行动者网络理论的名与实及其对社会翻译学研究的意义

The Name and Nature of Actor-network Theory and Its Implication to the Sociology of Translation

翻译是一种复杂的社会活动,在一定的社会(包括历史的、翻译的和现实的)条件中开展,由社会中的要素(人、物、知识等)推进,同时对社会及其构成要素产生影响。单纯从语言、文本、甚至文化层面理解翻译很难触及翻译的社会本质,因此翻译的社会性研究亟需社会学介入。本文选取社会学中的行动者网络理论,融合多位行动者网络理论学者的研究成果,从系统的、发展的和适用的角度,探索行动者网络理论的基本逻辑和关键概念。在此基础上,深入分析这一理论为翻译研究带来的可能性与发展契机。本文是对现有的行动者网络理论引介研究的发展和补充,旨在推进行动者网络理论在翻译研究中的应用,为未来创新性的理论应用型研究做好铺垫。

Translation involves complex social activity. It develops under certain social, historical, translational and practical conditions, being pushed forward by numerous social elements including people, objects, facts, etc. This process of development, at the same time, impacts substantially on the very elements pushing translation forward and on the society as a whole. Studies on translation in the language, textual, and even cultural aspects can hardly reveal the sociological nature of translation, so translation studies need to be examined from a social perspective. This article introduces one sociological approach named Actor-network Theory(ANT), by selecting and integrating different interpretations from ANT proponents of the basics and the key concepts of the theory, and adapting them to translation research. The aim is to construct a theoretical framework that accommodates the rich and the constantly developing theories of ANT, which supports and ensures its scientific and fruitful application to translation studies. The article not only makes developments from previous related studies, but also prepares and leads current theoretical introductions to new and innovative ways of application that have just emerged and that may appear in the near future.