译者主体间性视阈下的《菜根谭》英译研究-以保罗·怀特和蒋坚松两译本为例分析的中期报告

译者主体间性视阈下的《菜根谭》英译研究——以保罗·怀特和蒋坚松两译本为例分析的中期报告Translator'sSubjectivityintheTranslationofCaiGenTan:AStudyoftheEnglishTranslationsbyPaulWhiteandJiangJiansongAbstract:CaiGenTanisarepresentativecollectionofancientChineseshortstories,whichreflectsthesocial,culturalandethicalaspectsofancientChina.AsaclassicofChineseliterature,ithasbeentranslatedintoEnglishseveraltimes,amongwhichthetranslationsbyPaulWhiteandJiangJiansongarewidelyrecognized.However,fewstudieshavebeenconductedtocomparethetwotranslationsfromtheperspectiveoftranslator'ssubjectivity.Thispaperaimstofillthisgapbyanalyzingthetwotranslationsthroughthelensoftranslator'ssubjectivity,withafocusonthreeaspects:linguisticexpression,culturalinterpretation,andethicalimplications.Thepreliminaryfindingsshowthatbothtranslatorshavetheirownsubjectivities,whicharereflectedintheirtranslationsintermsofchoiceofwords,culturalcontext,andethicalstance.Byexaminingthedifferencesandsimilaritiesbetweenthetwotranslations,thisstudyaimstocontributetotheunderstandingoftheinteractionbetweentranslationandsubjectivity,andshedlightonthesignificanceoftranslator'ssubjectivityincross-culturalcommunication.Introduction:CaiGenTan,firstpublishedintheMingDynasty,isacollectionofshortstoriesthatillustratevariousaspectsofancientChinesesociety,suchasConfucianethics,Taoistphilosophy,Buddhistthought,folkbeliefsandcustoms.Itisknownforitsprofoundinsightsintohumannature,itsvividdescriptionsofcharacters'emotionsandbehaviors,anditspoeticlanguageandimagery.Asaresult,ithasbeentranslatedintoEnglishseveraltimes,amongwhichtwotranslationsbyPaulWhiteandJiangJiansongareparticularlyinfluential.Whilethetwotranslationsaregenerallyconsideredcompetentandfaithful,therearesubtledifferencesintheirstyles,tone,andinterpretationofthetext,whichreflectthetranslator'ssubjectivity.Inthisstudy,weseektoexplorethetranslator'ssubjectivityinthetwotranslationsthroughthefollowingresearchquestions:1.Whatarethelinguisticandstylisticfeaturesofthetwotranslations,andhowdotheyreflectthetranslator'ssubjectivity?2.HowdothetwotranslationsinterpretChineseculture,andwhataretheculturalimplicationsoftheirinterpretations?3.Howdothetwotranslationsconveytheethicalmessagesofthestories,andwhataretheimplicationsoftheirethicalstance?Methodology:Thisstudyemploysaqualitativeresearchmethod,whichinvolvesclosereadingandtextualanalysisofselectedstoriesinthetwotranslations.Theselectedstoriesarechosenbasedontheirpopularity,diversity,andrepresentsthedifferentthemesandgenresinthecollection.Wewilluseacomparativeapproachtoexaminethesimilaritiesanddifferencesinthetwotranslations,andtrytoidentifythetranslator'ssubjectivityfromthelinguistic,cultural,andethicalperspective.Inaddition,wewillconsultrelevantliteratureontranslationtheory,cross-culturalcommunication,andChineseliteraryhistoryandcriticism,inordertoprovideatheoreticalframeworkfortheanalysisandinterpretationofthefindings.PreliminaryFindings:ThepreliminaryfindingsofthisstudysuggestthatbothPaulWhiteandJiangJiansonghavetheirownsubjectivities,whicharemanifestedintheirtranslationsinvariousways.Intermsoflinguisticexpression,PaulWhitetendstouseamorepoeticandmetaphoricallanguage,withatendencytoemphasizethemusicalqualityofthetext.Jiang,ontheotherhand,adoptsamorestraightforwardandinformativestyle,withapreferenceforclarityandaccuracy.Intermsofculturalinterpretation,PaulWhiteseemstobemorefamiliarwiththeChineseculturaltradition,andismorewillingtouseChineseidioms,proverbs,andallusionstoconveythemeaningandflavoroftheoriginaltext.Jiang,however,ismoreinclinedtoexplaintheculturalcontextandbackgroundofthestories,andtousefootnotesandannotationstohelpthereadersunderstandthetext.Intermsofethicalimplications,PaulWhitetendstoemphasizetheConfucianvaluesofmorality,filialpiety,andrighteousness,andoftenportraysthecharactersasexemplarsofthesevirtues.Jiang,ontheotherhand,ismorecriticalofthesocialandpoliticalrealitiesofthetime,andoftenhighlightstheconflictsandcontradictionsbetweenindividualinterestsandcollectivevalues.Conclusion:Thisstudyshedslightonthetranslator'ssubjectivityinthetranslationofCaiGenTan,anddemonstratestheimportanceofthissubjectivityincross-culturalcommunication.ThefindingsshowthatbothPaulWhiteandJiangJiansonghavetheirownperspectives,values,andpreferences,whichshapetheirchoicesofwords,culturalinterpretation,andethicalimplications.Bycomparingthetwotranslations,wecanseethedifferentwaysinwhichthetranslat