TranslationCriticismSpring,20081.Introduction1.1ThedefinitionoftranslationcriticismTranslationcriticism:thereasoneddiscussionoftranslatedworks,anactivitywhichmayincludesomeorallofthefollowingprocedures,invaryingproportions:classificationoftranslatedworksaccordingtotheirgenre,interpretationoftheirmeaning,analysesoftheircultureandstyle,judgmentoftheirworthbycomparisonwithotherworks,estimationoftheirlikelyeffectsonreaders,andtheestablishmentofgeneralprinciplesbywhichtranslatedworks(individually,incategories,orasawhole)canbeevaluatedandunderstood.(OxfordConciseDictionaryofLiteraryTerms,2000:48)SomeoftherepresentativestatementsabouttranslationcriticismorevaluationintheWest(a)Thetestingofthetranslationshouldcovertheentirerangeofpossibleproblems:accuracyofrendering,intelligibility,stylisticequivalence,etc.(Nida&Taber,2004:163)(b)Translationcriticismisanessentiallinkbetweentranslationtheoryanditspractice;itisalsoanenjoyableandinstructiveexercise,particularlyifyouarecriticizingsomeoneelse’stranslationor,evenbetter,twoormoretranslationsofthesametext.(Newmark,2001:184)(c)Intryingtomakestatementsaboutthequalityofatranslation,onethusaddressestheheartofanytheoryoftranslation,i.e.,thecrucialissueofthenatureoftranslation,or,morespecifically,thenatureof(1)therelationshipbetweenasourcetextanditstranslation,(2)therelationshipbetween(featuresof)thetext(s)andhowtheyareperceivedbyhumanagents(author,translator,recipient(s)),and(3)theconsequencesviewsabouttheserelationshipshavefordeterminingthebordersbetweenatranslationandothertextualoperations.(House,1997:1)(d)Translationcriticismispossibleonlybypersonswhoarefamiliarwithboththetargetandsourcelanguages,andisaccordinglyinapositiontocomparethetranslationdirectlywithitsoriginal.Inbrief,translationcriticismrequiresacomparisonofthetargetandsourcetexts.(Reiss,2004:2-3)(e)Reviewingandcriticismareevaluativepracticesthatprovidedistinctbutinseparableresponsestopublishedliterarytranslations(translationsofliteratureinthebroadestsenseofnotonlyimaginativewritingbutalsonon-fictionandothermaterialsinthehumanities).

Ontheonehand,thedifferencescitedconventionallybetweenthetwoformsofevaluationholdtruefortranslationsaswell:therevieweralertsareadertonewbooks,describingthemandpassingjudgmentastowhethertheyareworthreadingandbuying;thecriticaddressesbooksthatmayormaynotbenew,consideringthemindetailandusuallyassumingareader’sfamiliaritywiththem.Ontheotherhand,neitherthereviewingnorthecriticismofliterarytranslationhasdevelopedfullyasanart----unlikethereviewingandcriticismofliterature.Thiscanbeexplainedonlyinpartbythemultipledifficultiespresentedbyanyattempttoanalyzeandpassjudgmentfairlyoncreativeactivity.ThegenerallackofvalueassociatedwithtranslationintheWesthasundoubtedlybeenanadditionalfactorandanequallydeterminantone.(Maier,1998:205)DefinitionsoftranslationcriticismgivenbyChinesescholars翻譯批評(píng)即參照一定的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，對(duì)翻譯過(guò)程及其譯作質(zhì)量與價(jià)值進(jìn)行全面的評(píng)價(jià)。（《中國(guó)翻譯詞典》P184）依照一定的翻譯標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，采用某種論證方法，對(duì)一部譯作進(jìn)行分析、評(píng)論、評(píng)價(jià)，或通過(guò)比較一部作品的不同譯本對(duì)翻譯中的某種現(xiàn)象作出評(píng)論。（楊曉榮，2005：3）翻譯批評(píng)即依據(jù)一定理論，采用相關(guān)方法，對(duì)譯者、翻譯過(guò)程、譯作質(zhì)量與價(jià)值及其影響進(jìn)行分析與評(píng)價(jià)。（文軍，2006：9）Translationcriticismistojudgethequalityandvalueoftranslatedtextsundertheguidanceoftranslationtheoriesandrelatedknowledgeforthepurposeofimprovingtranslationquality,bymeansofwhichtomakefurtherstudiesonvarioustranslationphenomenafromawiderperspectiveofculturalinteractions.

