The Resistance From Cultural Receptors In Translation

Translation has always been an important tool of communication in cross-cultural exchange. Since the cultural turn translation studies shift its center from original text to cultural factors affecting translation, and the subjectivity of the translator and the reader become a key area. Traditional translation studies have attached much importance to the comparison of original and translated texts, aiming to set up a unified criterion for translation. This paper holds that a translation as a media text is to be interpreted by receptors, and in the process it certainly will present clash, foreignization, domestication and combination between two different cultures. Translation has been regarded as the exchange not only between languages but also cultures. In the target culture context, The translator who acts not only as the reader of ST but also the operator of translation as well as the reader of TT are both cultural receptors. Both of them have their personal experiences and artistic tastes and personal ideas so that they response differently out of individuality while reading or interpreting the text.Translation is an activity of cultural exchanges. It is involved in the study of a broader and deeper sense such as history, conventions, politics, economics, culture, etc. However, in the exchange receptors in the target cultural background have received little attention. And the influence of translation on target culture has been intensively investigated while the influence of target culture on translation had received scant elaboration.Translators as cultural media who contact with ST as readers and transform the translations as translators will unavoidably be exerted influences for their cultural identity and tendency while the cultural traditions, languages and codes exchange. They will resist from the part of their own modes and have different experiences of the source culture. Therefore, it is quite probable that the source text or its culture were rewritten or reorganized to fit the target language.Inspired by the resistance theory of Michel de Certeau (1925—1986) and Andre Lefevere's manipulation theory, this thesis attempts to shift the vision from the ideal translators and the silent readers to the receptors in a real socio-cultural context, and study the role in the translating process the receptors of the translation works act as and how they resist or manipulate their analysis or translating from the following two aspects of cultural content and linguistic form. It argues that the receptors are a culturally restricted manipulator and a constructor of culture as well. Through its researches, it holds that the original author creates works and produce receptors, and these cultural receptors do transformation, reconstruction, strypped-down or resistance on the products proceeding from their own cultural identities or ideologies in the guise of obeying the original text and its cultural context.Such resistance does not mean there is absolutely no acceptance, but it may have positive or negative effects: promote the readers in or free them from understanding the ST culture. It helps TT readers better understand ST, scholars of translation better understand the role of receptors in translation and the translators raise their cultural consciousness and take effective measures to reduce the negative influence of the differentials on translation or resist with canonical and beautiful language against those vulgar or low-taste that will erode or destroy our national language and culture environment and let readers get to know the existence of cultural and linguistic difference.The thesis also holds that proper resistance of the receptors is necessary in certain situation and in the translation has fairly important active effect on the culture variety.