On The Translation Of The Cursing Expressions In The Two English Versions Of Hong Lou Meng —From The Perspective Of Translator's Subjectivity

Translation is a very complex communicative act. The translator plays an indispensable and irreplaceable role in it. Since the 1970s, with the presence of"cultural turn"in the West and the appearance of many new theories, translator's subjective role has been highlighted. An important development of translation is the introduction of the translator's subjectivity. Taking the two versions of Hong Lou Meng - A Dream of Red Mansions (translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang) and The Story of the Stone (translated by David Hawkes and John Minford) as examples, this thesis is an attempt to analyze the translation of the cursing expressions in Hong Lou Meng from the perspective of translator's subjectivity.Cursing expression is a common and universal linguistic and cultural phenomenon. There are lots of cursing expressions in Hong Lou Meng. These cursing expressions are cultural-specific terms closely related to Chinese social values, national mentality, religion, customs and so on. The two English versions present us with very good materials for the study of translator's subjectivity in the translation of cursing expressions.This thesis mainly analyzes and introduces the translator's subjectivity, illustrating that translators'subjectivity is influenced by many factors such as their language and cultural competence, their cultural orientation and cultural attitudes and the translator's subjectivity is shown through these factors. This paper also briefly introduces Hong Lou Meng and the translation studies of it and analyzes the cursing expressions in it, including the definition, classification and their cultural implications. The author selects some examples from the two English versions and makes comparisons between the differences in the translation of the cursing expressions in Hong Lou Meng, pointing out that these differences are caused by the translators'different language and culture competence, their different translation purposes, principles, strategies, etc. and meanwhile these differences are the concrete manifestation of the translator's subjectivity. At last, it concludes: the translator's subjectivity plays an important role in the translation of the cursing expressions in Hong Lou Meng. Translation studies can not be restricted to the analysis and discussion of the work itself. As the subject of translation, the translator should be taken into consideration in translation studies and the translator's subjectivity should be given adequate attention.