翻译学: 作为独立学科的发展回望与本质坚持

翻译研究作为一门独立学科,自20世纪80年代开始形成与发展,到21世纪的今天,已由独立学科逐步过渡到既独立又自主的阶段。本文基于这一认识展开讨论,首先回顾中国译学三十多年来的发展历程,认为可以总结出三个主要成就:一是大规模引进外国(尤其是西方的)翻译理论,在较短时间里使中国的翻译研究现代化;二是全方位开展译学研究并大量发表译学成果,推动中国译学稳步而蓬勃地向前发展;三是在翻译教学和翻译学位教育领域取得巨大进步。但我们对译学发展的回顾不可满足这些成就,文章因此提出以翻译辩证论的理论视角,从两个层面即翻译的文化性与语言性层面、翻译的绝对性与相对性层面,对翻译乃至译学本质的认知问题展开深入探讨,以期为翻译研究作为独立自主学科的可持续发展带来有益的推动力。

This paper looks back at the past 30 odd years of TS research in China and reflects on the three major achievements it has scored during this period,i.e.modernizing China’s TS with the help of imported foreign(especially Western) translation theories;carrying out a large number of research projects that have established Chinese TS as a powerhouse in international studies of translation;and turning translation teaching and education in China into a huge and thriving enterprise.These remarkable achievements are however no reason for complacency and much remains to be done.Standing out among the issues faced by China’s translation scholars is the need to explore and understand the fundamental properties of translation and translation studies.The author of this paper undertakes to identify these properties and to analyse them from two perspectives,namely,whether to view translation as a linguistic or a cultural endeavour,or to view it as a combination of the two instead;and whether to distinguish between absolute and relative properties of translation and then to view it as composed of both.In conclusion,the paper argues that to develop TS in a sustainable manner,not just in China but throughout the world,we need to take a dialectic approach to it by searching out and adapting to those features which are essential to translation and translation studies.