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| − | =Western Translation History | + | =Western Translation History in the Modern and Contemporary Ages= |
'''现当代西方翻译史''' | '''现当代西方翻译史''' | ||
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==Abstract== | ==Abstract== | ||
Under different historical backgrounds, western translation presents different characteristics. In the 20th century before the end of the Second World War, the two world wars inevitably brought obstacles and disturbances to the development of translation. Therefore, though translation in this period still continued to develop, it did not get breakthrough. Translation was still dominated by literary works in content, totally relying on manual labor. In translation theory, it emphasized the creativity of translation and laid a foundation for the linguistic turn of translation studies. After the end of World War II, the world entered an era of relative peace, the world economy recovered, and the translation industry was greatly revitalized. During this period, the scale of translation covered all aspects of social life, machine translation developed fast, translation training flourished, translation organizations were established in various countries and many translation theories and schools emerged. That is to say, this period can be called the golden age of translation. | Under different historical backgrounds, western translation presents different characteristics. In the 20th century before the end of the Second World War, the two world wars inevitably brought obstacles and disturbances to the development of translation. Therefore, though translation in this period still continued to develop, it did not get breakthrough. Translation was still dominated by literary works in content, totally relying on manual labor. In translation theory, it emphasized the creativity of translation and laid a foundation for the linguistic turn of translation studies. After the end of World War II, the world entered an era of relative peace, the world economy recovered, and the translation industry was greatly revitalized. During this period, the scale of translation covered all aspects of social life, machine translation developed fast, translation training flourished, translation organizations were established in various countries and many translation theories and schools emerged. That is to say, this period can be called the golden age of translation. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Keywords== | ||
| + | Western translation; translation history; modern; contemporary | ||
==摘要== | ==摘要== | ||
在不同的历史背景下，西方翻译呈现出不同的特点。在二战结束之前的二十世纪，两次世界大战不可避免地为翻译事业的发展带来了阻碍和干扰，因而这一时期的翻译虽然仍在发展但并未取得突破性的成就，在翻译的内容上仍然以文学作品为主，技术上完全依赖人工，理论方面注重翻译的创造性且为翻译研究的语言学转向奠定了基础。二战结束后，世界进入到相对和平的年代，世界经济复苏，翻译事业也大为振兴。在这一时期，翻译的内容覆盖社会生活的方方面面，机器翻译发展迅速，翻译培训兴起，翻译组织在各国成立，各种翻译理论和翻译流派涌现，可谓是翻译的黄金年代。 | 在不同的历史背景下，西方翻译呈现出不同的特点。在二战结束之前的二十世纪，两次世界大战不可避免地为翻译事业的发展带来了阻碍和干扰，因而这一时期的翻译虽然仍在发展但并未取得突破性的成就，在翻译的内容上仍然以文学作品为主，技术上完全依赖人工，理论方面注重翻译的创造性且为翻译研究的语言学转向奠定了基础。二战结束后，世界进入到相对和平的年代，世界经济复苏，翻译事业也大为振兴。在这一时期，翻译的内容覆盖社会生活的方方面面，机器翻译发展迅速，翻译培训兴起，翻译组织在各国成立，各种翻译理论和翻译流派涌现，可谓是翻译的黄金年代。 | ||
| − | == | + | ==关键词== |
| − | + | 西方翻译；翻译史；现代；当代 | |
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
In this paper, western translation history in modern and contemporary ages will be introduced. Here the modern age refers to the nearly half century before the Second World War. And the contemporary age refers to the half century after the Second World War. That is to say, the modern and contemporary translation in this paper refers to the translation in the 20th century. Under the influence of different historical backgrounds, translation in these two ages showed different characteristics and traits which will be concluded and discussed in detail in the following. | In this paper, western translation history in modern and contemporary ages will be introduced. Here the modern age refers to the nearly half century before the Second World War. And the contemporary age refers to the half century after the Second World War. That is to say, the modern and contemporary translation in this paper refers to the translation in the 20th century. Under the influence of different historical backgrounds, translation in these two ages showed different characteristics and traits which will be concluded and discussed in detail in the following. | ||
| − | ==The General Situation of Translation in the Modern Age== | + | ==The General Situation of Western Translation in the Modern Age== |
Into the 20th century, the capitalism in the developed countries developed into imperialism. On the one hand, the imperialist countries intensified their foreign expansion to oppress and exploit the weak countries and people in colony. On the other hand, they were engaged in a fierce battle among themselves for international markets and spheres of influence. Thus, in less than half a century, two world wars broke out. Under this historical background, translation in western countries will inevitably be seriously disturbed and destroyed. However, translation in western countries continued to develop and excellent translations still appeared from time to time. The translation of this period also has its own traits. The general situation of translation in this period can be summarized from the following two aspects. | Into the 20th century, the capitalism in the developed countries developed into imperialism. On the one hand, the imperialist countries intensified their foreign expansion to oppress and exploit the weak countries and people in colony. On the other hand, they were engaged in a fierce battle among themselves for international markets and spheres of influence. Thus, in less than half a century, two world wars broke out. Under this historical background, translation in western countries will inevitably be seriously disturbed and destroyed. However, translation in western countries continued to develop and excellent translations still appeared from time to time. The translation of this period also has its own traits. The general situation of translation in this period can be summarized from the following two aspects. | ||
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====Translation of Russian literature==== | ====Translation of Russian literature==== | ||
According to the research of Tan Zaixi, Constance Garnet is the most famous female translator in Britain in this century. She translated almost all classic Russian novels and is widely regarded as the most important Translator of translating Russian literature into English. She published her first translation of Turgenev's novel Ru-Din in 1894. In the following decades, she devoted almost all her energy and time to the translation of Russian literature. She was the first person to translate Turgenev, Dostoyevsky and Chekhov into English, successively translating all the major works of Turgenev, Goncharov, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol and Chekhov including 12 volumes of Dostoyevsky's Selected Works translated from 1912 to 1920, 15 volumes of Turgenev's Selected Works translated from 1894 to 1899, 15 volumes of Chekhov's Novels and Plays translated from 1916 to 1922, and 6 volumes of Gogol’s Selected Works translated from 1922 to 1928. In particular, her translations of Turgenev, Chekhov, Dostoyevsky and other works were widely welcomed by the English reading community, and thus gave rise to the Russian literature craze in English literature before the First World War. She translated 70 Russian works in her lifetime, making her the most prolific translator of Russian works. | According to the research of Tan Zaixi, Constance Garnet is the most famous female translator in Britain in this century. She translated almost all classic Russian novels and is widely regarded as the most important Translator of translating Russian literature into English. She published her first translation of Turgenev's novel Ru-Din in 1894. In the following decades, she devoted almost all her energy and time to the translation of Russian literature. She was the first person to translate Turgenev, Dostoyevsky and Chekhov into English, successively translating all the major works of Turgenev, Goncharov, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol and Chekhov including 12 volumes of Dostoyevsky's Selected Works translated from 1912 to 1920, 15 volumes of Turgenev's Selected Works translated from 1894 to 1899, 15 volumes of Chekhov's Novels and Plays translated from 1916 to 1922, and 6 volumes of Gogol’s Selected Works translated from 1922 to 1928. In particular, her translations of Turgenev, Chekhov, Dostoyevsky and other works were widely welcomed by the English reading community, and thus gave rise to the Russian literature craze in English literature before the First World War. She translated 70 Russian works in her lifetime, making her the most prolific translator of Russian works. | ||
| − | Two other translators who did not translate as much from Russian to English as Garnett, but who had no less influence, were the couple——Louise and Aylmer Maude. They are famous in western modern literary circles for their research and translation of Tolstoy's works. From 1928 to 1937, they spent nearly ten years translating and publishing 21 volumes of The Complete Works of Tolstoy. Later, from 1940s to 1950s, they supplemented or retranslated some of Tolstoy's works, such as What I Believe and Resurrection. In 1952, their work of War and Peace was accepted as a standard English translation and was selected for the prestigious Great Books of the Western World, thus establishing them as the authoritative English translators of Tolstoy. In addition, R. S. Townsend, R. Edmonds, Samuel Koteliansky, Ethel C. Mayne, Boris Brasol, Richard Renfield and so on were famous for translating the works of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Chekhov, Goncharov into English. | + | Two other translators who did not translate as much from Russian to English as Garnett, but who had no less influence, were the couple——Louise and Aylmer Maude. They are famous in western modern literary circles for their research and translation of Tolstoy's works. From 1928 to 1937, they spent nearly ten years translating and publishing 21 volumes of The Complete Works of Tolstoy. Later, from 1940s to 1950s, they supplemented or retranslated some of Tolstoy's works, such as What I Believe and Resurrection. In 1952, their work of War and Peace was accepted as a standard English translation and was selected for the prestigious Great Books of the Western World, thus establishing them as the authoritative English translators of Tolstoy. In addition, R. S. Townsend, R. Edmonds, Samuel Koteliansky, Ethel C. Mayne, Boris Brasol, Richard Renfield and so on were famous for translating the works of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Chekhov, Goncharov into English.（Tan，2004:148-150） |
====Translation of Nordic literature and drama==== | ====Translation of Nordic literature and drama==== | ||
In the first half of the 20th century, in addition to Russian literature, western European translators showed great interest in Nordic literature and drama, including the works of Andersen, Ibsen and Strindberg. | In the first half of the 20th century, in addition to Russian literature, western European translators showed great interest in Nordic literature and drama, including the works of Andersen, Ibsen and Strindberg. | ||
| − | According to the study of Tan Zaixi, when Hans Christian Andersen was alive, one of his works was published simultaneously in 15 languages, including English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and almost all the major languages of Western Europe. Later, all of his works were translated into different languages, and there were many re-translations in English, French, German and other countries. The first English translator was Mary Howitt, who began translating Andersen’s fairy tales in 1846. Later translators include Charles Boner, Caroline Peachey, Lady Duff Gordon, Paul Leyssac, R. R. Keigwin and R. Spink. Some of the best translations are Leyssac’s translation in 1937, Keigwin’s translation from 1950 to 1960 and Spink’s translation.( | + | According to the study of Tan Zaixi, when Hans Christian Andersen was alive, one of his works was published simultaneously in 15 languages, including English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and almost all the major languages of Western Europe. Later, all of his works were translated into different languages, and there were many re-translations in English, French, German and other countries. The first English translator was Mary Howitt, who began translating Andersen’s fairy tales in 1846. Later translators include Charles Boner, Caroline Peachey, Lady Duff Gordon, Paul Leyssac, R. R. Keigwin and R. Spink. Some of the best translations are Leyssac’s translation in 1937, Keigwin’s translation from 1950 to 1960 and Spink’s translation.(Tan，2004:151) |
