On Literary Translation Strategies From The Perspective Of Translation Ethics

This thesis intends to study the influence of translation ethics on literary translation, especially in the aspect of translator’s choice of strategies, with a comparative study on two Chinese translations of George Orwell’s political satire Nineteen Eighty-four. The original work has received extensive attention since publication, and its translations have enjoyed much popularity among readers. Dong Leshan’s and Liu Shaoming’s versions are the earlier translations, and they have shown distinct personal styles in the text, which serve as good examples for research.Before getting down to the influence of translation ethics, the author first makes an overview of the theoretic development of translation ethics. Then there is the introduction to the definition of the term translation ethics, and its two key concepts: professional ethics and personal ethics. The professional ethics is about the collective concept of translators as professional practitioners. It deals with some general rules of translation profession. Anthony Pym’s five principles of translation ethics well explain the professional ethics in details. They are translator’s responsibility for the product upon accepting to the translation task; their responsibility for the probable effects of their translations; exclusion of deciding between two cultures; control of the translation cost not exceeding the total benefits ensuing from the corresponding cooperative interaction; and responsibility for the capacity of their work to contribute to long-term stable, cross-cultural cooperation. Besides, the regulation in The Translator’s Charter of the International Federation of Translators provides the general rule for translators:the fidelity to the original and obligations to the author of the source text. The personal ethics is about the professional philosophy and code of conduct of individual translators. It is formed and affected by translator’s socio-cultural background. As the agent of translation activity, translator is responsible for the implementation of translation, and he decides the quality of the final product. In literary translation, translators can show their personal styles to a large extent. Therefore, translation ethics do have influence on literary translation.Having proved the relevance of translation ethics to literary translation, the author starts to analyze the specific influence of translation ethics. The researches on the two translators’life experiences and works contribute to the understanding of the formation background of their personal ethics. Through the comparison of some examples from the two Chinese versions, the author finds the translation ethics reflected in two translations:both translators have observed the professional ethics of fidelity, responsibility of interculturality and contribution to the cross-cultural communication. In the meantime, due to the different socio-cultural backgrounds, their personal ethics differ. Dong has shown conservative and disciplined way of translation, and the pursuit for strict fidelity to the original. Liu’s translation style is creative and flexible, and he pursues the literariness and fluency of the translation. By studying the different translation strategies used in two translations, and combining with the above findings, the author gives the following conclusions:the personal ethics of translator set the tone of translator’s strategy choice, and professional ethics influence the adjustment of translator’s choice in actual practice; when applying different translation strategies, translators need to use various methods to fulfill specific strategy. It is hoped that this study will inspire the application of translation ethics in practice, and also contribute to the literary translation practice.