The Fusion Of Horizons Of "The Degree" Of Translation Strategies And The Subjectivity Of The Translator

Translation is a complex activity. In the translating progress, undoubtedly the translator applies the basic translation strategies, domestication and foreignization, to his translation version. As far as the translator is concerned, it is of importance to grasp firmly the degree of the translation strategies, that is to say, the translator must seek a balance between domestication and foreignization. Over foreignization leads to translationese, and the translation version reads stiff. And over domestication results in eliminating the foreign atmosphere of the source text, and the translation version reads like a domestic work. It is detrimental to the target language readers'understanding as to foreign cultures. Western modern hermeneutics offers theories for solving this issue.The author of the thesis analyzes the English version of Six Chapters of a Floating Life, translated by Lin Yutang, from the perspective of fusion of horizons. As the subject, the subjectivity of the translator must make a full play of his\her subjectivity in the activity. As a result, the tendency toward application of translation strategies depends on the subjectivity of the translator. Modern western Hermeneutics is a science of exploring understanding and explaining meaning, not a science focusing on the result any longer. The three principles, historical interpretation, fusion of horizons and effective history, which put forward by Hans-George Gadamer, offer a strong theoretical base for the study of translators'subjectivity. Lin Yutang shares the same temperament and attitude towards the life with the original author Shen Fu, which leads Lin Yutang to choose Shen Fu's works to translate. Lin Yutang is proficient in English and Chinese, while he is greatly familiar with English and Chinese cultures, so his translated works are greatly typical and believable. In the course of translation, Lin Yutang adopts domestication appropriately in order to satisfy the readers; he adopts foreignization properly so as to introduce Chinese traditional culture to the West. Through the analysis the application of the translation strategies used for translating all kinds of language elements, the author of the thesis can a conclusion that the translator's tendency toward application of translation strategies depends on the subjectivity of the translator.