The Translator's Subjectivity Displayed In Zhang Peiji's Prose Translation

Compared with research in other fields, the study on Chinese translators has many blanks to fill up. Nowadays, many translators are engaged in English-Chinese translation, few in Chinese-English. However, Prof. Zhang Peiji is a rather special one, because he has been engaged in translation for more than 50 years, and mainly in C-E translation, particularly in prose translation to introduce Chinese thoughts and ideas to foreigners effectively. The English Version of Selected Modern Chinese Prose Writings is regarded as his classical representative work. All the proses in this book were published after May 4th Movement, belonging to modern Chinese prose writing. The book is more a perfect textbook on C-E translation than a collection of translated prose for it provides abundant examples to illustrate general principles and skills of C-E translation.Prof. Zhang's prose translation boasts of fluency and literary talent, fully displaying his translation ideas. Nowadays, there have been few people conducting a thorough study on his translated works. This thesis, taking his prose translation of Selected Modern Chinese Prose Writings as a case study, investigates the translator's role in the dynamic process of translation, and examines that the process of translation is one in which the translator's subjectivity is given full play. The discussion focuses on two levels-the macro level and the micro level. The former refers to the factors beyond translation, which include the selection of source text, translation purpose, the selection of translation methods and so on. The latter focuses on the stage of understanding and expressing of translation which includes lexical, syntactical, rhetorical level and so on. It is not very usual that Prof. Zhang Peiji adds some notes at the end of each prose. The author of this thesis tries to discuss this from the perspective of the translator's subjectivity.This thesis tries to analyze Prof. Zhang Peiji's prose translation from the translator's subjectivity. Skopos theory and hermeneutics theory are its theoretical bases. By applying hermeneutics, a theory of philosophy about understanding or interpreting the meaning of a text to translation study, we can see the display of translator's subjectivity in the understanding and expressing stages in translating activity. The translator can set his subjectivity in full motion in the translating process and achieve the maximum fusion of horizons among the original author, the translator and the target reader. According to skopos theory, translation is a complex action designed to achieve a purpose. It claims the intended aim of the translator is one of the decisive factors of the final linguistic form and the layout of the target text. Every translator has his own intention of translation, which in turn influences his choice of means of translation and his attitude in translating.The thesis is divided into six chapters. In Chapter One, the author gives the research background and the research questions. Chapter Two mainly deals with Zhang Peiji's translation activity and the related literature review. In Chapter Three, the author introduces the framework of this thesis, including some important concepts and theories—the translator's subjectivity, skopos theory, and hermeneutics and so on; and analyzes the manifestations of the translator's subjectivity in translation. Chapter Four is the part of analysis of Zhang Peiji's Selected Modern Chinese Prose Writings, in which the subjectivity displayed at two levels----the macro level and the micro level. In the following chapter notes in his translation are analyzed in detail to explore the relationship between notes and the translator's subjectivity. Based on what have been discussed above, the author draws the conclusion in the last chapter. Prof. Zhang is a translator who closely combines his translation theory and practice together. The obstruction of the translator in translation practice derived from subjectivity does exist. Factors beyond the translation, such as the selection of the source text, translation purpose and so on, also make the translator's subjectivity embodied in the translations distinctly. It becomes clear that the translator's subjectivity is an ideal perspective for the study of Prof. Zhang Peiji.