The Study Of The Translator’s Subjectivity From The Perspective Of Translation As Adaptation And Selection

The translator, as a prominent and indispensable element in translation, has longbeen neglected during the long history of translation. It is not until the1970s thattranslation researches have shifted their focus from source text to target text. Sincethen, the translator’s role has gained certain recognition and the translator’ssubjectivity has attracted more attention by the scholars in the translation circle. Eventhough many discussions about the translator’s subjectivity have been conducted fromvarious aspects in recent years, the excessive emphasis is laid to the translator’smanipulation while few have taken the translator as the focus of their studies. Inaddition, there have been no thorough and systematic studies on it. It is of greatimportance to carry out more discussions on the translator’s subjectivity in detail.By introducing the principle of natural selection into translation study, ProfessorHu Gengshen for the first time puts forward the concept of translator-centeredness. Inhis monograph An Approach to Translation as Adaptation and Selection, Professor Huargues that translation is yielded through the translator’s selective adaptation as wellas adaptive selection to the translational eco-environment. According to ProfessorHu’s approach, all adaptations and selections are executed by the translator and thetranslator’s subjectivity is well manifested through his or her adaptation and selection.There is no doubt that his approach has provided a new dimension to the study of thetranslator’s subjectivity with reference to the principle of the survival of the fittest.Fu Zao, published in1986, is one of the representative works of Jia Pingwa, theacknowledged contemporary writer from Shaanxi province. Due to Goldblatt’ssuccessful translation, Turbulence has gained great reputation at home and abroad. In1988, it was awarded the Pegasus Prize for Literature. In addition, Howard Goldblatt,as the translator, enjoys high praises in translation field and is regarded as theforemost translator of numerous works of contemporary Chinese literature. Therefore,we can make the conclusion that both the translated version and the translator havepassed the selection of the translational eco-environment.This thesis, from the perspective of Professor Hu Gengshen’s approach totranslation as adaptation and selection to, is to probe into the translator’s subjectivity. The thesis takes Howard Goldblatt’s Turbulence, the English version of Jia Pingwa’sFu Zao, for instance and points out that Goldblatt’s subjectivity has been manifestedthrough his choice of Fu Zao as the original text and his adaptation and selection todifferent dimensions at the reconstruction stage.