A Tentative Analysis of Translatability and Untranslatability

齊越

Abstract：Translation is a field full of paradoxes．During the long history of their intensive debate， translatability and untranslatability have experienced ebb and flow of peoples preferences．On the one hand， language should be translatable； on the other hand， owing to the existence of certain differences， language is sometimes not completely translatable．Translatability and untranslatability inseparably exist side by side．The thesis casts an overview of translatability study both at home and abroad， inquires into the bases of translatability and untranslatability from the perspective of functional equivalence， and presents a dialectical analysis of the relationship between the two．

Key words：translation； translatability； untranslatability； functional equivalence

Translation plays， in a way， a vital role in the process of human civilization．It is no exaggeration to say that if you really intend to get acquainted with the cultural backdrop of a certain country， like the backdrop of literature， history， or religion， to name just a few， translation can not be neglected．Translation is defined as below：

In the broad sense， translation refers to the process and result of transferring a text from the source language into the target language．While in the narrow sense， it refers to rendering a written text into another language as opposed to simultaneously interpreting spoken language．

Levy points out that translation is a process of communication from the teleological point of view；the objective of translating is to impart the knowledge of the original to the foreign reader．Obviously， he regards translation as an instructional course by which translation can be achieved．So translation is not viewed as a stationary， merely linguistic process any more， but rather as a communicative operation which takes place within a social context．What could be available for examination rests on the effect of translation practice rather than translation itself．Translation is regarded as performing on utterances as well as language use instead of language itself．

In the book Translating as a Purposeful Activity， Nord claims that translation is in the wider sense， any translational action where a source text is transferred into a target culture and language（Nord 141）．

Among all the controversial issues concerning translation studies， the perennial one of translatability and untranslatability has always been a heatedly discussed topic dominating translation studies．An accurate understanding of the meaning of translation would be beneficial to comprehending translatability more deeply．

Translatability is the question of how a translator must proceed， or which approach he should follow in his method of translating， in order to arrive at a translation which accords with his qualitative objectives．

Translatability， however， cannot exist independently．It inevitably couples with untranslatability．It is the linguistic theoreticians who put forward the idea of untranslatability first．The proponents of untranslatability insist that cross-cultural communication based on inter-lingual translation is impossible， for the message to be conveyed is always at the risk of being partially lost during translation．Some even go so far as to say that translation is in itself doomed to failure from the start， for nobody can claim to have the capability of transferring a complicated thought from one language to another without any distortion．Many translation theoreticians have the similar idea that there are in fact many obstacles in translation practice．Some factors result in the obstacles， such as a translators ability of understanding， his way in doing the translation work， language and cultural differences， etc．

In short， translatability is the mark of human languages：they are convertible into each other because they are composed of conventional signs．Translatability is destined to serve as a prerequisite to translation in cross-cultural message transferring．Whereas， for the existence of some particularly difficult texts and the fact that translation fails to render all levels of meaning existing in the source language into the target language at one time， untranslatability is inevitable in this way．Though some of language elements are untranslatable， most of the obstacles or difficulties can be overcome satisfactorily one day through the translators persistent efforts．In brief， translation is desirable and possible．

References：

Assmann， A．The Translatability of Cultures．Stanford：Stanford University Press，1996．

Levy， J．Translation as a Decision Process．Oxford：Oxford University Press，1967．

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