On Literary Translation From The Perspective Of Inter-subjectivity

Inter-subjectivity in translation refers to the inherent relations among the subjects established in translation activities. In translation process, only the three interacting subjects (translator, original author, reader) have an equal exchange and communication, the translation will succeed. At present,the inter-subjectivity study of translation still has some limitations, and most of researchers neglect its guidance in translation practice. Therefore, this study is undertaken to go deep into inter-subjectivity in translation by combining theory with practice. By comparing the two Chinese versions of Moment in Peking written by Mr. Lin Yutang, the thesis aims to explore the inter-subjectivity among the three subjects in translation activity, such as the communication and interactivity between the author and the translator because of their different fore-understandings. Yu Fei's version Shun Xi Jing Hua and Zhang Zhenyu's version Jing Hua Yan Yun are selected in this thesis.By employing some examples,a comparative study is performed to find out different fore-understandings of the two translators and the author,as well as the causes of the differences.Afterwards,the relationship of subjects related to each version is analyzed in a comparative way combined with different target readers. The process of the analysis can be divided into two parts:1) communication between the translator and the author;2)communication between the translator and the target reader.One hand, since the author is writhing Chinese life using English, it is reasonable to consider his writing as a translating process as to research how he translates the Chinese characteristic things toward the western readers bases on his fore-understanding. Owing to the fact that the two translators have different fore-understandings and Chinese readers also have different reading habits, on the aspect of expression, Yu Fei's version is more loyal to the original but Zhang's seems not quite authentic Chinese because he lived in Taiwan for a long time. Since Dr Lin's original intention is to write a novel describing Chinese people's modern life imitating A Dream of Red Mansions, there are differences in the usage of words, the structure of the sentences and even the whole text between the two versions. By communicating with the author, Zhang Zhenyu uses antithetical parallelism in seven or eight words adding to each chapter's title though there is no such expression in the original text, as which Yu reserves the original text. So did in the way of culture, they both applies the translation methods like deletion, abridgment and addition, but the content are not the same because their different fore-understandings. The different expectation and reading habit of readers at home and aboard also affect the translators'strategies. Therefore, it can be seen that the communication among the translator, the author and the reader lead to different results in different historical periods, and they should communicate with each other constantly to get a successful translation.Through the comparative study on the two versions,combining with theoretical analysis,the thesis finally arrives at the following conclusions:1)due to the special function of the author as he wrote in English, his writing should be considered as a translating process 2)for one thing, the translator is different from the author in terms of cultural and social background and each translator has his own translating characteristics; for another, different readers at home and abroad have different reading habits and expectations. This thesis concludes that Yu's version is better than Zhang's in terms of seize the author's fore-understanding and the readers'expectation. Therefore, the three subjects should constantly communicate with each other, which will constantly complement and correct their opinion from fore-understanding in order to perfect our translations.