A Study On Translator's Subjectivity In The Translation Of Liushi From The Perspective Of Hermeneutic Motion Theory

That the focus of translation studies shifted from the original to the target text has brought with it the attention to the translators.Significance has been attached to translator's subjectivity throughout the whole translation process,including the choice of the original text,the interpretation of the text and the adoption of translation strategies.Thus,translation should be deemed as a creation.American scholar George Steiner's hermeneutic motion theory provides a systematic theory for the study of translator's subjectivity.This thesis takes Howard Goldblatt's Lapse of Time as an example to analyze Goldblatt's subjectivity manifested in the “trust”,“aggression”,“incorporation” and “compensation”.The embodiment of Goldblatt's subjectivity in the choice and incursive understanding of the original text Liushi and the adoption of translation strategies in the translated text Lapse of Time is a further demonstration of translator's central role in translation activity.This thesis will study translator's subjectivity from Steiner's hermeneutic motion theory,specifically the Fourfold Translation Motions.With such a theoretical frame,the thesis comparatively analyzes the original and the translated version of Liushi and illustrates the demonstration of Goldblatt's subjectivity in his translation activity with examples.The rising feminist movements in America at that time contribute to Goldblatt's selection of Liushi,a story about a Chinese woman's life in Chinese Great Cultural Revolution.English readers intended to know something about people's life in foreign countries,especially women's life there.Goldblatt chose to translate Wang Anyi's Liushi out of his acquaintance of Chinese and English cultures.During his interpretation of the original text,Goldblatt was unavoidably affected by his native cultural ideology.The loss of some Chinese cultural images resulted in the imbalance between the original and the target texts.In the representation of the original text,Goldblatt adopted domestication translation strategy and omitted the rhetoric method which was not familiar to English readers.All these make his translated version more acceptable and readable for the target readers in English worlds.In the translation process,Goldblatt personally preferred the target readers so as to enjoy broader readership.However,the original version and English translated version may be out of tilt in this move.Thus,Goldblatt compensated these possible imbalances by literally translating certain Chinese culture-loaded words and directly adding some information in the sentences.Goldblatt's English version of Lapse of Time kept the Chinese cultural features on the basis of a fluent translated text.The study illustrates that translators' ideology,personal preference and their bilingual competence is manifested in the whole translation activity,which will has a further impact on the production of the translated texts.