A study of Howard Goldblatt’s Translation Thoughts

A study of Howard Goldblatt’s Translation Thoughts

By

Tong Feiyan

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

May, 2016

A study of Howard Goldblatt’s Translation Thoughts

Tong Feiyan

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

Abstract: With the strengthened economic power and rising level of China’s opening up, more and more people become to pay attention to the translation and translators of Chinese literature. These translators who devote themselves to Chinese literary translation are divided into three types in general. The first type is the native translators who have excellent ability of Chinese understanding and English expressions but lack of life experience in English-speaking countries. The second is the overseas Chinese who live abroad for a long time with a profound Chinese cultural background. The third is the overseas sinologists who not only master English language and culture, but also are familiar with Chinese culture and custom. Howard Goldblatt is the very typical one. After a long time during which Chinese translation studies focused on the first and second types, educational circle has begun to turn attention to the third type recently. The study of translators which includes the study of translators’ thoughts and translation practice is one indispensible part of the whole translation research. This dissertation puts emphasis on the study of Howard Goldblatt’s translation thoughts. In this dissertation, Howard’s general translation thought is found that translators should hold responsibility for readers and form the translation consciousness of being reader-centered. As future translators, we can learn a lot from Howard’s translation concept which includes four aspects — “be faithful”, “be traitorous”, “be rewriting” and “be cross-cultural”. In the meantime, future translators can learn abundant translation strategies from Howard’s translation work.

Key words: Howard Goldblatt; Translation Achievements; Translation Thoughts; Translation Concept; Academic Influence

摘要

近年来，随着中国经济实力的增强和对外开放水平的提高，越来越多的人开始关注中国文学作品的翻译以及为其做出贡献的译者。从事中国文学翻译的译者大概分为三类。第一类是本土翻译家。他们有优秀的汉语理解能力和较强的英语表达能力，但缺乏在英语国家生活经历。第二类是海外华人。他们的中国文化底蕴深厚，而且拥有长期海外生活经历。第三类为以葛浩文（Howard Goldblatt）为代表的海外汉学家，他们了解精通英语和汉语两种语言习惯与文化生活。我国的翻译研究很长一段时间聚焦于第一类译者和第二类译者。近年来，学界也逐渐开始关注第三类译者，加强对他们的研究。对译者的研究主要包括对其翻译思想和翻译实践的研究, 这两点在翻译研究中占有举足轻重的地位。本文关于葛浩文翻译的研究着重于对其翻译观，翻译思想等领域的研究。这篇论文简单明了地指出葛浩文总的翻译思想就是译者应该肩负起对读者的责任，并形成时刻以读者为中心的翻译意识。作为后来的翻译晚辈，我们可以从葛浩文先生四个翻译理念，即“忠实”、“背叛”、“重写”、“跨文化”，中学习到很多的翻译实践知识。与此同时，我们还可以从葛浩文先生的翻译作品中学习到大量具体的翻译策略。

关键词：葛浩文 翻译作品 翻译观 翻译思想 影响

Contents

1. Brief Introduction 1

2. Translation Achievements 1

3. Previous Studies on Howard Goldblatt’s Translation Thoughts 2

3.1 Hou Yu and Zhu Hong’s View 3

3.2 Hu Anjiang’s view 8

4. Howard’s Views on Translation 10

4.1 Be Faithful 10

4.2 Be “Traitorous” 12

4.3 Be Rewriting 13

4.4 Be Cross-Cultural. 15

5. Academic Influence 16

6. Conclusion 18

6.1 Major Findings 18

6.2 Limitations and Further Suggestions 18

References 19

Acknowledgements 20

1. Brief Introduction

Howard Goldblatt, who was born in Long Beach, California in 1939, got a bachelor degree in Long Beach State University in 1961. During the period, he went to Taiwan and worked as a four-year naval office and learned Chinese gradually. And then during the Vietnam War he was sent to American Naval School and got a chance to have a further study of Chinese culture and custom. It is the very study experience which leads him to his research in Chinese translation. Finally, he obtained master degree from San Francisco State University and his PhD in the University of Indiana. And now, he is a professor of Chinese department at Notre Dame University, who has taught modern Chinese literature and culture for more than twenty years. During this period, he has done a lot of significant things. For example, he not only translated a mass of literary works, but also compiled some books about Chinese literature. Meanwhile, he founded the research journal, Modern Chinese Literature, which contributed to several periodical magazines, such as Washington Post, London Times, Times, World Literature Today, Los Angeles Times and so on. His contributions to translation has been supported and praised highly by more and more scholars.

2. Translation Achievements

In 1984, Howard Goldblatt founded the research journal, Modern Chinese Literature, and acted as chief editor for fifteen years. In 1989, the novel, Heavy Wings, which was written in Chinese by Zhang Jei and translated in English by Howard Goldblatt, was published officially in 1989 (Xie, 2015:17). It is Howard’s first translation work of Chinese literature. Howard said:

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