Translation: Translator's Adaptation And Selection

The modern translation theory develops thrivingly. However, the development is unbalanced. Firstly, translation theorists study translation from a micro level, focusing on the nature, criteria, techniques and strategies of translation. Macroscopic translation theories are far more less. Secondly, up to now, there are too much less translation theories concentrating on the translator than on the text. The study on the translation process still leans towards the source or the target text. Thirdly, in the 1970s, the"cultural turn"in the translation studies in the west discovered the translator, and brought increasing attention to the research on the subjectivity of the translator. From then on, many translation researchers point out the importance of the translator's subjectivity. However, a systematic and comprehensive theory describing how the translator dominates the translation activity, the features of the translator's domination and constraints on it did not appear until Professor Hu Gengshen's approach to translation as adaptation and selection.Hu introduces Darwin's principles of"natural selection"and"survival of the fittest"in his Theory of Biological Evolution for the first time. Translation is defined from the translator's perspective."Translation is a selection activity of the translator's adaptation to fit the translational eco-environment."A"translational eco-environment"refers to the worlds of the source text and the source and target languages, comprising the linguistic, communicative, cultural and social aspects of translating, as well as the author, the client, and the readers. To put it simply, translation is the translator's adaptation and selection. The translator's adaptation is selective, and at the same time, the selection is also adaptive, embodying the nuclear concept of the theory—translator-centeredness. The translator adapts and selects on three aspects: needs, competence and translational eco-environment. The translator mainly conducts transformation on the dimensions of linguistics, culture and communication in the process of translation (Hu Gengshen, 2004: 220). The present thesis attempts to make a tentative study of Yang Xianyi's translating Pygmalion within Hu's theoretical framework of translation as adaptation and selection. The reason for the author's choosing Yang's Mai Hua Nüis that the version fits the translational eco-environment. It is considered as a successful translation, which gets high praises and is loved by the readers. Furthermore, the translator enjoys great reputation both at home and abroad. Both the version and the translator successfully survive in the translational eco-environment. Besides, the large amount of information about Yang's life, educational background, thoughts and social context can give people a better understanding of his adaptation and selection in the process of his translating Pygmalion and his subjectivity in the translation process.In this paper, the author tries to answer two questions: why did Yang choose to translate Pygmalion; how did Yang translate it. After a tentative study, the author finds out that Yang's decision making of translating Pygmalion was out of his adaptation and selection to the internal and external needs and his competence. Experienced long period of wartime, Chinese cultural career was in the doldrums, shortly after the foundation of the PRC. On the one hand, Chinese national culture needed to get flourished and thrived; on the other hand, China needed to import fresh air to enrich the national culture. High-quality foreign works were eagerly needed. As a patriotic translator, Yang regarded translation as way of realizing his dream of cultural communication more than a job. He loved literature, culture and cultural communication. He applied himself to Chinese culture enrichment and cultural communication with the rest of the world. As one of Bernard Shaw's most successful drama, Pygmalion is popular worldwide. Yang wanted to introduce it to the Chinese readers and let them enjoy the charm of the drama. Yang's bilingual and bicultural knowledge and long-term translation practice equipped him the competence to fulfill the task of translating Pygmalion. In the process of translating Pygmalion, Yang conducted adaptive selection and transformation on three dimensions: linguistics, culture and communication, employing foreignization, domestication strategies and the hybrid of them. The discussion of some examples extracted from Pygmalion and Mai Hua Nü proves Yang's Mai Hua Nüis of high degree of holistic adaptation and selection.The significance of the thesis lies in the following two aspects:Firstly, it is from a macro perspective to study Yang Xianyi's Mai Hua Nü. It gives an overall picture of Yang's translating Pygmalion, and tries to take all the elements in the translation activity into consideration. Secondly, unlike the former studies on Yang's translating Pygmalion, this thesis gives prominence to Yang's subjectivity in the translation activity.