The Intrusion Of Translator's Subjectivity On Literary Translation

The original text has occupied a central position in traditional translation studies for too long, resulting in the suppression of translator's subjectivity. However, the history of translation has testified that the subjectivity of translator, being culturally conditioned, does exist and be inevitably inscribed on the translated text. Literary translation is not merely a linguistic activity, nor is the translator an ahistorical person without cultural presupposition. This thesis proposes that literary translation can never be a replica of the original; rather, in the theoretical perspectives of Hermeneutics and Manipulation theory, it is always a dialogue between the text and the translator (a special reader), and a rewriting of the original within a specific historical, social, and cultural context. Translator's subjectivity is manifest in his active interpretation of the original text, his cultural consciousness and reader-consciousness in deciding the translation strategy. The argument is based on the belief that translation is as what translation does, as opposed to "what translation should be" in the prescriptive tradition.