Translator’s Subjectivity In Translating Guan Ju

Nowadays, translator’s subjectivity is one of the heatedly discussed issues in the field of translation (王宏2010:52). There have also been many great achievements of the researches in translator’s subjectivity. However, some scholars and translators have different even doubtful understandings in translator’s subjectivity or they make overuses of it. They question that translator’s subjectivity does not pay enough attention to other factors in the process of translation. They even enact the treason of the source text in the name of translator’s subjectivity (熊兵娇2009:78). Obviously, they are ignoring the thoughts and arts of the source text and deal with the source text freely and casually, which should be the obstacles in improving the translations.Hermeneutics is the Western philosophy of understanding and interpretation. The mode of combination of hermeneutics and translation creates a new look in the translation study and brings forward many new approaches to the translation studies.The thesis makes some attempts to make comparative study of six English translations of Guan Ju(《关雎》)to try to refresh the understanding of translator’s subjectivity. Based on the three basic notions of hermeneutics:historicity of understanding, prejudice and fusion of horizons, the thesis compares and analyzes the historical understandings of Guan Ju of the six translators, including their different prejudices coming from their personal experiences, the social and historical background of the translators, their translation strategies to fulfill the translation target and the fusion of horizons between the six translators and the original writer. It is justified that translators play an active part in the process of translating a single source text:reconstructing the meaning of the source text and enriching the connotation of the source text. And it further improves that translator’s subjectivity is fully revealed in the translating process.Therefore, any translation is the concrete outcome of the source text and every translation should be respected and great importance shall be attached to the translator’s subjectivity. Retranslation of literary works is necessary and inevitable. At the same time, the research of this thesis may offer some new references for studying English translations of Guan Ju.