Open AccessTranslation of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Gains vs. Losses
Author(s) -
Pinfan Zhu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of linguistics, literature and translation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2708-0099
pISSN - 2617-0299
DOI - 10.32996/ijllt.2021.4.8.1
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , alienation , translation (biology) , linguistics , adaptation (eye) , preference , computer science , sociology , psychology , political science , medicine , law , philosophy , economics , biochemistry , chemistry , neuroscience , messenger rna , gene , microeconomics
Translation criteria have always been a controversial topic in contemporary discourse. Depending on the preference for valuing the cultural messages of the source language or valuing the acceptability of the target language, translation theorists mainly fall within two schools: the adaptation school and the alienation school. However, whatever criterion is used, gains and losses are inevitable in the process of translation. In this article, the author, through textual analyses, proves this argument by providing specific findings from the case study of Traditional Chinese Medicine translation. He also argues that the best result of translation lies in choosing the right criterion that best accommodates the translation goal, which offers some help to translators who feel unsure about what translation criteria to abide by in their translation work.