A Comparative Study Of Two Chinese Translations Of Great Expectations From The Perspective Of Gadamer’s Hermeneutics

Great Expectations is a masterpiece of Charles Dickens, a famous British writer. Thisnovel is very popular and loved by readers around the world. It has been translated into manylanguages ever since its publication. Scholars from home and abroad have studied the originalwork of Great Expectations from various aspects, however the studies about its translationsare quite limited. In China, only Wang Keyi·s, Luo Zhiye·s, Chen Junqun·s and WangHuijun·s versions have been studied by comparison. The research perspectives are mainlyfrom translation strategies, translation methods, etc. Since Jin Changwei·s version comes outlate, it has never been studied so far, and no one has ever made a comparative analysis fromthe perspective of hermeneutics. So it is meaningful to make a comparative analysis on WangKeyi·s and Jin Changwei·s translations from the perspective of hermeneutics.Gadamer·s three principles, namely the historicity of understanding, fusion of horizons,and the effective history are not about translation issues when they were first put forward, butthey focus on the understanding and interpretation of the meaning of the text, thus providinga theoretical framework for the analysis on translations, especially a comparative analysis ontwo translations in different eras. This paper will use Gadamer·s three principles to make acomparative analysis on Wang Keyi·s and Jin Changwei·s versions, using the methods ofdemonstration, induction-deduction as well as comparison and contrast, and explore the deepreasons why they are different.The historicity of understanding explains why Wang Keyi and Jin Changwei choosedifferent words, sentence structures and annotations to translate the same original text. Theirpre-understandings or prejudice will certainly influence their understandings, thus result indifferent translations. The process of translation is also the process of fusion of horizons.Because both the translators·initial horizons and the horizons of the readers·expectations aredifferent, they may choose different translation strategies and skills in the translation process.According to the effective history, the meaning of the text and the translator are both in theprocess of being constructed. It offers possibility for translators in different eras to retranslate the classic works. Jin·s version comes out30years later than Wang·s, so there is no doubt thatthey have different language styles. Wang·s has a strong literary flavor, while Jin·s maintainsthe exotic flavor of the original text, and both are very popular in their eras. Both the personalfactors, such as one·s life experience, cultural background, living environment, or evenpersonality, and the historical factors including time distance, social traditions, and ideologies,will have a great influence on the translations.