On The Translator's Subjectivity Through The Comparison Between The Two English Versions Of Hongloumeng

Since the cultural turn in translation studies appeared, the study on the translator's subjectivity in the West has made much progress. In China the study is in the ascendant. Hongloumeng, as a great work of classical Chinese literature, has been translated into many languages. Since the two authoritative English versions came out, the articles on the study of them have been coming in a steady stream. This thesis, from the perspective of culture, studies the translator's subjectivity in the two versions in virtue of descriptive translation theory, adopting the way of literature, classification and synthesis. Among the papers of the study on these versions, most are about which is better or more advantageous so far as foreignization translation and domesticating translation are concerned. Such debates seem endless and it cannot come to a conclusion easily. When talking about Hawkes' version, they often begin with cultural gap or his translation strategy of domestication. Besides, most of them hold an attitude of denouncement. As for Yang's version, praise is more than criticism given because of its faithfulness and completeness. On the basis of the comparison to them, this thesis will analyze the differences and similarities between the two versions from three aspects: translating strategy, language style and the fidelity degree of cultural transmission. Since HLM is considered to be a great encyclopedia of Chinese feudal society, involving nearly every aspects of the culture, such as social convention, the national system, religion, philosophy, clothing, house wares, architecture and landscaping, chess-playing, calligraphy, painting, literature, culinary art, medicine, so on and so forth, the translation of this novel is to a great extent transmission of Chinese culture. In view of the naturally close relationship between language, culture and translation and the important role that cultural factors play in the translator's subjectivity and the translation, this thesis will expound the translator's subjectivity presented to a great extent in the form of the translator's cultural orientation, cultural competence, and cultural attitude in the two versions.This thesis consists of five chapters. The first introduces the objective, the necessity and rationale of the research. The second is the part of theoretical summary, mainly introducing the translator's status in traditional translation studies and the views on the translator's subjectivity in modern translation theory. The third is about the contents of the translator's subjectivity. Besides, the necessity of culture as the touchstone of studying the translator's subjectivity is argued here. The fourth discusses the differences and similarities between them in three aspects and analyzes the factor of the translator's subjectivity at the same time. This chapter is the main body consisting six parts. The fifth is conclusion part.This thesis, on the basis of the comparative study of the two versions, points out the translator's subjectivity is a most important factor of whether the translation will succeed or not. And since translation is an intercultural activity, the translator's subjectivity is necessarily shown in the form of the translator's cultural orientation, cultural competence and cultural attitude. Also it points out the translator's subjectivity is not invariable but changes with the time and social environment. Besides, it is closely related to the translator's effort.