The Target-Text Readers' Reception In Literary Translation-A Case Study Of Various Chinese Versions Of Tess Of The D'Urbervilles

Nowadays, more and more people consider translation as an act of communication. The subjects and objects in translation process include: the source text, the author, the translator, the target text and the target text readers. The whole process of translation can be roughly divided into two stages: the translator's interpreting of the source text and the target text readers'interpreting of the target text. Between these two stages, there exists an internal connection: the target text. It is this connection that enables the target text readers to understand and appreciate the source text.However, for a long time, the translators'and translation critics'chief concern had been only on the subjects and objects of the first stage, namely the source text, the original author, the translator and their inter-relationship. Little attention was paid to the subjects of the second stage, the target text readers and their influences on translation activities.In the 1960, the application of reception aesthetics had great significance to the study of the role of the target text readers. It studied the reception of a text centering on readers. Thus based on this theory, this thesis tries to analyze the role and influences of the target text readers in literary translation.As an indispensable subject in translation activities, the target text readers are different in cultural traditions, life experience, ideology, etc., which will influence the translator when he is making various decisions in translation. This kind of influence is not only reflected synchronically in the translator's translation practice, but also diachronically in the translator's choice of the original text and his continuous efforts to improve the translated version. Meanwhile, different horizon of expectations and reception abilities of different types of readers will also influence translator's choice of translation strategies.Besides, retranslation of classic works became quite popular in the late of the 20th century, especially after 1930s. The changing horizon of expectations of the target text readers and the indeterminacy of meaning of the original text are two important factors. So the target text readership is an important factor in retranslation of the classic works.After the production of the translated version, the translation critics used to evaluate the translated version based on the principle of"fidelity"or"faithfulness"to the original text, little attention was given to the target text readers'reception of the target text. According to reception aesthetics, the critics should take the target text readers'reception into consideration when evaluating a translated work. Thus the thesis will analyze the target text readers'role and influences on translation from the perspectives mentioned above.