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2.10.2 Gideon Toury: Theory of Norms
In the 70s, polysystem theory and the theory of norms transformed the equivalence
paradigm. The equivalence demanded by the normative theories in the earlier period
was “an unproductive line of enquiry”, asserts Venuti (Reader, 123). The reason is not
only the shifts occurring in the translation, but any “determination of adequacy …
involves the application of target norms” (Reader, Venuti, 123). Toury formulates the
theory to explain the ‘acceptability’ of the translation in the target norms. Translation
is an activity related to the two cultures involved: the source culture and the target
culture. Toury explains:
‘translatorship’ amounts first and foremost to being able to play a social role,
i.e., to fulfill a function allotted by a community … The acquisition of a set of
norms for determining the suitability of that kind of behaviour and for
manoeuvering between all the factors which may constrain it, is therefore a
prerequisite for becoming a translator within a cultural enviornment (Norms in
Translation, 198).
2.10.2.1 What Are Norms?
Toury explains that Norms occupy ‘a vast middle ground’ in between the general
‘socio-cultural constraints’ or relatively absolute ‘rules’ and pure idiosyncrasies.
Further, he explains that the borderlines between the various kinds of ‘rules’ are
diffuse:
A favoured mode of behaviour within a heterogeneous group may well acquire
much more binding force within a certain (more heterogeneous) section thereof,
in terms of either human agents (e.g. translators among texters in general) or
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types of activity (e.g., interpreting, or legal translation, within translation at
large) (Toury, Norms in Translation, 199).
2.10.2.2 Translation: Norm-governed activity
Norms occupy an important position in translation studies. In social activities, norms
are the key concepts and they apply to variety of situations. Norms are the main
factors ensuring the establishment and retention of the social order (Toury, Norms in
Translation, 200). Again, this applies to cultures or any of the systems constituting
them. Translation is a kind of activity which inevitably involves two languages and
two cultural traditions. It means that it involves at least two sets of norm system on
each level. Toury describes the ‘value’ behind it as consisting of two major elements:
1.
Being a text in a certain language and hence occupying a position or filling in a
slot, in the appropriate culture, or in a certain section thereof;
2.
Constituting a representation in that language/culture of another, preexisting
text in some other language, belonging to some other culture and occupying a
definite position within it (Toury, Norms in Translation, 200).
A translator has, thus, two choices available to him. Either he may choose to adhere to
the original text with the norms it has realized, or to the norms active in the target
culture. In the first choice, the translation tends to ‘subscribe’ to the norms of the
source text and the corresponding source culture. Obviously, such a translation may
involve certain incompatibilities with target norms and culture. However, if the
translator adopts the second choice, the norms in the target culture are set into motion.
In such a case, ‘shifts’ from the source text are unavoidable. The shifts occurring in
translation show the target norms at the certain historical stage. Thus, following the
source norms “determines a translation’s adequacy, compared to the source text” and
adherence to the target culture norms “determines its acceptability” (Toury, Norms in
Translation, 201).
Irrespective of its adherence to source or target norms, translation involves shifts from
the source text. Toury rightly puts it that the occurrence of shifts has long been
acknowledged as a true universal of translation. He claims that the shifts are also
norm governed:
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Since the need itself to deviate from source text patterns can always be realized
in more than one way, the actual realization of so called obligatory shifts, to the
extent that it is non-random, and hence not idiosyncratic, is already truly norm-
governed (Toury, Norms in Translation, 201).
The theory of norms liberates the translator from the normative standards demanding
fidelity to the source text. It gives him freedom to make a choice between the norms
of the source text or the target text. The theory not only justifies shifts in translation
activity as true universal but claims the shifts to be norm-governed. Undoubtedly,
Toury’s theory of norms is a significant advancement in translation studies.
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