On Translation Of Poems In "Hong Lou Meng" From The Perspective Of Translator's Subjectivity

In recent years, with the emergence of new approaches to translation studies, the complex role that the translator plays in the whole translation process has become a current heated subject of researchers. Accordingly the study of the subjectivity of the translator, as a branch of the study of translation, has become critically important and is gaining increasing attention among translation theorists. A translator is a subject of the translation process during which, intersubjectivity is formed on the basis of harmonious relationship between the author of the original text, its readers, and their respective subjectivities. Subjectivity demands purpose, initiative, and creativity. Consequentially subjective activity is required, which is a typical characteristic of subjectivity. However, the translator is supposed to express his personal perspectives within a narrow scope of limitations and constraints. Reception theory insists on the construction of subjectivity in literature, which provides new methodological basis for literary translation. Some significant concepts in reception theory, such as "schematized structure", "blanks", indeterminacy", "horizons of expectations" and "fusion of horizons", make people begin to view literary translation from an entirely new angle. Guided by reception theory, literary translation is no longer a one-way process which is text-centered and transmitted by a translator with readers on the receiving end, but an ever-going two-way communicative process carrying out the dialogue between the text and its readers, between its author and readers. This thesis studies the translator's subjectivity in poetry translation from the hermeneutic point of view to investigate the translator's role in the dynamic process of translation, and examines that the process of translation is the process that translator's subjectivity is given full play. Translators are undoubtedly visible in translation, and inevitably show strong initiative throughout translation. The author hopes to stimulate those translation practitioners to give full play to their initiative during translating, and try to produce more and more well-accepted translated works."Hong Lou Meng" is an encyclopedia of Chinese culture and there are more than two hundred poems in it. What is more, the two English versions present us with very good materials for the study of translator's subjectivity in poetry translation, which reasonably accounts for selecting "Hong Lou Meng" as the source of information in this thesis.This thesis consists of six chapters:Chapter One is the introduction, including the relevant researches that have been carried out home and abroad so far, main content and originality of the thesis, and the theoretical and practical significance of the study as well.Chapter Two is devoted to the study of "Hong Lou Meng" and Chinese classical poetry, the features and characteristics of Chinese classical poems.Chapter Three is the rationale of this study, which illustrates the theory of hermeneutics and aesthetics of reception respectively, thus provides a solid theoretical foundation for the study of translator's subjectivity.Chapter Four discusses translator's subjectivity and the aspects of translator's subjectivity, mainly reflected in choosing, reception, judgment and recreation of thesource text, etc.Chapter Five attempts to make a comparative study of the two different versions of"Hong Lou Meng" from the perspective of translator's subjectivity.Chapter Six is a brief retrospective summary of the main idea discussed in the foregoing parts.