Today we choo rewriting theory of Andre Lefevere, the pioneer of manipulation school as the theme of the mini projet.The development of Andre Lefevere’s theory can be divided into three stages: conventional studying pha (1970s-1980s), turning pha(1980s-1990s) and maturing pha(1990s-).As for the elements of the rewriting story,generally divided into Ideology、Poetics、Patronage,different people have different ways of distinguishing.After a brief introduction to different periods of the development of the theory ,we will introduce and analyze three elements.
First of all,let us learn about Andre Lefevere’s lifetime.Andre Lefevere( 1949-1996) is a renowned Belgium scholar on translation study, especially in the field of literary translation. Drawing upon the notions of poly system theorists like Itamar Even-Zohar, he theorized translation as a form of rewriting produced and read with a t of ideological and political constraints within the target language cultural system. Lefevere developed the idea of translation as a form of rewriting, which means that any text produced on the basis of another has the intention of adapting that other text to a certain ideology or to a certain poetics, and usually to both.
Three stages of translation studies
1.Conventional Studying Pha
In conventional studying pha,AL studied a large number of specific translating strategies,but he also pointed out it’s far away from enough for a translator to translate the original meaning of language,and that a translator should try his best to convey the communicative meaning of the source text.Meanwhile he mentioned the language problem is just one aspect of translation to face,and that time,place,tradition and other factors are easy to produce dislocation of the original text’s social and cultural status in the target culture.
2.Turning Pha
At this period,he put forward the concept of reflection,which means that works should be adapted to different readers for wide spread and influence.At the same time,the systematic theories was formally put forward. AL thinks that literature is a system with constraint mechanism.
First, the constraint force of the system mainly comes from sponsor outside the system(may be a person, a group or organization).And,the constraint force of sponsor system plays it’s role through three elements:ideology, economy,status.
Second, the constraint force of the literary system comes from poetic specifications.The main contents of poetics are inventory component,including
style, some symbolism, characters, the prototype scene and so on,and function concept,which means literature has or may have its function in the specific society.
The last one restriction factor is natural language of the literary system . Language not only ensure literary works grammatical in the form, but also ensure works can reflect the culture of the original language from the pragmatic aspect. Becau a kind of language always reflects a specific culture, translation always make different culture "natural", making them consistent with the habits of accepting culture
3.Maturing Pha
AL published three books on translation theories to summarize his translation rearch achievements in 20 years——《Translation, rewriting and manipulation of the literary reputation》,《Translating Literature: Practice and Theory in A Comparative Literature Context》《Translation, History and Culture: A Source Book》.Among them《Translation, rewriting and manipulation of the literary reputation》is most famous.In this book,he makes a comprehensive summary of rewriting theory ,citing many examples such as sponsor system, poetic specifications,ideology, domain and relations between language problems and translation . It’s worth noting that AL clearly put forward for the first time another constraining force within the literary system—— professionals, including critics, reviewers, literature teachers and translators,who are actually rewriters. They are subject to the sponsor system outside the literary system, especially ideology and poetic specifications in the system.
Definition and meanings of three elements
André Lefevere develops his manipulation theory, that is, “Translation is a rewriting of an original text. Rewriting is manipulation.”
Translation is constrained by three factors: ideology, poetics and patronage.
In the following the three factors that manipulate translation will be discusd in detail.
Ideological Manipulation in Translation
“Ideology” in manipulation theory includes certain social ideology and personal ideology. Social ideology is the systematic understanding of the world and society of a certain class, party, and career (usually the intellectual). It is a general belief that prevails in a particular country or community and at the same time, hides in the political behavior or idealistic style. Philosophy, politics, art, aesthetic, religion, and ethics are the embodiments of ideology. As for the individual ideology, it refers to the translator’s personal character; educational, working and life experience; and aesthetic taste. The social and translator’s own ideology determine the translator’s choice of the text to be translated and shapes his translation strategies. Sometimes the translator finds himlf caught in a dilemma --- between his adherence to an ideology that is not that of the original text and his status as a professional who must be able to convince other professi
onals that he is worthy of that title, while at the same time not producing a text that runs counter to his ideology. On that condition, it is impossible for him to remain faithful to the original. He has no other choices but rewrite the original.
