Ethics and translation Kos Maxym Lingv-28 A tradition of sameness Etienne Dolet Etienne Dolet writes in 1540 that a translator, first and foremost, must "have perfect knowledge" of the two languages involved and "understand perfectly the sense and matter of the author he is translating" (2002: 95-96). In addition to knowledge, translators must strive for invisibility, and this means they should be neutral when dealing with texts to ensure that they neither add nor subtract anything from the author's original. A translator, first of all, must “have perfect knowledge” of the two languages involved and “understand perfectly the sense and matter of the author he is translating A translator should be invisible Vladimir Nabokov • Vladimir Nabokov who insists, in 1955, that the translator "has only one duty to perform, and this is to reproduce with absolute exactitude the whole text, and nothing but the text" (2004: 212). John Dryden • Ethical translators must accept their position ofsubservience and recognize that the texts they translate are not their own. John Dryden describes it in 1697 when discussing his relationship to the authors he translates: "he who invents is master of his thoughts and words," but the "wretched" translators, he says of himself, "slaves we are, and labour on another man's plantation" (2002: 175). • Apart from echoing Dolet's demand that translators have high levels of linguistic and cultural knowledge, most codes of ethics and/or practice directly call for translators to practice fidelity. For example, the "Code of Ethics" by the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Alberta states that, "[e]very translation shall be faithful to and render exactly the message of the source text -this being both a moral and legal obligation for the translator" (ATIA website). • Translators are also asked to suppress their own opinions as can be seen in the draft "Code of Professional Practice" found on the website of the Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs (FIT), which maintains that "translators and interpreters shall carry out their work with complete impartiality and not express any personal or political opinions in the course of the work." The emergence of difference • Although the expectations of translators are still often discussed in the traditional terms of fidelity and invisibility by many translation specialists, as well as in society at large, it is fair to say that mainstream Translation Studies is beginning to critically examine many of the demands historically placed upon translators. Instead of the impossible requirement that translators neutrally reproduce the same text in another language, there has been an increasing focus, since the latter part of the twentieth century, on the agency of translators and the difference that they will inevitably produce. • One example can be found in the skopos theory of translation introduced by Hans Vermeer in the 1970s. Instead of trying to recreate what the original supposedly is, Vermeer suggests that translators focus on what the translation will be used for, and guide their actions based on its skopos, or "purpose." Considering that the source and target texts may have very different purposes, they may end up being very different from each other (2004: 229), something that maysound unethical according to the traditional view discussed above. Jacques Derrida's deconstruction. • According to postmodern thought, meaning does not reside inside texts and is not uncovered or extracted, but is attributed to them via the act of interpretation. Interpretation has historically been shunned when the duties of translators are discussedbecause it implies that they will be visible in the texts they are handling and, thus, unable to faithfully reproduce the original. If interpretation were tolerated, according to tradition, we would risk giving agency to translatorswho might then corrupt the pure meaning of the original. According to postmodern thought, however, these traditional requirements are unattainable, as is the notion of complete reproduction or transferral of the original because translation will always transform it. • • Contrary to the stereotype, just because there are no universals does not meantranslators candisregard conventions and do whatever they want. They must still "take law, rules, and as much else as possible into account (for translation, obviously, this includes grammar, linguistic and cultural conventions, genre, historical context, etc.), for these act as 'the guardrails of responsibility'" (Davis 2001: 97 quoting Derrida 1993: 19). • One of the consequences of postmodern conceptions of translation and ethics has been the flourishing of trends that focus specifically on what Lawrence Venuti calls an "ethics of difference" (1999), addressing questions of how power influences what is considered proper meaning and its "correct" translation, and silences the alternate versions. Into the 21st century • Although most of mainstream Translation Studies has certainly not embraced postmodern approaches to translation and ethics, it has been impacted by them, as there is more and more interest throughout thefield in rethinking ethics in a way that moves away from traditional expectations of sameness and fidelity towards a more complex contemplation of difference, the translator`s agency and subjectivity, and the role translators play in cultural relations. Perhaps this is also due, in part, to the fact that, in this ever-more globalized world, it is hard to ignore difference as we are constantly confronted with challenges to what have often been considered hegemonic ideas. In closing • It should also be noted that there is one ethical duty of translators that seems to be shared by scholars from all areas of Translation Studies as well as the organizations dedicated to this craft: translators should actively participate in making this practice more visible to our societies that often view it with contempt or take for granted the fundamental role it plays in shaping the world. • Translation can also help us rethink the ethics of cultural encounters that define relationships among the peoples of the world.
