On Reader Intervention In Literary Translation

Much attention is paid to the status of the original text writer and the original text by traditional translation studies, which regard translation as the reproduction of "the real intention" of the original text writer and the original text through the translator's endeavor. The translator is put in a subordinate position, its subjective initiative by and large ignored. With the linguistic turn in western philosophy and the cultural turn in western translation studies, the research on the translator's subjectivity gradually emerges, and translation studies are undergoing the transformation from a prescriptive to a descriptive approach, from microscopic internal research to macroscopic external research.Contemporary translation studies are developing from the inquiry of a pure language level to the research in cultural and socio-historical perspective. The theories of various disciplines such as literature and art, linguistics, philosophy, sociology and cultural studies are applied to translation studies, constituting the characteristic of translation studies as an interdisciplinary subject. Among the series of disciplinary theories, reception theory as a theory of literary criticism is conspicuous. This theory emerges as a reaction to "the writer-oriented" paradigm and "the text-oriented" paradigm of the traditional critical approach and attaches importance to the status of the reader, maintaining that a literary work will not be finished until it is accepted by the reader. The attention paid to the reader by reception theory is in sharp contrast to the neglect of the reader in traditional translation theories. Taking reception theory as its theoretical framework, the author of this thesis attempts to investigate the reader intervention in literary translation against a historical and cultural background.The reader in this context consists of the translator as a reader of theoriginal text and the anticipated readers of the target text. "The reader's subjectivity" in reception theory is embodied here in "the translator's subjectivity" and "the inter-subjectivity between the translator and the reader". The thesis maintains that the translation subjectivity and inter-subjectivity are fully reflected in both the selection of original texts and the choice of the translation strategy.Reception theory as used in this thesis, is what is put forth by the Constance School represented by Hans Robert Jauss and Wolfgang Iser, its important concept including "horizon of expectations" and "appealing structure". While the subject of the reader is the concern of reception theory, other subjects, especially the subject of the text, are not neglected.The thesis consists of six parts. The first part, the Introduction introduces the background, theoretical framework, scope, purpose, procedure and methodology of the research. Chapter One gives a literature review of the subject under discussion. Chapter Two discusses the relationship between reception theory and literary translation. Chapter Three demonstrates the selection of original texts from the perspective of reception theory. Chapter Four analyzes the factors that intervene in the choice of translation strategy. The conclusion recapitulates the main ideas of the thesis by reasserting that the reader intervention in literary translation is an objective fact and that we can gain insight into a variety of phenomena in translation through it. Also, although the translator acts as the essential subject and manipulator in selecting original texts and choosing the translation strategy, he is under even broader and deeper manipulation of the social, historical and cultural factors of his translating activity.