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CHANGSHA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 毕业设计（论文）题目：论权力机制对翻译主体性的操纵学生姓名：郭纯学号： 200460100321 班级: 106010403 专业：英语指导教师：刘学华 2008 年 6 月 GRADUATION THESIS (Grade 2004) ON THE CONTROL OF THE POWER MECHANISM OVER THE TRANSLATOR’S SUBJECTIVITY Name： Guo Chun Number： 200460100321 Class： 106010403 Tutor: Liu Xuehua Department: School of Foreign Languages Date of Completion: June 9, 2008 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity 论权力机制对翻译主体性的操纵摘要本文以米歇尔.福柯的权力话语理论为理论基础，从译者的主体性问题出发，通过对译者主体性与权力机制进行界定分析，对翻译活动中译者文本选择和翻译策略选择的背后动因进行考察。通过分析知识与话语的受限性推导出权力机制操纵翻译主体性的途径，进而揭示译者主体性被操纵的本质。翻译与权力携手共存，翻译文本的选择和翻译策略的选定在很大程度上是权力机制操纵的结果，同时又是对权力机制的建构。译者并非总是价值中立的，而是常常要听命于某些权力关系，其译文也往往服务于权力机制。由于权力机制的介入，译者的主体性大为削弱，甚至遭到部分丧失，因此译作的规范性在一定程度上得以维持。本文从话语权力的角度探讨翻译主体性，具有重要的理论和实践意义。关键词：福柯；权力机制；译者主体性；操纵 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity ON THE CONTROL OF THE POWER MECHANISM OVER THE TRANSLATOR’S SUBJECTIVITY ABSTRACT Based on Michel Foucault’s theory of discourse and power, this thesis explores the motivation for translator’s choices of different texts and translating strategies and the results for his choices in translation activities in the theoretical perspective of the translator’s subjectivity. By defining the translator’s subjectivity and the power mechanism and analyzing the restriction of knowledge and discourse, the thesis holds the view that power mechanism controls the translator’s subjectivity. Finally, the thesis reveals the fact that the translation activity and power coexist. The choice of original texts and translation strategies to a large extent is the result of the control of the power mechanism over the translator’s subjectivity. Meanwhile, it also participates in the building of the power mechanism. During the translating process, the translator is not impartial in value. Instead, he is frequently subject to certain power relationships. Consequently, his translated version serves the power mechanism. As a result of the intervening of the power mechanism, the translator’s subjectivity is greatly weakened or even partly lost. Consequently, the translation norms are maintained to a certain degree. The thesis discusses the translator’s subjectivity in the perspective of power and discourse, which is of great theoretical and practical significance. Key words: Michel. Foucault; the power mechanism; the translator’s subjectivity; control On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity Contents Introduction..............................................................................................................................1 1 Translator’s Subjectivity......................................................................................................3 1.1 Definition of the Translator’s Subjectivity.......................................................................3 1.2 Necessity and Methods of Developing the Translator’s Subjectivity..............................4 1.3 Restriction of the Translator’s Subjectivity......................................................................4 2 Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity.............................. 6 2.1 Definition of the Power and the Power Mechanism.........................................................6 2.2 Relationship between the Power Mechanism and the Translator’s Subjectivity..............7 2.2.1 Relationship between Power and Knowledge.........................................................7 2.2.2 Relationship between Power and Discourse...........................................................8 2.2.3 Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity.....................9 2.3 Approach to the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity.....................................................................................................................10 2.4Consequence of the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity.....................................................................................................................13 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................15 Bibliography............................................................................................................................17 Acknowledgements.................................................................................................................18 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity Introduction The translator’s subjectivity is a controversial issue. Some scholars have a great expectation for the translator’s capacity and consider him as significant as the author. Others claim that the translator just transliterates the original texts and what he possesses is only duties beside duties. Since the 1970s, Translation Studies have broadened their fields of studies, taking account of cultural, social and political factors into the study of translation theories. It explores translation under the extensive cultural background, emphasizing its historical and cultural aspects. Since then, the translation study from the cultural perspective has gradually become the present academic mainstream. Along with the cultural turn of translation researches during these years, people gradually realize that the translator plays a significant role during the translating process and he not only can but also must develop his subjectivity. The translator’s subjectivity, however, can not be developed freely. In fact, it