The Translator’s Consideration Of The Target Reader In Essay Translation From Reception Aesthetics

In the late 1960s, Hans Robert Jauss and Iser Wolfgang, two literary professors first raised Reception Aesthetics in the literary research field, which broke through the past literary research framework that had taken the author or the text as the center, and shed light on concerning the reader’s center position. Since Reception Aesthetics was introduced to literary translation research, the target reader became the new focus. The traditional research paradigms that took the author, the text or the translator as the center were challenged.As a widely used literary type, essay has flexible forms, rich images and esthetical sentiments. These features are always popularized among readers. However, there are lots of difficulties and obstacles in essay translation because of the different language expressions and cultural backgrounds between Chinese and English, so that the essay translation is always a tough work to do. And in the Chinese translation field, some scholars hold the viewpoint that Chinese essay is untranslatable. However, more scholars in translation field believe that Chinese essays are the essences of Chinese literature, and they reflect Chinese culture. It can be translated and worth being translated. As a representative of this idea, Zhang Peiji has long been devoting himself to translating the modern Chinese essay into English. He has done great theoretical and practical contribution to the Chinese essay translation. Selected Modern Chinese Essays translated by him have been highly praised as the excellent versions of Chinese essay translation, which offers fine references and examples for Chinese essay translation. Lots of scholars have studied his essay translation from different viewpoints, and brought about many new thoughts and theories; however, the study of modern Chinese essay translation is not only far behind the essay creation and development, but also behind the study of other literary forms. More attention is focused on the author, the original text and the translator, but a few people consider the target reader. The thesis takes Reception Aesthetics as the theoretical foundation, by taking the method of case study to analyze Zhang Peiji’s Selected Modern Chinese Essays with the target reader as the focus. The thesis mainly studies the target reader’s aesthetic requirements in emotion, language and culture, to see how Zhang Peiji has satisfied the target reader’s requirements during his translation process. And in the end the thesis reaches the significance of considering the target reader to English translation of Chinese essay, that is, the translator should concern the transference of the original "spirit" in literary translation, and cultural transmission in essay translation should concern the "combination of horizon" with the target reader.