A Study On Chang Aileen’s Self-translation Of Jinsuo Ji From The Perspective Of Effective History Theory

Jinsuo Ji,as one of Chang Aileen’s masterpieces,occupies an essential role in the history of Chinese literature.It is praised by many literary celebrities,such as Fu Lei,C.T.Hsia and Su Qing.Chang Aileen translates and rewrites Jinsuo Ji for four times,which powerfully proves her great fondness for it.Self-translation has a long history in China,while it is rare to find a translator who translates and rewrites his work for many times in different contexts of space and time.Therefore,it is meaningful to study on Chang Aileen’s self-translation to Jinsuo Ji.Self-translator is always regarded as “the most suitable” translator for his dual identity as both writer and translator.However,whether self-translation is a pure code-switching process “in vacuum”without influences from internal and external factors,it is the topic to be discussed in this thesis.Hermeneutics is a subject about understanding and interpreting.Hermeneutics goes through several stages since it’s birth.Modern philosophical hermeneutics is represented by Hans-George Gadamer,who puts forward a series of concepts with effective history theory at the core.According to Gadamer,both subject and object of understanding exist historically,and they are of a single entity with no clear dividing line.It is differences in time and space between the subject and object of understanding that make fusion of horizons necessary.Effective history works in the process of fusion of horizons.In consequence,all understandings and interpretations are necessarily affected by “effective history”.Self-translator is possible to translate accurately with no need of fusion of horizons between him and the text.After 28 years of the appearance of Jinsuo Ji,The Golden Cangue is accomplished by Chang Aileen in America.Therefore,the English version is done in a specific historical environment which is extremely different from that of the Chinese version.In other words,the changes of history and international environment may exert an influence upon Chang Aileen’s self-translation of Jinsuo Ji.After a systematic study on Chang Aileen’s translation cases in The Golden Cangue,it is discovered that Chang has four tendencies towards the choice of translation strategies and methods: considering readers’ acceptability and their horizons,foreignizing culture-loaded expressions,conforming to the original text,striking a balance between culture and meaning transfer.It may be concluded from the thesis that this phenomenon is the outcome of Chang Aileen’s specific effective history.There are two findings of the thesis.Firstly,in recent years,translation theorists creatively put forward that literature work should be translated by the litterateur in that field.It suggests that novel should be translated by novelists and poetry should be translated by poets.Self-translation to literary works is a further embodiment of this proposal for self-translators’ incomparable understanding to the original works,so self-translation should be encouraged.Secondly,Chang Aileen’s repeated translations to Jinsuo Ji and these versions’ distinct functions powerfully prove that self-translations to one work in different historical periods is necessary and meaningful.Therefore,self-translation should accord with objective law of historical development and trends of times.