Translator’s Subjectivity Manifested In Two Chinese Versions Of Oliver Twist

Translators act as a bridge for conveying knowledge between different cultures and an important negotiator in translation process. However, translators have been in an embarrassing and secondary position for quite a long time. Starting from the cultural turn in the1970s, translator’s subjectivity and their subjective initiative are paid more attention to by scholars. Along with the rising attention, researches regarding translator’s subjectivity become a heated topic in translation field. This thesis uses Lin Shu and Rong Rude’s translated versions of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist as research subjects to analyze translator’s subjectivity reflected in translation and how subjective initiative influences translation process in the light of George Steiner’s fourfold translation motion theory. By detailed illustration of "trust","aggression","incorporation" and "restitution", as well as comparing the two versions of translation, it is found that translator’s subjectivity is embodied in very translation step and influences the translation process.This thesis first gives a brief introduction about the changing process of translator from a marginal status to a subject in translation and illustrates the research development at home and abroad of translator’s subjectivity. Several key terms such as subject, subjectivity, and translator’s subjectivity are defined. Translator’s subjectivity is active and can also be passive due to constraint factors like cultural background, cognitive psychology, aesthetic sensibility and moral standards. In order to build the theoretical foundation upon which this thesis is based, the author illustrates the development of Hermeneutics and introduces major theories presented by representative forerunners in Hermeneutics research field. Fore-understanding, prejudice and horizon of Hermeneutics are the three aspects that mostly reflected in translator’s subjectivity. By comparing two translated versions of Oliver Twist under George Steiner’s fourfold translation motion theory, we can find that translator’s subjectivity cannot be underestimated in every step of translation."Trust" is the initial step of translation and only when translator believes there is something valuable and meaningful in original text can he begins his translation. By presenting translators’evaluation comments for Oliver Twist in the prefaces of translated versions and investigating translator’s cultural background, the author finds that subjective factors such as translator’s evaluation of original text at artistic aspect, translation motives and bilingual competence all influence translator’s trust to original text, which means the selection of text is not at random but the result of careful consideration.The second step is "aggression", which refers to the invasion through translation out of the conflicts through translation caused by different languages and cultures, it is inevitable for a translator to be incursive to the original text, because the perfect translation never exists. However, the aggressive translation is conducted for the purpose of readers’ acceptance and mostly at such levels as social customs, etiquette and religious belief. The aggression to original text is not passive but facilitates readers’understanding of the original text."Incorporation" is the third step with the aim of absorbing the meaning and form of the original texts and reproducing new ones which are familiar and acceptable to target readers. In this process, domestication is most commonly used to create better translation versions. Lin Shu’s free and elegant classical Chinese writing style and the usage of four-letter words by both translators demonstrate translator’s subjectivity at the stage of incorporation.Because the balance of original text is upset by previous three steps through over-expansions or over-deletions, the last step of "restitution" becomes indispensable. Complementary annotation, the footnotes affiliated at the bottom of translated page or bracketed between lines, added by translators is a common way to compensate the loss in translation. It is the restitution by responsible translators that turns the unfamiliar contents in the original text into texts acceptable to target readers.