| − | The main English translators of Ibsen’s plays are William Archer and James MacFarlane. Archer translated 12 volumes of The Collected Works of H. I. from 1906 to 1912, including almost all of Ibsen’s plays and some of his previously unpublished papers. Macfarlane compiled translated eight volumes of The Oxford Ibsen from 1960 to 1977. In addition, F. E. Garrett translated Lyrics and Poems from Ibsen in 1912. Mary Morison translated The Correspondence of H.I. in 1905. Evert Sprinchorn translated H. I. Letters and Speeches in 1964. ( | + | The main English translators of Ibsen’s plays are William Archer and James MacFarlane. Archer translated 12 volumes of The Collected Works of H. I. from 1906 to 1912, including almost all of Ibsen’s plays and some of his previously unpublished papers. Macfarlane compiled translated eight volumes of The Oxford Ibsen from 1960 to 1977. In addition, F. E. Garrett translated Lyrics and Poems from Ibsen in 1912. Mary Morison translated The Correspondence of H.I. in 1905. Evert Sprinchorn translated H. I. Letters and Speeches in 1964. (Tan，2004:151) |
| − | In Germany, the standard German translation is the 10-volume The Collected Plays of Ibsen edited and published by G. Brandes, J. Elias, and P. Schlenther from 1898 to 1902. The standard French translation is The Complete Works of Ibsen in 16 volumes translated and published by P. G. La Chesnais from 1914 to 1945.( | + | In Germany, the standard German translation is the 10-volume The Collected Plays of Ibsen edited and published by G. Brandes, J. Elias, and P. Schlenther from 1898 to 1902. The standard French translation is The Complete Works of Ibsen in 16 volumes translated and published by P. G. La Chesnais from 1914 to 1945.(Tan，2004:151) |
| − | Strindberg’s work was translated into English as early as 1912. For the next fifty or sixty years, many people worked on Strindberg’s studies and translations. Major English translators included E. Schleussner, Walter Johnson, M. Sandbach, Elizabeth Sprigge and Michael Meyer. Some good works are Sprigge’s translations of Strinberg’s Plays in 1963 and Meyer’s translations of The Father, Miss Julie, Storm and so on in 1964. In other major western European countries such as Germany and France, Strindberg’s plays were also translated into German and French, and repeatedly staged in Berlin and Paris. ( | + | Strindberg’s work was translated into English as early as 1912. For the next fifty or sixty years, many people worked on Strindberg’s studies and translations. Major English translators included E. Schleussner, Walter Johnson, M. Sandbach, Elizabeth Sprigge and Michael Meyer. Some good works are Sprigge’s translations of Strinberg’s Plays in 1963 and Meyer’s translations of The Father, Miss Julie, Storm and so on in 1964. In other major western European countries such as Germany and France, Strindberg’s plays were also translated into German and French, and repeatedly staged in Berlin and Paris. (Tan，2004:152) |
There is no doubt that the translation of modern and contemporary Russian and Nordic literature and drama was a mainstream of western translation in the first half of the century. However, at the same time, it must be pointed out that the mutual translation of modern and contemporary literary works in western European countries still enjoys considerable momentum. | There is no doubt that the translation of modern and contemporary Russian and Nordic literature and drama was a mainstream of western translation in the first half of the century. However, at the same time, it must be pointed out that the mutual translation of modern and contemporary literary works in western European countries still enjoys considerable momentum. | ||
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In the 20th century, more and more people in the West became interested in Chinese culture. Since the 1950s, with the improvement of new China’s international prestige, the fever of translating Chinese works had been constantly appearing in the West. Not only the Four Books, Five Classics, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, A Dream of Red Mansions and the poems of Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi were translated into English, German and French, but modern writers such as Luxun, Maodun and Bajin were also introduced to western countries. In the process of translating and introducing Chinese works, excellent translators have emerged from every country. | In the 20th century, more and more people in the West became interested in Chinese culture. Since the 1950s, with the improvement of new China’s international prestige, the fever of translating Chinese works had been constantly appearing in the West. Not only the Four Books, Five Classics, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, A Dream of Red Mansions and the poems of Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi were translated into English, German and French, but modern writers such as Luxun, Maodun and Bajin were also introduced to western countries. In the process of translating and introducing Chinese works, excellent translators have emerged from every country. | ||
| − | According to the study of Tan Zaixi, Arthur Waley, the most eminent Sinologist in Britain in the 20th century, was a translator, writer and poet. In 1916, his first translation of Chinese Poems was published. In 1918, he published his second translated work One Hundred Seventy Chinese Poems. These two translations are both from Tang poems. In addition, he also translated part of Journey to the West in 1942, published four other Chinese-English translations, and wrote three books about China or Chinese writers. Another outstanding Sinologist and translator in the 20th century was Franz Kuhn of Germany. From 1919, when his first translation was published, to his death in 1961, he translated and published more than 40 classical and modern Chinese literary works, including 12 novels and 34 short stories. In particular, his translation of The Fortunate Union in 1926, Second Bloom in 1927, The Golden Lotus in 1930, A Dream of Red Mansions in 1932, Water Margin in 1934, Jade Dragonfly in 1936, Romance of the Three Kingdoms in 1940, Midnight and other works from 1940 to 1955, were well received by German readers.（Tan | + | According to the study of Tan Zaixi, Arthur Waley, the most eminent Sinologist in Britain in the 20th century, was a translator, writer and poet. In 1916, his first translation of Chinese Poems was published. In 1918, he published his second translated work One Hundred Seventy Chinese Poems. These two translations are both from Tang poems. In addition, he also translated part of Journey to the West in 1942, published four other Chinese-English translations, and wrote three books about China or Chinese writers. Another outstanding Sinologist and translator in the 20th century was Franz Kuhn of Germany. From 1919, when his first translation was published, to his death in 1961, he translated and published more than 40 classical and modern Chinese literary works, including 12 novels and 34 short stories. In particular, his translation of The Fortunate Union in 1926, Second Bloom in 1927, The Golden Lotus in 1930, A Dream of Red Mansions in 1932, Water Margin in 1934, Jade Dragonfly in 1936, Romance of the Three Kingdoms in 1940, Midnight and other works from 1940 to 1955, were well received by German readers.（Tan,2004:153-156） |
===The creativity of translation and the language in translation were paid more attention.=== | ===The creativity of translation and the language in translation were paid more attention.=== | ||
In the aspect of translation theory, scholars had deeply reflected on the traditional translation theory, especially questioned the universality of language, and proposed that when the meaning of the original text becomes obscure and difficult to understand, translators must fill in the gaps of the text according to their own experience. Therefore, translation theories of this period paid more attention to the creativity of translation and the language problems in translation. Although they did not separate themselves from the discussion of translation techniques such as word selection and sentence construction, they laid a foundation for the linguistic turn of translation studies and provided theoretical thinking for the translation literature as an independent existence. And about the specific translation theories in different countries in this period, Xie Tianzhen made a brief summary. | In the aspect of translation theory, scholars had deeply reflected on the traditional translation theory, especially questioned the universality of language, and proposed that when the meaning of the original text becomes obscure and difficult to understand, translators must fill in the gaps of the text according to their own experience. Therefore, translation theories of this period paid more attention to the creativity of translation and the language problems in translation. Although they did not separate themselves from the discussion of translation techniques such as word selection and sentence construction, they laid a foundation for the linguistic turn of translation studies and provided theoretical thinking for the translation literature as an independent existence. And about the specific translation theories in different countries in this period, Xie Tianzhen made a brief summary. | ||
| − | J. P. Postgate is a famous Translation theorist in Britain, and he put forward prospective translation and retrospective translation. Prospective translation means that the translator always keeps the reader in mind and adopts free methods and common expressions to ensure that the original ideas of the reader are not affected and their prediction is not interfered with. The purpose of translation is to show the translator’s mastery of the target language, focusing on the target language rather than the original one. Retrospective translation means that the translator always looks at the original author, because the purpose of translation is to impart knowledge of the original text, rather than to look ahead and consider the reader of the translation. | + | J. P. Postgate is a famous Translation theorist in Britain, and he put forward prospective translation and retrospective translation. Prospective translation means that the translator always keeps the reader in mind and adopts free methods and common expressions to ensure that the original ideas of the reader are not affected and their prediction is not interfered with. The purpose of translation is to show the translator’s mastery of the target language, focusing on the target language rather than the original one. Retrospective translation means that the translator always looks at the original author, because the purpose of translation is to impart knowledge of the original text, rather than to look ahead and consider the reader of the translation.（Xie，2011:29） |
| − | French scholar J. Marouzeau’s "On Translation of Latin" is an important translation literature in French. He believed that translation is a skill in which the translator should reveal to the reader the content of the original work, rather than its shell, using a living language. | + | French scholar J. Marouzeau’s "On Translation of Latin" is an important translation literature in French. He believed that translation is a skill in which the translator should reveal to the reader the content of the original work, rather than its shell, using a living language.（Xie，2011:29） |
| − | German thinker Walter Benjamin pointed out that although the translation is based on the original, it is the afterlife of the original work and the translation need not pursue the same meaning as the original work. Mediocre translators pay more attention to the meaning of the original work than to its literariness and language style and they only know that the translation exists to serve the original work and can only translate the non-essential content of the original work. ( | + | German thinker Walter Benjamin pointed out that although the translation is based on the original, it is the afterlife of the original work and the translation need not pursue the same meaning as the original work. Mediocre translators pay more attention to the meaning of the original work than to its literariness and language style and they only know that the translation exists to serve the original work and can only translate the non-essential content of the original work. (Xie，2008:319-332) The translator’s task is to use his own language to release the pure language trapped by another language, that is, to liberate the imprisoned language in the re-creation of the original text. Edwin Gentzler, a contemporary American translation theorist, believed that the discussion of translation issues among Anglo-American deconstructionists mainly revolves around comments on Benjamin’s Translator’s Task. (Gentzler, 2004:173-174.) Therefore, Translator’s Task is regarded as the “Bible” of translation theory and the classic of deconstructive translation theory.（Xie，2011:30） |
