A Process-oriented Approach On Translators' Subjectivity

Traditional translation theory, which focuses more on source-text-oriented approach, highlights the importance of being faithful to the source text (hereinafter as ST); and the translator is described as a servant or an imitator of the original. Later, in 1980s, the shift in translation studies to a target-text-oriented approach starts to emphasize on the importance of translators'subjectivity. However, research on how translators work as cultural operators and on what factors and constraints affect their decision-making in the process of translation are still insufficient. Translation activities are conditioned by various factors relating to the translation process, including cultural, political, and personal, etc. Based on both Functionalist Skopos Theory (hereinafter as Skopos Theory) and the Theory of Translation Norms (hereinafter as Translation Norms), this thesis seeks to explore the translator's manipulation and major factors restraining their decision in the process of translation. Examples from the Chinese version of Living History by Hilary Rodham Clinton are here analyzed to demonstrate the significance of this research. The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the notion of translators'subjectivity from the communicative and normative points of view.The thesis begins with the general account of this research, including background, outline, and significance of the thesis. It briefly reviews the recent study of the translator's subjectivity and its limitations, and elaborates the theoretic background of Skopos Theory and Translation Norms. Despite the limitations of these two theories in illuminating translators'subjectivity and constraints respectively, the author argues for an appropriate match by combining them together, since Skopos Theory can guide translators'selecting of specific strategies at macro-level; Translation Norms can elaborate translators'selection of production strategies at operational level(e.g. micro-level) in the translation process.In the following part, which takes Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton as an example, the author holds that a process-oriented approach, based on Skopos Theory and Translation Norms, would definitely shed light on the translators'subjectivity and factors constraining their subjectivity. In the process of translation, the context (such as initiator, place, purpose, function, and intended addressees) has changed from ST into target text (hereinafter as TT) in target culture (hereinafter as TC), so it is necessary for the translator to make certain adjustments to the ST in order to comply with the norms in TC. When Living History was translated into Chinese, some politically sensitive descriptions about China were combed through by the translator deliberately due to his expectancy norms and professional norms in TC. Owing to the great cultural and political differences between China and USA, the ideology, value, aesthetic standard in the mainstream of American Culture revealed in Mrs Clinton's ST, would definitely contradict with Chinese readers'expectations, and lead to culture shock cognitively. This explains why the translator, constrained by cultural, political and personal factors, makes certain adaptation to the ST in order to win more target readers in the TC.In the last part, conclusions are made on the previous descriptions and discussion. Methodologically, this thesis offers a theoretical foundation for the analysis of translators'subjectivity. The merits of this framework can be further justified by their application to other fields of translation studies, such as translation training & translation teaching. At last, the limitations and suggestions for further studies related to the current research are put forward. Due to the limit of space of the thesis, the examples concerned may not be enough to demonstrate the descriptive function of Skopos Theory and Translation Norms as a whole to study translator's subjectivity. Given that this thesis is only a case study based on one book, it still has a large space to be further developed to see whether it is applicable to other translations.