On Inter-Subjectivity in Translation: The Chinese Poetry Translator Xu Yuanchong as a Case

Abstract

Inter-subjectivity in translation studies provides a new perspective for studies of translators’ subjectivity. The author as the creating subject of the source text, the translator as the translating subject, and the reader as the reception subject, is all involved in the whole process of translation activity. The three subjects should interact with each other and give their inter-subjectivity a full play. A case study of the Chinese scholar Xu Yuanchong’s translation of classic Chinese poetry shows that the translator should play the role of a good learner who has to obtain a thorough understanding of the author and the source culture, and also play the role of a qualified teacher who imparts both form and content of the source text to target readers in an easier and more effective way. In a word, inter-subjectivity in translation studies requires cross-cultural understanding and cooperation among the author, the translator and the target reader beyond time and space.