| − | The Russian scholar Mikhail Vasilievich Lemonosov transformed the loanwords that entered the Russian language, russified them, and regarded translation as a creative activity. And this view of free translation lasted until the 19th century. Aleksandr Pushkin, the greatest Russian poet in the 19th century, based on his literary translation practice, proposed that translators should have their own opinions on the selection of materials and should have full freedom in dealing with the original work, but the uniqueness of the original work should be preserved as much as possible. | + | The Russian scholar Mikhail Vasilievich Lemonosov transformed the loanwords that entered the Russian language, russified them, and regarded translation as a creative activity. And this view of free translation lasted until the 19th century. Aleksandr Pushkin, the greatest Russian poet in the 19th century, based on his literary translation practice, proposed that translators should have their own opinions on the selection of materials and should have full freedom in dealing with the original work, but the uniqueness of the original work should be preserved as much as possible.（Xie，2011:30） |
| − | ==The General Situation of Translation in the Contemporary Age== | + | ==The General Situation of Western Translation in the Contemporary Age== |
After the Second World War, the world entered a period of relative peace. After the trauma of the war, the Western countries regrouped and began to restore and develop production and economy in an all-round way. Translation cause also entered a new period of development at extremely rapid pace, taking on a new look. During this period, not only in the Soviet Union, Britain, Germany, France and other major European countries, but also in the United States, Canada, the cause of translation showed a prosperous scene. In terms of the whole western translation career, the translation after the Second World War was unmatched in scope, form, scale and achievement. Therefore, the 20th century could be called as "the age of translation" , which in fact mainly referred to the decades since the end of the war. Though great achievement was also made in literary translation in this period, the 20th century is known as the "age of translation" mainly because western translation expanded into various fields during this period, which has five characteristics. | After the Second World War, the world entered a period of relative peace. After the trauma of the war, the Western countries regrouped and began to restore and develop production and economy in an all-round way. Translation cause also entered a new period of development at extremely rapid pace, taking on a new look. During this period, not only in the Soviet Union, Britain, Germany, France and other major European countries, but also in the United States, Canada, the cause of translation showed a prosperous scene. In terms of the whole western translation career, the translation after the Second World War was unmatched in scope, form, scale and achievement. Therefore, the 20th century could be called as "the age of translation" , which in fact mainly referred to the decades since the end of the war. Though great achievement was also made in literary translation in this period, the 20th century is known as the "age of translation" mainly because western translation expanded into various fields during this period, which has five characteristics. | ||
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Since the end of the Second World War, due to practical needs, commercial, diplomatic, scientific and technological translation had flourished, and its momentum even exceeded literary translation, thus forming a major content of the development of modern western translation.Here is the research of Tan Zaixi about the scale of translation. | Since the end of the Second World War, due to practical needs, commercial, diplomatic, scientific and technological translation had flourished, and its momentum even exceeded literary translation, thus forming a major content of the development of modern western translation.Here is the research of Tan Zaixi about the scale of translation. | ||
| − | In 1945, the United Nations was established with English, French, Russian, Chinese and Spanish as the five official and working languages. In 1957, the European Community was founded, consisting of six countries at that time. In 1993, the European Community developed into the European Union. By 2004, it had 25 member states, using nine languages including English, French, German, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal. That is to say, translation had become an indispensable part of daily work, both for communicating with countries in other regions and among western countries. According to UNESCO, the number of translations in the world increased four-and-a-half times from 1948 to 1970. The institutions of the European Common Market employed more than 1,300 employees to deal with translation, of whom 450 were full-time interpreters, 550 translators and others were freelance employees on short-term contracts. (Tan | + | In 1945, the United Nations was established with English, French, Russian, Chinese and Spanish as the five official and working languages. In 1957, the European Community was founded, consisting of six countries at that time. In 1993, the European Community developed into the European Union. By 2004, it had 25 member states, using nine languages including English, French, German, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal. That is to say, translation had become an indispensable part of daily work, both for communicating with countries in other regions and among western countries. According to UNESCO, the number of translations in the world increased four-and-a-half times from 1948 to 1970. The institutions of the European Common Market employed more than 1,300 employees to deal with translation, of whom 450 were full-time interpreters, 550 translators and others were freelance employees on short-term contracts. (Tan,2004:160-161) |
===Translation teaching was widespread.=== | ===Translation teaching was widespread.=== | ||
In the past, translation was mainly the work of a few literary magnates. With the establishment of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, as well as the establishment of international institutions such as the European Common Market (EC, EU) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the need for translators was increasing. To meet this need, a number of schools specializing in training translators had been set up. | In the past, translation was mainly the work of a few literary magnates. With the establishment of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, as well as the establishment of international institutions such as the European Common Market (EC, EU) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the need for translators was increasing. To meet this need, a number of schools specializing in training translators had been set up. | ||
| − | According to the study of Tan Zaixi, the most prominent schools are the High School of Translation at the Third University of Paris and the School of Translation at the University of Ottawa. What’s more, many universities in Europe and the United States also offer translation classes or courses in senior grades.（Tan | + | According to the study of Tan Zaixi, the most prominent schools are the High School of Translation at the Third University of Paris and the School of Translation at the University of Ottawa. What’s more, many universities in Europe and the United States also offer translation classes or courses in senior grades.（Tan, 2004:161-162） |
| + | |||
===Translators’associations were established and publications on translation studies were launched.=== | ===Translators’associations were established and publications on translation studies were launched.=== | ||
Translators in different countries set up various translation associations and publications. These associations played an important role in the development of translation through their activities and publications. | Translators in different countries set up various translation associations and publications. These associations played an important role in the development of translation through their activities and publications. | ||
| − | According to Tan Zaixi, translation associations or federations in European and American capitalist countries, in particular, generally emphasize the following principles: to clarify the legal status of translators through legislative means; to take effective measures to protect the legal rights of translators (especially the copyright that translators should enjoy); to improve their social status and increase their economic income; to improve the learning and working conditions of translators to provide them with opportunities to constantly improve their translation skills and a good working environment. | + | According to Tan Zaixi, translation associations or federations in European and American capitalist countries, in particular, generally emphasize the following principles: to clarify the legal status of translators through legislative means; to take effective measures to protect the legal rights of translators (especially the copyright that translators should enjoy); to improve their social status and increase their economic income; to improve the learning and working conditions of translators to provide them with opportunities to constantly improve their translation skills and a good working environment.（Tan，2004:162） |
| − | There were more translators’ organizations in the United States than in other western countries, with a total of 30, among which the most influential were the American Society of Translators, the American Federation of Linguists and the Literary Society of America. The journal of the American Society of Translators was ATA Chronicle. The journal of the Literary Society of America was Translation Review. | + | There were more translators’ organizations in the United States than in other western countries, with a total of 30, among which the most influential were the American Society of Translators, the American Federation of Linguists and the Literary Society of America. The journal of the American Society of Translators was ATA Chronicle. The journal of the Literary Society of America was Translation Review.（Tan，2004:162-163） |
| − | In Canada, major translation associations included the Canadian Council of Translators and Interpreters, the Ontario Association of Translators and Interpreters, the Business Language Centre, and the Quebec Translation Association. The Ontario Association of Translators and Interpreters founded the journal of Inform ATIO. The most influential professional translation magazine in Canada was Meta: Journal des Traducteurs. | + | In Canada, major translation associations included the Canadian Council of Translators and Interpreters, the Ontario Association of Translators and Interpreters, the Business Language Centre, and the Quebec Translation Association. The Ontario Association of Translators and Interpreters founded the journal of Inform ATIO. The most influential professional translation magazine in Canada was Meta: Journal des Traducteurs.（Tan，2004:164） |
| − | In Britain, major translation associations included the Association of Translation Companies of Great Britain, the Association of Translators and the Guild of Translators, of which the Guild of Translators was the most famous. The official publication of the guild is The Incorporated Linguist, which was published in 1962 and enjoyed high reputation in Britain. | + | In Britain, major translation associations included the Association of Translation Companies of Great Britain, the Association of Translators and the Guild of Translators, of which the Guild of Translators was the most famous. The official publication of the guild is The Incorporated Linguist, which was published in 1962 and enjoyed high reputation in Britain.（Tan，2004:164) |
| − | There were two major translation associations in France: the Association of French Translators and the Association of French Literary Translators. There were also two major translation associations in West Germany, one was the Association of Federation Translators and Interpreters and the other was the German-speaking World Federation of Literary and Technical Translators. In addition, Austria, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Belgium and other Western European countries also had local or national translation organizations and a variety of translation publications. | + | There were two major translation associations in France: the Association of French Translators and the Association of French Literary Translators. There were also two major translation associations in West Germany, one was the Association of Federation Translators and Interpreters and the other was the German-speaking World Federation of Literary and Technical Translators. In addition, Austria, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Belgium and other Western European countries also had local or national translation organizations and a variety of translation publications.（Tan，2004:164-165） |
