A Comparative Study On Translator’s Subjectivity In The Two Chinese Versions Of Moment In Peking

Since the “Cultural Turn” in the West translation studies in1970s, the role of the translator beingthe subject of translation activity has been highlighted, and more scholars throw themselves into thestudy of translator’s subjectivity. As the development of translation studies, translator’s subjectivityprovides a new perspective for translation studies.Lin Yutang wrote his English long novel Moment in Peking when he was traveling in Paris, forwhich Lin was nominated as the Nobel Prize winner for four times. Moment in Peking arouses theattention and study of the scholars and translators at home and abroad in that it includes profoundChinese culture, high literary and history values. Besides, it leaves great room for translators to give afull play of their subjectivity in the process of translation. The first Chinese version of Moment inPeking was published by Shanghai Spring and Autumn Press in1941. This is a co-translation ofZheng Tuo and Ying Yuanjie with the title of Jing Hua Yan Yun, which is divided into three volumes.The second version was issued by Taiwan De Hua Press with the title of Jing Hu Yan Yun in1961,translated by Zhang Zhenyu. The third version was finished by Yu Fei with the title of Shun Xi JingHua, issued in Hunan Literature Press in1991, which had been sold out in the book market.Based on the theory of translator’s subjectivity, this thesis chooses Zhang Zhenyu’s version and YuFei’s version as the studying subject, and attempts to analyze the display of translator’s subjectivity inthe process of selection of the source text, understanding of the source text, decision of phraseology andapplication of translation strategies, and then points out the importance of translator’s subjectivity.This thesis is not to judge which version is better, but describe translator’s subjectivity in the translationobjectively.After the analysis and a comparative study, the major findings are as follows: as for selection of thesource text, since Zhang Zhenyu and Yu Fei have different purposes of translation, they have differenttranslation versions named as Jing Hua Yan Yun and Shun Xi Jing Hua respectively. As a famoustranslator, being invited sincerely by the press, Zhang Zhenyu translates Jing Hua Yan Yun. While YuFei, as Yu Dafu’s eldest son, translates Shun Xi Jing Hua for the sake of paying his father’s debt.From the perspective of understanding of the source text, Zhang Zhenyu, as a Taiwanese, makessome mistranslations in cultural elements; while Yu Fei experiences the times in which the author growsup, so he can translates them appropriately. As for decision of phraseology, Zhang Zhenyu’s translation is beautiful and elegant, while Yu Fei’snatural and concise.In terms of the application of translation strategies, Zhang Zhenyu chooses free translation, and headds the title before every chapter; and his translation has been adapted into a television drama in CCTVfor three times, including1987version of Zhao Yazhi,2005version of Zhao Wei and2014that of LiSheng, while Yu Fei chooses literal translation and fidelity, keeping the contents which introduceChinese elements to the English readers. This also caters to the Beijing dialect. In a word, the twotranslators make great versions of Moment in Peking through full display of translator’s subjectivity.