对翻译信息理论的探索

Information-centered Theory of Translation:An Exploration

历经了近半个世纪的发展后,我国翻译研究取得了巨大的进步,但新的社会、科技和文化现实也给其提出了新的问题。这些问题从根本上挑战了我们对于已有翻译概念、翻译方法和翻译理论的认识;但同时,越来越多的学者也提出了令人鼓舞的新看法和新理论,本文则是这一努力的延续。文章首先回顾了翻译研究领域中关于翻译定义问题的不同流派,并在此基础上论述了从信息概念构建翻译理论的必要性和可行性;从信息的角度重新看待了传统翻译模型中的原语和目的语文本、译者和意义等因素并揭示了翻译的连续性和普遍性;将翻译定义为主体在自身特定的信息边界中通过其运算机制在特定时间范围内产生意义的过程。

Despite its great achievements made over the past half century or so,the field of translation studies remains confronted with a whole set of new problems arising due to the emergence of new societal,technological and cultural realities.In response to these problems,scholars concerned have been subjecting currently dominant translation concepts,methods and theories to an intense reexamination and re-evaluation,and have come up with a growing number of new ideas and theories.As part of the theoretical exploration,this paper argues for the necessity and practicality of an information-centered approach to translation studies on the basis of three assumptions:that translation is a continuous activity;that it has a ubiquitous presence in human discourse;and that it is the process whereby the translating agent makes meaning within relevant timespan and informational boundary by applying certain computational mechanism.