A Study Of Translators’ Subjectivity Based On The Multiplicity And Complementarity Of Translation Criteria

Translators’subjectivity exists in the process of translation all the time. However,in the past, as the status of translators wasn’t recognized, translators’ subjectivitydidn’t get the well-deserved attention and consideration even if there were a lot ofdescriptions about translators’ subjectivity. This situation lasted until the “culturalturn” happened in the west in1970s. The rewriting and manipulation theories pave theway for the debut of translators. The study of translators’ subjectivity was put on theagenda of translation studies. So far, although translators’ subjectivity has high valuesin translation studies, the research achievements are not in conformity with itsimportance. And as the translators’ subjectivity concerns many perspectives, theachievements what we’ve got are fractured and scattered.Thus, the thesis bases its study on the multiplicity and complementarity oftranslation criteria (MCTC) and investigates translators’ subjectivity by describing theprocess of translation. The thesis describes the translators’ subjectivity from theperspectives of purposes, strategies, and ethics with examples. Different purposes,strategies, and ethics may lead to different translations which can all be accepted bypeople. They are coexistent, inter-complementary and inter-constructive. The sourcetext is like a vessel and different translations are like the fragments of the brokenvessel. The translations which are accepted by most people can be regarded as thebigger fragments, and the translations which are appreciated by a small group ofpeople can be seen as the smaller fragments. Translators have to translate the textsaccording to their purposes and their ideal readers. If the ideal readers are generalpeople, the translation has to be influent, faithful, and natural; but if the translationaims at the elite readers or some special requirements of study, translators canmanipulate and rewrite the source texts much more freely. Through the study, thethesis accounts for the process of exerting translators’ subjectivity and the relationshipbetween different translations. The study finds that any translations, exceptingpseudotranslation and imitation, which transmit parts of the features of the source text, can be called successful ones. Only can the synthesis of different translations interpretthe original text roundly. Finally, the discourse power of translators is established andthe status of the authoritative translations is deconstructed. Meanwhile, the thesisstudies two issues which are tend to be ignored in the study of translators’ subjectivity.One is non-scientific factors, such as intuition and emotion; the other is degree. Thesetwo issues can prevent translators from a status without standards.