On The Subjectivity Of The Translator From The Hermeneutic Perspective

Of the three parties involved in the translation, namely, the author, the translator, and the reader, which one should be viewed as the subject, the one with whom the subjectivity in translation rests? This has long been a controversial issue in both Chinese and Western Translation Studies, and has drawn keen attention of many scholars and translation critics and theorists. They have conducted an in-depth study of the issue from various perspectives, and offered many thought-provoking and insightful views about it, such as Jacque Derrida, Lawrence Venuti and George Steiner. It is due to their persistent efforts that the translator's status as the subject of translation has been widely acknowledged. The translator plays an indispensable and irreplaceable role in this inter-lingual and inter-cultural communication. The translator is omnipresent in every stage of the translation process, from the selection of the original version as the source text, the interpretation and perception of the meaning and message in the original, to the creation and implementation of the translation strategies. Thanks to the translator's creative labor, not only the reader's horizons are broadened, and the indigenous culture and language are enriched, but also many world literary masterpieces have been widely read, and even endowed with new artistic and aesthetic values. The recognition of the important roles of the translator in Translation Studies has brought the translator from behind the curtain as an invisible servant to the forefront as a visible subject.This thesis aims at studying the subjectivity of the translator mainly from hermeneutic perspective. Hermeneutics, a method of textual analysis, means to interpret. It is also an artful form of understanding and a process of exposing hidden meanings. In translation, the translator first approaches the original text as the interpreter, or the first reader, for the premise of translation is that the translator should interpret the original...