ABSTRACT
Translation is weakened and devitalized by the possibility of its impossibility. Moreover, it is variously compromised by ideology and poetics, patronage and power relations, gender and reception, as well as functionality and inadequacy. In the practice of Chinese-English translation, it can be observed that some translations are more possible than others but can still be poor or weak, as they may focus on one overriding concern at the expense of other functions or dimensions. Thus, the translator needs to carve out a space or a series of related spaces to empower translation by penetrating the surface meaning into the interior of linguistic structure and cultural complexity. The spatial nature of writing and rewriting has the potential to energize translation in experimenting with the rhetoricity of language. It has become increasingly meaningful to move away from the confinement of descriptive translation studies by reconsidering the nature of translation and the role of subjectivity in terms of how systematic interaction generates spaces to empower translation through the fullest possible array of resources available or made available. The potentially liberating nature of creativity is brought out in a series of spaces in which related possibilities are explored to develop more effective translation strategies.
