On Xu Yuanchong's Subjectivity In His Translation Of Tang Poetry

In recent decades, many translation studies have been made into the issue of the translator's subjectivity, but most of them did not make it clear how to judge whether or not the translator's subjectivity is appropriately exercised in translation. Due to the lack of criteria for judging the translator's performance, our criticisms about the translated works tend to be subjective and unconvincing. This thesis starts with a literature review of historical and current studies on the translator's subjectivity and also takes this concept as its theoretical basis. Then it goes on to talk about criticism on Xu Yuanchong's translation of Tang Poetry. From the perspective of the translator's subjectivity and the literary re-creation (especially in poetry translation), the thesis discusses the performance and appropriateness and inappropriateness of Professor Xu's exercise of subjectivity in his translation of ancient Chinese poetry by making a comparative analysis between his works and those of other translators concerning translation theories and practice. Then the thesis comes to the following understandings. First, to bring into full play the translator's subjectivity is significant in producing a good translation but its performance has some restrictions. Second, the performance of the translator's subjectivity should be adjusted and restrained by the criteria of appropriateness. To ensure the balance between the performance and appropriateness of the subjectivity, the translator has to take into consideration sufficiently the relationship (stipulated by the notion of intersubjectivity) among the author, the source text, the target reader and the translator himself. Third, Xu Yuanchong's translation of Tang Poetry is a great success characterized by his unique translation principles and skills but at the same time his translation should also be put to the test of the criterion of appropriateness.