Study on the English translation of excerpts from Mencius: Gong Sun Chou based on translator’s subjectivity

Taking the translations by James Legge, Derk Bodde, and D.C. Lau as examples

Abstract

The translator is the subject of translation, serving as a medium for cultural exchange and communication. However, translators in the external dissemination of Chinese culture have long been neglected and marginalized. With the “cultural turn” in translation studies, translators have gained due attention. As one of the representative works of Confucianism, Mencius is an important part of traditional Chinese culture, but its foreign translation is later than the Analects of Confucius and other classics, which also reflects the problem of scholars’ insufficient investment in its research. This paper makes a comparative analysis of how the English translation of the core concepts of Mencius by James Legge, Derk Bodde and D.C. LAU reflects the translator’s subjectivity, and in turn how the translator’s subjectivity affects their translation strategy, in order to make a contribution to the foreign translation of classics.