An Interpretation Of Lawrence Venuti’s Deconstructive Translation Theory Through Translation Practice Between Chinese And English

As an influential translation theorist, American Italian scholar Lawrence Venuti criticizesthe “fluency” and “fidelity” translation dogma. He advocates a “foreignness” preservingtranslation strategy to resist the dominant position of target language, which furtherdeconstructs the ethnocentrism caused by language logos. Incorporating both technical andethical levels, Venuti s deconstruction-oriented translation theory initiates a new round ofdiscussion in translation studies.This thesis firstly identifies the connotation of deconstruction and deconstructivetranslation theories, tracing back the origin of Venuti s translation thoughts.“Foreignness” inGerman romantic period, Benyamin s “Pure Language” and “Différance” by Jacque Derridaconstitute the origin of Venuti s deconstruction-oriented theory.Following the background review, a comprehensive analysis of Venuti s theory iselaborated. Venuti points out the invisible status of translators since the17thcentury inAnglo-American culture. His symptomatic reading reveals the violent rewriting of othercultures, calling for resistancy in translation to deconstruct the language logos. Then Venutiturns his studies to ethical level, proposing the ethics of locations.Although Venuti s Translation Theory is established on the studies of Indo-Europeanlanguages, his deconstructive thoughts can be well applied in C-E and E-C translationpractices. On the one hand, historically speaking, foreignizing translation promotes thedevelopment of modern Chinese in the process of Westernization; on the other, thesymptomatic reading of “fluent” translations of C-E and E-C exposes the hiddenlogocentrism of target language. In addition, the application of resistancy in poetry and noveltexts testifies the feasibility of Venuti s theory in C-E and E-C translation practices.The last part is a rethinking on Venuti s translation theory, pointing out the limitationscaused by non-Indo-European language analysis. Another demerit is shown in the reversedlanguage comparison, when the strong influential language moves from the target to thesource, the original aim of deconstruction is deconstructed. In spite of this, Venuti s theoryexhibits a great vitality under the development of modern information technology, especially the popularization of internet.Starting from a comprehensive study on Lawrence Venuti s deconstruction orientedtranslation thoughts and ending with its application in the C-E and E-C translation practices,this thesis is not confined to a discussion of translation evaluating standard, but explorestranslation practice guided by Venuti s theory, aiming to provide significant a guidance andassistance to the translation studies and practices.