Exploration Of Problems In Translation And Publishing Of Stray Birds In China Based On Translation Ethics

Since August 2015 when a new Chinese version of Stray Birds came out,the translator Feng Tang's translation of this poetry has caused fierce debate---it is widely criticized and applauded at the same time.The incident has also provoked interest in translation ethics.Stray Birds,the first poetry of Rabindranath Tagore introduced into China by its translator Zheng Zhenduo in the summer of 1922,has been popular among readers,translators and publishers all the time.The society is confronted with moral crises or ethical crises in all fields;translation and publishing are no exception.The unsatisfying status quo of domestic translation and publishing demands ethics in translation studies.Previous studies on Chinese versions of Stray Birds mainly focus on the translated texts or the translators from the perspectives of polysystem theory,Skopos theory,reception aesthetics,to name but a few.This thesis attempts to give translation ethics thought on the translation and publishing of Stray Birds in China.In previous studies,“translation ethics” is approximately equal to “translators' ethics”,whereas in this thesis,participants besides translators that are involved in the translation activity will also be explored.This thesis looks back on the translation and publishing of Stray Birds in China,and selects translations of Zheng Zhenduo,Feng Tang,Zhang Junliang and so on to study.Through comparisons and analyses of these different versions based on translation ethics,problems in translation and publishing of Stray Birds will be presented,and coping strategies will be devised.The thesis concludes that,firstly,the reason why most translators of Chinese versions of Stray Birds remain obscure is that their translations either resemble too much of Zheng Zhenduo's or fail to have shining points like Feng Tang's and Zhang Junliang's;secondly,Stray Birds can be impeccable practicing material for translation due to its simple language,brevity and poetic quality;under expert guidance readers can be good translators of it;thirdly,it is necessary that all participants involved in translation and publishing(translators,publishers,target readers,educational institutions,translation critics etc.)should strengthen the links with one another to the best of translation and publishing.