Translator's Subjectivity In Translating Chinese Classics From The Perspective Of Translation Ethics

Chinese classics are the important carrier of Chinese history and culture and the English translation of Chinese classics is the major way to improve Chinese cultural soft power. It plays an important role in promoting cultural exchanges between China and the West. Therefore, the study on English translation of Chinese classics becomes an important field of translation studies.With the "cultural turn" in translation studies,the translator's subjective status in translation has been gradually recognized, and the study on translator's subjectivity has been developed continuously. Under the background of "cultural turn",ethics has become a hot topic in translation studies. Translation ethics refers to the moral norms that translators should abide by in the translation activities. The return of translation ethics is an inevitable trend as the studies on translator's subjectivity develop to a certain extent. It shifts the focus of translation from the text to the translator, which provides a new perspective for the study of the translator's subjectivity, and offers some basis of criterion to translation practice. Chesterman puts forward five models of translation ethics on the basis of previous studies: ethics of representation, ethics of service,ethics of communication,norm-based ethics and ethics of commitment. These five models have a guiding significance for translation practice and research.Taking Chesterman's translation ethics as the theoretical basis, and taking Yang Shuhui and Yang Yunqin's translation of Stories to Awaken the World as the research object, the thesis discusses the translator's subjectivity under five models of translation ethics on the basis of characteristics of the translator's subjectivity with the aim to explore how to give play of the translator's subjectivity in the process of English translation of Chinese classics. Through analysis results of the research show that the translation ethics not only prescribes highest standards for the translator, but also provides the appropriate space for the display of translator's subjectivity. In the practice of translating Chinese classics, highlighting the subjectivity of the translator does not mean that the translator can do anything arbitrarily in translation. Translator's subjectivity should be under the guidance and restriction of translation ethics, and the translator should make efforts to achieve the harmonious unity of the initiative,passivity, and purposiveness of the translator's subjectivity, so that outstanding translation works can be created, thus better spreading Chinese culture and achieving the cultural communication between China and the West.