误译存在的合理性与翻译质量评价

The Inevitability of Mistranslations and Its Implications for Evaluating the Quality of Translation

由于语言与文化的差异以及意识形态、认识能力和认识水平的制约,翻译不可能百分百忠实于原文,任何译文都包含有误译的成分。本文根据误译不可避免的事实,分析了误译发生的原因,肯定误译存在的合理性。这样做并不是鼓励乱译,而是通过区分合理的误译和不合理的误译,正确评价译文,使翻译质量得到提高。

Because of factors such as cultural diversities, linguistic and ideological differences, as well as the translator＇s cognitive limitations, it is impossible for a translation to achieve absolute equivalence to its ST. Starting from the assumptions that mistranslation is an inevitable fact and that whatever exists is rational, and on top of a conventional analysis of the causes for erroneous translations, this article distinguishes between the rational and the irrational kind of mistranslations, concluding that such a distinction is called for if we want to evaluate translations properly and to improve the quality of translation in general.