On Zhang Peiji’s Prose Translation From The Perspective Of The Translator’s Subjectivity

Professor Zhang Peiji has devoted himself to the translation of modern Chinese prose,and his Selected Translations of Modern Chinese Prose has always been a highly acclaimed masterpiece in the field of translation,which provides an excellent reference for the translation of modern Chinese prose and a rich and typical example for Chinese scholars to study translation theory and skills,and paves the way for foreigners to study the fresh thoughts of the Chinese people since the May 4th Movement in 1919.The sentence structure of Chinese prose is relatively loose,but the English writing is compact and rigorous,so the translator needs to exert subjective initiative in the process of translation,and to synthesize the Chinese clause into a structure that conforms to the English expression habit.At present,the study of the translator’s subjectivity focuses more on the analysis and orientation of the theory with some case analysis,but it is not closely combined with the micro-translation skills.This thesis hopes that through the analysis of Zhang’s prose translation,the translator’s subjectivity will be put into practice in every aspect of language,and the case study and system theory will be combined to deepen the study of the translator’s subjectivity.Through literature review and analysis of many examples in Selected Modern Chinese Prose Writings,the thesis hopes to highlight the translator’s role in the translation process,and that the translator should give full play to his subjectivity to ensure the smooth operation of translation activities.It is hoped that this thesis will provide an enlightening new perspective for the study of translator’s subjectivity,so as to enrich the translation theory and give insights into prose translation practice.The major findings of this study are summarized as follows:Firstly,the translator should mainly interpret the ST from three aspects:style,rhythm and cultural factors,and fully reproduce the beauty,form and spirit so that the SL and TL readers can enjoy the same effect;Secondly,the translator needs to have a certain structure of cultural knowledge about the SL before he or she interprets the ST;Thirdly,the prose translation is not simply a transfer between languages,but it is often constrained by such factors like ideology and poetics of the target language,thus appropriate deletions,additions or annotations to the original text would be required;Fourthly,the premise of exerting the translator’s subjectivity is to abide by the principle of"faithfulness" in translation,the translator needs to well handle the differences between the original text and the target language so as to accurately convey the original connotation thus making the target text more readable;Last but not least,the translator’s objective passivity should never be neglected,and appropriate translation strategies should be adopted in accordance with the objective restrictive factors.