An Analysis Of Lin Yutang’s Chinese-English Translations From The Perspective Of Translator’s Subjectivity

As a famous writer and translator, Lin Yutang makes great contributions to promoting the cultural exchanges between China and the Western countries. Lin’s unique educational background and knowledge of Western cultures make him an excellent subject for research on translator’s subjectivity.This thesis explores Lin Yutang’s Chinese-English translations from the perspective of translator’s subjectivity based on analyses of samples taken from his translation works.The author draws the following conclusions from the study of Lin Yutang’s translation works:First, the translator’s subjectivity is inherent in the translation process, reflected in all aspects of the translating activities. Second, the translator’s individuality has an important influence on his translating practice. In the process of translation, his views, ideas, his outlook on the world and his value of life all have impacts on his translation products. Third, strong as the translator’s subjectivity may be, he has to respect the original author, the original text and the translation readers instead of freely displaying his subjectivity.It is found that Lin Yutang takes the subjective initiative in the translation process actively and spares no efforts to introduce Chinese culture to the Western readers. Meanwhile, considering the understanding and acceptability of the targeted readers and some other factors, Lin Yutang has to make some modifications to the original text, which, to some extent, causes certain loss of aesthetic and cultural flavor of it. However, generally, he still achieves his purpose of translation—"introducing Chinese culture to the foreigners".By studying Lin’s translator’s subjectivity in his Chinese-English translations, the author also hopes to provide some reference or guidance for translators in their process of "adaptation and selection" while handling translation work.