On The Translator's Subjectivity

For a long time, the focus of translation studies is on the comparison between the source text and the target text. "Faithfulness" is the standard in translation. Faithfully reproducing the source text is taken for granted as the goal a translator should try every effort to attain. The concept of "faithfulness", "equivalence" is deep-rooted in the translator's mind. The translator should get rid of any subjective factors in the process of translating so that he /she can faithfully reproduce the author's meaning. Therefore, a translator should be the "servant" to his/her two masters----the author and the target reader and be the "invisible" man. The author holds that traditional translation theories discuss translation only on the linguistic level emphasizing reproducing the source text and therefore, neglecting the differences between languages, the differences implied in the languages, the translator's initiative and creativity. This thesis has proved by applying some modern translation theories and through some examples that translation is not reproduction, that the translator is not passive, on the contrary, the translator is active and plays a decisive role in the process of translation;that the translator's intervention and creativity is inevitable and the translated text is not transparent.The structure of this thesis goes as follows:In Introduction, the author gives a brief account of traditional translation studies both at home and abroad, the present situation about translation studies and the purpose of this thesis.Chapter one gives a general survey of views on translation and the translator's status. Traditional translation theories maintain that a translation should be the equivalence of the source text, the translatorshould be the "servant" to his /her two masters-----the author and thetarget reader and the "invisible" man who should passively reproduce the source text. While modern translation theories hold that the translator should be active and act as the cooperator of the author, at the same timemodern translation theories recognize and emphasize the translator's creativity.Chapter two is the key part of the whole thesis, in which the author gives a brief introduction of the present situation about the study of the translator's subjectivity in China, analyses the significance of the study of translator's subjectivity in translation studies, introduces several typical definitions of the translator's subjectivity, the definition adopted in this thesis and the reason for this adoption. The author explains theoretically and illustrates by examples that the translator's subjectivity is embodied in the whole process of translating, at the same time the author emphasizes that the translator's subjectivity is restrained by its objectivity.Chapter three analyses the reason why the translator intervenes in the process of translating based on some modern translation theories and points out that the translator as the subject of translation is no longer the servant and the invisible man, the invisibility of the translator has now become the invisibility of the source text. In this chapter, the author proves theoretically and exemplifies that the translator's intervention is inevitable through the following aspects: intervention of the target culture, translating is historical, for the consideration of the target language reader and different intentions of translators.Chapter four gives a brief account of one of the characteristics of the translator's subjectivity—the translator's creativity. Language differences, the differences between cultures and the nature of literary text decide that a translation can't be the equivalence of the source text and that the translator's creativity is inevitable. But it does not mean that the translator can create at his /her free will, the creation is limited to a certain extent. Therefore, when giving frail play to his/her creativity, the translator should have a sense of self-restraint.The conclusion restates that the relationship between the translator and the author is not that of the master and the servant but that ofcooperators, the translator does not have to be invisible, admits the translator's subjectivity and emphasizes that translation studies should proceed from a comprehensive prospect instead of going to extremes.