Comparative Stylistics of French and English: A Methodology for Translation has enjoyed popularity “in large measure due to its clear presentation and generous exemplification of a succession of methods of translation” (Vinay and Darbelnet 1995: viii). However, fundamental concepts such as translation strategies, translation methods, translation procedures and translation techniques are still debated among translation scholars. In the past two decades, China has witnessedsystematic studies on translation methodology, a pioneer instance of which is Fanyi Fangfalun [Translation Methodology] (henceforth TM1) by Zhonglian Huang et al. (2009). This is Huang’s perseverant exploration of translation ontology and methodology after a constellation of publications.
TM1 has attracted wide attention of translation professionals, researchers and students. So far, it has received four book reviews and 3987 article citations in the database of China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China’s most comprehensive gateway of knowledge. It also won the 3rd prize of the 6th National Excellent Academic Achievement Award in Humanities and Social Sciences by China’s Ministry of Education. Against this backdrop, the authors revised the book in 2019 (henceforth TM2) so as to make the best use of its advantages and keep pace with the recent trends in Translation and Interpreting Studies.
TM2 consists of four parts and six chapters. The introduction in Part I, “Outline”, contains an insightful clarification of the concepts of method, methodology and translation methodology, and distinguishes between Complete Translation and Translation Variation in terms of behavior, purpose and result of translating.
Chapter 1 in Part II, entitled “Translation Law”, argues that similarity rather than equivalence exists between source texts (ST) and target texts (TT), especially between unrelated languages like English and Chinese. Complete Translation aims to achieve maximum similarity between an ST and a TT in meaning, form and style, whereas Translation Variation aims to achieve a TT’s “three particular effects” as another kind of similarity, i.e. to meet a particular readership’s particular needs under particular circumstances.
Chapters 2 and 3 constitute Part III, entitled “Complete Translation”. Chapter 2 expounds three aspects of Complete Translation: transformation, sublimation (quantitative change of ST), and strategies. Chapter 3 establishes a methodology for Complete Translation as a hierarchical system of four levels: a category (Complete Translation), two strategies (literal vs. free translation), seven methods (correspondence, addition, omission, transposition, conversion, division and combination) and 30 techniques which are applicable to different linguistic units and/or varied expression modes.
Chapters 4 and 5 constitute Part IV, entitled “Translation Variation”. Chapter 4 addresses particular characteristics of Translation Variation: extraction, accommodation (qualitative change of ST) and strategies. Similarly to Chapter 3, Chapter 5 formulates a methodology for Translation Variation as a hierarchical system of four levels: a category (Translation Variation), one or two strategies (accommodation with or without a strategy of Complete Translation), 12 methods (selective translation, transediting, translated narration, condensed translation, summarised translation, translation plus review, translation plus comment, translation plus writing, explanatory translation, reference translation, and imitated translation), and 59 techniques applicable to specific situations for specific purposes.
TM2’s first striking feature is its exhaustive study on translation proper. It combines interdisciplinary inheritance and innovation by drawing on the quintessence of the traditional Chinese philosophical outlooks on accommodation and sublimation as well as definitions and categorisations in the Western systemic argumentation. It also draws from the latest developments in Translation and Interpreting Studies, linguistics, aesthetics, cognitive science, cultural studies and studies on Artificial Intelligence. In doing so, it reexamines the name and nature of translation, divides translation into two categories with new definitions, and establishes a binary translation methodology by applying “a clause-pivoted approach to Chinese grammar”, “a clause-pivoted approach to Complete Translation” and “a sentence-group-pivoted approach to Translation Variation”.
Secondly, TM2 differs from TM1 in its distinct logical thinking. TM2 generally follows the research process from translation outlook to translation law and to translation methodology, and from the general to the specific. Part I explores the three core concepts and proposes a dialectic relationship between translation outlook and translation methodology, thus paving the way for subsequent analysis and inquiry in the book.
Thirdly, TM2 outshines TM1 in its improved content. For instance, besides redefining three core concepts, Chapter 2renames two methods of Complete Translation and their corresponding techniques. Also, Chapter 3 rearranges and discusses the seven methods of Complete Translation and similarly, in Chapter 5, the 12 methods of Variation Translation are revisited and rearranged.
Last but not least,a distinctive feature of TM2 is its target group. Based on readers’ feedback and the authors’ own reflections, the revision is intended firstly for translation practitioners with guiding principles and systematic methods, and secondly for translation researchers, e.g. with examples for translation criticism.
However, TM2 also has room for improvement. A clarification of the grey areas between Complete Translation and Translation Variation may help readers gain a better understanding of the different methods. Furthermore, the authors may conduct corpus-based translation studies to demonstrate how often the seven methods of Complete Translation are used in English-Chinese and Chinese-English translation, respectively, since they are dependent on language pair and translation direction.
In sum, TM2 is an integration of practical guidance and theoretical reflections, and the translation methods proposed in the book will be useful to countless translation practitioners and researchers.It will also enjoy continued popularity for its considerable applicability, symmetrical layout, succinct clarity and forceful exemplification of a systematic translation methodology.
The research was supported by the major program of The National Social Science Fund of China (Grant No. 19AWW003).
Chengfa Yu
Hunan Normal University
E-mail: chengfayu@hunnu.edu.cn