A Study Of The Ethics Of Translation From The Perspective Of Ethics

This paper constructs a theoretical frame of the ethics of translation by borrowing the disciplinary structure and research methods from Ethics, and, within this frame, it analyzes the ethical relationships and appeals in translation practice. This frame is then applied to the study on the ethical issues of the translation of Chinese classics, as well as the ethical appeals of translators in an attempt to testify its validity and to shed some light on the research on the English translation of Chinese classicsThis paper consists of five chapters. Chapter One is the introduction to the objectives, rationale, structure, and methods of the study, as well as its innovations.Chapter Two is the theoretical basis and literature review. It first reviews the origin, history and status quo of Ethics, and discusses the important elements and research methods of the three major branches of Ethics, i.e. Meta Ethics, Normative Ethics and Virtue Ethics. Besides, the term "universal ethics" is introduced, which leads to the conclusion about its essence of "respecting the Other". After this, four major theories of the ethics of translation are analyzed from the perspective of Ethics. Obvious normative characteristics are found with those theories. It is found that the ethical theories of Andrew Chesterman and Anthony Pym show more teleological inclination, while those of Antoine Berman and Lawrence Venuti are on the deontological side. The last part of the chapter reviews the research on the English translation of Chinese classics. It is found that despite the achievements that have been made, few scholars have touched on the issue from the ethical perspective, which has impeded further development of the study on the English translation of Chinese classics. It is pointed out that the English translation of Chinese classics can be studied under the guidance of ethics of translation, which can help explain the phenomena in the field and guide translation practice.Chapter Three constructs a theoretical frame on the ethics of translation by borrowing the disciplinary classification of Ethics. In this frame, the ethics of translation comprises two parts, i.e. Meta ethics of translation (pure theory) and Applied ethics of translation (practical theory), the latter of which in turn consists of Normative ethics of translation and Virtue ethics of translation. Meta ethics of translation include the definition and analysis of key terms like the value of translation, the ethics of translation and the ethics of the translator. According to different logical methods, normative ethics of translation can be divided into Teleological theories and Deontological theories. Virtue ethics of translation study the translator’virtues, which are composed of personal ethics and professional ethics. In this chapter a new term, i.e. Ethical appeal in translation, is coined, according to which translation is viewed as a process in which the translator realizes certain ethical appeal(s). This is the joining point of theoretical studies of the ethics of translation and translation practice. There are three major factors that determine the ethical appeals in translation, i.e. the value of translation, the context of translation and the translator’s morality.Chapter Four is a study of the English translation of Chinese classics from the perspective of the ethics of translation, which is intended to testify the theoretical frame of ethics of translation constructed in Chapter Three. With regard to Meta ethics of translation, a number of key concepts, including "Chinese classics", "values of translation of Chinese classics and ethical relationships are clarified, and their features are analyzed. In aspect of normative ethics of translation, four English versions of The Art of War by Sunzi are analyzed from both teleological and deontological perspectives to reveal the underlining ethical appeals of their translators. The virtue ethics of translation puts forward moral requests for the translator, and considers "respecting the Other" as her/his basic quality. On the other hand, cultural communication and exchange are the ultimate goal of the translator. The chapter then analyzes the reasons underneath the ethical appeals by examining the three factors. The text type of classics, reader expectation and the patron, under the historical context, jointly determine the ethical appeals.Chapter Five is the conclusion in which the frame of the ethics of translation proposed and its theoretical arguments, as well as the inadequacies of the paper and suggestions for further research, are summarized.