A Report On E-C Translation Of Shakespeare And Happiness(Chapter 3)

This report is based on the translator’s analysis and summary of the Chinese translation practice of Shakespeare and Happiness published by Kathleen French,an honorary associate at the University of Sydney,in 2022.The book studies the attitudes of different characters toward happiness in Shakespeare’s plays and is the first literary criticism to explore the Shakespearean view of happiness.The author takes an interdisciplinary approach,combining knowledge from the fields of psychology,philosophy,religion,and history to emphasize the richness and complexity of Shakespeare’s exploration of the nature of happiness.The translator chose Chapter Three,“Looking for Different Types of Happiness”,as the translated text.Under the guidance of George Steiner’s Hermeneutic Translation Theory,the translator illustrated how to use the theory to guide my translation practice with specific examples.Steiner’s translation theory refines the translation process into four steps—“trust”,“aggression”,“absorption” and“restitution”.Trust is a prerequisite for translation operation,and the translator’s full“trust” in the translation value of the text and my own translation ability is the prerequisite for starting this translation practice.“Aggression” reflects the translator’s subjective understanding,and the translator breaks the shell of the original text and“aggresses” it from the two dimensions of language and culture to deeply understand the author’s original intention.“Absorption” needs to consider whether the translation can be integrated into the cultural environment of the target language.The translator appropriately absorbed the form and meaning of the original text and correctly expresses the core with the specific translation methods.Due to the differences between English and Chinese,as well as the inevitable lack of information caused by“aggression” and “absorption”,the translator made “restitution” for the “imbalance”in the translation in terms of content and structure.Since there is no Chinese version of the book up to now,the translator hopes that the translation practice can provide a window for domestic readers to understand and study the theory of happiness in Shakespeare’s plays,and provide a reference for the application of Steiner’s Hermeneutic Translation Fourfold Theory in literary criticism translation.