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
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54691/460rnc88Keywords:
Mencius; translator's subjectivity; core concepts; English translation studies.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.
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References
[1] Mencius: Mencius, trans. D.C. Lau (Penguin Books Ltd., England 1970).
[2] James Legge: The Chinese Classics: The Works of Mencius (Trübner & Co., London 1861).
[3] L.L. Chen: An Analysis of the Overview of the Translation Versions of Mencius, Journal of Chongqing Three Gorges University*, Vol. 2013 (2013) No. 2, p.103-106+121.
[4] F.Y. Lan: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy, trans. Z.F. Zhao (Beijing United Publishing Company, China 2017).
[5] S. Hua: Hua Shang Discusses "Mencius" (Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House, China 2017).
[6] D.C. Lau: A Concordance to the Mencius (Commercial Press, Hong Kong 1995).
[7] Mencius: Mencius, trans. Mu Yu (Jiangxi People’s Publishing House, China 2017).
[8] H.J. Nan: Seven Lectures on Mencius (Oriental Press, China 2015).
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