On The Indeterminacy Of Translation

In1960, Willard Van Orman Quine put forward a famous theory in his Word and Object----the indeterminacy of translation, which introduces a new explanation about language and meaning. From the inscrutability of reference and indeterminacy of meaning, he broke the myth of the only right translated version. Afterwards, in1980s, Derrida and Benjamin’s deconstructionism theory emerged, which claimed the phenomenon of translation indeterminacy from the perspective of translators’ subjectivity. Those new theories have made a great impact on traditional translation theories, especially on confirming the position of translator’s subjectivity and the criterion of translation criticism.Regarding Quine’s view on indeterminacy of translation, Derrida and Benjamin’s deconstructionism as the framework, this thesis discusses indeterminacy of translation by case and comparative study. It chooses eight English versions of a Chinese classical poem---Jin Ye Si, as the object of study. This thesis tires to answer the following questions:(1) what aspects are presented in terms of translation indeterminacy?(2) how is translation indeterminacy displayed in eight translations of the poem Jin Ye Si? Then, this thesis proves that the indeterminacy has existed in poetry translation in terms of words and sentences and that proves the translatability has existed in poetry translation in terms of the cultural image and phonological connotations.Two conclusions can be made by a comparative study of eight English versions of Jin Ye Si. To start with, words and sentences have indeterminacy. In addition, translators should be creative to recreate the original poems. By analyzing and explaining the phenomenon of indeterminacy of translation, this thesis proposes that translators should be highly aware of his subjectivity and creativity, and choose the most suitable translation criterion in the process of translation. In this way a qualified version can be presented.