Translator's Subjectivity From The Perspective Of The Embodied Philosophy

Translator's subjectivity, covertly or overtly, winds through eastern and western translation studies. In 1990s, the study of translator's subjectivity was highlighted because of the thriving of the cultural school. However, the high times didn't last long. In the new century, the study of translator's subjectivity steps into a period of stagnation. In view of this situation, this thesis intends to analyze translator's subjectivity from the perspective of the Embodied Philosophy.This thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter one introduces briefly the stagnation in the study of translator's subjectivity and emphasizes the necessity of returning to the philosophical field to resume the study of translator's subjectivity.Chapter two reviews the basic philosophical concepts about subjectivity, including the narrow-sense subject and object, subjectivity, the initiative & the passivity and the medium of body. This review will obtain a deeper understanding of subjectivity and remove the theoretical obstacles for the introduction of the Embodied Philosophy. The domestic achievements on translator's subjectivity are also summarized.Chapter three, taking Wilss's theory as an example, analyzes the neglect of translator's bodily experience in traditional translation theories. The thesis points out that traditional translation theories, those of the linguistic school particularly, accumulate fruitful achievements and experience in translating practice. But under the influence of the instrumental rationality, their neglect of translator's bodily experience makes them consider translator as a rational and transparent subject and pursue perfectionism in translation. As a result, translator's subjectivity is obscured.Chapter four investigates the neglect of translator's bodily experience in cultural school which regards translator as the carrier of the target cultural context. The cultural school shifts the research focus from the original to the target text, from the author to the translator, and from the translating process to the reception of the text. These shifts liberate translator from the mechanical operation of finding word-to-word or sentence-to-sentence equivalence and release translator's subjectivity to some extent by considering him as the manipulator of the translation. But advocators of the cultural school go to extremes when they consider translator as an aphasic dominated by cultural elements and totally neglect the translator's bodily experience in the translating process. The study of translator's subjectivity is then transformed into the sociological study of the translator.In light of the neglect of translator's bodily experience in previous translation theories, Chapter Five analyzes the exertion of translator's subjectivity with insights from the Embodied Philosophy– the embodied mind and the humanity of language. The Embodied Philosophy challenges the traditional views on rationality and underlines the presence of subject's bodily experience. Armed with these insights, the thesis illustrates the indetermination of translation, legitimates the bodily experience of translator in translating process and points out that the translation is equivalent to the original on the basis of translator's bodily experience.In the Conclusion, the thesis reaffirms the significance of translator's bodily experience to the exertion of translator's subjectivity. The contributions and limitations of the thesis, together with the future efforts of its author, are also stressed.