The Translator's Creativity In Literary Translation

Literary translation is essentially the translator's artistic re-creation. The traditional role of the translator is identified as a servant who should repress his creativity. With the "cultural turn" in Translation Studies, especially the research by Deconstructionists, the translator is regarded as a rewriter and his creativity is over amplified. From the perspective of literary translation practice, this thesis addresses the creativity of the translator, exploring its connotation, demonstrations and boundaries in an attempt to further the research on translator. The translator's creativity in this thesis refers to the total of the translator's skills to artistically represent the original content and style by vigorously exercising his aesthetic and verbal craftsmanship, so as to make the TL text achieve maximum faithfulness to the SL text in artistic value and reader's response in the target culture. Drawing on the insights of aesthetic psychology, this thesis probes into the translator's aesthetic psychological mechanism as the re-creative subject in relation with that of the author as the creative subject, pointing out that both of them operate in the mode of figurative thinking. Literary translation process runs through the translator's creative interpretation and expression. According to Reception Theory, literary meaning arises from a dialogue between text and reader. The translator, influenced by his socio-historical background and individual outlook, continuously modifies and fuses his 'horizon of expectations' in the reception process. Then, the translator equipped with a kind of writing competence, will proceed with his translation in a way he deems the nlbst proper and efficient. The translator's creativity in the concretization of literary blanks, the tactful solution to untranslatability, the reproduction of beauty in sound, sense and form of the original work, and the visibility of his individuality shows his own level of artistry. Without these creative strategies, the translated versions would be rigid and tedious, losing the original flavor. Certainly such kind of active space has a limited extent. The restrictions of the source text, translation norms and the target reader's response all confine the translator's creativity in a certain boundary. In conclusion, translators are supposed to operate their creativity in the possible space, making their individuality salient under the prerequisite of a maximal conveyance of the original content and style. In so doing, the translator's position can be raised and the translated version's aesthetic value will be validated.