A Report On The English-Chinese Translation Of Garrets And Pretenders:Bohemianism In America (Excerpts) Under The Guidance Of The Translator’s Subjectivity

Hippie,punk and other Bohemian cultural phenomena were once popular in China.The translation and introduction of western books on Bohemian culture are of great significance for understanding Bohemia and interpreting the new cultural phenomenon in China.Garrets and Pretenders: A History of Bohemianism in America is one of the earliest works that study American Bohemia from the perspective of literature.It mainly introduces stories of representative Bohemian figures in America,and is an important book for studying the American Bohemian culture.This translation project selects chapters 4 to 6 of the book,mainly introducing the life of Walt Whitman and other American Bohemians from the second half of the 19 th century to the First World War.The original text involves many proper nouns related to Bohemia and has rich historical and cultural connotations,which are the major difficulty in this translation practice.The translator’s subjectivity refers to the initiative that the translator,the subject of translation,shows in translation practice.It intends to realize the translator’s purposes under the premise of respecting the original text.Specifically,the translator’s subjectivity includes not only the translator’s understanding of the original text and linguistic recreation of the target text,but also the selection of the original text and translation purposes and strategies.In this translation project,the author chooses the translation purpose of “providing a Chinese reference book for the domestic study of American Bohemia”,and adopts translation strategies such as translator’s notes and amplification,aiming to promote readers’ understanding of the translation while preserving the culture of the source language.This translation report consists of four parts: description of the translation project,analysis of the translation process,introduction of translation theory and case analysis,with its focus on the fourth part.From the perspective of the translator’s subjectivity,this report analyzes how to give full play to the translator’s initiative in the translation process with specific translation cases.In this translation project,the author adopts translator’s notes,amplification and other translation methods to solve the translation of Bohemia-related proper nouns.It aims to keep the Bohemian cultural and linguistic characteristics in the source text,and meanwhile,tries to provide a reference text for Bohemian cultural studies.