On The Translator’s Subjectivity

From the perspective of translator’s subjectivity,this thesis takes Zhang Zhenyu’s translation of The Gay Genius:The Life and Times of Su Tungpo as the research object to study how Zhang Zhenyu plays his translator’s subjectivity in this translation.Based on the initiative and passivity of the translator’s subjectivity,this paper analyzes how Zhang Zhenyu exerts his translator’s subjectivity in the face of many factors,such as the original text,the original author,the target culture,and the target readers.In terms of initiative,this paper mainly discusses the influence of translator’s subjectivity on translation results,mainly from the translator’s choice of text,preference for certain translation theories(as a translation theorist),love for fourcharacter words and allusions,deliberate “treason” of the original text,and gender identity.In terms of passivity,it is mainly studied from the target culture and the translator’s own“mistranslation” that the translator’s subjectivity is not arbitrary and unrestricted.This study mainly adopts the methods of intensive reading and text comparison,and Song Biyun’s translation is also used in several examples.The analysis shows that Zhang Zhenyu has exerted his translator’s subjectivity and displayed a strong personal style in the process of translation preparation and reproduction.He believes that the translator is not only a translator in a conventional sense but also a creator to a certain extent.Thus,translation should not only convey the meaning of the original text but also highlight the translator’s style and artistic accomplishment.Zhang Zhenyu shows his translator’s subjectivity in text selection,strategy selection,diction and sentence making,quotation of allusions,deliberate treason and prominent male translator’s style.At the same time,due to the cultural constraints of the target language,Zhang Zhenyu fails to carry out his principles throughout the translation and produces some mistranslations,which are all manifestations of the translator’s passivity,indicating the translator’s translation activity is not random.This article innovatively adopts new perspectives such as the identity of translation theorists and males to study the subjectivity of translators,which enriches the perspective of translator subjectivity research.Besides,it also enrich and complete the study of Zhang Zhenyu’s as a translators as a whole.