Translation Purpose And Translator's Ethics

From the achievements of translation studies both in China and Western countries, some strong tendencies have emerged in the academic circles, shifting from the perspective of linguistics to that of culture and politics, from the study of mainstream translation practice to recreative-translations, from the adoption of the source-oriented approach to target-oriented approach. These tendencies lead to an extension of translation research scope in keeping with the actual reality. Some of the most exciting developments in translation studies since the 1990s have been part of what has been called"the cultural turn"and"return to translation ethics".Lin Shu is one of the most influential translators in Late Qing period. He initiated modern literary translation, and his translations imported new ideas, literary concepts, styles and techniques from the West. Lin Shu was a sincere patriotic translator with distinct translation purpose. His Chinese version of Uncle Tom's Cabin especially reflects his translation purpose: to enlighten the Chinese people and to arouse their patriotic enthusiasm for anti-imperialism. From the perspective of Skopos theory, Lin Shu's creative treason in the contents about slavery,religion and culture and the narrative structure of the original,was determined by his translation purpose, which was influenced by the socio-cultural context in late Qing period,his own political and cultural ideology and the target readership. At the same time, his ethic values are reflected in his translations.This thesis mainly studies the translator's purpose and ethic values through a case study of Lin Shu's version of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Since translator's purpose plays an important role in the process of translating and they influence translator's choice of text to be translated and his translation strategies, this thesis analyzes Lin Shu's translation purpose. In terms of text choosing, Lin Shu has a clear purpose on which text to be adopted and he tends to choose the novels which can show his political ideal. In the process of translation, Lin Shu has his own translation purpose and adopts specific translation strategies. Besides, his ethic values have some effect on his translation strategies. Therefore, Lin Shu's translation purpose and ethic values and the relationship between them will be discussed in the thesis.