On Study Of Translator’s Subjectivity From The Perspective Of Hermeneutics

In the traditional translation theories,“faithfulness” and “equivalence” are regardedas the golden principle to judge a translated text. Translator, being an active participantand subject in translation activities, has long been placed in a marginal position.Correspondingly, translator’s subjectivity is neglected for a long time. With the “cultureturn” in translation studies during the1970s and1980s, translator’s status has beenrecognized and elevated gradually. The issue of translator’s subjectivity begins to bediscussed and focused on from different theoretical framework.Hermeneutics is a theory to probe the understanding and interpretation of meaning.Any translation can not get rid of understanding and interpretation. Translation is also aprocess of understanding and interpretation of the original text in essence. Therefore,they share similarity and find meeting points on this level. It is George Steiner whoapplies hermeneutics into translation studies and puts forward hermeneutic translationmotion, namely,“trust”,“aggregation”,“incorporation” and “compensation”, which displays translator’s subjectivity fully. Hermeneutics not only provides a theoretical basisfor exertion of translator’s subjectivity but also deepens understanding of the roletranslator plays in translation.Folk song of Northern Shaanxi bears salient national culture and strong sense oflocal color. Characterized with adored language, abundant content and high-pitchedsinging style, it is popular among listeners. Therefore, translation of Northern Shaanxifolk songs is of great significance in spreading folk culture of Northern Shaanxi.However, a relative systematic study on it did not started until2009. Voice From theNorthwest, translated by Wang Hongyin with nine years laborious effort, is the initiate totransmit Northern Shaanxi folk song to outside world, which gains acceptance fromscholars at home. Therefore, to conduct translation studies of Northern Shaanxi folk songis an innovation in academic field and also a vital measure to spread Northern Shaanxifolk song to the world in a new form.Based on George Steiner’s hermeneutic motion, this present thesis attempts to makea tentative analysis of translator’s subjectivity manifested in the English version ofNorthern Shaanxi folk songs. All these folk songs and their versions are selected fromVoice From the Northwest by professor Wang Hongyin. The aim of this thesis is toexplore how translator’s subjectivity embodies in Steiner’s four steps and to confirm theimportance of translator’s subjectivity in translation activities. Besides, it is hoped thatthis research can provide a preliminary exploration for translating folk songs of NorthernShaanxi and enrich the theoretical and practical study of translation.