Translator’s Adaptation And Selection: An Analysis Of Howard Goldblatt’s Translation Of Big Breasts&Wide Hips

The thematic conception of Hu Gengshen’s approach to translationas adaptation and selection is “translation means adaptation andselection”. According to Hu Gengshen’s approach, translation is definedas “a selective activity of the translator’s adaptation to fit the translationaleco-environment”(Hu Gengshen,2004:220-221).Howard Goldblatt, a well-known American translator, is regarded asthe most outstanding translator of contemporary Chinese literature in theEnglish-speaking countries. The novels he translated are well accepted bythe western readers due to his outstanding bilingual and biculturalcompetence. He is so dedicated a translator that he spares no effort tointroduce Chinese literature, especially Chinese contemporary novels, tothe western world.This thesis endeavors to analyze the adaptation and selection thatHoward Goldblatt has made to fit the translational eco-environmentduring the process of translating Mo Yan’s Big Breasts&Wide Hips. Thetranslational eco-environment that Howard Goldblatt faces generallyincludes two parts, namely, the world presented by the sourcetext/language, the author, and Chinese culture, and the world presented bythe target readers, the target language ideology, and the publisher. Theprocess of Howard Goldblatt’s adaptation and selection can also bedivided into two phases, namely, the pre-translating phase and the ongoing-translating phase. During the pre-translating phase, HowardGoldblatt is selected as the translator due to his bilingual and biculturalcompetence, which can also be regarded as his adaptation to the worldpresented by the source text/language; while during theongoing-translating phase, Howard Goldblatt adapts to the worldpresented by the target language and at the same time, he selects histranslation strategies and techniques accordingly. And during thetranslating of Big Breasts&Wide Hips, the translation strategies andtechniques that Howard Goldblatt used were diversified. In his translationboth the foreignization and domestication were used as well as omission,rewriting, addition of notes and so on.It is concluded that translation is not merely a language activity, buta natural ecological activity that is closely connected with itssurroundings. Therefore, all the selections that the translator makesduring the process of translating should be able to fit the translationaleco-environment. This thesis aims to opening up a new way of studyingHoward Goldblatt and his translations and also providing somesuggestions for future Chinese literary translation.