Rethinking Translator's Position In Literary Translation From The Feminism Perspective

Translation criterion and translation criticism have long centered on the source text, mainly taking the writer's intention into consideration. Translators take no liberty of making any changes to the original text, which bring their initiatives and creativity into oblivion. Translators are in the invisible and transparent positions. Since the "Cultural Turn" in the 1980s, people have begun to pay attention to the position of translators. As we all know, translation is a dynamic activity which is fully engaged with cultural systems. The translator, as the translating subject, cannot be ignored.Gender issues, the important part of culture studies, have opened a new perspective for translation studies. Feminist translators put emphasis on the subjective and dominant role of translators. They think that it is ideal to have women's texts translated only by women translators, which can completely reproduce women's characteristics.Based on the similarly low status of women in society and translators in translation, we explore the relationship between feminism and translation. Because of different economic, cultural and historical backgrounds, western feminism has exerted different influence on China since its introduction in the 1980s. Some radical translation strategies, used by western feminist translators, are not popular with Chinese women translators. As for women translators with gender awareness in China, their translation strategies are more moderate and mild. However, it cannot be denied that gender awareness is shown in their process of translation.This thesis intends to give a systematic summary of feminism and its translation theory, to lay stress on the position of translators in literary translation from the perspective of feminism, and to discuss how women translators with gender awareness embody their initiatives and subjectivity in the process of translation based on the English translation of Gathering Wheat.