Translator’s Subjectivity in Eco-Translatology

Abstract

This paper aims to examine translator’s subjectivity from the perspective of eco translatology. Translator’s subjectivity emphasizes the subjective initiative of translators in the process of translation. However, the identity of translators is invisible in the viewpoints of traditional translation theories, which means that translation is studied with either writer or text as the center. Eco translatology, a new translation theory brought forth by Hu Gengshen, assumes that translators should be placed at the central position during translation practice since translation is actually the cyclical alternation of adaptation and selection in the ecological environment of translation which involves elements such as author, source text, translator, target text, reader, and publisher. According to eco translatology, translators, as the center of translation, are allowed to make selective adaptation and adaptive selection so as to keep the balance and harmony of the ecological environment. Selective adaptation means that translators are supposed to select the text of which they are capable for translation. Adaptive selection means that translators are allowed to make adaptations to the target text based on other factors in the ecological environment of translation. Translator’s subjectivity, namely translator centeredness, is shown in the continuous process of adaptation and selection, and embodied in the three dimensional transformations of language, culture and communication.