A Contrastive Study Of Two Chinese Versions Of The Godfather Under George Steiner's Philosophical Hermeneutics

This thesis takes two Chinese versions of different periods of Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather as the research materials,they are Zhou Hanlin's version and Yao Xianghui's version.In the light of American translation theorist George Steiner' s philosophical hermeneutics,the thesis explores the differences and their reasons of translator's subjectivity reflected in the fourfold hermeneutic motion through detailed analysis of typical translation examples.According to Steiner's philosophical hermeneutic approach to translation,translation is the act of transfer of meaning which is fourfold,that is trust,aggression,incorporation and compensation.They are interlocked and recycling endlessly,which work together to approach to the translation process of the balance-offbalance-rebalance circle between the source text and target text.The approach to translation is highly philosophical,which reflects the translator's subjectivity and creation in the process of translation.It points out that the version of any text is not only affected by the translator' s own identity,social background,political ideology and media of communication,but also is constrained to human cognitive development.The American famous writer Mario Puzo's great novel The Godfather was published in1969.It describes the survival and struggle of the Mafia families of bad gangs in the United States after the World War II.It's full of suspenses and tensions,deeply penetrated with distinctive characterizations of characters and language,which reveals the reality of American society after the World War II.The novel was once the bestseller in America,and its film has got enormous successes among audience of different ages and won big prizes for several times.The scholars at home and abroad have done studies mostly from aspects of its plot,characterization and thematic meaning.But this thesis has made a contrastive study of two Chinese versions of The Godfather in light of George Steiner's fourfold hermeneutic motion to explore the differences and their reasons through detailed analysis of typical translation examples,which is hoped to lead the readers to enjoy translation versions from the view of philosophical hermeneutics.It will provide a new perspective and revelation for the development of translation practice and translation criticism in China.There are totally 5 chapters in this thesis.Chapter One is introduction to research background,research purpose,significance of research as well as the structure of the whole paper.Chapter Two is the literature review of the studies of the source text of The Godfather and its translation studies,especially of Zhou Hanlin's version and Yao Xianghui's version.Chapter Three is the theoretical framework of Steiner's philosophical hermeneutic approach to translation and its fourfold hermeneutic motion.Chapter Four is the Contrastive analysis of the differences and their reasons of translator's fourfold motion of trust,aggression,incorporation and compensation through detailed analysis of typical translation examples.Chapter Five is the conclusion of the whole essay.