The Translator's Roles

The purpose of this thesis is to establish the translator's role as the"host of translation"through a systematic study of the translator's roles so as to promote translation studies from a special and important point of view---translators'subjectivity. Translation is a human-centered activity. Studies on translator's roles can be of special significance in establishing translation theories. Studies on the translator's roles have both diachronic order and synchronic intersection. From the diachronic point of view, statements and studies on translator's roles have generally followed one main line, i.e. from"servant/slave","machine","creator","manipulator/rewriter"to"master (host)", while synchronic factors were intersected within it simultaneously so we can not draw a demarcation line between each historical period in which a special role was studied. Sometimes it is very hard for us to say what kind of role a translator belongs to because one translator may have several roles at the same time. Drawing on the theories of Deconstruction School, Manipulation School and Feminism, etc., translators was regarded as the"manipulator"and the"rewriter"of the source text. In some translation theories developed by some Chinese scholars, the translator becomes the"center"and"master"of translation. It seems that the translator's role changes from one extreme to another extreme. At the end of this thesis, the idea of"one host, two guests"is proposed to describe the relationship between the translator and the source text writer and the target text reader, so as to replace the original opinion of"one master, two servants". The words"master"and"servants"are avoided here because these two words show us the relationship of being opposite. In this thesis, a new kind of relationship between the translator and the source text writer and the target text reader, that is, the relationship of"one host, two guests"will be established. That translators are given the status of"host of translation"will be propitious to give prominence to the translators'subjectivity so as to improve the translators'status and to raise the translator's consciousness of self–discipline and being disciplined by others and the eventual purpose is to improve the quality of translation. The idea of"one host, two guests"can also be propitious to describe the relationship between the translator and the source text writer and the target text reader objectively.This thesis consists of seven chapters.