Translator's Subjectivity And Translation Choices

Traditional translation theories held that '"fidelity" is the criteria of translation, the translator should be objective and reproduce the original text faithfully. It was unacceptable for the translator to leave any personal makes in his translation. Therefore, the subjectivity of the translator was ignored.Since the late 1970s, the culture-oriented translation research approach has been applied in translation studies. In the 1990s, the translation studies officially took the "cultural turn". People could take a fairer look at translation and the translator. The research on the translator's subjectivity developed from being neglected to the confirmation of "translator's choices". Theories such as Skopos, hermeneutics and reception supplied theoretical basis for the research. Chinese critics also began to carry out the research in the 1990s. From different angles, the scholars, such as Yuan Li, Xie Tianzhen and Xu Jun, justified the creative treason of literary translation and the existence of the translator's subjectivity.This thesis first reviews the traditional translation theories and studies and comes to the conclusion that, to a great extent, the subjectivity of the translator is neglected. Then it examines some subjective factors of the translator and analyzes the decisive role those factors of the translator played in the choice of source texts and translation strategies in the process of translating. Examples from Lin Yutang's Chinese-English translation works are also analyzed. In the conclusion, the author restates the objective existence of the translator's subjectivity in the translating process. The study of the translator's subjectivity has a great significance in improving the status of translators and pushing forward the flourish of translating practice.