A Hermeneutic Approach To The Translator's Subjectivity In Children's Literature Translation

In a broad sense,hermeneutics can be defined as the science and methodology of interpreting texts.It is closely linked to translation in that interpreting the source text is one of the translator's main tasks,and it is important for translators to understand the problems of understanding and interpreting.Several major concepts in the theory of hermeneutics have exerted great influence on translation.Hermeneutic theory insists on the historicity and temporality of interpretation.Based on such concepts, interpretation of any text should be categorized into the same system; therefore there is no absolutely"objective"understanding of a certain text. This accounts for the significance of retranslation of literary works.A translator and the source text he chooses have distinct horizons,and it is understanding that fuses the differences to reach"the fusion of horizons"through which the translator endeavors to approach the authentic world of the writer's.The translator's subjectivity refers to the qualities translators employ to activate possible personal capacities to achieve better results in translation practice.In the process of translation,the translator's subjectivity may influence translators from at least these following aspects:choosing source text,determining translation principles, interpreting creatively,expressing creatively and seeking balance between two texts.In the light of Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics, pre-understanding and prejudice is historical and the translator has to adjust his own horizon to meet that of the author's in the process of which there would always be contradictions and conflicts and as a result,culture filtering and original linguistic filtering are inevitable.Stemming from modern hermeneutics,Steiner proposes,in his The hermeneutic Motion, the fourfold translation motion which is trust,aggression,incorporation and compensation.In the process of translating children's literature,translator presents his views on children with which translator has a dialogue with children readers which will result in the realization of"the fusion of horizons", embodying the subjectivities of translator in translation.This thesis explores the translator's subjectivity in children's literature translation from hermeneutic perspective to investigate the translator's role in children's literature translation and how translators could exert their subjectivity impartially to best improve the quality of children's literature translation.It is composed of five parts:Part one is the introduction to the background of the study and the significance of the thesis.Part two gives a general introduction to hermeneutic theory.It puts forward three core concepts of hermeneutics and makes a contrastive study between traditional translation theory and hermeneutic theory.Part three is devoted to the definition of the translator's subjectivity and its existence and exertion from hermeneutic perspective.According to the analysis of Steiner's fourfold hermeneutic motion,it explains the relationship between hermeneutics and the study of translator's subjectivity.Part four explores translator's subjectivity in children's literature translation in terms of mistranslation,creative treason and inter-subjectivity under the guidance of the three core concepts of hermeneutic theory and makes a tentative analysis of Zhao Ruanren's Chinese version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.The last part is the conclusion to the whole thesis.In light of the theory,the thesis takes the success of Zhao's Chinese version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as a case study to explore the translator's subjectivity in the process of children's literature translation.At last,an expected conclusion is drawn out that hermeneutic theory is very valuable in the study of translator's subjectivity in children's literature translation and undoubtedly it is applicable to translation practice.