Western Paradigms of Translation Studies: Literary and Linguistic Perspectives

Abstract

The paper traces the evolution of translation theories that led to the
establishment of Translation Studies as an interdisciplinary field of research in
the second half of the twentieth century. It deals with the literary and linguistic
approaches to the study of translation underlying the importance of linguistic
paradigms for the advancement of translation related research.

The paper seeks to demonstrate that the major theories of the twentieth century as well as contemporary culture-focused visions of translation emerged from linguistic theories.

Starting with the structuralist view of translation and the related debate
on translatability vs non-translatability, the paper moves to the concept of
equivalence ending with contemporary critical assessment of the theories,
including from the cultural and deconstructivist perspectives.
The overview also seeks to encourage further study of Georgian translation
tradition in the light of the western translation theories.