is restricted by a large number of factors, such as the reader, the press, the target culture, the historical and political background. Among these extra-linguistic factors, the relationship between the power mechanism and the translator’s subjectivity is the most important aspect influencing translation activities. According to Michel Foucault’s theory, power consists of numerous relationships and it can generate knowledge and discourse. Where there are discourses, there are powers. This theory is instructive for us to do research on the translator’s subjectivity. The translator’s choices of texts to be translated and translation strategies, to a certain degree, reflect the relationship among power, knowledge and discourse. At the same time, these choices construct the translating norms under the control of the power mechanism. Translation is not impartial in value. The translator, in a complex web, can not develop his subjectivity freely, since his subjectivity is restricted by the power mechanism. Therefore, translation and power coexist. The power mechanism greatly influences the translating process and finally influences the formation of the translated texts. During the last ten years, the researches on the translator’s subjectivity have 第 1 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity continuously emerged. In Translators Through History, which was published by John Benjamin’s Public, discussed the relationship between translators and the spreading of knowledge[1]. Qiu Jixin, who is the author of Translators’ Subjectivity and Its Restrictive Factors, points out that the translator’s subjectivity is restricted by the times, the translator’s bilingual cultural capacity, the translator’s understanding ability and so on[2]. It was Foucault who firstly saw discourse as a power web. For him, discourse is always entangled with the power mechanism. Through discourse, the social and historical powers operate. However, there have been few works which have analyzed the relationship between the translator’s subjectivity and the power mechanism in details. The thesis aims to reveal the relationship between the power mechanism and the translator’s subjectivity. It tries to prove that due to the intervening of the power mechanism, the translator’s subjectivity is greatly weakened or even partly lost. Therefore, the translation norms are maintained to a certain degree. It starts with the issue of the translator’s subjectivity. By defining the translator’s subjectivity and the power mechanism and analyzing the restriction of knowledge and discourse, the thesis holds the view that the power mechanism controls the translator’s subjectivity. 第 2 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity 1 Translator’s Subjectivity Before we analyze the relationship between the power mechanism and the translator’s subjectivity, it is necessary for us to be aware that what’s the translator’s subjectivity, why and how the translator can develop his subjectivity. All these are questions to be dealt with. 1.1 Definition of the Translator’s Subjectivity According to Wang Yuliang, subjectivity, which is manifested during the activities of the subject towards the object, is the essential feature of the subject. These activities include actively influencing, changing and controlling the object, so as to make the object serve the subject. Subjectivity consists of purpose orientation, initiation, creative ability and so on. Generally speaking, subjectivity is the subjective initiative[3]. The original text and the target text are the two objects of translation, as translation activity always involves the source language and the target language[4]. The translator, as the spokesman of the original author, develops his creativeness during the translating process. On one hand, he should try to cherish the same attitude and mood as the author. On the other hand, he should take his own people’s cultural background into account and recreate the cultural background which the original text belongs to, so as to make the translated version acceptable to the target culture. Therefore, translation is a kind of creation, which is permeated by how the translator understand the culture, history, art and other information of the original text and then conveys it. It is just the translator’s subjectivity that this creation derives from. From the analysis above, the definition of the translator’s subjectivity can be deduced: under the condition of respecting the original text, the translator, as the subject of translation, manifests his subjective initiative during translation activities in order to realize his translating purposes. The basic features of this subjective initiative are the translator’s active cultural consciousness, humanities quality, cultural and aesthetic judgement. The translator’s subjectivity consists of the translator’s purpose orientation, initiation, creation and other 第 3 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity factors[2]. 