A Hermeneutic Approach To Translation Process

The study of translation can be generally divided into two types: product-oriented research and process-oriented research. Although the former approach dominates in translation studies, it has to be admitted that translation product is only the static result of dynamic translation process. Obviously, it is the research on translation process that is supposed to offer an answer to the key question about how the target text is produced. Therefore, it is justifiable that process-oriented research that has long been marginalized is increasingly becoming the order of the day in translation studies.Many translators and translation theorists, with the help of their rich experience and meticulous observation, have established ample models of translation process, concentrating on the linguistic studies and psychological or cognitive studies. However, these aspects have their defects. Firstly, these approaches focus on translation process in its narrow sense, without effective analysis of translation preparation and the phenomena of re-translated texts. Secondly, seldom are these studies concerned with social, cultural and historical factors in translation process. For example, how do culture and history interfere in the deciphering process and how do they express themselves by the translator? Thirdly, the previous translation process studies treat the translator as an ideal objective neutral, without any linguistic, cultural or personal preference.This thesis holds the view that the application of hermeneutics to the study of translation process may help solve the above three problems. Although the mental studies of translators contribute a lot, it is too abstract and difficult to put them into actual practices. On the contrary, hermeneutic approaches to social aspect of translation process are more feasible in case studies, particularly in answering the question on why translation is done in a certain way. Hermeneutics is a theory of understanding and interpretation of texts. It admits that"fore-understanding"and"prejudice"exist before readers approach texts, which is thought to be valid also in translation in that translators are social beings in a certain culture and history. That is to say, both writers and translators have their respective"horizons"which will be fused in the process of translation. In a word, hermeneutics puts weight on the historicity that human beings and texts exist in certain time and space, which can be used in translation process study to offer tentative solutions to the mentioned three questions and project a new perspective to analyze translation process. In this light, this thesis is going to introduce hermeneutics into the present study, attempting to provide practical guidance for translators to follow and implying new yardsticks to measure up translated texts.