On The Translator's Subjectivity In Literary Translation And Its Embodiments In The Two Versions Of Pride And Prejudice

This thesis attempts to investigate manifestations of the translator's subjectivity in literary translation from the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics. By way of the comparison between different versions of Pride and Prejudice (Wang's version and Sun's version), we can see that the translator's subjectivity in the translating activities exists objectively.The traditional hermeneutics which focuses on the study of object is a kind of object-centered or text-centered theory. The forerunners are Schleiermacher and Wilhelm Dilthey. They hold the view that understanding is a process during which the objectively existing meaning structure of a text opens out naturally. The so-called"scientific understanding"requires that the subject should try his best to eliminate his or her prejudice during the process of understanding to restore a text's meaning structure. This demands that the subject of understanding should forget the"self"and exist in a state of no"self". The main representatives of modern hermeneutics are Martin Heidegger and Hans-George Gadamer. In their views, the most important thing lies in the existence of the comprehending and understanding subject instead of the author or the text. Heidegger's theory of"pre-structure"of understanding and Gadamer's theories such as"prejudice"and"fusion of horizon"greatly influence the study on translator's subjectivity during the process of understanding and expressing. They consider that the translation always brings a new version to the readers. Modern hermeneutics is the philosophical foundation of contemporary translation theory and the study of translator's subjectivity, and it promotes the status of translator from the"invisible man"to the"visible man".After the completion of a text, the task of an author finishes. One finished text is an open system and its meaning can only be realized during the process of understanding and apperceiving. Because of the characteristics of literary works, the exertion of translator's subjectivity is more obvious during the literary translating process. The potential meaning of literary works lies in the endless process of understanding and interpreting. The nature of literary translation is a process during which translators understand and interpret a literary text subjectively and actively. There is not any translator who can exhaust the understanding of a text's meaning.A translator is an integration of four roles as a researcher, a reader, a writer and a creator. During the process of translating, the translator's subjectivity manifests itself in the expressing phase as well as in the understanding phase. A translator's attitude toward the text, his choice of translating strategies and translating methods as well as his choice of words and expressions manifest the translator's identity as a subject during the process of translating.To research the translator's subjectivity, this thesis adopts a comparative case study between Wang Keyi's(王科一)version and Sun Zhili's (孙致礼) version of Pride and Prejudice.Finally, the author draws the following conclusion: The translator is the most active and creative factor during the process of translating and the exertion of translator's subjectivity is one of the key factors in a successful translation.