A Study On Lin Yutang's Translation Theory And Practice-From The Perspective Of The Translator's Subjectivity Theory

This thesis is intended to make a study on the translation theory and practice of the well-known translator Lin Yutang. Meanwhile the author tries to investigate the role of the translator's subjectivity in the process of translation, by focusing on the analysis of Lin Yutang's personal subjective factors---particularly his aesthetic inclination, translation motivation and cultural attitudes so as to find out how these factors influenced his choice of the source text and translation strategies as well.Through a detailed analysis of Lin Yutang's subjective factors in his translation activity, the author tries to explore Lin's subjectivity reflected in his translation theory and practice. Lin Yutang established a more comprehensive and systematic translation theory compared with his predecessors and contemporaries, which focused on"conveying the spirit"of the original rather than sticking to the acknowledged standard of"faithfulness". He just followed his own translation principles in his translation practice. In order to achieve the goals of introducing traditional Chinese culture and appealing to the Western reader's interest, Lin Yutang translated a large number of classical Chinese works including prose, essay, novel and poetry, which also agreed with his literary taste. He employed both domestication and foreignization with skillfulness in his translation practice to increase the acceptability of his translated works among Western readers, fulfilling the task of bridging the gap between the two different cultures and the spreading of the Chinese culture to the world. In short, Lin's Chinese-English translation is faithful to the original in meaning and plain and explicit in language and accords with his standards of translation---"being faithful, smooth and aesthetic".