===Machine translation developed.=== | ===Machine translation developed.=== | ||
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====Initial stage (1946—1954)==== | ====Initial stage (1946—1954)==== | ||
| − | The pioneering period begins with Booth and Weaver’s idea of translating natural language by computer in 1954, and ends with the birth of the first machine translation system. After the idea of using computers to translate was put forward, although there was great resistance in the United States at first, the voice supporting it was mainstream. In particular, Weaver published a memorandum on machine translation in 1949, which not only opened up a series of research topics on machine translation in the United States, but also had a wide influence in western countries. The memo makes four basic points: the problem of polysemy can be solved by context; there is a logical basis in language; there are basic probabilities in language application; there are common elements in different languages. These are still the fundamental of the development of machine translation. In the following years, machine translation research had been actively carried out in some universities and organizations in the United States and Britain. In Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the first full-time machine translation researcher Bar-Hillel arrived, he made a great contribution to the early development of machine translation and put forward the main problems and basic strategies needed to be solved in machine translation research. The first machine translation conference was held at MIT in June 1952, after which machine translation research in the United States began to accelerate. In 1954, a machine translation system for computer was developed and demonstrated. Although the machine translation system was small, consisting of only 250 Russian words, six grammar rules, and a few translation examples, it first showed the public and the scientific community the feasibility of machine translation, inspiring substantial funding from U.S. government for machine translation research over the next decade. | + | The pioneering period begins with Booth and Weaver’s idea of translating natural language by computer in 1954, and ends with the birth of the first machine translation system. After the idea of using computers to translate was put forward, although there was great resistance in the United States at first, the voice supporting it was mainstream. In particular, Weaver published a memorandum on machine translation in 1949, which not only opened up a series of research topics on machine translation in the United States, but also had a wide influence in western countries. The memo makes four basic points: the problem of polysemy can be solved by context; there is a logical basis in language; there are basic probabilities in language application; there are common elements in different languages. These are still the fundamental of the development of machine translation. In the following years, machine translation research had been actively carried out in some universities and organizations in the United States and Britain. In Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the first full-time machine translation researcher Bar-Hillel arrived, he made a great contribution to the early development of machine translation and put forward the main problems and basic strategies needed to be solved in machine translation research. The first machine translation conference was held at MIT in June 1952, after which machine translation research in the United States began to accelerate. In 1954, a machine translation system for computer was developed and demonstrated. Although the machine translation system was small, consisting of only 250 Russian words, six grammar rules, and a few translation examples, it first showed the public and the scientific community the feasibility of machine translation, inspiring substantial funding from U.S. government for machine translation research over the next decade.（Tan，2004:167-168） |
====High-tide stage(1954—1966)==== | ====High-tide stage(1954—1966)==== | ||
| − | The successful demonstration of the world’s first machine translation system, the Georgetown-IBM system of United States, marked the first development climax of machine translation. The upsurge began in 1954 and lasted for 12 years. In the mid-1950s, inspired by successful demonstration of machine translation system, dozens of universities, companies, and government agencies in the United States began machine translation research programs. On the one hand, due to the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union at that time, the United States military, the National Science Foundation, the Central Intelligence Agency and so on needed to acquire a large amount of scientific and technological information of the Soviet Union, so that they invested a lot in machine translation, especially Russian-English translation. On the other hand, advanced computers in the United States provided good equipment for the development of the first generation of machine translation system. At the same time, many universities and institutions in most European countries had also carried out machine translation research. | + | The successful demonstration of the world’s first machine translation system, the Georgetown-IBM system of United States, marked the first development climax of machine translation. The upsurge began in 1954 and lasted for 12 years. In the mid-1950s, inspired by successful demonstration of machine translation system, dozens of universities, companies, and government agencies in the United States began machine translation research programs. On the one hand, due to the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union at that time, the United States military, the National Science Foundation, the Central Intelligence Agency and so on needed to acquire a large amount of scientific and technological information of the Soviet Union, so that they invested a lot in machine translation, especially Russian-English translation. On the other hand, advanced computers in the United States provided good equipment for the development of the first generation of machine translation system. At the same time, many universities and institutions in most European countries had also carried out machine translation research.（Tan，2004:168-170） |
====Low-tide stage (1966—1975)==== | ====Low-tide stage (1966—1975)==== | ||
| − | The advent of machine translation had opened up a new way for traditional translation research and practice. However, the complexity of machine translation was underestimated at that time and the design of machine translation system was often too rough and simple. In this case, the first generation of machine translation systems in the initial stage could not achieve ideal results, the quality of translation is often poor, so that some people gradually lost confidence in machine translation research, and some scholars also became pessimistic and disappointed. | + | The advent of machine translation had opened up a new way for traditional translation research and practice. However, the complexity of machine translation was underestimated at that time and the design of machine translation system was often too rough and simple. In this case, the first generation of machine translation systems in the initial stage could not achieve ideal results, the quality of translation is often poor, so that some people gradually lost confidence in machine translation research, and some scholars also became pessimistic and disappointed. （Tan，2004:170） |
| − | In the mid-1960s, machine translation in the United States had suffered a severe blow. In 1966, the Automatic Language Processing Advisory Committee, part of the National Academy of Sciences, was asked to investigate machine translation research funded by government. The committee published its report, Language and Machines, after analyzing the speed, quality, cost and demand of machine translation at that time. The report pointed out that the quality of machine translation is significantly lower than that of human translation and asserted that there was no likelihood of any commercially useful machine translation system in the foreseeable future. On the committee’s recommendation, the U.S. government withdrew the funding for machine translation research. Thus, machine translation research in the United States plummeted from a high point to a low point of development. It should be noted, however, that machine translation research and development was not in a complete demise, following the official denials in the United States. Scholars and research institutions in many countries including the United States continued to carry out researches and experiments on machine translation under relatively difficult circumstances. | + | In the mid-1960s, machine translation in the United States had suffered a severe blow. In 1966, the Automatic Language Processing Advisory Committee, part of the National Academy of Sciences, was asked to investigate machine translation research funded by government. The committee published its report, Language and Machines, after analyzing the speed, quality, cost and demand of machine translation at that time. The report pointed out that the quality of machine translation is significantly lower than that of human translation and asserted that there was no likelihood of any commercially useful machine translation system in the foreseeable future. On the committee’s recommendation, the U.S. government withdrew the funding for machine translation research. Thus, machine translation research in the United States plummeted from a high point to a low point of development. It should be noted, however, that machine translation research and development was not in a complete demise, following the official denials in the United States. Scholars and research institutions in many countries including the United States continued to carry out researches and experiments on machine translation under relatively difficult circumstances.（Tan，2004:171） |
====Recovery stage(1975—1989)==== | ====Recovery stage(1975—1989)==== | ||
| − | In the middle of 1970s, with the emergence of new theories and ideas in the field of linguistics and the further development of computational linguistics, the research of machine translation was aroused in the world again. After ten years of silence, machine translation research stepped on the road of recovery. The recovery period of machine translation research and development is generally considered to date from the installation of the SYSTRAN system by EURATOM and the completion of the TAUM-METEO system by the University of Montreal in Canada. | + | In the middle of 1970s, with the emergence of new theories and ideas in the field of linguistics and the further development of computational linguistics, the research of machine translation was aroused in the world again. After ten years of silence, machine translation research stepped on the road of recovery. The recovery period of machine translation research and development is generally considered to date from the installation of the SYSTRAN system by EURATOM and the completion of the TAUM-METEO system by the University of Montreal in Canada.（Tan，2004:171-174） |
====Vigorous stage（1989—）==== | ====Vigorous stage（1989—）==== | ||
| − | Since the late 1980s, some new developments had changed the field of machine translation, marking machine translation research enter a new period. This is the emergence of the third generation of machine translation method that is corpus-based. Corpus-based machine translation systems include statistic-based translation and example-based translation, both of which are based on large-scale real text. | + | Since the late 1980s, some new developments had changed the field of machine translation, marking machine translation research enter a new period. This is the emergence of the third generation of machine translation method that is corpus-based. Corpus-based machine translation systems include statistic-based translation and example-based translation, both of which are based on large-scale real text. （Tan，2004:167-175） |
