Translator’s Subjectivity In Translating Chinese Classics

It is acknowledged that the translator is the subject of translation. Since translation is a conscious and purposeful activity like any other human action, the translator will inevitably impose his subjectivity on his working object-the translated text. It is a pity that in the long history of translation study, translator’s subjectivity has not received nearly as much attention as it deserves. Over the last two decades, the concept of translator’s subjectivity has gained more and more attention in the field of China’s translation study. A brief review of previous studies on translator’s subjectivity indicate that translator’s subjectivity has been equated with translator’s subjective initiative while the restrictive factors upon translator’s subjectivity have been neglected, leading to the one-sidedness of the study.The present thesis, therefore, attempts to carry out a study of translator’s subjectivity both including his initiative and restrictive factors embodied in the translation process of Lunyu, focusing on the translator’s subjectivity in translating ancient Chinese classics.This thesis chooses two English versions of Lunyu translated by James Legge and by Ku Hung-ming published in1861and1898respectively as its study objects. The reason for the selection is that both versions have enjoyed great popularity in the history of Chinese-classics translation, while at the same time the two versions have been as controversial as the two translators themselves-Legge, a Scottish protestant missionary and sinologist; and Ku, an extreme cultural conservative and strong advocate of Confucianism.In order to demonstrate the exertion of translator’s subjectivity embodied in the whole translation process, the present thesis makes a comparative study of the two English versions of Lunyu in four aspects:the motivation for choosing the source language text (SLT), the comprehension of the SLT, the selection of translation strategies and methods, and the expression of the target language text (TLT). In the last part of the thesis, the author draws the conclusion that translator should take restrictive factors upon his subjectivity into account while giving full play to his initiative. That is to say, the translator should unite his initiative and self-restraint in the translation process. In addition, translation critics should also take translator’s subjective initiative and restrictive factors into consideration simultaneously so as to give a more objective and fair criticism of the translated text.