Manifestation Of Translator’s Subjectivity In Literary Translation

In accordance with traditional translation theories, translation is the mechanical reproduction and imitation of the source text, with the "loyalty" to the source text being the supreme criterion, which is why translators and their works have always been ignored. It was not until the 1980s when translation study expanded from the category of linguistics to the cultural field and the "cultural turn" was thus emerged that the "loyalty" standard of the traditional translation school was being challenged. In the background of the cultural turn of translation studies, translators started drawing an increasing attention from the academic community with their roles and influence in the field of translation explored repeatedly, during which translators’ subjectivity was highlighted gradually. Hence, since the late 1980s, the exploration to translators’subjectivity has been strengthened and became a hot orientation of translation studies.The Color Purple is a successful novel written by Alice Walker who is an American black female writer. The novel has been unanimously acknowledged by critics since its publication in 1982.This paper mainly discusses the manifestation of translators’subjectivity in the translations of The Color Purple by Tao Jie and Yang Renjing from the four aspects of translators’objectives in the selection of translated text, their linguistic features, translation strategies and misunderstanding of the source text. A thorough interpretation and comparative analysis of the source text show the followings:first, the two translators had their distinctive objectives when choosing the translated text; second, the selection of the target language shows the respective linguistic views of the two translators; third, the two translator’s subjectivity shows up again with the proper use of "Thick Translation"; fourth, when giving play to their subjectivity, two translators harbored a certain purpose or were subject to their social ideologies, cultures or other factors, which made them rewrite the source text purposefully. This paper aims to make comparative analysis on the representation of translators’subjectivity in two Chinese translation versions and confirm the critical role of the research on translator’s subjectivity in translation practice, so as to enhance the responsibility and confidence of translators, while making a contribution to advancing translation studies and activities and helping translators render more better translation works.