Intention and inversion: evaluating coursebooks on translation theories under the perspective of comparative translation studies

Abstract

ABSTRACT The comparison of the theories of Chinese and Western translation traditions contribute to the insights regarding the nature of translation and the improvement of translators’ competences, which requires authors to compile translation theory coursebooks in inverted ways that cater to the needs of readers. Based on theoretical retrospection, the author analyses the relation between translation theories and translator training. After comparing sixteen highly cited and widely disseminated translation theory coursebooks, the author summarizes the features of the coursebooks compiled by Western and Chinese scholars from ontological, epistemological and methodological perspectives. In the case study of A Coursebook of Chinese and Western Translation Theories, the features of the coursebook could be summarized as ontologically classical, epistemologically systematic, and methodologically reader-oriented. Based on the in-depth evaluation of the case coursebook, the paper provides suggestions for the whole category of coursebooks on translation theories. Ultimately, the paper concludes that the coursebook authors’ intentions may exert substantial influence on the readers and further influence the development of translation theories and practices.