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On The Translator's Subjectivity

Posted on:2006-08-22Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:J G ZhouFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155360152981339Subject:English Language and Literature
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
The phenomenon known as the translator's subjectivity has long been obscured by discussions about the translator's faithfulness to the original text, an ideal that has found a host of basically homogeneous expressions such as "the translator's invisibility" and "equivalent translation" etc. However, the translating practice all through the ages seems to have indicated quite the opposite —that complete faithfulness can hardly be achieved in translation and the translator almost always manifests his presence in his translations one way or another. Meanwhile, advances made in related disciplines such as sociology, psychology and anthropology etc. have drawn people's attention to the many factors that influence the translator's behavior in the translating process. Against this background, the translator's subjectivity has gradually come into the limelight. Still, controversies and misunderstandings exist about this phenomenon and its studies. This thesis is an attempt to furnish a better understanding of the translator's subjectivity, by way of an analysis of the nature of its studies, its pervasiveness, its various forms, and its cultural implications.In Chapter One is discussed the nature of studies of the translator's subjectivity.Translation studies have remained largely prescriptive for ages and this fact has in effectprevented the translator's subjectivity from being studied seriously. Out of the practicalneed to guide translating practice, traditional translation studies are mainly concerned withprescribing principles and standards for translation, and this prescriptive nature iscontinued in the linguistically oriented translation studies prevailing in the past century,with their emphasis laid on discussions about "equivalence" and ways to realize thisequivalence. Prescriptive translation studies naturally exclude the translator's subjectivityfrom serious consideration. However, with the cultural turn in translation studies has comea descriptive trend and the translator's active role has begun to be acknowledged, thuspaving the way for studies of the translator's subjectivity. As a translation fact, thetranslator's subjectivity can only be treated in a descriptive approach. It is not something tobe prescribed, but something to be described and analyzed. And it needn't to be prescribedeither, because it has always been there, regardless of some people's dislike.Chapter Two is designed to show that the translator's subjectivity is a fact that cannot bedenied and should not be ignored. The translator's subjectivity is not an occasional show ofirresponsibility on the translator's part. Rather, it is a pervasive phenomenon in translation.Its pervasiveness is demonstrated by the inevitable visibility of the translator in histranslation. As the subject of translation and as a member of a given society, the translatortends to tinge a translation with his personal colors and consequently declares his presencein it. And to further develop this argument, different forms of the translator's subjectivityare discussed. Firstly, the translator's subjectivity may show itself as the various choicesthe translator makes in the translating process, including the choice of the source texts, thechoice of the translating strategy, the choice of the language style and that of specificwords and expressions, etc. These choices may reflect the translator's cultural background,his personal tastes, his ideology and political views, etc. Secondly, the translator'ssubjectivity may show itself in the interpretation of the source text, which, according tohermeneutics, is the "fusion of horizons" of the translator and the original author. Thissuggests the impossibility for the translator to understand the source text as the originalauthor intends it to be understood, as the two may live in different societies and even indifferent times. Thirdly, translator's subjectivity may be noticed in his manipulation of thesource text, which includes deliberate changes made by the translator in the content and theform of the source text. This is indeed the s...
Keywords/Search Tags:translator's subjectivity, descriptivism, interpretation, manipulation
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