A Study On Lin Yutang’s Self-translation In 1930s

In literary translation,there are only a minority group of translators who are familiar with the languages and cultures of the two countries,can write in two languages,and can translate their own works.Lin Yutang has made significant achievements not only in literature,but also in the field of translation.Moreover,he is an excellent self-translator with self-translated works.However,his self-translations have not been paid enough attention.The Little Critic: The Bilingual Essays of Lin Yutang contains 50 self-translated essays in the1930 s,compiled by Qian Suoqiao in 2012,which makes an essential contribution to his self-translation studies,and it is well worth studying.Therefore,this thesis takes Lin Yutang’s self-translated essays as the research text,and then analyses it in detail.This thesis analyzes the source texts and target texts from the macro and micro view,it can be found that Lin Yutang does not use literal translation and free translation.He makes a lot of additions and deletions,changes the content of the original text,adjusts the structure of the translation,and translates creatively.In addition,because of his identity as a self-translator,he can use more flexible translation methods,such as addition,deletion,adaptation,sentence translation,compiled translation and creative translation in his self-translation.His translation does not divorce from the source text,but he presents the translation more perfectly to readers at the same time.However,the features of Lin Yutang’s self-translated essays and the translation strategies he adopted are not random.They are closely related to his self-translator statues,his view of translation,the change of target readers,and the historical and cultural context at that time.Through the study of Lin Yutang’s self-translations in the 1930 s,the thesis draws three major findings.First,when translating their own works,the constraints and restrictions received by the self-translators are less than other translators.Even if there are great changes in the translation,the self-translators can be free from the condemnation of others,so they can fully demonstrate the translator’s subjectivity.Second,compared with the traditional view of faithfulness,Lin Yutang’s self-translation is unfaithful,but his translation does not deviate from the overall meaning of the source text,so it is faithful translation from the perspective of literature.Third,Lin does not stick to the gains and losses of the original text,he pays more attention to the expression of the overall meanings.However,the premise of such freedom is that the translator should have a high level of translation skills and a profound knowledge of literature and culture.