Translator's Subjectivity Revealed In Jiang Jiansong's Translating Process Of Tan Jing From The Perspective Of George Steiner's Hermeneutic Motion Theory

Tan Jing is both a Buddhist classic and important classic in Chinese culture which records the convertings and preachings of Huineng,a Tang dynasty monk,known as the"6^th Patriarch of Chan".It is esteemed as"sutra"by Buddhists in China and around the world.However,studies on Tan Jing are limited.And compared with that,studies on its English versions under the guidance of translation theories are even less.Since the"cultural turn",the studies on translator‘s subjectivity have been gradually furthered.Hermeneutics considers that"translating is understanding"and admits translator‘s active interpretation of source text.It contributes a new perspective to translation study and intensifies people‘s awareness of the importance of translator.George Steiner,a representative of Hermeneutic school,creatively divides translating process into four concrete interpretive stages,namely trust,aggression,incorporation and compensation,which highlights translator‘s subjective status in translating from a unique perspective.This thesis takes George Steiner‘s Hermeneutic Motion Theory as the theoretical framework.Based on George Steiner‘s fourfold stages,it divides Jiang Jiansong‘s translating process of Tan Jing into stages of trust,aggression,incorporation and compensation.With analysis of examples,it tries to illustrate the embodiment of translator‘s subjectivity in Jiang Jiansong‘s translating process.Thereby,the concrete process of translator‘s subjectivity acting on translating activities and the important role translator plays in translation are revealed.This thesis first reviews the historical course of the studies on translator‘s subjectivity home and abroad,makes a conclusion about the research results relating to studies on Tan Jing and its English versions in the Introduction part,then introduces the Hermeneutics and George Steiner‘s Hermeneutic Motion Theory.After that,it discusses the inner connection between the translator‘s subjectivity and George Steiner‘s Hermeneutic Motion Theory.Finally,it divides Jiang Jiansong‘s translating process of Tan Jing into four stages of trust,aggression,incorporation and compensation.With examples analysis,it finds out that translator‘s subjectivity works in the whole translating process of the translator.Before translating,based on his"trust"on Tan Jing,namely,on Tan Jing‘s value and meaning,Jiang Jiangsong chooses the source text that he devotes to translate.At this stage,the translator‘s personal interest,translation motives,linguistic and cultural competence are essential factors that affect the translator‘s choice making.As a classic of Chinese culture,Tan Jing owns its language characteristics and special cultural connotation,which requires the translator to overcome the barriers caused by language and culture at the"aggression"stage.At this stage,Jiang Jiansong fully exerts his linguistic and cultural competence and invades the text successfully.At the stage of"incorporation",the translator‘s subjectivity develops to the utmost.Jiang Jiansong achieves incorporations of meaning and form through adopting translating methods,such as literal translation,free translation,foreignization,generalization and perspective shift,and using target poetic forms and techniques.At the stage of"compensation",in order to maintain the balance between the source and target text,Jiang Jiansong applies compensation methods,including paraphrase,annotation,parenthesis and elaboration,so as to present a complete translation.Thus,it can be seen that the translating process of Tan Jing is one in which the translator fully exerts his subjectivity and translator‘s subjectivity is the key to the success of a translation.When translating Classics,like Tan Jing,due to their language characteristics and cultural connotation,it is more important for translators to exert their subjectivity in translating them so as to accurately convey the original contents.This study applies the Hermeneutic translation theory to the study on the Jiang Jiansong‘s translating process of Tan Jing,which is a positive attempt that may enrich studies on translator‘s subjectivity and English versions of Tan Jing.