The Adaptation And Selection In Yan Fu's Translation Of Terminology In Social Sciences:Features And Mechanisms

Yan Fu(1854-1921)was a renowned translator in pre-modern China,having accomplished eight translations of important Western works and having made contributions to the spread and disseminations of Western thoughts in his time.As Yan Fu is widely recognized as a pioneer in translating a large number of terms from the West,there is both theoretical and practical significance in the study of Yan Fu's terminology translation.Constant research has been done into Yan Fu's translation with numerous achievements.The previous research can be summarized into two aspects,namely,studies from the perspectives of lexicology,concept history,society and culture,and studies from linguistic perspectives with focus either on case studies or influences of Yan Fu's translations.However,much still needs to be done concerning a comprehensive study of all the translated terms in Yan Fu's eight renowned translated works.First,previous studies seldom cover all his works,usually focusing on one of his works,with Tian yan lun(Yan's first piece of translated work)in particular.In fact,Yan's translations span over a decade(1894-1909),with modifications and adjustments that can be taken into consideration.Secondly,little has been done concerning the translator of terminology and audience.Without any doubt,both the translator and audience play significant roles in the translation and disseminations of terminology and their concepts.Thirdly,terminology databases have yet to be employed in the investigations of terminology translation.Therefore,it is necessary to build a database of Yan Fu's translated terms for data collection and data analysis,so as to explore Yan's translation processes and results in a comprehensive manner.To be specific,the present study takes the advantages of terminology databases and combines relative theoretical concepts of terminology science,eco-translatology and conceptual history,with an aim to implement an all-round and in-depth investigation into Yan Fu's translated terms.It also uses case studies of key terms so as to examine the process of Yan Fu's terminology translation.The explorations of the general features and process features of Yan Fu's terminology translation in social sciences contribute to the generalization of the dual mechanisms,namely the translator' s mechanism and the audience's mechanism.The present study focuses on three research questions as follows:1)What are the general features of the adaptation and selection(A&S)of Yan's terminology translation?2)What mechanisms work for the A&S of Yan's terminology translation?3)What are the factors that shape the A&S of Yan's terminology translation?As to the research methodology,there are three methods to elaborate.The first method is statistical data analysis,which draws largely from the terminology database and presents an overall picture of Yan Fu's translated terms.The second one is to use conceptual history method for the purpose of examining the emergence,competition and acceptance of translated terms from a diachronic perspective with historical contexts taken into account.The third method is to use case studies and contrastive analysis of key terms like "tian yan(Yan's term for evolution)"and"jin hua"(Japanese term for evolution),"qun xue"(Yan's term for sociology)and "ming xue"(Yan's term for logic)and so on,which aids the examinations of the acceptance of Yan Fu's terms.On the basis of data analysis and theoretical discussions,the present study offers the following findings concerning general features of A&S,mechanisms for A&S,and factors shaping A&S respectively.1)In commenting on Yan Fu's translation,excessive use of transliteration is sometimes regarded as a major means of translating terms by Yan Fu,which allegedly leads to the loss of popularity of his translated terms.However,the present study finds with evidence and statistics that Yan Fu prioritized liberal translation,literal translation and transliteration in such order with regards to translation of the terms.It should be noted that translation in Yan Fu's times is extremely difficult due to drastic differences between the then China and the West and the disparity between the Chinese and Western academia in terms of fields of study and discourse systems.In other words,Yan Fu attempts to compare and reconcile the two discourse systems in his terminology translation largely by means of using the domestication strategy and import of concepts,and to build a bridge between Chinese and Western scholarly learning,in hopes of constructing new and multi-layered Chinese discourse system while enriching Chinese knowledge system.2)The translator's mechanism for A&S largely hinges on the pre-and-during-translation stages with the translator at the core.Yan Fu's political thoughts and principles for translation exert great influence on his translation of terminology.These thoughts and principles include his attitude towards scholarly learning by way of Japan.On the other hand,the audience's mechanism mainly applies to the post-translation stage,regarding the acceptance of translated terms.3)There are many important factors involved in Yan's A and S.The abolition of Eight-legged Essays and Imperial Examinations,the outbreak of New Cultural Revolution and May 4th Movement,and the shift from ancient Chinese vernacular to modern Chinese language—all these events took place,threatening in some ways the disseminations and popularity of terms translated by Yan Fu.Although most of Yan Fu's translated terms are replaced by their Japanese counterparts and regrettably left out of use today,they are of great value for study as they provide rich material for translation process analysis and set examples for today's discourse construction as well as terminology translation and concept dissemination.It is fair to say that the present study has innovation in terms of research methodology,research issues and research perspectives.Using terminology databases for data collection and analysis provides an authentic view of terminology translation,which covers all the eight important works translated by Yan Fu.The summary of dual mechanisms for adaptation and selection lays basis for future translation studies of terms.Moreover,the present study proposes"interactive adaptation and selection theory",which provides a theoretical framework for terminology translation studies.This theory emphasizes the importance of the interactions and correlations between terminology translator and audience,highlighting multi-layer and multi-phase investigations into both translation process and products.The present study has two aspects of theoretical significance.First,it lays groundwork for China's construction of modern academic discourse and the development of theoretical investigations into terminology translation.Second,it showcases a new method of terminology-database-driven research into Yan Fu's translations,which is a breakthrough and helps to accomplish something new,i.e.to summarize the dual mechanisms for A&S of Yan Fu's translated terms.On the other hand,the present study also has practical justifications.It provides data for the study of Yan Fu's translation thoughts and practices,as the terminology database includes bilingual and trilingual information,frequencies and contexts of terms,which can be used for references.In addition,the present study can provide lessons learned for terminology translation and management in today's translation practices,especially to satisfy the requirements of translation of terms in social sciences.Judging from the present study,there are a few implications for future research.First of all,terminology translation studies should take into account both the translator and the audience,with due respect for rules of language changes.It is necessary to do research into the audience,analyzing their needs and wants as well as their preferences for terminology so as to enhance terminology education and ensure proper use of terminology.Furthermore,it is worth mentioning that terminology translation studies can be conducted on the basis of terminology databases,for both theoretical and practical benefits.This also echoes with today's common market practices for translation as terminology databases are built and employed for the consistency,accuracy and efficiency of translation for companies and agencies in this field.Lastly,the present study testifies to the possibility of exploring Yan Fu's translated works as a whole by investigating their cultural and historical aspects so as to catch a panoramic view of Yan Fu's translation process in relation to the circumstances of his time.