Contradiction And Mediation From The Perspective Of Chesterman’s Models Of Translation Ethics

The Great Gatsby is the representative work of Francis Scott Fitzgerald, an eminent American writer who is regarded as the poet laureate of Jazz Age. This novel depicts the living of American up-middle-class in 1920s, which deeply reveals the culture at that time. In 1983, the first Chinese translated version of this novel by Wu Ningkun appeared in mainland China. Thereafter, various versions of this work emerged. Among them, Wu’s translated version is not only the earliest, but one of the most popular, which has been republished over and over again.In 1980s, the French philosopher and translation theorist, Antoine Berman first put forward the concept "translation ethics", which aroused heated discussion in the field of translation studies. Thereafter, scholars both at home and abroad have made further contribution to the studies of translation ethics. Among them, one of the most influential figures is Andrew Chesterman, who initially put forward four major models of translation ethics, namely the ethics of representation, the ethics of service, the ethics of communication, the norm-based ethics. Later the fifth model is added into the system --- the ethics of commitment, to make it intact. The five models of translation ethics elucidate whether the translation is excellent from different perspectives and serve as an instruction for translation activity. Chesterman’s concept crystallizes the existing ideas about translation ethics, provides a multi-dimensional perspective for models as well as a multi-dimensional solution to translation studies, which enables people to discover the characteristics and rules of translation activity in an overall manner.This thesis conducts a study on Wu Ningkun’s version of The Great Gatsby in light of Chesterman’s models of translation ethics. Abundant examples from the novel are collected to illustrate the embodiment of translation ethics in Wu’s translation process. In Chapter Three, the author first analyzes Wu’s translated version under the ethics of representation through two aspects:faithful representation and vivid representation. Then, the author further discusses the reasons for contradiction between ethics of representation and service, through translator’s subjectivity and loyalty to other subjects; as well as contradiction between ethics of representation and service through linguistic and cultural analysis. Furthermore, this chapter also explores how Wu solves the problem in translation when contradictions and conflicts occur among different underlying values. In the interpretation of Wu’s translation, this thesis finds out that the directing model in his text is the ethics of representation. Yet, invariably following the ethics of representation will sacrifice other models of ethics, especially when there are contradictions between different translation ethics. Wu has fulfilled the task of striving for mediation when contradiction occurs between ethics of representation and service. Yet, he fails to take the responsibility of promoting communication between different cultures in most cases.