On Subjectivity Of Yan Fu's Translation Of Evolution And Ethics-From A Cultural-functional Perspective

Translation as a social activity plays an important role in bridging different cultures in the history of human communication. Translators as the subject of translation should naturally enjoy their due status. However, within traditional translation system, translators are often reduced to an awkward position, with their subjectivity largely neglected. It was not until 1990s' in the multi-cultural and multi-meaning context that the translator's subjectivity was brought to the stage.Yan Fu's Ban Yan Lun enjoys a very high position and reputation in the Chinese ideological history, literary history, and translation history. And so the study of Yan Fu and his translation at home has always been flourishing. Ideologists explore the influence of his political ideal and philosophy upon modern and contemporary China; literary critics study the beautiful eloquence, artful organization, and classical elegance characteristic of his versions; and translation scholars conduct research on his "faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance", with special attention paid to his Tian Yan Lun, which has produced fruitful findings. However, most researches on his translation have long been confined to such technical issues as his translation methods and the evaluation of his "faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance." During the last several years, some scholars have begun to approach his translation from new angles (e.g., his rewriting). However, systematic and comprehensive study is still in great need.In view of this, the present thesis intends to approach Yan Fu's translation from a fresh perspective. On the basis of Bassnett & Lefevere's rewriting theory, the thesis explores the features of translator's subjectivity and the constraints regulating the play of his subjectivity from the cultural-functional perspective. Through investigating the social background against which Tian Yan Lun was translated and Yan Fu's life experience, the thesis explores how translator's subjectivity is revealed at linguistical, imagical, and cultural-ideological levels, and how this subjectivity is governed and regulated by poetical and social-ideological factors as well as the purpose of translation. The thesis proposes that the process of translation inevitably entails subjectivity as its inherent quality, which is influenced by society, history, ideology, and the status of a nation. At the same time, it is also governed by the translator's ethics and literary attainments. Through the analysis of a number of examples, the thesis proposes that, although Yan Fu is not so faithful to the original in his handling of the original's words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs, his overall treatment of Tian Yan Lun is acceptable. What's more, the ideologies rewritten by him in his translation better suit the need of the then Chinese society and the tastes of the then readers, especially those of the reformists, bourgeois pioneers, and the new democratic leaders. Besides, due to his use of the Tongcheng style favored by literary intelligentsia, Yan Fu successfully expressed the original unfamiliar and difficult theory of evolution and ethics with fluent, understandable and elegant language, thus fulfilling to a great extent his translation purpose of enlightening the people so as to strengthen the country. It is in this sense that his subjectivity is brought into full play.The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one introduces briefly the research background, the significance of the study, and the organization of the thesis. Chapter two is the theoretical basis of the thesis, which expounds the rewriting theory of Bassnett & Lefevere with special reference to the three constraints in rewriting. The role of purpose or function of translation in the process of rewriting is also highlighted. It is proposed that the translational constraints and purpose of the translation will inevitably bring out the subjectivity of the translator in his translation. Chapter three gives a brief introduction to the author, the original, the translator, and his translations. Chapter four, the body of the thesis, makes a detailed study of Yan Fu's subjectivity displayed in his version Tian Yan Lun from linguistical, imagical and cultural-ideological levels. Viewed from a cultural-functional perspective, it is found that Yan Fu's rewriting is largely due to poetical and social-cultural factors in an effort to fulfill effectively his translation purpose of enlightening the people so as to strengthen the country. Chapter five, the concluding part, makes a summary of the whole thesis.