-cultural language activity, also regarded as a subordinate and derivative part, and then feminized and marginalized. Women and translation have found similarities and analogies in the same historical situation, which leads to the possibility of combining them (Xu, 20 1 1, p. 60).
Second, the theoretical proposition
Feminism and translation are both critical understandings of language. When they are combined, a brand-new translation theory is formed. Feminism provides a brand-new research perspective for translation studies, gives a brand-new explanation to some important concepts in traditional translation theories, and puts forward unique views and opinions. Its main points include:
(1) subverts the traditional translation theory standard "faithfulness" and emphasizes treason.
Traditional translation theories at home and abroad always regard "faithfulness" as one of the basic principles of translation. In traditional translation theory, the core of translation criteria is "faithfulness" or "faithfulness", and the translation must be faithful to the original, centered on the original/author, and emphasize the translator/translator's absolute loyalty to the original/author. Feminist translation theorists firmly oppose this view. They think that language is full of sexism, and "faithfulness" usually means depriving women of the right to speak (Ma Lina, 20 12, p. 127). Therefore, in translation, they should treat the text "feminine", operate the text from a feminine point of view and in a feminine way, and boldly practice their theoretical purposes.
(2) Redefining the relationship between the translated text and the original text and highlighting the translator's subjectivity.
Feminist translation theory breaks the traditional binary opposition mode of "author/source text-translator/translation" and advocates the glory of source text-translation. First of all, translation prolongs the life of the original and enables it to face new readers in another language and cultural space. In other words, Benjamin's translation is the afterlife of the original, which opens up a broader living space for the original.
Feminist translation theorists put forward the concept of "feminist translator", which first affirmed the differences in the interpretation of the original meaning caused by the gender differences of translators, thus enriching the connotation of the original; At the same time, it also improves the translator's subjectivity and affirms the translator's creativity in the translation process. For a long time, the traditional translation theory has been based on "faithfulness" and "equivalence", ignoring the translator's subjectivity. Translation has always been regarded as a vassal of the original, and it is only a derivative and non-creative activity, which turns the translator's subjectivity into zero and is the mirror of the original. However, starting from the translator's gender role, feminists redefine the relationship between translation and the original text, highlighting the translator's subjectivity.
(3) Eliminating gender discrimination in translation language
In addition to theoretical contributions, feminist translation theorists have done a lot of rich translation practice to eliminate gender discrimination in translation language. In particular, the feminist and inclusive language interpretation of the Bible has aroused controversy, which not only makes people pay attention to the conflicting significance brought by gendered language, but also strengthens people's understanding of translation as a rich interpretation activity. They claim that in the process of translation, various translation strategies should be adopted to highlight the position of women in the text and make their voices "visible" in the language. In translation practice, many feminist translators boldly adopt new words, new spellings, new grammatical structures, and use some word games, aiming at transcending male-dominated language norms and opening up new space for female discourse.
In a word, western feminist translation theorists shoulder the dual historical tasks of self-preservation and translation, and have waged fruitful struggles for it, advocating interventionist translation strategies in translation skills. Louis von Flotow (1997) puts forward three translation strategies commonly used by feminist translators to intervene in texts, namely, supplement, adding preface and footnote (preceding &: Footnote) and hijacking (hijacking).
(a) Supplementary
Complementary strategy refers to the creative behavior of balancing the differences between two languages, which is equivalent to what some theorists call compensation. Based on his own position, the translator creatively rewrites the text in the process of supplement. For example, the capital "m" in "people" indicates the masculinity implied in the original text. This translation method reflects the conscious intervention of female translators in the original text.
(b) Adding a preface and footnotes (preface and footnotes); Footnote)
Foreword and footnote refer to the description of the translation process to highlight the translation differences of female translators. This strategy has become a routine in feminist translation, which is used to explain the background, intention and translation strategy of the original text. Undoubtedly, these explanations and records are intended to emphasize how translators attract people's attention to their female identity, or more specifically, their female identity, so as to explain their true feelings in the translation process and clarify those texts that use grammatical gender resources for imaginative or political purposes.
Hijacking strategy
Hijacking strategy refers to the manipulation of feminist thoughts by female translators based on their own views and their own understanding or hobbies (Zheng Yujie, 20 1 1, p. 155).
Third, the influence on the translator's style.
Translator's style refers to the translator's creative personality in the process of translation, which is reflected in the combination of the translator's taste in choosing the theme, the translation standards he follows, the translation methods he uses and the skills in using the target language. Translators' styles are determined by their world outlook, creative ability and artistic preference, and are formed and developed in translation practice. (Ying Zhou, 2004, p. 67)
First of all, translators under the influence of feminist translation theory are willing to collect the works of female writers and feminist writers and introduce them to the language and culture they represent. Feminist translators often subvert the male narrative style by creating new words. At the same time, in the works of feminist writers, language has become a tool to express political goals. They create articles by using neutral and simplified words. Feminist translators hope to embody feminist features by translating such works.
Secondly, feminist translation strongly advocates the interventionism of translators in practice and demands feminist creation of translation. Among the three translation strategies commonly used by feminist translators, "complement" is to make up for the differences between languages. In the process of compensation, the translator creatively rewrites the text to reflect his female role. "Hijacking" means that feminist translators rewrite or misappropriate ideas that are not in line with feminism in their translations. "Adding preface and footnote" is a common way for feminist translators to explain the purpose of the original text, their own purpose of selecting materials and their translation views.
Thirdly, feminist translation questions and criticizes the grammatical gender of discourse, puts forward the view of "gender neutrality" in language, reconstructs feminist vocabulary, and embodies the style of feminist translators in language use. In addition, feminist translators are not satisfied with using neutral words, but also create some feminine words to use, such as "translatress". (Zhang Jing, 2007, pp. 72-73)
Four. Contributions and limitations
Since the introduction of translation theory, feminism has continuously broadened the horizon of translation studies. Feminist interpretation of differences successfully deconstructs the hegemonic position of the original text and men, and finds a new theoretical basis for people to reflect on translation equivalence, cultural differences, translator's subjectivity and language essence in traditional translation theories. However, there are many feminist schools and their views are too radical. They regard subversion of the traditional translation theory based on structuralism as the ultimate goal and irrationality as rationality. In order to achieve their political goals, they overemphasized the "manipulation" of language and the "intervention" of translators in translation, thus deviating from or even distorting the essence of translation activities to some extent, which inevitably left excuses for various criticisms. (Zhang Jinghua, 2004, pp. 23-24)
References:
Flothow Lake (1997). Translation in the feminist era. Manchester: St. Jerome Press.
[2] Ma Lina (20 12). On feminist translation theory. Journal of hubei correspondence university, 25(2), 127.
[3] Xu (20 1 1). A review of western feminist translation theories. Journal of Yangtze University (Social Science Edition), 34 volumes, 4 issues, 60 pages.
Zhang Jinghua (2004). Feminism subverts the traditional translation theory and its limitations. Chinese translation, volume 25, issue 4, pp. 23-24.
[5] Zhang Jing (2007). The influence of feminist translation theory on the translator's style. Journal of Sichuan Institute of Education, 23(9), 72-73.
Zheng Yujie (20 1 1). Feminist translation theory and traditional translation theory. Popular literature and art, (13), 155.
Ying Zhou (2004). Translator's style in literary translation. Journal of Anhui Education College, (9), 64-67.
About the author: Zhang Manman (1987.4-), female, Han nationality, from Suzhou, Anhui Province, 10 graduated from Xi International Studies University, majoring in translation theory and practice.