Practice has proved that machine translation has great vitality. It is a new science, and its research and translation have entered a new stage of development. No matter whether it can replace the human brain and hands eventually and completely liberate human from the heavy artificial translation, it will develop and exist for a long time. Both in theory and practice, machine translation and its research will exert more and more influence on traditional translation and its research. | Practice has proved that machine translation has great vitality. It is a new science, and its research and translation have entered a new stage of development. No matter whether it can replace the human brain and hands eventually and completely liberate human from the heavy artificial translation, it will develop and exist for a long time. Both in theory and practice, machine translation and its research will exert more and more influence on traditional translation and its research. | ||
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The most important feature of modern western translation is the rapid development of translation theory. After the Second World War, with the vigorous development of science and technology, modern linguistics, translation activities and the rise of machine translation, people gradually changed the traditional view of translation studies, believing that translation is not only an art or skill, but also a science with rules to follow. | The most important feature of modern western translation is the rapid development of translation theory. After the Second World War, with the vigorous development of science and technology, modern linguistics, translation activities and the rise of machine translation, people gradually changed the traditional view of translation studies, believing that translation is not only an art or skill, but also a science with rules to follow. | ||
| − | On the whole, the development of contemporary translation theory has two characteristics : | + | On the whole, the development of contemporary translation theory has two characteristics: first, theoretical research has been brought into the scope of linguistics, under the influence of modern linguistics and information theory; second, the traditional situation of non-communication between theorists has been broken. Translation theorists fully express their views through various channels, such as published works.(Xie, 2011:32) |
After the Second World War, with the modernization and integration of western social and economic development, western translation theories also began to enter a new period that transcends national boundaries. Therefore, it is difficult to classify some translation thoughts and some translation theorists in a narrow sense as belonging to a certain country or a certain place. It is acceptable to divide contemporary western translation theories into different schools according to their basic approaches and methods of translation studies or the basic characteristics of thought. Here is a brief introduction to some influential schools classified by Zhao Jiajin. | After the Second World War, with the modernization and integration of western social and economic development, western translation theories also began to enter a new period that transcends national boundaries. Therefore, it is difficult to classify some translation thoughts and some translation theorists in a narrow sense as belonging to a certain country or a certain place. It is acceptable to divide contemporary western translation theories into different schools according to their basic approaches and methods of translation studies or the basic characteristics of thought. Here is a brief introduction to some influential schools classified by Zhao Jiajin. | ||
====American Translation Training School==== | ====American Translation Training School==== | ||
| − | First established in 1964 at the University of Iowa, this school focused on translation practice, emphasized the literary taste and value of works, and adopted the methods of L. A. Richards and Williard V. Quine of Harvard University. Representative figures included poet and translator Ezra Pound, who translated Tang poetry and advocated the accurate restoration of details, words, fragments and the whole image description. Frederic Will of the University of Iowa, drawing on his training experience, regarded translation as a form of naming, fiction writing and cognition. Yale’s Jonas Zdnys argued that translation is an activity of subjective thought designed to explain literature. This school explores the role of the human mind in translation and raises the question of the nature of translation, but translation theory was limited to aesthetic experience and prescriptive translation rules. | + | First established in 1964 at the University of Iowa, this school focused on translation practice, emphasized the literary taste and value of works, and adopted the methods of L. A. Richards and Williard V. Quine of Harvard University. Representative figures included poet and translator Ezra Pound, who translated Tang poetry and advocated the accurate restoration of details, words, fragments and the whole image description. Frederic Will of the University of Iowa, drawing on his training experience, regarded translation as a form of naming, fiction writing and cognition. Yale’s Jonas Zdnys argued that translation is an activity of subjective thought designed to explain literature. This school explores the role of the human mind in translation and raises the question of the nature of translation, but translation theory was limited to aesthetic experience and prescriptive translation rules.（Zhao,1996: 46） |
====Translation Science School==== | ====Translation Science School==== | ||
| − | It was also known as “linguistic school”. According to this school, translation is the process of reproducing language as a whole, and it aims to correctly convey the original information to readers. The school was founded by Eugene Nida, whose masterpieces include Message and Mission (1960) and Toward Science of Translation (1946). Nida proposed functional equivalence theory according to Noam Chomsky’s transformational generative grammar and his experience in Bible translation, that is, to digest the original text and understand its basic structure and meaning; convey meaning based on basic structure; obtain semantic and stylistic equivalence with the original text. Thus the translation process can be summarized as: analyze—transfer—restructure, these three steps. The school of Translation science adopted linguistic theory and the more objective description method in translation theory. In the late 1970s, emphasis was placed on the cultural background of the information age, but the research was still limited to prescriptive research and translation criteria, ignoring the role of translators’thinking.（Zhao | + | It was also known as “linguistic school”. According to this school, translation is the process of reproducing language as a whole, and it aims to correctly convey the original information to readers. The school was founded by Eugene Nida, whose masterpieces include Message and Mission (1960) and Toward Science of Translation (1946). Nida proposed functional equivalence theory according to Noam Chomsky’s transformational generative grammar and his experience in Bible translation, that is, to digest the original text and understand its basic structure and meaning; convey meaning based on basic structure; obtain semantic and stylistic equivalence with the original text. Thus the translation process can be summarized as: analyze—transfer—restructure, these three steps. The school of Translation science adopted linguistic theory and the more objective description method in translation theory. In the late 1970s, emphasis was placed on the cultural background of the information age, but the research was still limited to prescriptive research and translation criteria, ignoring the role of translators’thinking.（Zhao,1996: 46） |
====Translation school==== | ====Translation school==== | ||
| − | It is the so-called “literary school”. This school held that the original work is the unity of sentence series and article structure, and the translator is influenced by the original view and the future model of translation in the process of translation. The founder of this school was James Holmes, an American poet, who taught translation at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands before his death. His representative work is | + | It is the so-called “literary school”. This school held that the original work is the unity of sentence series and article structure, and the translator is influenced by the original view and the future model of translation in the process of translation. The founder of this school was James Holmes, an American poet, who taught translation at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands before his death. His representative work is The Name and Nature of Translation Studies(1972).（Zhao,1996: 46） |
====Polysystem School==== | ====Polysystem School==== | ||
| − | Its founders are Itammar Even-Zohar and Gideon Toury of Tel Aviv University in Israel. Even coined the term Polysystem to explore the relationship between translated works and literary systems, and explained that the oriented culture of translation not only determines whether a work can be translated, but also regulates the wording. Toury held that translation belongs to the second system of multiple systems, and its role depends on the strength and development stage of the oriented culture of translation. He held that translation has no fixed identity and has multiple identities due to its social, literary and historical background. This school integrates translation studies with literary studies, social and economic factors, endows translation studies with historical significance, but it is still limited to the acceptability of translation and does not get rid of the fetters of cultural equivalence.（Zhao | + | Its founders are Itammar Even-Zohar and Gideon Toury of Tel Aviv University in Israel. Even coined the term Polysystem to explore the relationship between translated works and literary systems, and explained that the oriented culture of translation not only determines whether a work can be translated, but also regulates the wording. Toury held that translation belongs to the second system of multiple systems, and its role depends on the strength and development stage of the oriented culture of translation. He held that translation has no fixed identity and has multiple identities due to its social, literary and historical background. This school integrates translation studies with literary studies, social and economic factors, endows translation studies with historical significance, but it is still limited to the acceptability of translation and does not get rid of the fetters of cultural equivalence.（Zhao,1996: 46） |
====Deconstruction School==== | ====Deconstruction School==== | ||
| − | It is also known as “affirmative productivity school”. It originated in France in the mid-1960s and is represented by Michel Foucault, Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida. This school introduced deconstruction into translation, claiming that translators create the subject and the target language is a new language. As Foucault put it, the original work is constantly rewritten in the process of translation, and the translator rewrites the original work every time he reads and translates it. Deconstruction studies the nature and process of translation and language, and advocates that translators exist as entities. The school even goes so far as to believe that language does not involve any objective reality, and translators have their own status only when they create texts.（Zhao | + | It is also known as “affirmative productivity school”. It originated in France in the mid-1960s and is represented by Michel Foucault, Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida. This school introduced deconstruction into translation, claiming that translators create the subject and the target language is a new language. As Foucault put it, the original work is constantly rewritten in the process of translation, and the translator rewrites the original work every time he reads and translates it. Deconstruction studies the nature and process of translation and language, and advocates that translators exist as entities. The school even goes so far as to believe that language does not involve any objective reality, and translators have their own status only when they create texts.（Zhao,1996:46-47） |
==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||
