A Study On Translator’s Subjectivity In Lin Shu’s Translation Of Oliver Twist

Lin Shu( 1852-1924), a highly influential and prolific translator, has long been a controversial and heated topic due to the distinctive features of his translations. Lin and hi s collaborator transl ated five novels of Charles Dickens(1812-1870), an outs tanding real istic English wri ter in the twentieth century. Their renditions t ur ned out to be well-received and moreover initiated t he st udies of Dickens in China for over a century since then.This t hes is inve stigates Dicke ns’s second novel Oliver Twi st and Lin’s Chinese translation,《贼史》[Zei Shi],from the perspective of translator’s subj ect ivity.Traditional transla tion studies are bound by rules of“fai thfulness”or“equivalence”,and confined to static linguistic dimensi on,where as tr anslator’s status and creativity are ignored or oppressed.The thesis,taking the translat or a s the primary conc ern,expounds previous studies of trans lator’s subjectivity and analyzes the factor s that form Lin’s unique translation features t hrough t extual studies from stylistic,narrative and ideological perspectives.Since the “cul tural turn” in trans lation s tudie s, translator ’s subjectivity ha s received significant attention from scholars such a s Lawrenc e Venuti and AndréLefeve re. Based on philosophical dis cussi ons on s ubject, the study of translat or ’s subj ectivity includes iniative and pas sivity, whic h are cl osely interrelated under normal ci rcumstances. It i s found in thi s thesis that Lin’s subjectivity is reflected in his omi ssion, addition, r ewr iting, distortion and domest ica tion throughout Zei Shi.However, Lin does not i ndulge in his ini tiative or laissez-faire. He gives full pl ay to his i nitiative, yet pursues harmonious intersubjectivity. Due to the particular context in the early 20 thcentury, Lin’s per sonal fa ctors, integrated with the source text, the author, the target readers and the soc ial cult ur e, greatly contribute to the characteristics and success of his tr anslation. It is t herefore hoped that this t hesis wi ll be of c erta in help to better understanding of Lin’s translation a ctivity and t heory and of the transl ator ’s subjectivity in t he early 20th-century China.