The Translator's Subjectivity Under George Steiner's Fourfold Translation Motion Theory

The translator as the center and subject of the translation activity has long been placed in a marginalized position in the long history of the development of translation theory. The cultural turn in the western translation research in the 1970s confirmed translation down to the field of cultural research and promoted the research on the target language and culture. The translator's subjectivity was gradually brought into light and became an important subject of translation research. Basing on the fourfold hermeneutic translation motion theory proposed by George Steiner, the thesis makes a tentative endeavor in embodying the abstract concept of the translator's subjcctivity into the four concrete steps of "trust", "aggression", "appropriation" and "compensation" in the research of the two translated versions of the Dream of Red Mansions Songs in Chapter Five of Hong Lou Meng. The research aims at obtaining scientific cognition on how the translator's subjectivity exerts influence on the translated version, thereby affirming the crucial significance of the translator's subjectivity in translation and contributing to the study of the translation of the Songs which as the epitome of Hong Lou Meng is seldom employed as the object of case study in translation.After a brief review on the traditional marginalized status of the translator, the thesis introduces the historical and cultural background of the research on the translator's subjectivity and clarifies the definitions of some relevant important concepts such as subject and object in translation, subjectivity and the translator's subjectivity. The thesis points out that the translator's subjectivity is not only embodied by his subjective initiative but also his passivity. The subjective and objective factors of an individual translator including his social and historical background, cultural and religious consciousness, linguistic competence, translation strategy, personality, moTality and standpoint are all components of his subjectivity. As the foundation of George Steiner's theory, philosophical hermeneutics is of crucial theoretical significance to the research of the thesis. From the angle of the translator's subjectivity, the thesis makes close study on some key hermeneutic principles such as "pre-understanding", "prejudice" and "fusion of horizon".As the epitome of Hong Lou Meng, Dream of Red Mansions Songs in Chapter Fivedemonstrates great artistic achievements in its beautiful poetic language and ingenious form of music drama invented by the author himself and its depiction of the temperament, feature and fate of the twelve main characters and the implication of the plot of the whole book. Facing the great challenge, the translators of the two versions David Hawkes and Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang displayed their subjectivity to the utmost extent in the four vertical translation steps.Steiner holds that any translation activity starts from an initiative "trust" and belief. This trust or choice originates from the translator's evaluation of the original, his linguistic and cultural competence and his translation expectation. Starting from these three aspects, the thesis makes close analysis on the detailed points of the translator's subjectivity through examples in the two translated versions of the Songs and points out that the trust of the translators on the original is never made blindly or passively but based on sound subjective reasons."Aggression" as the second motion is always partial and an unavoidable mode of attack to the original in Steiner's eyes, because translators have to reconcile to their times and backgrounds. However, this partiality is by no means negative because it is just the aggression that makes the target language readers closer to the original author's horizon and bestows the original a second-life in the foreign language. The thesis proves that the translators' different religious and cultural consciousness and personal understandings influence the translation process and justify the subjectivity of the translators who are active creators but not passive machines or servants.Steiner classifies the "appropriation" of the original into two kinds: the import of the meaning and form. The Songs is highly metaphorical and symbolic in meaning and creative and flexible in music drama form with abundant Chinese cultural allusions, thus posing great challenges to the translators. The research on the translators' appropriation on these three aspects testifies the ubiquitous influence of the translators' subjectivity.A complete translation process must end with "compensation" which is justified by that factor that the translator's aggression and appropriation will inevitably lead to loss in translation. The translator should restore the equilibrium between the original and the translated version. Ideal translation is never achieved but it is the translator's endeavor torestore the balance that enables us to reach as near as we can to the ideal. Direct compensations including annotation and appendix and indirect compensations within the poetic lines employed by David Hawkes and Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang with an aim to restoring the loss demonstrate the translator's subjectivity and conscience to the fullest degree. The translator's subjectivity and initiative are demonstrated in the four concrete steps in a most detailed and clear-cut way. The translator's subjectivity deserves our evaluation and esteem and will continue to be the subject of translation research.