翻译研究中“主次颠倒”论的负面本质

Negative Implications of the Alarmist View of "Misplaced Priorities" in Translation Studies

对于外国翻译研究与翻译理论的引进工作,我们不仅要继续做下去,更要继续对其进行深层次的研究、消化和发挥,这样才能最终达到“洋为中用”的目的。本文从近期国内翻译研究出现的“主次颠倒”论谈起,指出这种言论的先天性谬误所在,认为中国翻译实践并未出现相关论者所谓的“贻误”;主张以发展、辩证、积极的眼光看待译论研究,尤其是对外来翻译理论的研究。文章以相关论点及相关论者的分析方法为个案,对目前译学界中出现的这种负面现象提出批评。

The study in present-day China of non-Chinese approaches to translation has in recent years played an important role in promoting translation studies in the country, and has broadened the Chinese horizon of theoretical thinking about translation. However, there are also scholars who hold alarmist views that Chinese translation studies will be overwhelmed by Western ideas. This paper is an attemptto overcome the seemingly patriotic xenophobia in translation studies with certain scholars in China. With reference to an alarmist exaggeration of research efforts in the study of Western translation theory, the paper cogently argues that we should take a dialectical view of developments and do not confine our studies to a certain mode simply because it is Chinese or Western by origin. Only by an open-minded approach to translation studies will we be able to see the development of new thoughts and ideas in our research endeavors on translation.