Optimality in translation

Linguistic theory and Translation Studies have a long, if somewhat turbulent, history. Even now, in some institutions Translation Studies is placed in the field of Applied Linguistics, whereas in others it is subsumed under Cultural Studies. This is perhaps a sign of something that now few would doubt: that the phenomenon of translation, in its many forms, is manifold and can (and should) be approached from a range of angles. This paper approaches the problem of analyzing source and target texts, with the aim of identifying the translator’s strategy when translating, and always considering translation to be a decision-making process. To do this, it draws critically on a relatively new theory in the study of language: Optimality Theory. Precedents of optimality A reaction to preceding theories and ideas is inevitable and is part of the progress of knowledge, and our field is no different (where some say knowledge, some may say science, although that can be another dirty word in translation). Against the source-oriented approaches that preceded them, target-oriented, norm-based descriptive approaches to translation have offered many insights, placing emphasis on the role of translation in a literary system. However, in concentrating on norms as social constraints, these approaches tend at best to ignore the translator as an intelligent, thinking being: the creator of texts. Social constraints are important, but it is ultimately translators, anonymous though they may be, who make the choices and create the translations that result, whether these are final versions or texts that editors will submit to changes. The approach outlined here hopes to contribute to knowledge of how translators arrive at their translations. The approach takes as its starting point translators: living, thinking beings who read one text and create another for a different locale. Pym describes translation competence as the following: • The ability to generate a series of more than one viable term [...] for a