A Study On The Interaction Between Translation And Translators’ Multiple Social Identities

As a product of translation during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China,Laura’s translation of The Little Princess differs greatly from the original text in terms of length,narrative style,and content of the plot,and the final form of the translation also differs greatly from that of other translators.However,it is obviously not enough to prove this phenomenon merely from the difference of translators’ language level.Therefore,the author tries to interpret the phenomenon of translation presented in The Little Princess from the perspective of the social identity of translators.The research reveals that Laura’s literary translation activities are closely related to her social identity.In addition to being a translator,she is also a missionary,a writer and a patron of translation activities.Therefore,this thesis draws on the research results of the concept of social identity from the perspective of social psychology to discuss the translator’s social identity,regards the translator as a social person,highlights the individual sociality of the translator,and analyzes the interaction between the translator’s multiple social identities and translation.The study finds that,firstly,by accumulating her own sponsorship power,Laura became one of the sponsors of translation activity,promoting the output and circulation of her translations.At the same time,the translation activities gives Laura a higher social status and literary reputation,resulting in a mutually beneficial “resource exchange” interaction between the two.Secondly,as a female missionary,Laura’s intention to spread religious thoughts was closely related to her literary translation activities.In the translation of The Little Princess,she reflected the Christian identity of the protagonist in the novel by adding religious terms that were not in the original text,guided the plot development of the translation in the way of being the “speaker”,combined Sara’s growth process with religious moral cultivation,highlighted the function of Christian moral cultivation,and thereby gained more readers’ recognition of Christian moral education,so that expanded the influence of Christianity in China.In addition,as a writer who is sophisticated at writing,Laura’s creative ideas have played an active role in constructing the concept of literary translation.She adopts the translation strategy of“演述”to translate the original text creatively while preserving the main plot of the original text,and actively follows the poetic ethics of the translated language in the presentation of the translated text.The translation strategy of creation in translation indicated Laura’s view of literary translation that placed equal emphasis on creation and translation.It can be seen that the interaction between the translator’s social identity and translation is reflected both in the translated text and in the channels and ways of its circulation.On the one hand,Laura’s social identities promote the production and circulation of the translated text,and on the other hand,the translation activity reinforce her social status and literary reputation,and the two complement each other and promote each other.