On Translation Variation From The Perspective Of Ethics

Translation variation has existed for long since translation practice came into being. However, it was not demonstrated and its theoretical framework was not constructed until Huang Zhonglian started his innovative research on it in the late1900s. The recent study of translation variation has been witnessed over ten years and conducted by different scholars from different perspectives. Translation study from Philological Paradigm to Linguistics Paradigm, then to Cultural Paradigm shows that translation is no longer just an interlingual conversion activity, but a complex social activity, which contains ethics and constrained by ethical thoughts. Translation variation is a complex social activity that corresponds to full translation. Though the "cultural turn" of translation in the1960s provided space for translation variation study, there have been doubts and criticism on it, such as issues on naming, category, faithfulness and so on. Ethics lies in a series of norms and standards derived from the core value of humans, and it is also the methods to guide the behavior of human beings. By studying translation variation and translation ethics, ethics of translation variation can be defined as the rules and norms of ethics that judge and guide the behavior of translation variation facts and translation variation process. Translation variation is a measure of abnegating and obtaining as well as a unified process of variation and translation based on the translator’s knowledge and experience in the course of their choice making. In the process of translation, how does the translator display their subjectivity without losing principles? How to keep the balance between abnegating and obtaining without going against the translation ethics? How to choose content and strategies in translation variation activities? All these questions and doubts can be discussed in the scope of ethics of translation variation, in which abnegating and obtaining are a pair of key words.Hong Gao Liang Jia Zu is one of the classic works by Mo Yan, who is the2012Nobel Prize for Literature winner. Hong Gao Liang Jia Zu has been translated into different languages and warmly welcomed by foreign readers. The translation of this works plays an important role in spreading Chinese culture and promoting cultural exchange between the East and the West. This thesis studies the English translation version Red Sorghum, which was translated by a famous American sinologist Howard Goldblatt. From the perspective of ethics, this paper concludes that there are large numbers of translation variation phenomena in Red Sorghum; there are some content need the use of translation variation methods by analyzing and comparing the target text Hong Gao Liang Jia Zu and the original one Red Sorghum. Then, it deduces the three abnegating and obtaining orientations of the translation variation from the perspective of ethics, which are text-based ethics of translation variation, subjects-based ethics of translation variation subject and culture-based ethics of translation variation caused by the use of translation variation method or not. At the same time, based on the traditional culture concept "abnegating and obtaining", this thesis concludes the three ethical tracks of translation variation in Goldblatt’s Red Sorghum,(1) abnegating equivalence of the source text and obtaining innovation of the target text;(2) abnegating intention of the author and obtaining value of the translator and requirement of the reader;(3) abnegating diversity of the source language culture and obtaining agreement of the target culture.