Evaluation of Theories

Taken as a whole, what is the contribution of these scholars to translation theory? Despite differences in approach, all of them were of the view that the translated text must be studied with reference to the source text in terms of similarities and differences. Unlike earlier writers on the subject, they tried to come up with objective criteria to analyze the translation process. They attempted to converge on certain stylistic features that could be isolated and compared. Their approach was a combination of the synchronic and diachronic approaches in that it studied the text in itself and also looked at the intertextual and socio-cultural aspects of the text. This demanded a lot of capability from the individual translator and seems an almost impossible ideal to expect. It is this realization that led to the collaboration of effort that we see in the field of translation studies today. Scholars from various fields like linguistics, literature and socio-cultural theory are active in the effort to evolve a systematic approach to the field.

From this phase onwards, translation theory is more focused on the process of translation and we see a host of disparate fields coming together. Before this phase, writings on translation were described as ‘intuitive' or they believed in the intuition of the translator to come up with an adequate translation. But the emergence of scholars like Lefevere and Holmes demanded a more systematic approach to translation. The cultural aspect that has been factored into translation studies today can also be traced back to these early scholars.

Assignements

1. What was the influence of Russian Formalism on Translation Studies?
2. In your opinion ,which of these early theorists is most relevant today? Justify your answer.

Reference
Gentzler, Edwin. Contemporary Translation Theories. Second revised edition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2001.