Contemporary Foreign Languages Studies ›› 2016, Vol. 16 ›› Issue (05): 86-89.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2016.05.012

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Translator Behavior Viewed from Identity Construction of Chinese American Acquired Language Writers — A Case Study of Chinese Translation of The Silence of Flight

TANG Lei   

  • Online:2016-09-28 Published:2020-07-25

Abstract: Chinese American acquired language writers have hybridized identity features of new migrants, with their writings unfolding the confusion and cultural adjustment resulting from the conflict of the two cultures. Whether the translator can realize the writers' identity construction process behind the words or not will influence his translation behavior. Through the analysis of the Chinese translation of The Silence of Flight, it is found that the translation strategies of cultural reconstruction and back translation in the broader sense are used by the translator, which indicates “utility attaining” outweighs “truth seeking” from the perspective of Translator Behavior Criticism. The translation basically embodies the writer's identity orientation from her gazing at homeland as well as her identity anxiety in “the other” culture. In light of the uniqueness of the contexts and the cultures, it is suggested that appropriate amplification should be used in the translation of the cultural background information of new migrants' experiences in western countries to better reflect the deep connotation of acquired language works.

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