Translating "Texts With Chinese Characteristics": A Functionalist Approach

In stark contrast to translation from English into Chinese(E-C translation), which has always been extensively practiced and well nourished by theoretical insights, translation from Chinese into English (C-E translation), long stunted by the dearth of qualified practitioners and suffocated by the ossified tenet of the primacy of the original, lies in utter tatters in terms of quality, despite the tremendous market demand for the service and the corresponding boom in C-E translation subsequent to China's greater integration into the rest of the world economically, culturally and politically. Incompetence in C-E translation, in no small way aided and abetted by the myth of fidelity to the original, a misconception which in turn serves as a pretext for not being able to translate creatively, has spawned Chinglish---English with Chinese language characteristics---in their various manifestations, causing communication failures and defeating the very purpose of translation. Behind translation-induced Chinglish, it is argued in this study, Chinese textual idiosyncrasies loom large. Hence"texts with Chinese characteristics (TCC)", which are classified, accounted for from ideological and poetological perspectives, and, based on German functionalist theories, furnished with translation solutions ranging from interpretation to rewriting and non-translation.Starting from the two pillars of functionalism, viz. function plus loyalty, the author dismisses the traditional concept of fidelity to the text as fallacious and misleading, placing the translator in a dilemma of choosing between fidelity to the word and loyalty to the communicative purpose, where the former must be sacrificed in favor of the latter if the communication is to be successful. Then a variety of typical TCC is examined with solutions provided, followed by a case study demonstrating functionalism in action.It is contended that in translating texts with Chinese characteristics, loyalty overrides fidelity as a cardinal principle where there is a conflict between the two. And, as an intermediary between two parties in communication, the translator should take as his/her primary objective the success of the communicative event, with the initiative and expertise of a communication expert.