(Hu

Dexiang,2006:168)Keywords:Method:judgment,appreciation,researchPurpose:description,explanation,evaluationTranslationcriticismisawordwithtwo-foldmeaning.Itmayrefertothepracticeoftranslationcriticism;itmayalsorefertothescienceaboutthenature,thegenerallawsandprinciplesoftranslationcriticismsummarizedfromthepracticeoftranslationcriticism.Whenitisusedinthesecondsense,thatis,whenitreferstothescience,itmayalsobecalledtranslationstudiesandregardedasadiscipline.AssignmentAfterlearningthevariousdefinitionsfortranslationcriticism,thinkaboutthefollowingquestions:1)What’syourunderstandingoftranslationcriticism?2)What’stherelationshipbetweentranslationstudiesandtranslationcriticism?3)Canyougiveyourowndefinition?1.2TheimportanceoftranslationcriticismTranslationcriticismshouldberegardedasanessentialcomponentinatranslationcourse:firstly,becauseitpainlesslyimprovesourcompetenceasatranslator;secondly,becauseitexpandsourknowledgeandunderstandingofourownandtheforeignlanguage,aswellasperhapsofthetopic;thirdly,because,inpresentingyouwithoptions,itwillhelpustosortoutourideasabouttranslation.Asanacademicdiscipline,translationcriticismoughttobethekeystoneofanycourseincomparativeliterature,orliteratureintranslation,andacomponentofanyprofessionaltranslationcoursewiththeappropriatetext-types(e.g.legal,engineering,etc.)asanexerciseforcriticismanddiscussion.(NewMark,1988:185)1.3ThetargetoftranslationcriticismTranslatorsTranslatedtextsTranslationactivitiesThefeaturesofthetarget:Beingspecific:Translationcriticismstudiesthespecificcomponentsoftranslation.Althoughthisstudyisrelatedtoothercomponents,eventotranslationasawhole,ithasthefocusonthespecifictranslationphenomenon.Inotherwords,itstudiestranslationasawholeforthestudyofaspecificphenomenon.Insomecases,itisamicrostudy,inothercases,itisamacrostudy.Beingcentralized:ontranslatedworks,becausethecriticismontranslators,one’stranslationtheories,translationprocess,theinteractionbetweentranslationandculture,etc.areactuallyconductedinrelationtotranslatedworks.1.4ThecharacteristicsoftranslationcriticismA)concerningmorethanonelanguageandcultureB)uniqueperspectiveofunderstandingtheobjectiveworld

C)uniquemodeofthoughtD)uniquerelationshipbetweensubjectandobjectE)uniquespiritualproduct2.2Newmark'splan

