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Retrospect and Prospect of the Study of Translator’s Subjectivity in China

Received: 25 March 2023    Accepted: 10 April 2023    Published: 20 April 2023
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Abstract

At the end of 20th century, influenced by the Cultural Turn of Translation Studies in the West and the discussion about the Chinese translation of The Red and The Black in China, the study of translator’s subjectivity became one of the main research objects among the Chinese scholars. Creativity and initiative are the original meaning of the translator’s subjectivity. Creativity presupposes initiative, and initiative points to creativity. The study of translator’s subjectivity is not to justify mistranslations and disorderly translations, but to objectively describe the actual situation of the translator in translation. This paper reviews the theoretic process of the translator’s turn, sorts out the representative achievements of the study of translator’s subjectivity, analyzes the permission of translator’s creativity in Western and Chinese traditional translation thoughts and looks forward to the development trend of the subjectivity research of translators. It is found that the creativity and initiative in limitation are the aesthetic and philosophic features of translator’s subjectivity respectively, which will never be altered by time or any thoughts. Besides, the translation itself is the unity of the translator’s creativity and initiative, and translator-centered studies of translation history and translation teaching will be the trends of the future study of translator’s subjectivity.

Published in International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 9, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijalt.20230902.11
Page(s) 37-42
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Translator’s Subjectivity, Cultural Turn, Limitation, Creativity, The Translator

References
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[4] Zha, Mingjian & Tian, Yu. On the Subjectivity of the Translator. Chinese Translators Journal [J]. 2003, 24 (1): 19-24.
[5] Luo, Xinzhang, “Similarity” and “Equivalence” [J]. World Literature, 1990 (2): 285-295.
[6] Toury, Gideon. Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond [M]. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2012.
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[8] Hermans, Theo. The Manipulation of Literature: Studies in Literary Translation [M]. Routledge, 1985: 11.
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[10] Bassnett, Susan. Translation Studies [M]. Routledge, 2002: 5.
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[12] Mu, Lei & Shi, Yi. “Discovery” and Research of Translation Subject: A Critical Review of Translator Studies in China [J]. Chinese Translators Journal, 2003, 24 (1): 12-18.
[13] Hu, Gengshen. From “Translator’s Subjectivity” to “Translator-centeredness” [J]. Chinese Translators Journal, 2004, 25 (3): 10-16.
[14] Liu, Junping. The Four Dimensions and Characteristics of the Translator’s Subjectivity from an Interdisciplinary Perspective [J]. Foreign Languages and Their Teaching, 2008 (8): 52-55.
[15] Hu, Anjiang & Zhou, Xiaolin. The Politics of Language and Translation: Ideology and Structuring of the Subjectivity of Translators [J]. Journal of Sichuan International Studies University, 2008, 34 (5): 103-107.
[16] Cao, Minglun. On the Translator’s Subjectivity and Academic Talent [J]. Chinese Translators Journal, 2008 (4): 87-89.
[17] Levý, Jirí. Translation as A Decision Process. In Venuti, L. (ed.), The Translation Studies Reader [M]. Routledge, 2000.
[18] Hu, Weihua &J Guo, Jirong. A Study of Howard Goldblatt’s Subjectivity from the Perspective of Eco-translatology [J]. Technology Enhanced Foreign Language Education, 2017 (175): 52-57.
[19] Lan, Hongjun. Dilemma of translator’s Subjectivity and Construction of Translation Subjectivity [J]. Shanghai Translators Journal, 2017 (3): 21-27+93.
[20] He, Aijun. Social Discourse Analysis of the Translator’s Subjectivity: Focusing on Buddhist Scripture Translators and Modern Western Translators [M]. Science Press, 2015.
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  • APA Style

    Xia Lin, Huifang Li. (2023). Retrospect and Prospect of the Study of Translator’s Subjectivity in China. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 9(2), 37-42. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20230902.11

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    ACS Style

    Xia Lin; Huifang Li. Retrospect and Prospect of the Study of Translator’s Subjectivity in China. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2023, 9(2), 37-42. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20230902.11

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    AMA Style

    Xia Lin, Huifang Li. Retrospect and Prospect of the Study of Translator’s Subjectivity in China. Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2023;9(2):37-42. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20230902.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20230902.11,
      author = {Xia Lin and Huifang Li},
      title = {Retrospect and Prospect of the Study of Translator’s Subjectivity in China},
      journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation},
      volume = {9},
      number = {2},
      pages = {37-42},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20230902.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20230902.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20230902.11},
      abstract = {At the end of 20th century, influenced by the Cultural Turn of Translation Studies in the West and the discussion about the Chinese translation of The Red and The Black in China, the study of translator’s subjectivity became one of the main research objects among the Chinese scholars. Creativity and initiative are the original meaning of the translator’s subjectivity. Creativity presupposes initiative, and initiative points to creativity. The study of translator’s subjectivity is not to justify mistranslations and disorderly translations, but to objectively describe the actual situation of the translator in translation. This paper reviews the theoretic process of the translator’s turn, sorts out the representative achievements of the study of translator’s subjectivity, analyzes the permission of translator’s creativity in Western and Chinese traditional translation thoughts and looks forward to the development trend of the subjectivity research of translators. It is found that the creativity and initiative in limitation are the aesthetic and philosophic features of translator’s subjectivity respectively, which will never be altered by time or any thoughts. Besides, the translation itself is the unity of the translator’s creativity and initiative, and translator-centered studies of translation history and translation teaching will be the trends of the future study of translator’s subjectivity.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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    T2  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
    JF  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
    JO  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
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    AB  - At the end of 20th century, influenced by the Cultural Turn of Translation Studies in the West and the discussion about the Chinese translation of The Red and The Black in China, the study of translator’s subjectivity became one of the main research objects among the Chinese scholars. Creativity and initiative are the original meaning of the translator’s subjectivity. Creativity presupposes initiative, and initiative points to creativity. The study of translator’s subjectivity is not to justify mistranslations and disorderly translations, but to objectively describe the actual situation of the translator in translation. This paper reviews the theoretic process of the translator’s turn, sorts out the representative achievements of the study of translator’s subjectivity, analyzes the permission of translator’s creativity in Western and Chinese traditional translation thoughts and looks forward to the development trend of the subjectivity research of translators. It is found that the creativity and initiative in limitation are the aesthetic and philosophic features of translator’s subjectivity respectively, which will never be altered by time or any thoughts. Besides, the translation itself is the unity of the translator’s creativity and initiative, and translator-centered studies of translation history and translation teaching will be the trends of the future study of translator’s subjectivity.
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Author Information
  • School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

  • School of Humanities, Huzhou College, Huzhou, China

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