On The Translator's Subjectivity In Feminist Translation

Being a basic issue in philosophical circle, the issue of subjectivity has a history of thousands of years. It is of great importance because all the activities have their subjects. Translation is no exception. Translators are the subjects of translation, and their subjectivity deserves our notice. Translator's subjectivity is one of the important issues in translation studies.The historical review of translation studies, however, shows that the recognition of the importance of this issue has undergone a long period. In traditional translation studies, translators are always confined to a dilemma of staying between two extremes: fidelity and treason. The source-oriented translation did not attach great value to the translator's creativity and subjectivity manifested in the translation activities. Translator's subjective role and cultural functions were ignored, and translators were reduced to a marginalized status. The cultural turn in 1980s opened a new perspective for translation. Translation shifted its focus from the text to the translator. Translator's subjectivity attracts more increasing attention and became the hot topic. The phenomenon of "treason" now gains a cultural interpretation. It is accepted as an inevitable phenomenon in the cultural exchange. Treason cultivates creativity and the subjectivity of translator wins recognition. In particular, the concept "creative treason" put forward by Mr.Xie Tianzhen provides a theoretical basis for translator's subjectivity. When translation enters into the post-modernist cultural context, translators' subjectivity is greatly emphasized. They become the manipulators and rewriters of the text and enjoy an almost equal status with the author. The difference between the source text and target text is justified. Translation is viewed as creative and productive activity. Translator's subjectivity finds its presence in the whole translating process.The research on translator's subjectivity has been conducted from many perspectives, the hermeneutic perspective, for instance, offers us many insightful ideas. However, this issue is seldom addressed from a gender perspective. Based on this phenomenon, this thesis aims to make an exploration of the translator's subjectivity in feminist translation, with a consideration of both its theory and practice. Feminist translators exert their subjectivity through their active cultural intervention in translation.They strive for women's power of discourse and try to make women's voice heard. They are making unremitting efforts to reconstruct the women's subject.The introduction of this thesis is a sketchy review of the influence of the culture turn upon translation studies. Translation studies made a cultural reflection and shed lights upon the ignored translator, who actually plays a critical part in translation. The end of the introduction demarcates the scope of this paper by pointing out the gender perspective will be taken to discuss the translator's subjectivity.This paper consists of four parts. Chapter One provides a discussion of translator's subjectivity. A tentative exploration of the connotation of translator's subjectivity is first made, following which is a historical review of the translator's status in translation studies. The rest of this part is hermeneutics and feminism's special concern on the translator's subjectivity.Chapter Two is the core of the paper. The author intends to expound the translator's subjectivity in feminist translation. Factors that caused the emergence of feminist translation theory are discussed: the historical association between women and translation, and their common concern on the subject is the interior factor; while the interdisplinary character co-shared by translation and gender study, the developing feminist movements' calling for more supports, and the influence of deconstructionism are the exterior ones. Next the author discussed feminist translation's major theoretical ideas, which can be summarized as: (1) translation as cultural intervention; (2) emphasis on the equal status of th...