A Critical Study Of Translators’ Self-Translation Behavior

"Self-translation"(auto-translation),as a special kind of translation activity,has received attention from foreign scholars in the early days and has gradually entered the research horizon of Chinese scholars in recent years.In literary translation,there are very few scholars who are familiar with bilingual texts and cultures and who can write and translate into two languages.As a dominating figure in the study of translation behavior,Professor Zhou Lingshun not only systematizes the study of Translator Behavior Criticism,but also has many works in literary composition and translation,notably in his self-translation of prose.However,the attention of most scholars is mainly focused on the construction of his theory of Translator Behavior Criticism and the study of translator’s behavior,while the study of his self-translated works and his identity as a self-translator is still relatively weak.Therefore,this paper selects Professor Zhou’s self-translated prose(collected in the book Self-translation and Self-evaluation of Chinese Prose Writings published by Suzhou University Press in 2017 and some of his chapters published in The world of English in recent years)as the study text.Under the guidance of Translator Behavior Criticism,this paper explores Professor Zhou’s self-translation behavior and concludes the translator’s identity behind his behavior by analyzing the self-translation process and self-translation strategy of the prose.Through the analysis of Professor Zhou Lingshun’s practice of self-translation of prose,this paper finds that the "Truth-seeking-Utility-attaining" evaluative mode of continuum of Translator Behavior Criticism has been found to be a guide for their translation practice to a certain extent.In his most translation practice,Professor Zhou is able to achieve a better degree of "truth-seeking" and "utility-attaining" for the original work and the reader,striving to achieve the ideal balance between "truth-seeking" and "utility-attaining".His self-translation is in line with his self-described view of translation practice of "seeking truth first and attaining utility later",and is a "translator translation" rather than an "author translation",so the degree of freedom is small,and the deviation of the translation is naturally small.In addition,in the process of Professor Zhou’s practice of self-translation,he combines his multiple identities as creator,researcher and critic,which intermingle and have a positive impact on his entire translation process,thus making the translation more"truth-seeking" and "utility-attaining" and thus confirming the consistency of his multiple identities and actions.This paper is divided into six chapters.Chapter One introduces the background of this paper,the purpose and importance of the study,the research method and problems.Chapter Two is a literature review of domestic and international studies on self-translation and a brief introduction to Professor Zhou’s self-translation and its related studies.Chapter Three is a theoretical basis,which discusses Professor Zhou’s concept of translation practice,the theory of Translator Behavior Criticism and the "Truth-seeking-Utility-attaining" evaluative model of continuum.Chapter Four analyzes Professor Zhou’s practice of self-translation from the perspective of intra-translation from four aspects:word,syntax,rhetoric and phonetic rhythm.Chapter Five discusses the identity of self-translators from the perspective of extra-translation,Chapter Six is the conclusion,which introduces the main findings of this paper,establishing the ideal role of the self-translator and summarizing the limitations of the study.