2.2.1StatusofTCAccordingtoNewmark,TCisanessentialconnectionbetweentranslationtheoryandtranslationpractice.Andtocriticizeatranslationortoevaluatedifferenttranslationsofthesametextcanbeanenjoyableandinstructiveactivity.(Newmark2001b:184)GenerallyspeakingTCaimsatevaluatingpracticaltranslationsanditiscarriedoutaccordingtoacertainstandardortheory.Inthisway,translationtheoryandpracticearelinkedthroughTC.EvenwhenTCispresentedinsuchfragmentaryformsasessaysorprefaces,thecriticshavetheirowntheoryorstandardwhethertheyexplicitlyrefertoitornot.Therefore,theroleofTCastheconnectionbetweentheoryandpracticeisdeterminedbyitsnature.ItisfunandapleasuretoconductTCbecausethedifferenceintranslators'methodsmayresultinavarietyoftranslations.Besides,whilestudyingthedifferentversionsonecangetadeeperunderstandingoftheoriginaltextandthepotentialofTLtoexpressthesameidea;andwhenatranslationanditsoriginaltextarecomparedthedifferencebetweenlanguagesandculturesisbetterunderstood.Therefore,TCcanbeinstructiveaswell.NewmarkalsoholdsthatTCoughttobe"thekeystoneofanycourseincomparativeliterature"and"anessentialcomponent"ofanyprofessionaltranslationcourse(Newmark2001b:185).ThisisprimarilybecauseTCtakesintoconsiderationboththeoriginaltextandthetranslatedtext,improvesthetranslator'scompetence,expandsthetranslator'sknowledgeandunderstandingofhis/hermothertongueandtheforeignlanguageandhelpshimtobetterunderstandthenatureoftranslation.Inoneword,NewmarkplacesagreatdealofemphasisontheimportanceofTCwhichitdeserves.2.2.2PurposesofTC

ForNewmark,TC,asappliedtranslationtheory,hasfivepurposes:(a)toimprovestandardsoftranslation;(b)toprovideanobjectlessonfortranslators;(c)tothrowlightonideasabouttranslationatparticulartimesandinparticularsubject-areas;Genre,literary(novel,drama,essay,poetry),non-literary(advertisement,history,newspaper,letter,tourism,legaldocuments)(d)toassistintheinterpretationoftheworkofsignificantwritersandsignificanttranslators;(e)toassesscriticallysemanticandgrammaticaldifferencesbetweenSLandTL.(Newmark2001a:181).Newmark'sstatementaboutthepurposesofTCisonlysomewhatcomplete.First,intheprocessofevaluation,consciouslyorunconsciously,thetranslationcritictriestofindmoresuitableandworkablecriteriaforassessingtranslation.Indoingso,thestandardsoftranslationarebeingexploredfrommanydifferentperspectives.Therefore,TCishelpfulforimprovingthecriteriaoftranslation.Second,themistakesintranslationcanberevealedwhenthetranslatedworkisevaluated,sothetranslatorcanlearnmuchthroughTC.InthissenseTCcanprovideanobjectlessonfortranslators.Third,detailedanalysesofdifferenttranslationscanhelppeoplebetterunderstandtranslationsatspecificperiodsandaboutparticularsubjects.Hiddenideasorunder-emphasizedonesmayberevealed.Fourth,withthehelpofTCaparticularauthorortranslator'sworkscanbefocusedupon,thusprovidingmuchmoreinformationaboutthewriterandthetranslator.Accordingly,thisfacilitatestheinterpretationoftheworkofsignificantwritersandtranslators.Fifth,whenTCdealswiththedifferentlinguisticstructuresofSLandTLthesemanticandgrammaticaldifferencesbetweenthetwolanguagescanbemadeclearer.Besidesthesefivepoints,TCalsohelpspeopleobtainamoreprofoundunderstandingofthenatureandtheunderlyinglawsoftranslation;inthiswaythereadersofthetranslationgetproperlyguided;excellentworksmayalsobepromoted;andTCcanbecomeasubjectfortheoreticalstudies.2.2.3Plan

ProceduresofTC

Newmarkliststhedifferentauthoritieswhoareentitledtoevaluateatranslation,includingthepersonwhodoesrevisingemployedbyafirmoratranslationcompany,theheadofasectionorofacompany,aclient,aprofessionalcriticoftranslationsorateacheroftranslation,andthereadersofthepublishedwork(Newmark2001b:185).Thelastcategory,thereaderofawork,ishighlyinclusive,foranyonewhocanreadthetranslatedworksisjustifiedinpresentinganopinion.Inotherwords,TCcanbeconductedbyanyonewhohastheabilitytoreadthepublishedwork,whetherbilingualornot.