1.2 Necessity and Methods of Developing the Translator’s Subjectivity The translating process, obviously, is a decoding process to the original text. To the target reader, however, it is an encoding process. Whether decoding or encoding process, the translator participates in the text creation and the intervening of his subjectivity is affirmative and unavoidable. In other words, the translator’s subjectivity penetrates the whole process of translating and plays the most creative part during the translating process. By choosing the text to be translated, selectively understanding and absorbing the original text and choosing the translating strategies, the translator manifests his subjectivity. To a large degree, the translator can choose which text he is willing to translate. He can also refuse to translate a certain text. During the decoding process, the translator understands the original text and then digests it, where he, consciously or unconsciously, intentionally or unintentionally, adds his own emotion and cultural position to it. As to some art creative concept, images and background information, the translator has his own preference. The translator can neither totally objectively understand the source text nor purely transliterate it. Instead of negatively duplicating the source text, understanding is a kind of creation. During the transformation process, the translator reproduces the source text in the target language. This is the most obvious process which manifests the translator’s subjectivity. When great differences between the two languages or the two cultures appear, the translator has the right to employ certain translating strategies according to his own translating purpose, cultural position and the aesthetic appreciation[2]. Therefore, the translated version echoes not only the author’s voice but also the translator’s voice. It represents not only the common view which the author and the translator share but also the view where their divergence lies. 1.3 Restriction of the Translator’s Subjectivity According to Foucault, the word of subject has two connotations: submitting to others due to the control or the reliance on others and the status connected with one’s conscience or one’s self-knowledge [5]. This analysis indicates that a form of power connects the subject with submission. Human’s subjectivity is always manifested in a web of power, authority and submission. Consequently, the translator’s subjectivity can not be developed freely. The 第 4 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity translator’s choices of texts to be translated and the translation strategies to be employed, his social status and economic condition, the acceptability of his translation in the target culture are all unexceptionally controlled by the power mechanism. Furthermore, the translator’s cultural positions and prejudice, etc. will have great effect on his translation activities. No matter how excellent a translator he is, he will be restricted by various factors during the translation process, such as different historical and cultural background, or the different interest and personalities between the translator and the original author and the translating theory in certain times. From beginning to end, the translator, however, can never surpass these restrictions. Therefore, the degree of developing the translator’s subjectivity is very limited. According to Michel Foucault’s theory on the power and the power mechanism, most of these restrictive factors can be viewed as various types of powers. 第 5 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity 2 Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity Just as what we have mentioned in the last chapter, the translator’s subjectivity is mostly restricted by the power mechanism. Then, what is the power mechanism? How does the power mechanism restrict the translator’s subjectivity? These questions will be discussed in this chapter in details. 2.1 Definition of the Power and the Power Mechanism Michel Foucault(1926-1984), a well-known French philosopher, attemptes to challenge the basic ideas which people normally consider to be permanent truths about the human nature and the social change in the course of history. “Power” occupies the central position in Foucault’s works. Generally speaking, power is viewed as an ability to prohibit or keep people from doing something. Foucault denies such a concept and he regards it as a web composed of all kinds of dominant and controlling powers. The power is so mysterious that it is visible or invisible, present or hidden. Instead of a given thing which can be owned or occupied, power is a force relationship operated in society. It works in the intrinsic multiple power relationships. It comes into being as the result of the mutually supportive or separating interaction between all these power relationships[6]. In Displine and Punish, Foucault describes power as a machine by which all the people are arrested, including all the authority enforcers and recipients[7]. The power mechanism refers to the mechanism which maintains and operates certain powers in society. Specifically, it means the functions and connections of conditions and factors of certain powers. These functions and connections actually influence the maintenance and operation during the power maintaining and operating process. The power mechanism formulates people’s behavior and tells people what they could or couldn’t do and what is acceptable or unacceptable in society[8]. 