ABSTRACT
Translation is impaired by limited translatability or untranslatability. In practical terms, the main task for translators is to identity translatability and be aware of its limits and then develop appropriate strategies of what works best to expand such limits. Chinese translation practice serves an exemplar and demonstration of the usefulness of translational spaces in expanding the limits of translatability. Arguably, if something is interpretable, it is translatable. An interpretative space gives rise to the necessary space(s) for translation. Spatial translatability may be understood to refer to the possibility of representing in the target text what is meant to be conveyed in the source text. In essence, this aligns translatability with transferability which, however, defies easy assumptions. While the transfer of meaning is not impossible, which is admittedly fraught with pitfalls and problems, the transfer of form, among other things, is a matter of serious concern. To transfer both meaning and form bears directly upon the very limits of translatability. The lack of formal correspondence between source and target texts is evinced by limited translatability. Since formal substitution is hard to come by, overall or essential similarity needs to be demonstrated in the target text.
