On Poet-Translator's Subjectivity-A Study Of The Translation Of Su Shi's Poetry By Kenneth Rexroth

The translator, the most dynamic factor in translation, had been an invisible being on the horizon of traditional translation studies for a considerably long time. Since the "cultural turn" during the 1970s, more academic attention has been paid to the status and function of the translator in the cross-cultural communicative activity. It is a gradual process that the translator moves from a marginal position to a central one on the stage of translation.As an outstanding poet-translator, Kenneth Rexroth (王红公) is highly dedicated to the dissemination of Chinese poetry and Chinese culture in the western world. His subjectivity manifests itself in his poetry translation theory and practice. However, his poetry translation hasn't gained so much academic attention as his poetry creation. This paper can be regarded as an attempt or effort to change this situation.Supported by the skopos theory and the rewriting/manipulation theory, this thesis aims at delving into the translator's subjectivity in poetry translation mainly with the case study of Kenneth Rexroth's translation concept, strategy and his translation practice of Su Shi's poetry.This paper consists of five chapters. The first chapter briefly introduces the significance of the study, the research methodology and the structure of the thesis. Chapter two is the literature review of the previous researches at home and abroad on both the translator's subjectivity and Kenneth Rexroth's translation career. Chapter three mainly deals with the concept of the translator's subjectivity, the skopos theory and the rewriting/manipulation theory. Additionally, the major constraints on the translator's subjectivity are discussed. Chapter four focuses on the detailed analysis of subjectivity shown in various aspects of Kenneth Rexroth's translation of Su Shi's Poetry, such as translating notion and strategy, choice of source texts, imagery and artistic conception, rhyme and rhythm, etc. Chapter five summarizes the main points discussed above and makes a suggestion on how to give a full play to the translator's subjectivity.