Translation as Creative Autonomy / 翻译作为创作自主

Definition

Translation as creative autonomy treats a translation as a responsible new work in its receiving language rather than a mechanical copy governed by word-for-word equivalence or authorial control.

Current Synthesis

EP289 attributes this stance to Anne Carson through Li Jiaoyang and Xu Jinjin’s experience translating her work into Chinese. Carson’s reported noninterference does not imply indifference: she remained curious about visual presentation while allowing the translators to solve Chinese linguistic and formal problems. Autonomy therefore means entrusted judgment under responsibility, not freedom from the source work.

Key Claims

• Literal proximity is not the only measure of fidelity when syntax, rhythm, image, voice, and visual form move between languages.
• An author can protect translation by declining to make one private intention the translator’s final rule.
• Translator autonomy transfers responsibility rather than removing it; choices must still answer to both source and receiving language.
• Visual presentation can belong to translation when page and object form carry meaning.
• A translation may create new life without pretending that linguistic and sonic loss has disappeared.

Evidence

Entrusted Chinese translation

• EP289 在安妮·卡森的“马戏团”课堂，拆掉文学的条条框框 says Carson did not demand word-for-word Chinese equivalence and did not interfere with the translators’ Chinese decisions.

Interest without control

• EP289 在安妮·卡森的“马戏团”课堂，拆掉文学的条条框框 notes her curiosity about the translated books’ visual form, connecting linguistic judgment to material presentation.

Counterevidence & Qualifications

The source supplies the translators’ positive account but no disputed passage, alternative translation, editorial correspondence, or reader comparison. Authorial noninterference can support autonomy, but translators, editors, rights holders, and markets still exercise unequal power. Creative autonomy cannot make every departure equally defensible, and sound and syntactic gaps remain even when a translation succeeds.

What Changed

• Established entrusted judgment as the core of translation autonomy.
• Connected linguistic freedom with responsibility for visual and material form.
• Preserved irreducible loss as a qualification rather than treating autonomy as unlimited license.

Related Concepts

• 诗歌翻译的声音缺口 - marks formal losses and transformations autonomy cannot abolish.
• Translation Publishing Workflow - institutional chain in which translators’ choices are edited and published.
• Book Form as Meaning / 书籍形式即意义 - explains why visual presentation may be part of translation rather than decoration.
• Language Precision - supplies a counterpressure toward lexical and structural accountability.