A Study Of Translator's Subjectivity In Different Translation Paradigms

Translating is one of the most complicated activities in human history. Among the various factors involved in translation, the translator is the most direct and crucial one. However, the translator's subjectivity has been neglected for a long time in history, although it has been given attention in recent years. Obviously, it is of great significance to study the translator's subjectivity scientifically and systematically.This thesis starts with a brief survey of the status quo of relevant researches before it states the significance of the study and the structure of the thesis. Next, the thesis discusses some basic issues related to the translator's subjectivity. Then, it investigates the subject in light of the philological paradigm and the structuralist paradigm. Structuralists generally regard underlying binary opposition as an explanatory device. This paradigm holds that the translator should be totally invisible behind the target language. However, the emergence of deconstructionism has exerted a great impact on structuralism. Deconstructionists maintain that the translator is entitled to produce a target text at will. Deconstructionism exaggerates the translator's role, but it has not proposed any reasoable theory which is useful enough to guide the translating practice. It is in this situation that constructivism has come into being.The thesis is mainly intended to explore the translator's subjectivity from the perspective of constructivism and to provide a useful theory which may be appropriate enough to guide translation. The theory put forward by Habermas plays an important role in research on the translator's subjectivity. In the constructivist paradigm, the translator's subjectivity is acknowledged and affirmed. Meanwhile, the translator should also bear in mind some rules or regulations and restrictions when displaying their subjectivity. The thesis illustrates this point with plenty of examples.