Kultaisen keskitien jäljillä

Abstract

This paper analyzes and describes the conceptualization and definitions of translation strategies in Russian translation studies in comparison to Western translation studies. In Western translation studies, global translation strategies are often approached in terms of dichotomies, such as Lawrence Venuti’s concepts of foreignization and domestication (1995). In contrast, Russian translation scholars prefer to focus on a third strategy, ‘the golden mean’ between the two extremes (Barhudarov 1975; Komissarov 1990; Recker 1974). Although the idea of ‘the golden mean’ has also appeared in Western ideas about translation (see e.g. Dryden 1991/1680), it is far less prevalent than in Russian translation studies, and its Russian concepts are little known in the West. This article presents a conceptual analysis of global and local translation strategies in the tradition of Russian translation studies, comparing them to the concepts of foreignization and domestication as well as local strategies commonly occuring in Western translation studies.