第 6 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity 2.2 Relationship between the Power Mechanism and the Translator’s Subjectivity. Foucault analyses the relationship between knowledge, discourse and power in details. According to his view, all these three factors are closely linked. By practicing discourse in specific social environment, people use knowledge to manage others[8]. This illustrates that both knowledge and discourse are the product and the tool of power operation. Translation, with no doubt, is closely linked with knowledge and discourse. What the translator conveys can’t go beyond knowledge and discourse. During the translating process, the translator also takes advantage of his own knowledge and discourse reserve. If knowledge and discourse submit to the power mechanism, the translator’s subjectivity and the translation itself are bound to be restricted by the power mechanism and controlled by it. In other words, knowledge and discourse reflect the relationship between the power mechanism and the translator’s subjectivity. Therefore, thoroughly understanding the relationship between the power and knowledge and the relationship between the power and discourse is the prerequisite to deeply understanding the relationship between the power mechanism and the translator’s subjectivity. 2.2.1 Relationship between Power and Knowledge As to the relationship between power and knowledge, Foucault insists that the development of all the humanities knowledge and the performing of power can not be strictly separated. Power and knowledge accompany each other. Every power relationship constructs its correspondent knowledge, while every field of knowledge predicts and makes up a power relationship[6]. Foucault points out that knowledge is power when he talks about the human relationship[5]. By learning his research on the relationship between power and knowledge, the following points can be easily seen: 1. The humanities knowledge intrinsically connects itself with the power performance, for the themes of these courses at least partly construct the power mechanism. 2. The creation of the scientific knowledge is based on the exclusion and prohibition of the unscientific knowledge. 第 7 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity 3. Only by the backup of the knowledge society as parts of the power mechanism, can the production dissemination become probable. Regarding to the relationship between knowledge and power, Foucault not only investigates the function of power to knowledge, but also emphasizes the function to power of knowledge. He attaches great importance to the intergrowth relationship between the two factors[5]. On one hand, power accelerates or hinders knowledge. It may encourage or stimulate knowledge, or it can conquer and restrict knowledge, so as to print the ideological influence of power on knowledge. On the other hand, Knowledge also acts on the power for it can give the human power. Without the dissemination and preservation of knowledge, power can never give scope to its function. In a word, without power, there is no knowledge, or vice versa. 2.2.2 The Relationship between Power and Discourse According to Foucault’s theory, the human beings acquire all the knowledge through discourse. All the powers are realized by discourse, which in turn is the embodiment of powers. There is specific discourse correspondent with any field and stratum in any society. Anything divorced from discourse doesn’t exist. The relationship between the world and ourselves is a discourse relationship. Historical culture consists of various discourses. According to certain norms and standards, some social association disseminates certain meaning, so as to ensure its social position and make itself recognized. This whole process is what discourse indicates[5]. Discourses refer to the form of language to be practiced. They are also norms and standards observed by the language system. However, discourse analysis can’t be confined within the basic field of linguistics. As to the discourse analysis, Foucault puts forward a hypothesis that discourse is always entangled in power and the operation of power. The social power and the political power are performed only through discourse. In every society, the production is manipulated, selected and disseminated according to certain norms. Foucault points out that the creation of discourse is not contingent, and the production of discourse is at once controlled, selected and redistributed according to a certain number of procedures, whose role is to “avert its power and its dangers, to cope with chance events, to evade its ponderous, awesome materiality”. He has even divided the control of discourse into the 第 8 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity following three cases: rules of exclusion, internal systems for the control and delimitation of discourse and conditions under which discourse can be employed [6]. Only by taking the economic social institutes and other factors into account, can discourse be realized and analysed. The power mechanism is always connected with discourse. Foucault has realized the importance of the manipulation of the power mechanism in the production of discourse. According to his analysis, there are many prohibition norms in the internal part of discourse, which composes a complex web playing the strictest part between discourse and power. The situation of the discourse and the status of the speaker determine the content and the form of discourse. 