An Intersubjective Perspective On The Nickname Translation In The Two English Versions Of Hong Lou Meng

Intersubjectivity is a new topic in philosophy, and subjectivity philosophy has been gradually developing into intersubjectivity philosophy with the advancement of the philosophical studies. Intersubjectivity deals with the internal relationships during the interactions among the subjects, equally affecting and communicating with each other. Intersubjectivity theory overcomes the predicaments caused by the unrestraint of the single subject's influence, and lays stress on the intersubjective relationships among all the subjects to reach consensus among them. The development of intersubjectivity theory paves the way for the advancement of translation studies, broadens its horizon, and smashes the bondage of the single subjectivity-based mode of thinking—the author-centered, the source text-centered, the reader-centered and the translator-centered paradigms. Intersubjectivity related with translation refers to mutual communication and coordination among all the subjects in the translation process. According to Marx's notion of subject, man is of social and historical existence, so the subjects in translation include the patronage, the ST author, the ST characters, the translator and the TT readers. Since they have different pre-understandings and horizons, their interpretations of the source text are various and different. A true, sincere and right translation work requires the accumulation of their pre-understandings and the fusion of horizons.Hong Lou Meng is a great treasure in the Chinese literature and the embodiment of the China's ancient culture, enjoying great prestige both at home and abroad. There are a lot of characters with various personalities in Hong Lou Meng, and some of them have typical nicknames facilitating the portrait of these figures and the mastery of the whole literary work. Hence, the nickname translation in Hong Lou Meng is worth concrete and detailed study as well. The Dream of Red Mansions by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang, and The Story of the Stone by David Hawkes are the only two complete English translated versions so far, both of which have great potential of further research. Therefore, with the two versions as a case study, this thesis analyzes and compares the nickname translation from the intersubjective perspective, indicating that translation activity is the communicating, coordinating and interacting among all the subjects—the patronage, the ST author, the ST characters, the translator and the TT readers with the translator as the axis in the translation process.Apart from the Introduction and the Conclusion, this thesis consists of three chapters:In the first chapter, there's a brief introduction to the origin, the definition and the characteristics of nicknames, a study on the influences of nicknames on society, and a brief review of nickname translation.In the second chapter, the author of this thesis expounds the subjects and subjectivity in translation, the development and predicaments of the single subjectivity-based mode of thinking. Last but not the least, the focus lies in the detailed elucidation of intersubjectivity theory, including the interactions among all the subjects in translation activity, the notion of pre-understanding and horizon and factors influencing them, and the rules guiding the subjects' interactions, i.e. truthfulness, sincerity and rightfulness.The third chapter is the key part of the whole thesis, dealing with the nickname translation in Hong Lou Meng under the guidance of intersubjectivity theory, in which the author of this thesis briefly introduces the two English translated versions of Hong Lou Meng, and discusses the significance of the nicknames in Hong Lou Meng. And the most important part goes to the comparative study on the nickname translation in the two English translated versions based on the interactions among all the subjects in the whole translation process from four angles with the author's tentative opinions on some nicknames' translation. The first is the interaction between the translators and the ST author; the second is between the translators and the TT readers; the third is between the translators and the patronage; the fourth is between the translators and the ST characters.Intersubjectivity theory paves the way for the development of postmodern translation work and promotes translation studies to a new and high domain.