| − | Under the influence of historical backgrounds, different periods of translation show different traits. In the modern period, the content of translation still focused on literature which included works form Russian, Nordic countries, China and so on. The way of translation was artificial and traditional. With the progress of economy and science, translation in the contemporary period also got great development. The content of translation was not confined to the field of literature. Instead, translation of science and technology, commerce, entertainment and so on became a major part of the actual translation activities. In addition, machine translation as a novel technique developed quickly. And the most important feature of modern western translation is the rapid development of translation theory thanks to many translator associations and publications on translation studies. Nowadays, under the influence of globalization, translation shows more and more importance and | + | Under the influence of historical backgrounds, different periods of translation show different traits. In the modern period, the content of translation still focused on literature which included works form Russian, Nordic countries, China and so on. The way of translation was artificial and traditional. With the progress of economy and science, translation in the contemporary period also got great development. The content of translation was not confined to the field of literature. Instead, translation of science and technology, commerce, entertainment and so on became a major part of the actual translation activities. In addition, machine translation as a novel technique developed quickly. And the most important feature of modern western translation is the rapid development of translation theory thanks to many translator associations and publications on translation studies. Nowadays, under the influence of globalization, translation shows more and more importance and gets better development environment. |
==References== | ==References== | ||
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Delisle, Jean(1995). Translation: An Interpretive Approach[M]. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. | Delisle, Jean(1995). Translation: An Interpretive Approach[M]. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. | ||
| − | Feng Zhiwei 冯志伟(1994). | + | Feng Zhiwei 冯志伟(1994).自然语言机器翻译新论[M] New Theories of Machine Translation of Natural Language.北京:语文出版社Beijing: Chinese Press. |
FitzMaurice-Kelly, J(1911). "Translation"[J]. Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition, Cambridge),27:183-188. | FitzMaurice-Kelly, J(1911). "Translation"[J]. Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition, Cambridge),27:183-188. | ||
| Line 154: | Line 158: | ||
Hutchins，Robert(1952). Great Books of the Western World[M]. Chicago: Encyclopaedia .Britannica Ltd. | Hutchins，Robert(1952). Great Books of the Western World[M]. Chicago: Encyclopaedia .Britannica Ltd. | ||
| − | Mu Yunyang,Li Zhisheng,Yu Hao杨沐昀、李志升、于浩(2000). | + | Mu Yunyang,Li Zhisheng,Yu Hao杨沐昀、李志升、于浩(2000).机器翻译系统[M]Machine Translation System.哈尔滨：哈尔滨工业大学出版社Harbin: Harbin University of Technology Press. |
Tan Zaixi谭载喜(2004).西方翻译简史[M]A Brief History of Western Translation.北京：商务印书馆Beijing:The Commercial Press. | Tan Zaixi谭载喜(2004).西方翻译简史[M]A Brief History of Western Translation.北京：商务印书馆Beijing:The Commercial Press. | ||
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Tan Zaixi谭载喜(1985).西方翻译史浅谈[J]On the History of Western Translation.中国翻译Chinese Translators Journal,7:36-39. | Tan Zaixi谭载喜(1985).西方翻译史浅谈[J]On the History of Western Translation.中国翻译Chinese Translators Journal,7:36-39. | ||
| − | Xie Tianzhen谢天振(2008). | + | Xie Tianzhen谢天振(2008).当代国外翻译理论导读[M]Introduction to Contemporary Foreign Translation Theories.天津：南开大学出版社Tianjin：Nankai University Press. |
Xie Tianzhen谢天振(2011).中西翻译简史[M]A Brief History of Chinese and Western Translation.北京:外语教学与研究出版社Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. | Xie Tianzhen谢天振(2011).中西翻译简史[M]A Brief History of Chinese and Western Translation.北京:外语教学与研究出版社Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. | ||
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Zhao Jiajin赵家琎(1996).当代翻译学派简介[J]A Brief Introduction to Contemporary Translation Schools.中国翻译Chinese Translators Journal,5：46—47. | Zhao Jiajin赵家琎(1996).当代翻译学派简介[J]A Brief Introduction to Contemporary Translation Schools.中国翻译Chinese Translators Journal,5：46—47. | ||
| − | Zhao Tiejun赵铁军等(2001). | + | Zhao Tiejun赵铁军等(2001).机器翻译原理[M]Principles of Machine Translation.哈尔滨：哈尔滨工业大学出版社Harbin: Harbin University of Technology Press. |
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Western Translation History in the Modern and Contemporary Ages
现当代西方翻译史
魏楚璇，Wei Chuxuan, Hunan Normal University, China
Abstract
Under different historical backgrounds, western translation presents different characteristics. In the 20th century before the end of the Second World War, the two world wars inevitably brought obstacles and disturbances to the development of translation. Therefore, though translation in this period still continued to develop, it did not get breakthrough. Translation was still dominated by literary works in content, totally relying on manual labor. In translation theory, it emphasized the creativity of translation and laid a foundation for the linguistic turn of translation studies. After the end of World War II, the world entered an era of relative peace, the world economy recovered, and the translation industry was greatly revitalized. During this period, the scale of translation covered all aspects of social life, machine translation developed fast, translation training flourished, translation organizations were established in various countries and many translation theories and schools emerged. That is to say, this period can be called the golden age of translation.
Keywords
Western translation; translation history; modern; contemporary
摘要
在不同的历史背景下，西方翻译呈现出不同的特点。在二战结束之前的二十世纪，两次世界大战不可避免地为翻译事业的发展带来了阻碍和干扰，因而这一时期的翻译虽然仍在发展但并未取得突破性的成就，在翻译的内容上仍然以文学作品为主，技术上完全依赖人工，理论方面注重翻译的创造性且为翻译研究的语言学转向奠定了基础。二战结束后，世界进入到相对和平的年代，世界经济复苏，翻译事业也大为振兴。在这一时期，翻译的内容覆盖社会生活的方方面面，机器翻译发展迅速，翻译培训兴起，翻译组织在各国成立，各种翻译理论和翻译流派涌现，可谓是翻译的黄金年代。
关键词
西方翻译；翻译史；现代；当代
Introduction
In this paper, western translation history in modern and contemporary ages will be introduced. Here the modern age refers to the nearly half century before the Second World War. And the contemporary age refers to the half century after the Second World War. That is to say, the modern and contemporary translation in this paper refers to the translation in the 20th century. Under the influence of different historical backgrounds, translation in these two ages showed different characteristics and traits which will be concluded and discussed in detail in the following.
The General Situation of Western Translation in the Modern Age
Into the 20th century, the capitalism in the developed countries developed into imperialism. On the one hand, the imperialist countries intensified their foreign expansion to oppress and exploit the weak countries and people in colony. On the other hand, they were engaged in a fierce battle among themselves for international markets and spheres of influence. Thus, in less than half a century, two world wars broke out. Under this historical background, translation in western countries will inevitably be seriously disturbed and destroyed. However, translation in western countries continued to develop and excellent translations still appeared from time to time. The translation of this period also has its own traits. The general situation of translation in this period can be summarized from the following two aspects.
The emphasis of translation was on Russian and Nordic works and more Chinese works were translated.
From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, the literature of Russia and the Nordic countries developed greatly with the emergence of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Chekhov, Andersen, Ibsen, Strindberg and other world-renowned great writers and dramatists. Their works had attracted the attention of the people in Western Europe and North America so they were competing to learn Russian, Danish and Swedish and had these works translated into English, German and French. In the process of translation, many excellent translators emerged in various countries.
Translation of Russian literature
According to the research of Tan Zaixi, Constance Garnet is the most famous female translator in Britain in this century. She translated almost all classic Russian novels and is widely regarded as the most important Translator of translating Russian literature into English. She published her first translation of Turgenev's novel Ru-Din in 1894. In the following decades, she devoted almost all her energy and time to the translation of Russian literature. She was the first person to translate Turgenev, Dostoyevsky and Chekhov into English, successively translating all the major works of Turgenev, Goncharov, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol and Chekhov including 12 volumes of Dostoyevsky's Selected Works translated from 1912 to 1920, 15 volumes of Turgenev's Selected Works translated from 1894 to 1899, 15 volumes of Chekhov's Novels and Plays translated from 1916 to 1922, and 6 volumes of Gogol’s Selected Works translated from 1922 to 1928. In particular, her translations of Turgenev, Chekhov, Dostoyevsky and other works were widely welcomed by the English reading community, and thus gave rise to the Russian literature craze in English literature before the First World War. She translated 70 Russian works in her lifetime, making her the most prolific translator of Russian works. Two other translators who did not translate as much from Russian to English as Garnett, but who had no less influence, were the couple——Louise and Aylmer Maude. They are famous in western modern literary circles for their research and translation of Tolstoy's works. From 1928 to 1937, they spent nearly ten years translating and publishing 21 volumes of The Complete Works of Tolstoy. Later, from 1940s to 1950s, they supplemented or retranslated some of Tolstoy's works, such as What I Believe and Resurrection. In 1952, their work of War and Peace was accepted as a standard English translation and was selected for the prestigious Great Books of the Western World, thus establishing them as the authoritative English translators of Tolstoy. In addition, R. S. Townsend, R. Edmonds, Samuel Koteliansky, Ethel C. Mayne, Boris Brasol, Richard Renfield and so on were famous for translating the works of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Chekhov, Goncharov into English.（Tan，2004:148-150）
Translation of Nordic literature and drama
In the first half of the 20th century, in addition to Russian literature, western European translators showed great interest in Nordic literature and drama, including the works of Andersen, Ibsen and Strindberg.
According to the study of Tan Zaixi, when Hans Christian Andersen was alive, one of his works was published simultaneously in 15 languages, including English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and almost all the major languages of Western Europe. Later, all of his works were translated into different languages, and there were many re-translations in English, French, German and other countries. The first English translator was Mary Howitt, who began translating Andersen’s fairy tales in 1846. Later translators include Charles Boner, Caroline Peachey, Lady Duff Gordon, Paul Leyssac, R. R. Keigwin and R. Spink. Some of the best translations are Leyssac’s translation in 1937, Keigwin’s translation from 1950 to 1960 and Spink’s translation.(Tan，2004:151)
The main English translators of Ibsen’s plays are William Archer and James MacFarlane. Archer translated 12 volumes of The Collected Works of H. I. from 1906 to 1912, including almost all of Ibsen’s plays and some of his previously unpublished papers. Macfarlane compiled translated eight volumes of The Oxford Ibsen from 1960 to 1977. In addition, F. E. Garrett translated Lyrics and Poems from Ibsen in 1912. Mary Morison translated The Correspondence of H.I. in 1905. Evert Sprinchorn translated H. I. Letters and Speeches in 1964. (Tan，2004:151)
In Germany, the standard German translation is the 10-volume The Collected Plays of Ibsen edited and published by G. Brandes, J. Elias, and P. Schlenther from 1898 to 1902. The standard French translation is The Complete Works of Ibsen in 16 volumes translated and published by P. G. La Chesnais from 1914 to 1945.(Tan，2004:151)
Strindberg’s work was translated into English as early as 1912. For the next fifty or sixty years, many people worked on Strindberg’s studies and translations. Major English translators included E. Schleussner, Walter Johnson, M. Sandbach, Elizabeth Sprigge and Michael Meyer. Some good works are Sprigge’s translations of Strinberg’s Plays in 1963 and Meyer’s translations of The Father, Miss Julie, Storm and so on in 1964. In other major western European countries such as Germany and France, Strindberg’s plays were also translated into German and French, and repeatedly staged in Berlin and Paris. (Tan，2004:152)
There is no doubt that the translation of modern and contemporary Russian and Nordic literature and drama was a mainstream of western translation in the first half of the century. However, at the same time, it must be pointed out that the mutual translation of modern and contemporary literary works in western European countries still enjoys considerable momentum.
