Individualized Translation Under The New Situation Of The 21st Century

This thesis is to discuss the changing role and upgraded assignment the translator has to take up in the new background of the 21st century with the development of information technology, the great improvement of reader literacy, high involvement of the general public, and fierce competition among a large number of publishing houses. With the situation changing rapidly in today's multi-cultural society, the translator has to meet with new challenges and demands put forward by the general reading public who are themselves with high ability of literary appreciation and great tendency to express their opinions and criticism in a much more open way. The former unilateral communication between the translator and the reader is expanded to be the triangle relationship in which the original author, the translator and the reader separately plays a role. The two-way communication between the translator and the reader breaks the former monopoly of the translator in interpreting the target work. Readers play a more significant role in the translating activity and may have their personal preference for certain translators. Meanwhile, with the large number of published works being produced, it is necessary for the translator to form his or her own personal style and to create a version of translation with his or her own individuality.The individualization of the translated work is possible under the support of some translation theories, among which one is the Reader Response Theory, which advocates the readers' response as the main criteria of judgment of the quality of translation. The complicacy and profundity of the Chinese language is another basis for the translator to explore different ways of expression when conducting the translation activity.The formation of the "trade-mark" of each translator demands a thorough study of the target text and the creativity of the translator himself. Two factual examples are cited in the thesis to make it clear how different translators produce their personal traits in the translation. One example is a sonnet by Shakespeare, which is a special form of poetry with strict and antique pattern. The second instance is a section of the classic play script of Bernard Shaw, fulfilled by prestigious translator, Mr. Ying Ruochen, who has strong personal characteristics of translation in his translated work. The detailed analysis of translation of the two scripts will be conducted to show how personal traits signify in the translation work.