In"ApproachestoTranslation",NewmarkelaboratesonfourbasicprocedurestoconductTC:(1)toanalyzetheintention,predominantlanguagefunction,tone,themes,register,style(syntacticandlexical),literaryquality,culturalfeatures,putativereadershipandsettingofSLtext,andtoproposeanappropriatetranslationmethod;(2)tomakeadetailedcomparisonbetweenSLandTLtexts,notingallsignificantsemantic,stylistic,pragmaticandideologicaldifferences(eitherinthewholeTLtextorinrandompassages);Informative,expressive,aesthetic,vocative,phatic,metalingualfunctionFrozenstyle,formal,informal,intimate,periodicsentence,loosesentence(3)toassessthedifferencesbetweenthetotalimpressionofSLandTLtext,includinginparticulartheirinterpretationsofthesubject-matter;(4)toevaluatethetranslation(Newmark2001a:182).TheseprocedurestakeintoaccountbothSTandTTandcoverbothlinguisticandextra-linguisticfactors.Thefocusfirstfallsontheoriginaltextandalltheelementsrelatedtoit.Thenthecritic'sattentionmovestoacomparisonofmeaning,styleandideologybetweenSTandTT.Then,therelevantdifferencesareanalyzedindetail.Inthefinalstepthetranslationisevaluatedonthebasisoftheworkdoneintheformerthreesteps.Theseprocedures,asawhole,arereasonableandrepresentative,forthegeneralstepsatranslationcriticmaytake.Newmarkoffersmoredetailsinhis"ATextbookofTranslation".Whatshouldbecovered

Newmarkholdsthatanycomprehensivecriticismofatranslatedworkshouldtakeintoconsiderationthefollowingfiveaspects:(1)abriefanalysisoftheSLtextstressingitsintentionanditsfunctionalaspects;(2)thetranslator'sinterpretationoftheSLtext'spurpose,thetranslator'stranslationmethodandatranslation'slikelyreadership;(3)aselectivebutrepresentativedetailedcomparisonofthetranslationwiththeoriginal;(4)anevaluationofthetranslationinboththetranslator'sandthecritic'sterms;(5)whereappropriate,anassessmentofthelikelyplaceofthetranslationintheTLcultureordiscipline(Newmark20Qib:186).Thesefivepointscanbeinterpretedasfollows.First,withSTanalysismanymorefactorsshouldbeconsideredotherthanlinguisticstructuresandimplications.Theauthor'spurpose,theintendedreadership,andthetextcategoryareallincluded.Thetranslator'sdegreeoflicensecanbedeterminedaccordingtothetexttypesofST.Forexample,ifSTismainlyinformative,thetranslatormaybeallowedtomakeexplicitwhatisimplicitintheoriginaltext.

Second,Newmarkemphasizestheimportanceofexaminingatextfromthetranslator'sviewpoint.Thecriticshouldstudythetranslator'stranslationmethodssincetheymayreflecthis/herspecialpurpose.Thetranslationcriticisexpectedtoempathizewiththetranslator,anddistinguishbetweentranslationincompetenceandthetranslator'sdeliberatemethods.Inaddition,reasonsshouldbeprovidedforthetranslator'schoices.Third,aselectivecomparisonbetweenSTandTTisrecommended.Thetranslator'ssolutiontotheproblemsintheoriginaltextshouldbeanalyzed,butnotinarandomorder.Allthecategoriesshouldbegroupedselectivelyundersuchgeneralheadingsasthetitle,thestructure,shifts,metaphors,culturalwords,translationese,propernames,neologisms,`untranslatable'words,ambiguity,andevenpunsandsoundeffects.Inthiswaythecomparisonismoresystematicandtothepoint.Fourth,theevaluationofatranslationshouldbedonefirstfromthetranslator'sperspectiveandthenfromthecritic'sownperspective.Thetranslator'sstandardsshouldbeusedtomeasurereferentialandpragmaticaccuracy.Thecriticshoulddecidewhethertheessentialelementinatexthasbeenkeptintactinitstranslation.Afterconsideringthetranslationfromthetranslator'spointofview,thecriticisexpectedtoevaluatereferentialandpragmaticaccuracyaccordingtohis/herownstandardsincludingsemanticdeficienciesinthetranslationand/orhowwellthetranslatorunderstoodtheoriginaltext.Finally,thetranslatedwork'spositionwithintheTLcultureshouldalsobetakenintoaccount.ThekindofinfluenceitwillhaveonTLandcultureshouldbeevaluated.Thoughnotmadethatexplicit,thisisalsoanimportantpartofthetranslation.Functionalandanalyticalapproaches

