Ecotranslatology as a Model of Translation

Abstract

The article discusses the concept of ecotranslatology developed by Hu Gengshen, a Chinese researcher of Translation Studies (2003). The concept is based on the ancient principles of the Chinese philosophy claiming harmony in antinome. Many principles of modern translatology fit in well with the ecotranslatology system: translator’s selection and adaptation to the environment, relationship between the individual and the collective; creativity and usage; interdependence of the contextual factors, a client, and a translator. This concept is of great importance for intermediary (indirect) translation when a source language is a lingua franca rather than a native language of the author, with pluricentric English in its numerous varieties (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, a.o.) functioning as a lingua franca in the international setting. Adaptation of a translator, who received a traditional linguistic and translation training at a school of West European languages, to translating Asian culture-loaded words borrowed into English and to interpreting oral texts with traces of transfer from Asian languages, native to speakers — traces that are evident in local varieties of English — requires special skills and qualification. Harmony of ecotranslation environment components — text, languages, translation, author, receptor, and client — can be achieved when observing the principle of translation convertibility (Kabakchi 1998; Proshina 2014) that regulates the relationship of a source and target texts based on the regularities of intermediary rather than direct translation. Studying these regularities should be included in the curricula of translation departments with schools of West European languages. Refs 21. Table 1.