2.2.3 Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity From the above analysis on the relationship between power, knowledge and discourse, we can conclude that both knowledge and discourse are under the manipulation and restriction of the power mechanism. Those who take control of the powers decide what we learn, what we discuss, and what we accept, so as to sculpture what we are. Through knowledge and discourse, the power is manifested[9]. All the knowledge and discourses are the incarnation of power. Emphasizing the internal relationship between translation and power is the inevitable result of the discussion above. Power is distributed everywhere just like a huge web, and it penetrates deeply into knowledge and discourse. Translation, as an important social activity, can never get rid of the restriction and manipulation of the mechanism, for it condenses plenty of knowledge and discourses. The translator, the subject of translation, is always in kinds of power relationships. Take the translation norm of “elegance” for example. Advcocated by YanFu, “elegance” is considered to be an important translation norm. When it comes to translation, “elegance” always occurs to us. In fact, the norm of “elegance” contradicts the norm of “faithfulness” to some degree. The translated version usually is the outcome of the control of the power mechanism. The interactions of various power relationships construct the power mechanism, which manipulate and restrict the translator’s subjectivity. In the whole translating process, the translator can never escape the manipulation of the power mechanism, from the choice of text 第 9 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity to be translated and the interpretation of the original text to the decision of what translation strategies to take. Briefly speaking, the power mechanism initiates the translator’s subjectivity, or at least controls it. Besides realizing the manipulation and restriction of the power mechanism, it is necessary for us to understand that power produces translation. Translation itself is thoroughly imbued with power. Translation, supported by the power mechanism, is viewed as not only scientific but also authoritative. From this point of view, power promotes the production and dissemination of translation. 2.3 Approach of the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity The most important task for us to discuss how the power mechanism restricts and controls the translator’s subjectivity is to understand the operation mode of the power mechanism and what factors of the power mechanism manipulate the translator’s subjectivity. According to Foucault’s theory, the effects of power moves gradually following a tiny channel and arrives at humans’ body, humans’ posture and all of their daily behavior. He views power as a way of action, which doesn’t act directly on its objects. Instead, it acts on people’s action. Power works and performs through a web-like organization. According to this theory, the manipulation of the translator’s subjectivity is also microcosmic. The power controlling the translator’s subjectivity is not possessed by a person or an organization. On the contrary, it is contained in kinds of power relationships influencing the translator’s subjectivity[6]. Instead of directly pressing on the translator, the power mechanism controls the translator’s subjectivity by controlling and formulating the behavior of the translator. Power can be roughly divided into two categories: one kind is explicit, such as political institutions, nations and juridical texts; the other kind is implicit, such as ideologies, ethics and morals, religious beliefs, cultural traditions and political systems[6]. In the chapter of the translator’s subjectivity, we have mentioned that the employment of the translator’s subjectivity is restricted by the translation purpose, the requirements of the translation initiator, the political, historical and cultural background of the translator, the culture 第 10 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity position and prejudice of the translator, the economic and social status of the translator and other extra-linguistic factors. Obviously, the majority of these factors constitute series of power relationships. Through the interaction or restriction of these power relationships, the power mechanism controls the translator’s subjectivity. Among these power relationships, the relationship between the translator’s subjectivity and culture and the relationship between the translator’s subjectivity and the translation initiator are the most important. Translation, as a social event, arises in response to specific social, historical and cultural needs. The purpose of translation is not to purely transliterate the original text, nor is to introduce the original text. In fact, it serves the needs of certain cultures. Compared with those linguistic factors, the culture exerts much more influence on translation. Although translation seems to be a personal activity, the thoughts and spirit of the translator belong to certain cultural groups. The attitude of the translator towards the source text to a great extent represents his group’s common thoughts. The translator, as a member of the target society and a person in the target culture, is always under the manipulation of the power relationship of his own culture. Translation as a social event arises in response to specific social, historical and cultural needs. The translator’s subjectivity is not conducted at random and it is continuously restricted by certain cultures, especially the target culture during the translation process. The culture has penetrated deeply into the recesses of his spirit, becoming a taken-for-granted aspect of his thoughts. During the interpretation of the original text, the translator can hardly shake off the influence of his cultural presuppositions, i.e. those underlying assumptions, beliefs and ideas that are culturally rooted. Victor Hugo points out, “When you (translators) offer