A Hermeneutic Study On Inevitability Of Misreading In Literary Translation

Misreading is an important term in literary translation. However, it has long been degraded and neglected in traditional translation criticism in which'faithfulness'and'equivalence'have been playing dominant roles. It is held that to justify its inevitability offers a precondition of many solutions to the issues concerning misreading. Bearing the significance of misreading to literary translation in mind, the author of this thesis intends to make a systematic study on the inevitability of misreading in literary translation from the perspective of Hermeneutics, together with the relevant traditional Chinese translation theories and the western literary theories.This thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter One is a brief review of studies on misreading in literary translation at home and abroad, with the main purpose to find out that the inevitability of misreading needs to be probed into. What's more, the significance of misreading studies is touched upon.Chapter Two introduces the background, definition, classification and general stages of misreading studies. Then the intrinsic relationship between misreading and literary translation is examined. After this, examination goes to the illustration of the complexity of misreading in literary translation.Chapter Three illustrates Hermeneutics'major stages and their co-relationship with misreading studies. As one philosophy probing into meaning interpretation, Hermeneutics has provided the modern translation studies with quite a lot of new perspectives. The general processes of hermeneutic studies might shed some light on the shifts of the focus of translation studies, thus justifying the inevitability of misreading theoretically. The core concepts in Hermeneutics, namely,'fusion of horizon','fore-structure','Being','prejudice','gaps','indeterminacies'and so on, have been the solid foundation for scholars to deconstruct'faithfulness'and'equivalence'.In Chapter Four, the definition of literary works, together with its contradictory features and their association with misreading, is thoroughly talked about. As the real place for translators and authors to have a dialogue, literary works is itself a matter full of contradictions, which leads to misreading directly. Among others, its heredity and historicity form the first pair of contradiction. The former makes it possible for literary works to be translated into other languages. But it is also this characteristic from which arises'fusion of horizon'between the translator and the original text that forms a firm foundation of misreading. The latter is associated with the fact that history cannot be reconstructed, offering a spade to undermine'faithfulness'and'equivalence'from the perspective of historical materialism. The second pair of contradiction is internationality and nationality; the former refers to intertextuality, which gives enough space for meaning enrichment, providing a practical basis for misreading, while the latter stresses that the mentality of a people can never be translated into another language, giving a good reason for misreading at the nation-level. In the third pair, the'indeterminacies'or'gaps'in literary works invite readers'active participation in the reconstruction of meaning, while the determinacy in literary works makes itself difficult to measure, giving way to misreading ultimately.In Chapter Five, many other facets causing misreading in literary translation have also been studied. To begin with, language, by which literary translation is conducted, is studied to show that language is not a satisfactory means to convey meaning. This being so, translators have to resort to translating meaning. But through proving that language is a combination of its'form'and'content'to some extent and that the'empirical author's'intention can be separated from the intention of texts, ultimate meaning does not exist. With the disappearance of the ultimate meaning, misreading is evitable in literary translation. Besides, inevitability of misreading has also been probed into from the perspectives of philosophy, information theory, and the power-solidarity relationship between translators and original authors. Furthermore, by drawing an analogy between misreading in literary translation and'the principle of exchange at equal value'in economic field, the inevitability of misreading is made more practical and vivid. Finally, with all the theoretical foundations and analyses in the previous chapters, Su Shi's An Inscription on the Wall of Xilin Temple is discussed as the case study of the inevitability of misreading in literary translation.In the Conclusion, it is stated that misreading cannot be excluded from literary translation and the trace of thought in this thesis is supplied. What is especially stressed is the limitation of this thesis, together with the future efforts of its author.