THE FEMINIST APPROACH

The Feminist Approach to Translation

Abstract

This paper gives an over view of the feminist translation theory and its own opinion about the theory. The paper can be divided into three parts. The first part traces back to the beginning of feminism and the relationship between feminism and translation studies. It is obvious that the position of female and translation studies are very much similar, so these two are gradually associated in this era of feminism. In the following parts of the paper, the writer discusses the contributions and limitations of feminist translation theory. The second part mainly focuses on the positive aspect and introduces how the feminist translators or interventionists manipulate the original text. Then the paper goes on to discuss some difficulties that the translators could encounter when translating experimental feminist writings and propose the solutions that Mona Baker mentioned in her work, though she is not obviously a feminist translation theorist.

The third part discusses the limitations of feminist translation theory. The above mentioned translation strategies may go far beyond the scope of appropriateness, though feminist translation theorist is all trying to subvert the traditional translation theories. And there are many scholars who question the theory put forward by the feminist translation theorists.



The Feminist Approach to Translation

Introduction

The terms “feminism” or “feminist” first appeared in France and The Netherlands in 1872. In the early 1970s, feminism sprung up and gender became a category of analysis.

There are at least four different feminisms: radical, Marxist, liberal and what Sylvia Walby calls dual-system theory. Radical feminists argue that women's oppression is the result of the system of patriarchy, a system of domination in which men as a group have power over women as a group. In Marxist feminist analysis the ultimate source of oppression is capitalism. The domination of women by men is seen as a consequence of capital's domination over labour. Liberal feminism differs from both Marxist and radical feminisms in that it does not posit a system - patriarchy or capitalism determining the oppression of women. Instead, it tends to see the problem in terms of male prejudice against women, embodied in law or expressed in the exclusion of women from particular areas of life. Dual-systems theory represents the coming together of Marxist and radical feminist analysis in the belief that women's oppression is the result of a complex articulation of both patriarchy and capitalism. There are of course other feminist perspectives (Storey 2009: 135).

Theoretically, feminism has much in common with translation studies. Both emerging in 1970s and gaining increasingly institutional recognition through 1980s, feminism and translation studies are both concerned with the status of the secondariness: translation is traditionally considered to be derivative and inferior to the original, while women are always at a secondary position in the male-dominated society. Simon believes that they are also faced with such similar questions as what kinds of fidelities are expected of women and translators in relation to the more powerful terms of their respective ...