A Hermeneutic Probe Into Mistranslation In The Chinese Versions Of Macbeth

This thesis attempts to approach mistranslation in Liang Shiqiu, Zhu Shenghao and Bian Zhilin’s Chinese versions of Macbeth from the angle of hermeneutics and probes into the process of translation which gives rise to such mistranslation.In the first place, the writer looks back on the overseas and domestic studies on the application of hermeneutics to translation, and then reviews the studies on mistranslation, making clear what mistranslation is, what categories it can be divided into and what factors can influence it. Also the thesis looks back on the studies on Chinese translation on Shakespeare’s works, especially on the study of mistranslation in the Chinese versions of Macbeth. In the second place, the thesis presents Hermeneutics in detail, including its origin and development, its relationship with translation and Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics,the core concepts of which are “historicity of understanding”,“pre-understanding” and “fusion of horizons”. In the end, the writer studies Liang, Zhu and Bian’s versions of Macbeth, finds the mistranslation in the renderings and analyzes the causes of the mistranslation from the perspective of hermeneutics.The research shows that the unconscious mistranslations in Liang,Zhu and Bian’s versions are mainly caused by their misunderstanding andthe time change, and the conscious mistranslation may result from social ideology, Liang, Zhu and Bian’s personal ideology and their poetic views.In a word, the mistranslation of Liang Shiqiu, Zhu Shenghao, and Bian Zhilin in the versions of Macbeth has historical inevitability, which is a legitimate road in the cognitive development. By probing into the mistranslation in Liang, Zhu, and Bian’s versions of Macbeth from the angle of hermeneutics, this thesis hopes to shed some fresh light on the study of mistranslation of Shakespeare’s works.