A Study Of Michael Berry’s English Version To Live From The Perspective Of Translator Behavior Criticism

“活着”(Huozhe)is the representative work of Chinese writer Yu Hua.Since its publication,the sales volume has been high.Its English version To Live was translated by Michael Berry,an American scholar.Once translated,the translation has attracted the attention of western sinologists and domestic translation scholars.So far,many scholars have studied its English version from different perspectives such as hermeneutics,reception aesthetics,and eco-translatology.However,few studies are carried from the perspective of Translator Behavior Criticism.Based on Zhou Lingshun’s theory of Translator Behavior Criticism,this study analyzes the translator behavior of Berry in his version To Live from the intra-translation and extra-translation aspects.The study found that,as a linguistic being,Berry tends to be more truth-seeking in words and meaning,more truth-seeking in language style,and both truth-seeking and utility-attaining in rhetorical devices.On the whole,Berry’s intra-translation behavior is more truth-seeking than utility-attaining,paying more attention to the meaning contained in the original language and the emotions the original writer wants to express;as a social being,Berry plays the social roles of the scholar,the author and the reader respectively.Under the role of a scholar and a writer,his translator behavior is either truth-seeking or utility-attaining.While under the role of a reader,his behavior is more utility-attaining than truth-seeking.Generally speaking,Berry’s extra-translation behavior is more utility-attaining than truth-seeking.While ensuring that the original meaning is not damaged,he puts more emphasis on the acceptance of the translation,achieving the aim of being utility-attaining.Theoretically,this thesis integrates translators’ wills into the text studies,taking the translator as the starting point.The evaluation of the degree of rationality of translator behavior is the assessment of translation quality.The study enriches translation criticism activities which are translator-centered.Practically,when facing the foreign translation of cultural elements with Chinese features,it is often necessary to take into account the spread of culture as well as the acceptance of the target language readers,that is,the translator should find a balance between being truth-seeking and utility-attaining.