a translation to a nation, that nation will almost always look on the translation as an act of violence against itself”[8]. The patronage, the initiator of translation, is actually the incarnation of power. The translator’s right is to render someone else’s ideas for the benefit of the translation initiator. The translator, as a social being, will always purposefully make his choice of which text to translate and what translation strategy to take according to the social function imposed upon translation by the translation initiator in power. “Not all features of the original texts are, it would seem, acceptable to the receiving culture, or rather to those who decide what is, or 第 11 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity should be acceptable to that culture: the patrons who commission a translation, publish it, or see to it that it is distributed[5] ” Accordingly, the translator often tries to recast the original in terms of the political, literary, aesthetic and ethical norms, simply to make it pleasing to the new audience as well as the dominant power so as to ensure that the translated version will actually have a promising future. The power interrelationships between the patronage and the translator’s subjectivity are demonstrated in the following two aspects: on one hand, the translation activity is controlled by the patronage in the target culture; on the other hand, the translator’s subjectivity is chiefly influenced and restricted by the ideology and mainstream poetics concealed in the patronage which have constructed the relationship between power and discourse of the whole society. Meanwhile, the patronage reflects the ideology and poetics in the target culture to some degree. Patrons commissioning translations may be kings, princes or governors in history as well as an organization in power. The translator has to accept the text designated by his patrons, trying to make the translation meet their requirements. He tends to have relatively little freedom in his dealing with patrons. The translator is constrained by obligations to remain trustworthy, keep official secrets and remain employable for repeated performances. It is the commissioner or publisher of translation who always plays an important role in determining what should be translated and how to translate. The individual or organization to initiate translating some work is usually in power. Generally speaking, the translator is thought to have little alternative but to respect the powers—especially those powers holding the purse strings. Sometimes translators may find themselves intoxicated with the beauty of a certain text, and are moved to that text into their own language at their wills. But without their patrons’help most translators will find that they themselves have no control over the outcome and feel at loss for the future of their translations. If their work is to have any impact at all, they will still have to persuade an institution of power to disseminate the translation [10]. Therefore, the translator’s status is indispensable with translation initiators in power, for the translator is a social being in the social contexts full of power relationships. The 第 12 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity translator has power only by delegation, and his subjectivity is developed under the condition that he can be trusted. In conclusion, the translator’s subjectivity is indispensable with translation initiators in power. The translator, who is always entangled in the web of power, can never develop his subjectivity freely, for he has no chioce but to respect various power relationships and abide by the translation norms. 2.4 Consequence of the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity Since the power mechanism intervenes the translating process and controls not only the prospect of the translated text but also the cultural position of the translator, the translator’s subjectivity submits to the power mechanism and it is controlled by the power mechanism. The translator must choose the original texts and the translating strategies to meet the requirements of the power mechanism. On the other hand, due to the intervening of the power mechanism, the translation norms are able to be maintained. The implementation of power creates the translation, making it a representation of the power mechanism. The power mechanism, according to Foucault’s view, produces the subject of translation and the translator in society. The translation norms are of key importance in the power interrelationships. The translation norms function to describe and analyze the translation. Prescribing the standards of what is right and what is wrong, what is acceptable and what is unacceptable, the norms refer to the values and opinions which are shared in society. Accordingly, the translation norms are the right and suitable principles which should be complied with during the translating process. Translation is not merely to stay at the grammar transforming level. Instead, it has special communicative norms and standards, which are essential to the translation activities. This standardized nature of translation is just the result of the control of the power mechanism over the translator’s subjectivity. All the choices made by the translator in the process of translation are dominated by the translation norms and standards. Therefore, abiding by the necessary norms and principles which offer the standards of translation, the translator 第 13 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity translates the original text. To a certain degree, the translation norms are the products of the translator’s choices between different languages and cultures.. The translation norms connote certain social and psychological pressure. Through the translation norms, the power mechanism restricts the translator’s subjectivity by selecting, prescribing or suggesting specific translation activities. The translation norms include the expectations of the target language and the society as a whole towards the translator, such as the acceptability of the translated version and the style of the translated version. These expectations are partly restricted by the tradition of certain cultures and partly restricted by economics, ideology and other related factors. 