Translators’ Behavior From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

This thesis studies on translators’ behavior from the perspective of adaptation theory. Both theoretical exploration and case study will be involved in the discussion. In order to fully describe translators’ behavior and explore whether social and historical factors have left traces on translators’ behavior, the author of this thesis puts translators back into the times when the translated texts are produced, and then analyzes and explores the extra-textual factors that exert influences on translators’ behavior.Verschueren’ adaptation theory provides a new research angle for translation studies. According to adaptation theory, translation is a process of continuous choice-making with different degrees of salience for the purpose of adaptation. This thesis, mainly from three aspects of adaptation theory, continuous choice-making, dynamic adaptation and the degrees of salience, analyzes and explores the social and historical factors that influencing translators’ behavior and then evaluates translators’ behavior with Zhou Lingshun’s "Truth-seeking-Utility-attaining" Continuum Model. Under adaptation theory, translation, first of all, is a continuous choice-making process. No matter what to translate or how to translate, every stage involves translators’ choices. Choice-making is the translation method, but adaptation-making is the aim of achieving translation functions. Translation is also a process of making dynamic adaptations. On the translated text continuum of "Author/Text-Reader/Society", if the translator tends to adapt to the end of "Author/Text", his behavior manifests his linguistic nature of being a translator and the translated text will be in comparatively faithfulness. If the translator is inclined to adapt to the end of "Reader/Society", his behavior manifests his social nature for being a human and the translated text will be comparatively unfaithful. In fact, no matter the translator chooses to adapt to "Author/Text" or "Reader/Society", his behavior is just two extremes of translation activities. For the most part, the translator will choose to adapt to both ends and maintain a balance. His behavior gradually changes on the continuum of "Author/Text Reader/Society". The translating process of continuously making choices and adaptations, at the same time, shows translators’ different degrees of salience. Translators’ behavior may be completely conscious or may not be conscious at all, with every shade in between. The higher level the salience degree of the translator is in, the more prominent the social nature of the translator will be manifested.This thesis adopts Theodore Dreiser’s Jennie Gerhardt as a case study. Fu Donghua’s and Fan Wenmei’s Chinese versions of Jennie Gerhardt, respectively published in1959and2003and embodied with the features of their own time, are adopted to serve as valid data for analysis. Numerous examples are extracted from these two Chinese versions to analyze whether social and historical factors have left traces on translators’behavior in the perspective of adaptation theory. By a comparative study of the differences of translators’behavior embodied in the translation on the female character, Jennie, and the male characters, Blander and Lester, the author of this thesis finds the two translators hold different attitudes towards the three main characters. In Fu Donghua’s version, most words and phrases, used to describe the female character, Jennie, are comparatively stronger in tone and have negative meanings in order to emphasize Jennie’s low status and humble identity, while in Fan Wenmei’s version, more positive words with commendatory meanings are adopted to describe Jennie and these words show the translator’s understanding and sympathy towards Jennie. The two translators’different attitudes towards Jennie are undoubtedly related to their understanding of the characteristics of female status and gender relationship in the specific time that the translators are respectively in. On the other hand, the two male characters, Blander and Lester, in Fu Donghua’s version, their personalities are doubted and denied by the translator, while Fan Wenmei shows positive affirm and appreciation towards them. More derogatory words are used in Fu Donghua’s version to show the translator’s disapproval and intolerance towards Blander’s and Lester’s cohabitation and premarital sex with Jennie. However, Fan Wenmei shows a kind of understanding, sympathy and forgiveness towards their premarital relationship by using more positive and commendatory words. Such differences embodied in the two translated texts are mainly related to the translators’different understandings towards marriage and love and ethics of sex in different times. Thus, both Fu Donghua’s and Fan Wenmei’s behaviors are inevitably influenced by social and historical factors of the specific time.In the end, the author of this thesis tries to arrive at the following conclusions:any translated text is a product of specific historical time, and only in the time that the translator is in, the translator’s behavior can be better interpreted and understood; translators’behavior described, explained and evaluated in the perspective of adaptation theory will have more explanatory and persuasive power and will be helpful in further understanding the sociality of translators’ behavior and the essence of translating as a social activity.