An Identity-based Approach To Howard Goldblatt's Thought On Translation

As one of the most productive and influential translator among all the sinologists of the English speaking world today,Howard Goldblatis a representative in promoting Chinese literature in the West and a significant case in the “going out” initiative of Chinese literature.An approach of comparative literature is applied in the dissertation to explore how to undo the “mismatches” in translation studies conventionally within,and often caused by,a linguistic framework,how to decipher the translator's subjectivity,how to foreground and evaluate the translator's cultural creativity,and how to justify and support mediotranslatology through a systematic study of the translator perse.Proceeding from Goldblatt's “identity” and the reception of his works in the English-speaking readership and culture,and with an approach of comparative literature to his subjectivity and modes of translation,this dissertation,while trying to discard the rigid diachotomy between conventionally demarcated faithfulness and treason,integrates intra-translation and extra-translation studies at both macro and micro levels in order to establish a logical “cause and effect” or “nature-expression” network of Goldblatt's identity,thought on translation,and his practice;therefore his identity,translation thought and practice may well interprete and support each other,thus making it possible to explore “for what Goldblatt translates” and “why he translates that way” before moving on to describe or construct globally or holistically his translation thought and practice based on an attribution of his identity or identities.Goldblatt's identity has experienced distinctive stages of evolution which can be summarized as the trinity of “sinologist,critic,and translator”.Interwoven are his personal identities as a creative writer,avatar of the original author,sinologist,critic,“glocal” citizen,“victim” manipulated by the publishers and literary institutions and his ethnic and cultural identities,thus forming a complex network.In terms of national identity,Howard Goldblatt is an American citizen,and it is his “Americanness”,or “otherness”,that enables him to read and evaluate Chinese literature and culture from the perspective of “the other”,and for this “otherness”,he aptly interprets and negotiates similarities,differences and even conflicts between Chinese and Western cultures.Meanwhile,as a lover of Chinese culture and literature,he has emerged as a sinologist which ultimately leads to his other subsequent identities.As a master well versed in both American and Chinese cultures and literatures,he,for both his “otherness” and “being at home”,becomes a critic with unique insight into Chinese literature and with extraordinary taste and discrimination.All these identities make possible or lead to another identity of his,that is,a translator.Ideally,he respects the source text and is,or tries to be,faithful to “literature”;strategically,he keeps in mind the “readers” and values accessibility for the sake of effective communication.In text selection,he tries to discover the most appropriate texts by maximizing the role of his personal values,taste and discrimination.In the expression of the self,he re-presents the original with an engagement of a visible self as manifested by his occasional deletion,adding or micro-rewriting,thus achieving both faithfulness and creativity.In terms of idea development,he,keeping abreast of the times,embraces the new,the rational and the mature.In terms of narrative,he takes “the best of both worlds” by blending the finest of Chinese and Western expressions.In personal making,he,by relying on his research as the cornerstone,makes his translation and scholarship nourish and complete each other.In terms of the realization of translation,he cooperates with the authors,and makes sure that he translates into his MOTHER tongue instead of the other way around.Given the “going out of national culture”initiative,he and what he presents and represents,as a successful case,are of special significance for China.This dissertation,by virtue of “identity” theories and translator's subjectivity,tries to effectively interpret Goldblatt's plethora of identities,and,“identity” dimensions are an important consideration in mediotranslatology which,in turn,falls under the category of comparative literature studies.Goldblatt's thought on “faithfulness”,“creative translation”,“accessibility”,“readability”,text selection,etc.also falls under the category of mediotranslatology.Based on an examination of Goldblatt's translations of The Field of Life and Deathand Tales of Hulan River;Red Sorghum;The Garlic Ballads;and Frog,the dissertation discusses his adding and deletion,rewriting,and mistranslation and moves on to explore the manipulation of translation by ideology,literary institutions and patronage.Through a study of paratexts by Goldblatt,it also analyzes his cultural subjectivity and aesthetics as shown by his inclinations in text selection and his idea of reader-centeredness.In his relentless pursuit of “faithfulness” as the overriding principle,of “readability” and “winning readership” as the goals,and of “creativity” as the means,Goldblatt has achieved a rare graceful equilibrium between his translation thought and practice.Translation is a dialogic negotiation between languages and cultures,helping create a cultural space as a result of such dialogue.The perspective of interaction among Goldblatt's cultural identity,translation thought and practice again reveals that literary translation studies should go beyond linguistic shifts by engaging the translations into the complex context of the target culture so that the inter-relationship between translator's cultural identity and his/her subjectivity becomes apparent.The research is theoretically significant and it may provide experience for cultural transmission of China as well.