On The Three-inch Golden Lotus From The Perspective Of Feminist Translation Theory

Feminism entered the field of translation from late 18~thh century.And then Feminist Translation Theory emerged with influence of deconstruction and post-colonialism.This theory emphasized the overthrow of hierarchical concept that translators were inferior to authors and that target texts were inferior to source texts.Translators were expected to eliminate sexist language in order to emphasize the status of women.Luise Von Flotow proposed three feminist translation strategies,including prefacing/footnoting,supplementing and hijacking.Published in 1986,The Three-Inch Golden Lotus has been discussed heatedly in several aspects by domestic scholars.As its English version appeared quite late,the relevant researches were few.There were some articles that were related to translator's gender and subjectivity,but the number was also limited.Based on Feminist Translation Theory,this research focuses on Wakefiled's The Three-Inch Golden Lotus to solve several problems.By adopting the strategy of prefacing/footnoting,Wakefield complements the writing background,main contents and cultural differences.By adopting the strategy of supplementing,Wakefield recreates the novel and reflects translator's subjectivity.By adopting the strategy of hijacking,Wakefield proactively decides the contents and values that he needs to convey.Generally speaking,the translator gives a play to personal subjectivity and he is faithful to the source text at the same time.However,there are some phrases discriminating against women in the English version because of the translator's misunderstanding and lack of reference materials.It should be pointed out that both the author and the translator are men,while the main characters are women in old China,some questions deserve enough attention,1)the way that Wakefield conveys Feng's thoughts in his translation;2)some expressions that discriminate against women in the English version;3)contributions that this thesis can make to future research.The study of feminist translation ideology embodied in The Three-Inch Golden Lotus can bridge the gap in domestic researches and promote Chinese culture to the world.The translators are expected to make cultural differences less obvious and give full play to personal subjectivity in translation practice.