On The Aesthetic Subject In Literary Translation

As a comprehensive and interdisciplinary subject, translation study is closely related to aesthetics. As a matter of fact, certain aesthetic thoughts have been embodied in both Chinese and English traditional translation theories, which indicate that literary translation is a process of more representing the original beauty than just transferring the basic information. In aesthetics, aesthetic subject refers to a human being who is engaged in aesthetic activities in which beauty in aesthetic object (natural beauty and art work) is judged and manifested. So far as translation is concerned, the aesthetic subjects signify the translator and the target reader. In view of the translator's significant position in translation, this thesis especially focuses on the translator who performs the task of understanding and reproducing the aesthetic information of the original work.The aesthetic subject of translation has double attributes—objective conditioning and subjective dynamics, or rather, the translator is inevitably restricted by the aesthetic object (the source text) in form, content, etc. in the process of translation, which makes translation a difficult task; on the other hand, however, as long as he is good at making the most of his subjective dynamics, translation may be handled smoothly. And whether subjective dynamics can play its role or not depends on whether the translator possesses essential pre-structure (including life experience, intellectual level, aesthetic experience, literary attainments, etc.). The famous translator Zhang Guruo devoted all his life to the study and translation of English literature. The literary forms that he dealt with included novels, poetry, dramas, etc. among which his fictional translation of Hardy has been particularly acknowledged and he was regarded as "Expert on Hardy". Based on the theory of the aesthetic subject of translation, the thesis tries to interpret Zhang Guruo's life experience, literary attainments as well as his aesthetic ideal (principles or viewpoints a translator holds on translation) and focuses on Mr. Zhang's translation practice of Hardy's works, exploring tentatively how the translator successfully gained the empathy with the original beauty, reached the fusion with the author Hardy and reproduced the aesthetic information of the source texts.By means of the case-study of Zhang Guruo as a translator, this thesis is designed to reveal that the translator's aesthetic pre-structure and aesthetic ideal have a decisive influence on the quality of the target text. Hopefully, readers can understand the term "the aesthetic subject of translation" in a more objective and systematic way and those who are engaged in literary translation will take a down-to-earth attitude towards translation and try to enhance their aesthetic competence effectively to achieve the best effect based on the original.