A Study Of Translator's Subjectivity From The Perspective Of Hermeneutic Motion Theory

Liang Shiqiu, an eminent essayist and an excellent translator, translates a huge number of famous works. Compared with the study of the Complete Works of Shakespeare drama translation, the research of Liang Shiqiu's novel translation does not arouse enough attention. The present thesis analyzes Liang Shiqiu's subjectivity embodied in the Chinese translation of Silas Marner in the 1930s from the perspective of George Steiner's hermeneutic motion theory.The cultural turn in the 1980s brings new hope for the translation research, among which translation study in hermeneutics breaks the prejudice which takes writers as the absolute authority. People are gradually aware of the rationality of translator's historicity and the positive role translators played during the translation process. On the basis of philosophical hermeneutics, Steiner introduces the hermeneutic motion theory. According to him, most translation activities start from the value identification of the original text, and the translator carries out the translation through aggression and appropriation. Then the translation practice is ended up with the last motion compensation. In fact, Steiner's theory is closely related to the translator's subjectivity.This thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter one is a brief introduction on the significance and research subject of this thesis and the translator's subjectivity. Chapter two is literature review. The author of this thesis confirms the major research achievements concerning Liang Shiqiu and also points out the related deficiencies. Chapter three mainly focuses on the generalization of George Steiner's hermeneutic motion theory and translator's subjectivity in the theory. In chapter four the author applies a case study of the Chinese translation of Silas Marner by Liang Shiqiu so as to discuss and examine the translator's subjectivity in the translation process under the theoretical framework. The fifth chapter is the final conclusion.Through the research, the author concludes that translator's subjectivity exists at every stage of the translation process. It also exerts profound influence on the translated text. Thus, this thesis is expected to make its contribution to the further study of the translator's subjectivity and that of Liang Shiqiu's novel translation in the future.