On The Subjectivity Of The Translator-From The Perspective Of The Invisible Translation

The translator is undoubtedly playing a significant and irreplaceable role in translation, but his subjectivity has long been overlooked, which is best demonstrated in the fact that he is reduced to the awkward situation of being marginalized, and has a much lower social status compared with the author. Only after the culture turn, can the research on the subjectivity of the translator find its booming tendencies.This dissertation begins with the thorough overhaul of what has been done in this field, including those national and international. In the first chapter, a tentative definition is made about invisible translation, to put it simply, referring to the transparent and smooth translation. After the analysis of a series of negative images, the author points out that the theoretical foundation of the invisible translation is the authority of the author, the binary opposition between the Source Text and the Target Text, and the "ST-oriented" theory. The once predominant and widely-accepted concepts like faithfulness, fidelity, equivalence, and Source text-oriented have been deconstructed and decomposed by the emergence of deconstructionist theory, and the implication of the multiple and integrated perspectives into translation studies like the Polysystem Theory, the Feminism, and even Post-Colonialism.In Chapter Two, the efforts are made to have a tentative definition of the subjectivity of the translator, though at present no consensus has been made about who is the subject of the translation, the dissertation maintains that the author, the reader and the translator are subjects, while the translator is by far the most crucial and determining factor. Then emphasis is laid on how the subjectivity of the translator is manifested from the perspectives of the purpose of translation, the positioning of the relationship between the SC and TC, and the reader's esthetic expectation. It is confirmed that the translator's involvement in the whole translating process is inevitable and the subjectivity of the translator is indisputable existence in literary translation.Chapter Three has elaborated on the philosophical concept of inter-subjectivity, claiming that although subjectivity philosophy helps improve the social status of thetranslator and legitimate his existence in the translated works, it has an unfavorable tendency of going to another extreme: the transition from the ST-oriented to Translator-oriented. The inter-subjectivity philosophy can reconcile the contradiction between the subject and object, and between the subjects. When applied in translation studies, it can reconcile the contradiction of the dichotomy between source text and target text, and between the translator and the author. Furthermore, the inter-subjectivity philosophy can help to account for the much-debated phenomenon of the re-translation of the literary classics. And it makes us aware of the fact that the re-translation of the literary classics virtually indicates the communication and negotiation not only between the translator and the author but also between different translators probably from the same or tremendously different historical period, as a result of which, the influential translated version with ever-present and irreplaceable value will be produced to meet the specific needs of the specific time.Chapter Four scrutinizes the invisibility of the translation from the perspectives of domesticating and foreignizing strategies. Some people often take it for granted that foreignizing strategy can give the translator more freedom in exerting his subjectivity, but actually this is not the case. It seems that in invisible translation the subjectivity of the translator can hardly be observed. But in fact, this dissertation points out that, the subjectivity can be better exerted in the invisible translation. Although the translated works may be presented to the reader in a smooth language, but this does not mean the translator is invisible. In the conversion process of translation, he has done tremendous alterations, or substantial addition and deletion, as a result of which, what the reader has perceived through the translated product is not the will of the author, but that of the translator. This statement is confirmed by the case study of Yan Fu's translation of Evolution and Ethics and Other Essays, a typical translation in which the invisible translation is covering the truth that it is greatly manipulated. He adopts the domesticating strategy and makes use of the elegant ancient Chinese form- Tongcheng school prose to give the reader the illusion that what they are reading is just the truth handed down by the ancestors. Under the superficial smoothness and transparency, he has done tremendous alterations, adaptations, and abridgement to the original, includingthe change of the narrative technique, the denial of the author (For example, the author is against Social Darwinism, but in Yan Fu's translation he favors it.)Finally, in Chapter Five, the dissertation explores the influence of the patronage, ideology, and poetics upon the translator's subjectivity, finding out that: it is no exaggeration to say that the patronage has exerted great influences upon the macro tendencies of translation activities, the rise and decline of the translated literature, the social positions of the translator and even his life. So when facing such a powerful force, the translator usually has no choice but to suppress his impulse of recreation as a subject. But through examining the case of Yang Liu's translation, the author finds out that the translator can have some subjectivity by negotiating with the patrons. Ideology also exerts tremendous influence upon the translator's subjectivity. Patronage is the determinant force, restricting the exercise of the subjectivity, and in most cases it demands the invisibility of the translator. While ideology is closely associated with patronage, it is the tool used by patronage to judge whether the translation can be done or not, or in what way it can be done. Patronage consciously uses ideology to choose translators, to decide on the themes of translation and to interfere with the translation strategy. Noticeably, it is poetics that allows the translator has a certain degree of freedom in choosing to resist or cater to the dominant ideology.