More and more Chinese works were translated.
In the 20th century, more and more people in the West became interested in Chinese culture. Since the 1950s, with the improvement of new China’s international prestige, the fever of translating Chinese works had been constantly appearing in the West. Not only the Four Books, Five Classics, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, A Dream of Red Mansions and the poems of Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi were translated into English, German and French, but modern writers such as Luxun, Maodun and Bajin were also introduced to western countries. In the process of translating and introducing Chinese works, excellent translators have emerged from every country.
According to the study of Tan Zaixi, Arthur Waley, the most eminent Sinologist in Britain in the 20th century, was a translator, writer and poet. In 1916, his first translation of Chinese Poems was published. In 1918, he published his second translated work One Hundred Seventy Chinese Poems. These two translations are both from Tang poems. In addition, he also translated part of Journey to the West in 1942, published four other Chinese-English translations, and wrote three books about China or Chinese writers. Another outstanding Sinologist and translator in the 20th century was Franz Kuhn of Germany. From 1919, when his first translation was published, to his death in 1961, he translated and published more than 40 classical and modern Chinese literary works, including 12 novels and 34 short stories. In particular, his translation of The Fortunate Union in 1926, Second Bloom in 1927, The Golden Lotus in 1930, A Dream of Red Mansions in 1932, Water Margin in 1934, Jade Dragonfly in 1936, Romance of the Three Kingdoms in 1940, Midnight and other works from 1940 to 1955, were well received by German readers.（Tan,2004:153-156）
The creativity of translation and the language in translation were paid more attention.
In the aspect of translation theory, scholars had deeply reflected on the traditional translation theory, especially questioned the universality of language, and proposed that when the meaning of the original text becomes obscure and difficult to understand, translators must fill in the gaps of the text according to their own experience. Therefore, translation theories of this period paid more attention to the creativity of translation and the language problems in translation. Although they did not separate themselves from the discussion of translation techniques such as word selection and sentence construction, they laid a foundation for the linguistic turn of translation studies and provided theoretical thinking for the translation literature as an independent existence. And about the specific translation theories in different countries in this period, Xie Tianzhen made a brief summary.
J. P. Postgate is a famous Translation theorist in Britain, and he put forward prospective translation and retrospective translation. Prospective translation means that the translator always keeps the reader in mind and adopts free methods and common expressions to ensure that the original ideas of the reader are not affected and their prediction is not interfered with. The purpose of translation is to show the translator’s mastery of the target language, focusing on the target language rather than the original one. Retrospective translation means that the translator always looks at the original author, because the purpose of translation is to impart knowledge of the original text, rather than to look ahead and consider the reader of the translation.（Xie，2011:29）
French scholar J. Marouzeau’s "On Translation of Latin" is an important translation literature in French. He believed that translation is a skill in which the translator should reveal to the reader the content of the original work, rather than its shell, using a living language.（Xie，2011:29）
German thinker Walter Benjamin pointed out that although the translation is based on the original, it is the afterlife of the original work and the translation need not pursue the same meaning as the original work. Mediocre translators pay more attention to the meaning of the original work than to its literariness and language style and they only know that the translation exists to serve the original work and can only translate the non-essential content of the original work. (Xie，2008:319-332) The translator’s task is to use his own language to release the pure language trapped by another language, that is, to liberate the imprisoned language in the re-creation of the original text. Edwin Gentzler, a contemporary American translation theorist, believed that the discussion of translation issues among Anglo-American deconstructionists mainly revolves around comments on Benjamin’s Translator’s Task. (Gentzler, 2004:173-174.) Therefore, Translator’s Task is regarded as the “Bible” of translation theory and the classic of deconstructive translation theory.（Xie，2011:30）
The Russian scholar Mikhail Vasilievich Lemonosov transformed the loanwords that entered the Russian language, russified them, and regarded translation as a creative activity. And this view of free translation lasted until the 19th century. Aleksandr Pushkin, the greatest Russian poet in the 19th century, based on his literary translation practice, proposed that translators should have their own opinions on the selection of materials and should have full freedom in dealing with the original work, but the uniqueness of the original work should be preserved as much as possible.（Xie，2011:30）
The General Situation of Western Translation in the Contemporary Age
After the Second World War, the world entered a period of relative peace. After the trauma of the war, the Western countries regrouped and began to restore and develop production and economy in an all-round way. Translation cause also entered a new period of development at extremely rapid pace, taking on a new look. During this period, not only in the Soviet Union, Britain, Germany, France and other major European countries, but also in the United States, Canada, the cause of translation showed a prosperous scene. In terms of the whole western translation career, the translation after the Second World War was unmatched in scope, form, scale and achievement. Therefore, the 20th century could be called as "the age of translation" , which in fact mainly referred to the decades since the end of the war. Though great achievement was also made in literary translation in this period, the 20th century is known as the "age of translation" mainly because western translation expanded into various fields during this period, which has five characteristics.
The scale of translation extended to the field of business, diplomacy, science and many other professional affairs.
Since the end of the Second World War, due to practical needs, commercial, diplomatic, scientific and technological translation had flourished, and its momentum even exceeded literary translation, thus forming a major content of the development of modern western translation.Here is the research of Tan Zaixi about the scale of translation.
In 1945, the United Nations was established with English, French, Russian, Chinese and Spanish as the five official and working languages. In 1957, the European Community was founded, consisting of six countries at that time. In 1993, the European Community developed into the European Union. By 2004, it had 25 member states, using nine languages including English, French, German, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal. That is to say, translation had become an indispensable part of daily work, both for communicating with countries in other regions and among western countries. According to UNESCO, the number of translations in the world increased four-and-a-half times from 1948 to 1970. The institutions of the European Common Market employed more than 1,300 employees to deal with translation, of whom 450 were full-time interpreters, 550 translators and others were freelance employees on short-term contracts. (Tan,2004:160-161)
Translation teaching was widespread.
In the past, translation was mainly the work of a few literary magnates. With the establishment of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, as well as the establishment of international institutions such as the European Common Market (EC, EU) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the need for translators was increasing. To meet this need, a number of schools specializing in training translators had been set up.
According to the study of Tan Zaixi, the most prominent schools are the High School of Translation at the Third University of Paris and the School of Translation at the University of Ottawa. What’s more, many universities in Europe and the United States also offer translation classes or courses in senior grades.（Tan, 2004:161-162）
Translators’associations were established and publications on translation studies were launched.
Translators in different countries set up various translation associations and publications. These associations played an important role in the development of translation through their activities and publications.
According to Tan Zaixi, translation associations or federations in European and American capitalist countries, in particular, generally emphasize the following principles: to clarify the legal status of translators through legislative means; to take effective measures to protect the legal rights of translators (especially the copyright that translators should enjoy); to improve their social status and increase their economic income; to improve the learning and working conditions of translators to provide them with opportunities to constantly improve their translation skills and a good working environment.（Tan，2004:162）
There were more translators’ organizations in the United States than in other western countries, with a total of 30, among which the most influential were the American Society of Translators, the American Federation of Linguists and the Literary Society of America. The journal of the American Society of Translators was ATA Chronicle. The journal of the Literary Society of America was Translation Review.（Tan，2004:162-163）
In Canada, major translation associations included the Canadian Council of Translators and Interpreters, the Ontario Association of Translators and Interpreters, the Business Language Centre, and the Quebec Translation Association. The Ontario Association of Translators and Interpreters founded the journal of Inform ATIO. The most influential professional translation magazine in Canada was Meta: Journal des Traducteurs.（Tan，2004:164）
In Britain, major translation associations included the Association of Translation Companies of Great Britain, the Association of Translators and the Guild of Translators, of which the Guild of Translators was the most famous. The official publication of the guild is The Incorporated Linguist, which was published in 1962 and enjoyed high reputation in Britain.（Tan，2004:164)
There were two major translation associations in France: the Association of French Translators and the Association of French Literary Translators. There were also two major translation associations in West Germany, one was the Association of Federation Translators and Interpreters and the other was the German-speaking World Federation of Literary and Technical Translators. In addition, Austria, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Belgium and other Western European countries also had local or national translation organizations and a variety of translation publications.（Tan，2004:164-165）
Machine translation developed.
In the process of more than two thousand years of development, the traditional translation method had not undergone substantial changes in technology, and the translation between the two languages still had to be carried out by hand. However, due to the increasingly frequent international scientific and cultural exchanges, manual translation could no longer timely meet the needs. Therefore, when the traditional manual translation was facing the challenge of the times, machine translation should be born. In 1946, under the auspices of the United States Army headquarters, J.P. Eckert and J.W. Mauchly who were both from the University of Pennsylvania developed the world’s first electronic computer named: Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator, or ENIAC for short. Computer’s astonishing speed inspired people to consider the innovation of translation technology. Therefore, in the same year, Andrew Booth and Warren Weaver first proposed the use of computers in the machine translation system. Since then, machine translation and machine translation research, driven by modern electronic computing technology officially began.American science, especially the development of computer science, to a large extent affected the development of computer science in the whole West and even the world. Therefore, especially in the pioneering period, the development history and model of Machine translation in America can almost be regarded as those in the whole West. In this sense, the development of machine translation in the west (and even the world) can be roughly divided into the following five major periods, just like the development of Machine translation in the United States: initial stage; high stage; low stage; recovery stage; vigorous stage. The following is a further overview of the five development periods of machine translation in the West (mainly in the United States) made by Tan Zaixi who referred to the books of Yang Muyun, Li Zhisheng，Yu Hao, Zhao Tiejun and so on.
