A Study Of Theo Hermans' Translation Theories

Theo Hermans is a leading scholar in global Translation Studies field,whose translation theories have great influence on the development of contemporary western translation theories.His theoretical achievements,though of great importance,have not been studied systematically and comprehensively.This dissertation,based on the close reading of Hermans' numerous writings,tries to give a full depiction of and critical comments on his translation theories and construct them into a system.The paper also demonstrates his reflective and critical spirit of scholarship.And the epistemology and methodology of his research are summarized here for the first time.The dissertation consists of three parts.Part one gives a brief introduction of Herman's basic academic achievements,then goes on with an analysis of the present study status concerning his translation theories.The structure,the research methods and the significance of this paper will be presented then.Part two is made up of five chapters.Chapter one discusses the context of Hermans' translation theory which has close connection with his theoretical construction.It consists of three main related paradigms of contemporary western translation studies:the linguistic approach,the school of Translation Studies and post-colonial translation studies.The equivalence theories from the linguistic approach become the reflective objects of Hermans' translation theories which draw inspiration from the thoughts of the other two schools.The second chapter analyses the system of Hermans' critical theory of equivalence.After having a brief review of the evolution of the equivalence theories in the western world,Gideon Toury's new idea on equivalence is introduced for the purpose of comparison with Hermans' perspective.The chapter mainly approaches Hermans' manipulation perception,equivalence illusion theory,modelling theory of translation.His self-reference theory of translation and the presence theory of translators are also fully analyzed to construct the system of his critical theory of equivalence.The third chapter deals with the system of Hermans' translation norm theory.Hermans adopts the concept of “convention” to enlarge the meaning of the concept of“translation norm”.The paper analyzes Hermans' innovative idea about the“expectation” and “selection” aspects of “translation norm” by which his dynamic ontology is approved and a unique research method is presented.His theory of values and power relations of translation norms as well as the theoretical model of normative force have been explained.Then his meta-theoretical reflection and thick translation strategy based on his translation norm theory have been interpreted too.Chapter four studies the system of Hermans' translation social system theory.First,several translation system theories have been reviewed,including Zohar's “polysystem theory”,Lefevere's translation system theory,the application of Bourdieu's sociological theories and Luhmann's social system theory in Translation Studies.Then,Hermans' translation social system theory is closely analyzed in five parts: translation as institution,the theoretical frame work of translation social system,the self-reference of the system,the form of the system and second-order observation of translation social system.According to above perspectives,Hermans has constructed translation as an autopoiesis social system.Chapter five deals with the epistemology and research methodology of Hermans' translation study.The above two aspects of his research work have a deep root in postmodern philosophy.After a brief review of the main trends in western postmodern philosophy,the characteristic of Hermans' epistemology has been summarized as constructivism.Moreover,the research methodology of analyzing and revealing differences which paves the way for his reflection on traditional western translation theories is also summarized and studied.In the third part,the conclusion of this research is presented,the achievements as well as shortcomings are summarized,and the future research directions are put forward.