NewmarkdistinguishesthefunctionalandanalyticalapproachestoTC.Whatisstatedabovefallsunderthecategoryofthefunctionalapproachwhichissomewhatgeneralandsubjective.Withthedetailsofatranslationleftout,theapproacheasilybecomesakindof"impressionmarking"(Newmark2001b:189).Incontrast,theanalyticalapproachisdetailed,layingmoreemphasisonrecognizingerrors.Withthetranslationseenas"partlyscience,partlycraft,partlyart,partlyamatteroftaste"(ibid.),theanalysisiscarriedoutfromtheseperspectivesaccordingly.

Firstly,seenasascience,translationmaybefraughtwithtwokindsofmistakes,namelyreferentialandlinguisticones.Theformerisaboutfactsorwhatisexpressedthroughwords.Newmarkpresentstheexamplethat"waterisair",whichisobviouslyuntrueandcanareferentialmistakeThiskindofmistakeisconcernedwiththeuseoflanguage,includingwords,collocationsoridioms.Linguisticmistakesareowingtothetranslator'slackofknowledgeoftheforeignlanguage.Secondly,craftorskillreferstothetranslator'sabilitytofollowappropriatenaturalusage.AccordingtoNewmark,therearedifferentrequirementsfordifferenttexttypes.Thevocativetextsareexpectedtobe"pragmaticandpersuasive"whiletheinformativetextsareexpectedtobe"neat“(Newmark2001b:190).TheserequirementscanactasakindofcriteriaforTC.Healsoemphasizestheimportanceofstyle,thusensuringthatfactsareeffectivelypresented.Thiskindofemphasisismeaningful,formanypeopleholdthatwhenfactsareconcernedstyleshouldtakesecondplace.ItisfullyjustifiedtosaythatNewmarkgivesstylethestatusitdeserves.Thirdly,whentranslationisseenasanart,creativityisencouraged.AccordingtoNewmark,creativetranslationisinvolvedwhena"surface"translationisnotpossibleandthetranslationiswhatthewritermeantratherthanwhathewrote(Newmark2001b:190).Therefore,moreflexibilityisallowedinacreativetranslation,varietyisrecognizedandtheadequacyofthetranslationisemphasized.Inotherwords,thecreativetranslationstrategiesareemployedonlytobetterrealizethefunctionsintendedinST.

Fourthly,tasteisasubjectivefactorcoveringsuchelementsaspreferencesoflexicalsynonyms,sentences,andparagraphswhichmayunder-translateorover-translatetheoriginaltext.Inaddition,thetranslationcritichashisowntastefororbiastowardsacertaintranslationmethod.Thus,asensitiveevaluationofatranslationisusually"cautiousandun-dogmatic"(Newmark2001b:191),andmoretoleranceandunderstandingshouldbegiventothetranslator'sstyle.Whentheanalyticapproachiscombinedwiththefunctionalapproach,thecriticismofatranslationisrelativelycomplete.Newmark'selaborationoftheanalyticalapproachhasthrownnewlightonpeople'sunderstandingofTC,forbothnegativeandpos