A Literature Review and Evaluation of Feminist Translation

刘启源

【Abstract】The development of feminism is very meaningful to all areas of the society including politics， cultures and languages and the feminism theories contribute greatly to translation studies. There are different schools with different feminist translation theories and different approaches. This paper aims to do a literature review of some famous works of feminism translation theories. Besides， an evaluation of these theories and approaches will be provided in terms of their advantage and shortage.

【Key words】feminism； translation theories； evaluation

1. Feminism and translation studies

Feminismis originated from America and the first feminist movement started at the end of 19 century. The purpose of the first movement was to achieve the equality of men and women and it mainly focus on womens political right， such as property right， the right to vote and to be elected and the right to education. In the 70s of 20 century， the second feminist movement began because they realized that the unfairness of gender exists not only in the political area but also in the cultural area. They aimed at eliminating the sexual discrimination in languages and emphasized the peculiarity of women and proposed “ womens liberation must first be a liberation of/from language”. Thus， new standards of reading， writing and translation from female views were formed and the feminists tried to destruct the traditional translation theories， which were part of the so-called “ cultural turn”.

The encounter of feminism and translation was not an accident because they share something in common. In the history， Female were always at the margin of the patriarchy society. Translation， just as the position of female， has been regarded as the appendant of the source text and the relationship between the author and the translator was defined as “master and servant”. The longterm marginalization of translator， translation and female made them get together and started to change their situation and make themselves heard by the society.

2. The translation theories of feminist translation

The Canadian feminist translation

The feminist translation originated from North America and has already spread all over the world. Canadian feminists are one of the most important and influential groups and the representatives of this school are Barbara Godard， Marlene Wildeman， Sherry Simon and Luise von Flotow. The following text will focus on the introduction ofLuise von Flotow， Sherry Simon and Barbara Godard.

Flotow regarded translation as a rewriting in feminism and she emphasized the importance of the translators sense of self. According to Von Flotow， feminism affects translation in three aspects： the practice of translation， translation theories and translation criticism. She introduces the approach of translating the body in feminist translation， which， in her opinion， is “the source of womens creative energy， a largely unknown entity that has long been silenced and needs to be written”.Von Flotow pointed out the significance of feminism in translation study， saying that “gender affects every individual who reads and writes or is otherwise engaged in language transfer”.

Sherry Simon is an other famous Canadian feminist translator and one of her most important contribution is the reconstruction of fidelity. Sherry reconstructed the traditional definition of fidelity， which no longer refers to authors intention or readers cultural habits. She considered translation as “an act of reproduction， through which the meaning of a text is transferred from one language to another”. According to Sherry， the equivalence in feminist translation does not mean the equivalence in language level but performative and “the process of translation must be seen as a fluid production of meaning”.

Barbara Godard is a pioneer in the Canadian feminist translation and she did a great job in the practice of feminist translation. Her translation works include The Temptation （1982）， Lovhers（1986）， Bloody Marry（1991）， Intimate Journal（2004） and so on. She emphasized the visibility of female and translator in the translation. In her book Translator as She： The Relationship between Writer and Translator， she expressed the joy to translate the feminist writings. She tried to create the new ways of expression for feminism and used language to find the position for female and translators.

These are different views of feminist translation of these three outstanding representatives. However， the ideas or theories proposed by these three people contribute powerfully to feminist translation and they share the main ideas as well as the other Canadian feminist translators， which can be concluded as follow. Firstly， they deny that translator and translation are the servants of the author and source text and think that the sexual discrimination in translation should be exploded. Secondly， they emphasize the importance of female translators and appeal for the equality of translators and writers. Moreover， they promote the new translation standards and norms from the feminist perspectives and they encourage the feminist rewriting. At last， they point out that translation is not only about the language transfer but also includes the issues of cultures and ideologies.

3. The evaluation of feminist translation

The contribution and significance of feminist translation

At first， it overturns the definition of the “ master and servant” relationship between source text and translation. In the traditional translation theories， the original text is in the priory position and its authority cannot be violated. Thus， translators would have to inhibit themselves to be faithful to the source text during the translation process. However， feminist translators appeal for the building of the translators identity and emphasize the leading role of translators. They regard translation as a production and the supplement and development of the source text. It makes a big change to the properties of translators， which is to extend the meaning of the source text.

Moreover， the feminist translation theories regards translation as a political action and they use translation to achieve their political purpose， which is to raise womens position in the society and achieve womens right of speech， just as the opinion that translation is “political activity aimed at making language speak for women”. Translators used to be invisible in the traditional translation theories. But， feminists think that translators should not be passive and negative and the voices of women should be heard. There should not be the differences of male translators and female translators. The feminist translators ideas and efforts are helpful for the eliminating of the sexual discrimination which exist both in translation studies and traditional social values.

The weakness of feminist translation theories

Though feminist translation theories bring many meaningful and new ideas to translation studies， some of the critics mentioned before are worth noticing. On one hand， it is true that some of the feminist translators are so radical that they exclude men and try to overturns patriarchy and overemphasize feminism， which is to change the position of men and women. However， it is not the original purpose of the feminist translation and can have a negative effect on the development of the equal relationship of men and women. On the other hand， the critics which declares that some feminist translators ignore the feeling and reply of the readers are quite reasonable. For translation， the most important is to make readers understand and accept. But， the overemphasizing of feminism makes them use too much wordplay or difficult grammar which are hard for readers to understand. As a consequence， it brings obstacles for reading and change may change the original meaning or writing styles. One more factor worth mentioned is that feminist translators mainly focus on the works of female issues written by female writers， which is not helpful for the expanding of their horizon. So， there would be restriction of their views or values during the translation process.

4. Conclusion

Feminist translation theories bring a new and fresh research perspective and area of translation studies. Aiming at the achievement of the political right of women， feminist translators make effort to eliminate the sexual discrimination in translation and society and ask for the speech right of women， which is quite meaningful for womens voices to be heard by the public and help achieve the equality of men and women.

However， the overemphasizing of the role of translators and the promotion of rewriting as well as the strategies of feminist translation cause the over intervene of the source text， which is not the original function of translation. And the feminist translators pay too much attention on their political purpose， which actually makes translation become an instrument for them to get political rights. So， the research of feminist translation looks more like a political movement than a translation study. It is necessary to do more research and make improvement of feminist translation so that it can be better developed.

References：

[1]Simon，Sherry.Gender in Translation.London and New York：Routledge，1996.

[2]Von Flotow，Luise.Translation and Gender.Translation in the Era of Feminism.Manchester：St.Jerome，1997.

[3]Lotbinière-Harwood，Susanne de.Re-Belle et Infidèle.La traductioncommepratique de reécriture au féminin-The body bilingual.Translation as a rewriting in the feminine.Toronto：Womens Press，1991.

[4]Von Flotow，Luise.“Feminist Translation：Contexts，Practices and Theories”，1991.

[5]Godard，Barbara.“Theorizing Feminist Discourse/Translation”.In：Bassnett，Susan and André Lefevere（eds.）Translation，History and Culture.London and New York：Pinter，1990.