Objectives of the theory of translation.
6. Translation theory has the following objectives:
1) to disclose and describe general linguistic foundations of the translation, i.e. to point out what peculiarities of lingual systems and conformities of languages’ functioning make the basis of a translational process, make this process possible and determine its character and limits;
2) to define the translation as an object of linguistic investigation, to point out its difference from other types of lingual mediation;
3) to elaborate the grounds for the classification of types of translational activity;
4) to disclose the essence of translation equivalence as a foundation of communicative equivalence of the source text (ST) and the target text (TT);
5) to elaborate general principles and peculiarities of formation of bilingual and special theories of translation for various combinations of languages;
6) to elaborate general principles of scientific description of the process of translation as translator’s actions in transforming ST into TT:
7) to disclose the influence of pragmatic and sociolinguistic factors on the translation process;
8) to define the notions of “the norm of translation” and elaborate principles of evaluation of the quality of translation.
7. Besides theoretical sections, linguistics of translation includes elaboration of a number of applied aspects, connected with methods of teaching translation, compiling and using of various reference-books and dictionaries, methods of evaluation and editing translations, and also various practical questions, the solution of which helps the translator’s successful performance of his functions. An important position among applied tasks of linguistic translatology is occupied by the elaboration of methods of formalising of the translation process with the aim of rendering part of or all the translator’s functions to an automatic device, i.e. performance of a machine (automatic) translation.
8. Linguistic theory of translation is, first of all, a descriptive theoretical discipline, which deals with identifying and description of objective conformities of the translating process, in the basis of which lie peculiarities of the structure and rules of functioning of languages, participating in this process. In other words, theory of translation describes not what there should be, but what there really is, what makes up the nature of the phenomenon studied. However, on the basis of the description of the linguistic mechanism of translation it becomes possible to formulate some normative (prescriptive) recommendations, principles and rules, methods and techniques of translation, following which, the translator can more successfully fulfil his tasks. In all cases the scientific analysis of the facts observed precedes the normative prescriptions.
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9. Normative recommendations, worked out on the basis of linguo-translational investigations, may be used both in the practice of translation and in training of future translators. The habit to use such recommendations, modifying them in accord with the character of the texts to be translated and conditions and aims of a concrete act of translation, makes up an important part of a translator’s skill. Knowledge of normative requirements does not mean that the translator should fulfil these requirements automatically. Translation in any case is a creative activity, which requires of a translator a whole complex of knowledge, habits and skills, the ability to make the right choice , considering the whole complex of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. Consideration of such factors is done for the most part intuitively, as the result of a creative act, and translators have different skills of performing the process of translation. A high degree of such skill is called the art of translation.
Methods of investigation.
10. Being a linguistic discipline, linguistic theory of translation makes a wide use of data and methods of investigation of other section of linguistics: grammar, lexicology, semasiology, stylistics, socio-linguistics, psycholinguistics and others. For the general theory of translation very important is extrapolation onto its object of general linguistic postulates about the language as a means of communication, about the language as a system and as a sum of speech realizations, about 2 planes of lingual units, about the relation of the language to logical categories and the real world phenomena.
11. Translation is a means of ensuring the possibility of communication between people, speaking different languages. That’s why very important for the theory of translation are communicative linguistics data about the peculiarities of speech communication process, of direct and oblique speech acts, about the ratio of the expressed and the implied sense in an utterance and a text, the influence of context and the situation of communication upon understanding of the text, other factors, defining the person’s communicative behaviour.
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12. A very important method of investigation in linguistics of translation is comparative analysis of translations, i.e. the analysis of the form and the contents of the TT and those of the ST. These texts are objective facts that can be observed and analyzed. In the process of translation certain relations between the two texts in different languages (ST and TT) are established. Comparing them makes it possible to disclose the inner mechanism of translation, to reveal units of equivalence, and also to find out changes in form and contents, that may take place in the process of substitution of the ST unit by an equivalent TT unit. Doing this makes possible the comparison of two or more translations of the same ST. The comparative analysis of translations gives the possibility to clear out, how typical difficulties, connected with the specific character of each of the languages, of translation are overcome, and also what ST elements are left behind unexpressed in the TT. As the result, we get the description of “translation facts”, that give a picture of the real process.
13. The comparative analysis of translations as a method of linguistic investigation is based on the assumption that the totality of translations, made at a certain chronological period, may be regarded as the result of optimal solution of the whole complex of translation problems at a given level (stage) of development of translation theory and practice. The use of this method implies also, that the result of the translation process reflects its essence. Each translation is subjective in the sense that any utterance being the result of a speech action of a separate person. The choice of the variant of translation is to a certain degree dependent on the qualification and individual faculty of a translator. But the subjective character of translation is restricted by the necessity to render with maximum completeness the contents of the ST, and the possibility of such rendering depends on relations between the systems and the peculiarities of functioning of the two languages objectively existent and not dependent on the translator. Thus, translation is a subjective realization of objective relations by the translator. Subjectivity of translation does not prevent the objective scientific analysis, nor does subjectivity of speech utterances prevent extracting from them objective facts about the system of this or other language. In some translations there may be mistakes, that misrepresent (distort) the actual character of translational relations between the ST and the TT units, but having sufficient volume of material such mistakes are easily found out and removed.
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Comparative analysis of translations gives the possibility to get information about correlation of certain elements of the ST and the TT, conditioned by relations between the languages involved, as well as by extralinguistic factors, influencing the procedure of the translation process. An additional method of getting such information is “interrogation of informers”. Informers are bilingual people having the necessary experience of translation. In the process of interrogation the informer is offered for translation parts of the ST that contain lexical or syntactical structures presenting certain translational difficulties.
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