Initial stage (1946—1954)
The pioneering period begins with Booth and Weaver’s idea of translating natural language by computer in 1954, and ends with the birth of the first machine translation system. After the idea of using computers to translate was put forward, although there was great resistance in the United States at first, the voice supporting it was mainstream. In particular, Weaver published a memorandum on machine translation in 1949, which not only opened up a series of research topics on machine translation in the United States, but also had a wide influence in western countries. The memo makes four basic points: the problem of polysemy can be solved by context; there is a logical basis in language; there are basic probabilities in language application; there are common elements in different languages. These are still the fundamental of the development of machine translation. In the following years, machine translation research had been actively carried out in some universities and organizations in the United States and Britain. In Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the first full-time machine translation researcher Bar-Hillel arrived, he made a great contribution to the early development of machine translation and put forward the main problems and basic strategies needed to be solved in machine translation research. The first machine translation conference was held at MIT in June 1952, after which machine translation research in the United States began to accelerate. In 1954, a machine translation system for computer was developed and demonstrated. Although the machine translation system was small, consisting of only 250 Russian words, six grammar rules, and a few translation examples, it first showed the public and the scientific community the feasibility of machine translation, inspiring substantial funding from U.S. government for machine translation research over the next decade.（Tan，2004:167-168）
High-tide stage(1954—1966)
The successful demonstration of the world’s first machine translation system, the Georgetown-IBM system of United States, marked the first development climax of machine translation. The upsurge began in 1954 and lasted for 12 years. In the mid-1950s, inspired by successful demonstration of machine translation system, dozens of universities, companies, and government agencies in the United States began machine translation research programs. On the one hand, due to the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union at that time, the United States military, the National Science Foundation, the Central Intelligence Agency and so on needed to acquire a large amount of scientific and technological information of the Soviet Union, so that they invested a lot in machine translation, especially Russian-English translation. On the other hand, advanced computers in the United States provided good equipment for the development of the first generation of machine translation system. At the same time, many universities and institutions in most European countries had also carried out machine translation research.（Tan，2004:168-170）
Low-tide stage (1966—1975)
The advent of machine translation had opened up a new way for traditional translation research and practice. However, the complexity of machine translation was underestimated at that time and the design of machine translation system was often too rough and simple. In this case, the first generation of machine translation systems in the initial stage could not achieve ideal results, the quality of translation is often poor, so that some people gradually lost confidence in machine translation research, and some scholars also became pessimistic and disappointed. （Tan，2004:170）
In the mid-1960s, machine translation in the United States had suffered a severe blow. In 1966, the Automatic Language Processing Advisory Committee, part of the National Academy of Sciences, was asked to investigate machine translation research funded by government. The committee published its report, Language and Machines, after analyzing the speed, quality, cost and demand of machine translation at that time. The report pointed out that the quality of machine translation is significantly lower than that of human translation and asserted that there was no likelihood of any commercially useful machine translation system in the foreseeable future. On the committee’s recommendation, the U.S. government withdrew the funding for machine translation research. Thus, machine translation research in the United States plummeted from a high point to a low point of development. It should be noted, however, that machine translation research and development was not in a complete demise, following the official denials in the United States. Scholars and research institutions in many countries including the United States continued to carry out researches and experiments on machine translation under relatively difficult circumstances.（Tan，2004:171）
Recovery stage(1975—1989)
In the middle of 1970s, with the emergence of new theories and ideas in the field of linguistics and the further development of computational linguistics, the research of machine translation was aroused in the world again. After ten years of silence, machine translation research stepped on the road of recovery. The recovery period of machine translation research and development is generally considered to date from the installation of the SYSTRAN system by EURATOM and the completion of the TAUM-METEO system by the University of Montreal in Canada.（Tan，2004:171-174）
Vigorous stage（1989—）
Since the late 1980s, some new developments had changed the field of machine translation, marking machine translation research enter a new period. This is the emergence of the third generation of machine translation method that is corpus-based. Corpus-based machine translation systems include statistic-based translation and example-based translation, both of which are based on large-scale real text. （Tan，2004:167-175）
Practice has proved that machine translation has great vitality. It is a new science, and its research and translation have entered a new stage of development. No matter whether it can replace the human brain and hands eventually and completely liberate human from the heavy artificial translation, it will develop and exist for a long time. Both in theory and practice, machine translation and its research will exert more and more influence on traditional translation and its research.
Translation theories of different schools were emerging one after another.
The most important feature of modern western translation is the rapid development of translation theory. After the Second World War, with the vigorous development of science and technology, modern linguistics, translation activities and the rise of machine translation, people gradually changed the traditional view of translation studies, believing that translation is not only an art or skill, but also a science with rules to follow.
On the whole, the development of contemporary translation theory has two characteristics: first, theoretical research has been brought into the scope of linguistics, under the influence of modern linguistics and information theory; second, the traditional situation of non-communication between theorists has been broken. Translation theorists fully express their views through various channels, such as published works.(Xie, 2011:32)
After the Second World War, with the modernization and integration of western social and economic development, western translation theories also began to enter a new period that transcends national boundaries. Therefore, it is difficult to classify some translation thoughts and some translation theorists in a narrow sense as belonging to a certain country or a certain place. It is acceptable to divide contemporary western translation theories into different schools according to their basic approaches and methods of translation studies or the basic characteristics of thought. Here is a brief introduction to some influential schools classified by Zhao Jiajin.
American Translation Training School
First established in 1964 at the University of Iowa, this school focused on translation practice, emphasized the literary taste and value of works, and adopted the methods of L. A. Richards and Williard V. Quine of Harvard University. Representative figures included poet and translator Ezra Pound, who translated Tang poetry and advocated the accurate restoration of details, words, fragments and the whole image description. Frederic Will of the University of Iowa, drawing on his training experience, regarded translation as a form of naming, fiction writing and cognition. Yale’s Jonas Zdnys argued that translation is an activity of subjective thought designed to explain literature. This school explores the role of the human mind in translation and raises the question of the nature of translation, but translation theory was limited to aesthetic experience and prescriptive translation rules.（Zhao,1996: 46）
Translation Science School
It was also known as “linguistic school”. According to this school, translation is the process of reproducing language as a whole, and it aims to correctly convey the original information to readers. The school was founded by Eugene Nida, whose masterpieces include Message and Mission (1960) and Toward Science of Translation (1946). Nida proposed functional equivalence theory according to Noam Chomsky’s transformational generative grammar and his experience in Bible translation, that is, to digest the original text and understand its basic structure and meaning; convey meaning based on basic structure; obtain semantic and stylistic equivalence with the original text. Thus the translation process can be summarized as: analyze—transfer—restructure, these three steps. The school of Translation science adopted linguistic theory and the more objective description method in translation theory. In the late 1970s, emphasis was placed on the cultural background of the information age, but the research was still limited to prescriptive research and translation criteria, ignoring the role of translators’thinking.（Zhao,1996: 46）
Translation school
It is the so-called “literary school”. This school held that the original work is the unity of sentence series and article structure, and the translator is influenced by the original view and the future model of translation in the process of translation. The founder of this school was James Holmes, an American poet, who taught translation at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands before his death. His representative work is The Name and Nature of Translation Studies(1972).（Zhao,1996: 46）
Polysystem School
Its founders are Itammar Even-Zohar and Gideon Toury of Tel Aviv University in Israel. Even coined the term Polysystem to explore the relationship between translated works and literary systems, and explained that the oriented culture of translation not only determines whether a work can be translated, but also regulates the wording. Toury held that translation belongs to the second system of multiple systems, and its role depends on the strength and development stage of the oriented culture of translation. He held that translation has no fixed identity and has multiple identities due to its social, literary and historical background. This school integrates translation studies with literary studies, social and economic factors, endows translation studies with historical significance, but it is still limited to the acceptability of translation and does not get rid of the fetters of cultural equivalence.（Zhao,1996: 46）
Deconstruction School
It is also known as “affirmative productivity school”. It originated in France in the mid-1960s and is represented by Michel Foucault, Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida. This school introduced deconstruction into translation, claiming that translators create the subject and the target language is a new language. As Foucault put it, the original work is constantly rewritten in the process of translation, and the translator rewrites the original work every time he reads and translates it. Deconstruction studies the nature and process of translation and language, and advocates that translators exist as entities. The school even goes so far as to believe that language does not involve any objective reality, and translators have their own status only when they create texts.（Zhao,1996:46-47）
Conclusion
Under the influence of historical backgrounds, different periods of translation show different traits. In the modern period, the content of translation still focused on literature which included works form Russian, Nordic countries, China and so on. The way of translation was artificial and traditional. With the progress of economy and science, translation in the contemporary period also got great development. The content of translation was not confined to the field of literature. Instead, translation of science and technology, commerce, entertainment and so on became a major part of the actual translation activities. In addition, machine translation as a novel technique developed quickly. And the most important feature of modern western translation is the rapid development of translation theory thanks to many translator associations and publications on translation studies. Nowadays, under the influence of globalization, translation shows more and more importance and gets better development environment.
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