On The Translation Of Zhang Guruo

Translating is a complex, difficult and yet fascinating task. On the one hand, it is such a difficult one that as I. A. Richards has claimed: it is probably the most complex type of event in the history of the cosmos[1] . On the other hand, it is fascinating, because so many people of all ages, home and broad, have devoted all their lives to it. Effective and adequate translating from one language to another is a highly developed skill and must be learned primarily as a skill by imitating the experience of proven experts. In view of this, "the activity and the resulting texts produced by prominent translators and interpreters can and should also be studied as a science, in the same way that any human activity can be analyzed scientifically"[2]. However, the traditional role of translator is identified as one of "servant", whose importance has been long ignored. In the West after the 1970s, the cultural turn in Translation Studies brought about new dimensions and approaches. The target-oriented approach, resulting from this shift, foregrounds the cultural identities and roles of translators in the translation process. Therefore, their subjectivities as well as cultural and aesthetic tendencies have become necessary and important research subjects for translation researches. Though translator studies in China can be claimed to have a long history, a systematic study of the translator-oriented approach did not start until 1980s. So it is self-evident that great effort of current translation studies about the translator's subjectivity should be put to the research of famous celebrities, their translation theory and practice, especially their translated works. Only in this way, can their valuable experiences and skills be collected, summarized and absorbed. The importance of doing this is obvious in that, it can notonly help the young majors in this field to improve their skills in a short time, but also contribute to the constructing of China's own translating theory.There are countless well-known translators and interpreters in over two thousand years of Chinese translating history, who have introduced the foreign culture and scientific knowledge, promoting the Chinese cultural development. There are so many of them, such as An Shigao, Xuanzang, Xu Guangqi of ancient times; Yan Fu, Lin Shu, Liang Qichao from modern times; and in contemporary age, Lu Xun, Guo Moruo, Lin Yutang, Mao Dun and Fu Lei, etc. Zhang Guruo is one of the most famous scholars of them. He is such an expert in classical British literature and is famous for the rendition of The Return of the Native, Tess of the D 'urbervilles and David Copperfield and other classical British literary works that he is praised as the Eastern bosom friend of famed British novelist Thomas Hardy. Among them, the translated Chinese version of the second novel, since it was first published by the Commercial Press of Shanghai in 1935, has been reprinted many times as a masterpiece of all British literary translations, because it is sold out quickly after its publication. His translated text is greatly loved by the reader and deeply appreciated by scholars. Although there have been more than six retranslated texts of this novel, few can match up to his. Besides translating Hardy's literary works, Mr. Zhang also does a lot of research on English literature. So that is why he is called "the authority on Hardy" by China's western literature research circle, and his translated texts are honored as "Models of translation" by Hongkong critics. His ineffaceable merit of introducing English literature to China will forever be remembered.Just like his other contemporary and notable translators, Professor Zhang has a good command both of English and Chinese. He always persists in integrating academic research with translating practice. The famous principle of "translating 'genuine original text' by using 'genuine translated text'", maintained by him, becomes renowned nationwide. But, what is more worthy of praise is his meticulous and rigorous academic spirit and his modest integrity. D...