第 14 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity Conclusion In traditional translation theories, translation is generally considered as a pure linguistic activity, mainly concerning conversion of the meaning from one language into another. When it comes to translation, terms like “faithfulness” always occur to us. In fact, the translated version can not be totally faithful. Translation is not always neutral. The power mechanism has a close and subtle relationship with translation. Frequently it is succumbed to some powers, and it serves the powers involved. The translator, as the subject of translation, is entangled in a web of powers all the time, which restricts the exertion of his subjectivity. The choices of original texts and translation strategies reflect how the power mechanism affects and controls the translator’s subjectivity to a great extent, and construct the power mechanism as well. No matter how excellent a translator he is, he will be restricted by various factors during the translation process, such as different historical and cultural background, or the different interest and personality between the translator and the original author, the translator’s economic and social status, the features of the source language and the target language and the translating theory in certain times. Therefore, the translation activity is unlikely to be neutral and detached. Its own political and ethical positions should be advocated in translation studies. It is constructive for us to form a new insight for the essence of translation and the translator’s subjectivity. Based on Michel Foucault’s theory of discourse and power, this thesis explores the motivation for translator’s choices of different texts and translating strategies and the results for his choices in translation activities in the perspective of the translator’s subjectivity. The thesis reveals the relationship between the power mechanism and the translator’s subjectivity. The choices of original texts and translation strategies to a large extent are the results of the control of the power mechanism over the translator’s subjectivity. Traces of the intervening by the power mechanism in the translating process can never be erased from translation. It proves 第 15 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity that due to the intervening of the power mechanism, the translator’s subjectivity is greatly weakened or even partly lost. Meanwhile, as a result of the intervening of the power mechanism, the translation norms can be maintained to a certain degree. On one hand, the translator has the duty to be faithful to the original author. On the other hand, his subjectivity is restricted by the power mechanism and he must respect the various power relationships he is involved in and abide by the translation norms so as to meet the requirements of the power mechanism. The thesis discusses the translator’s subjectivity in the perspective of power and discourse, which is of great theoretical and practical significance. 第 16 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity Bibliography [1]Delise Jean ＆ Judith Woodsworth. Translators Through History[M].Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub.1995:68 [2]裘姬新.译者的主体性及其制约因素[J].河南科技大学学报,2005(3):72-75. [3]王玉墚.论主体性的基本内涵与特点[J].天府新论,1998(2):77. [4]毛荣贵.新世纪大学汉英翻译教程[M].上海交通大学出版社,2002:39. [5]莫伟民.主体的命运[M].上海:上海三联文库,1996:169,201-205,274. [6]Foucault. Power and Knowledge [M]. Brighton Harvester. 1980:98. [7]Foucault. Discipline Punish[M].London Tavistock.1977:27, 92, 119, 214. [8]http://www.eduboss.com/content/2005-10-29/90417.html [9]Lefevere, André. Translation / History / Culture: A Source Book. [M]. London& New York: Routledge, 1992a:7, 18. [10]David Pollard .Translation and Creation: Readings of Western Literature in early Modern China 1840-1918 [M]. Amsterdam:/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 998: 132. 第 17 页共 18 页 On the Control of the Power Mechanism over the Translator’s Subjectivity Acknowledgements First of all, the authoress would like to extend her sincere gratitude to her supervisor Liu Xuehua who has tried his utmost to help her work out this thesis. During the whole composing process, Mr Liu has not only furnished her with valuable knowledge, but has also given her lots of useful advices in arranging this thesis. She really thanks him. Then, the authoress gives special thanks to all her classmates and friends, whose support have encouraged her to overcome many difficulties. Without their love and assistance, the accomplishment of this thesis would have been impossible. Finally, the authoress also appreciates a lot the convenience that the school’s libraries have provided to her. 第 18 页共 18 页