Harmony Between Invisibility And Visibility Of The Translator's Gender

Feminist translation theory is one of the newly emerging translation theories during the "culture turn" from the latter 1980s to the early 1990s, and it is the result of the latest development in translation studies and feminist movement. The advocators of this theory challenge the traditional notion of "fidelity" and maintain that translation is an activity of culture intervention and culture fusion. They propose the notion of the symbiosis of the original and the translated texts and uphold the equal relationship between the writer and the translator. So feminist translation study provides a unique perspective—gender perspective—to translation studies which have been greatly influenced by its theory and practice.On the basis of feminist translation theory, the present thesis attempts to explore the relationship between the gender identities of the author and translator through a case study of Love on a Barren Mountain translated by Eva Hung, with special reference laid to the ways to deal with the relation between visibility and invisibility of the translator's gender so as to achieve harmony between the gender identities of the author and translator. The study shows that in Hung's translation, she attains the unity between the translator's invisibility and visibility and achieves the harmony between the gender identities of the writer and translator.This thesis consists of four chapters. The first Chapter introduces the basic characteristics and influences of feminist translation theory upon translation studies. The second chapter analyzes four main aspects on the basis of feminist translation theories: 1) As conscious feminist cultural manipulators, feminist translators should make efforts to construct female culture in translation; 2) The new "fidelity" is defined from the perspective of feminist translation theory; 3) The new relationship between the translator's invisibility and visibility is established; 4) The choice of source texts and translating strategies used by feminist translators is analyzed.On the basis of feminist translation theory, the third Chapter analyzes some typical examples in Eva Hung's translation, and proposes that a successful translation should realize the harmony of gender identities between the translator and the writer. Eva Hung is the supporter of feminist translation who infuses its essence into her translation practice. The author believes that she successfully copes with the harmonious relationship between invisibility and visibility of the translator, which helps to attain the symbiosis of the writer Wang Anyi and the translator Eva Hung's gender awareness.Based on the case study in Chapter Three, the last chapter suggests that the feminist translators should pay much attention to the unification between the invisibility and visibility, i.e., on one hand, they should better adhere to the writer's feminist consciousness and retain her gender awareness in the original; on the other hand, they are entitled to bring their subjectivity into play so as to make their feminist consciousness reproduced and sublimated through appropriate translating strategies in the translation.