On The Translator’s Translation Ethics In Translated By Howard Goldblatt

Studies on translation ethics have entered a new phase along with the call of "the return to ethics".So far,there have been plenty of domestic studies on the five models of translation ethics put forward by Andrew Chesterman,namely,ethics of representation,ethics of service,ethics of communication,norm-based ethics,and ethics of commitment.Chesterman’s five models of translation ethics fall into the category of translator’s translation ethics.Previous studies on Chesterman’s models of translation ethics mainly focus on the application of these models in literary translation,and most of them tend to explore the relationship among different models of translation ethics,including the domination or compromise of certain models of translation ethics.However,few researches have explored how Chesterman’s five models of translation ethics,as a part of the translator’s translation ethics,play their roles through the whole translation process.Howard Goldblatt is believed to be the number one translator of literary translation.He has made great contribution to the "Going Out" progress of Chinese contemporary culture for he has translated more than 50 literary works into the western world with high quality.Yumi is one of famous Chinese writer Bi Feiyu’s representative works,the English translation of which,Three Sisters,was translated by Howard Goldblatt and his wife Sylvia Li-chun Lin and won the Man Asian Prize in 2010.The translation skills and language gifts of the translators are well demonstrated in the translation.As translation is a cross-cultural activity in nature,the translator must follow certain moral standards and behavioral norms in translation practice,that is to say,the translator’s translation ethics guide and affect the translation activity.To verify the aforementioned statement,this thesis will conduct a case study of the Goldblatts’ translated version of Yumi within the framework of Chesterman’s five models of translation ethics by employing the text analysis approach.Supported by plenty of examples from both the source text and target text,the writer will analyze the representation of Chesterman’s five models of translation ethics in the rendering of Yumi,thus proving that the translator’s translation ethics serve as a guideline for the translators to adopt certain translation skills or methods in the translation.However,the specific translation practice under the guidance of the translator’s translation ethics constitutes only a facet of the influences of the translator’s translation ethics on the translation process.To elaborate how the translator’s translation ethics affect translation process from a broader perspective,first of all,the writer of this thesis explores both the internal and external factors which are related to the translator’s translation ethics,namely,the translator’s personal experience,and various social factors,including genre of source text,historical background,expectation of target readers,publisher,etc.The exploration of these factors pave the way for the analysis of how the translation ethics exert influences on the social activities which are related to the translation process.Later,the writer of this thesis divides the translation process into three parts chronologically,thus concluding that the translator’s translation ethics playing its role throughout the whole translation process by affecting the choice of source text before the translation starts,the relationship between the author and the translator,as well as ranslation stategies applied by the translator during the translation process,and the reader reception of the target text after the translation is completed.Meanwhile,by clarifying the influence of the translator’s translation ethics on translation activities,it can be inferred that translation is the representation of the translator’s translation ethics.