1.2 The Significance of the Research
First of all, the thesis conducts the study of the translator’s subjectivity within the framework of the Skopostheorie. Unlike most previous studies whose statements and conclusions are usually on a general level, the thesis focuses on researching the demonstration of the translator’s subjectivity by analyzing how the translator chooses specific translation strategies and methods under the influence of the translation purpose and the target reader.
Secondly, the thesis helps people understand the unique role of the translator in the translation process. According to the findings of the thesis, Lu Qiuying is not simply a translator that transforms the English language into the Chinese language while doing her translation work. On the contrary, she plays the role of a careful and responsible reader of the source text, a psychologist that fully understands the need of the target young Chinese readers and finally a talented translator.
1.3 The Research Questions
In order to realize the research purpose mentioned in the above, the thesis attempts to answer the following questions:
How does Lu Qiuying demonstrate the translator’s subjectivity in her translation process?
How does the translation purpose exert influence on the translator in his/her independent selection of certain translation strategies or methods?
How does the target reader restrict the absolute freedom of the translator?
1.4 The Overall Structure of the Thesis
The thesis altogether has five chapters. Chapter One presents the research purpose, the research significance and the research questions; Chapter Two briefly introduces the definitions of the Skopostheorie, the translator’s subjectivity and states the possibility of researching the translator’s subjectivity within the framework of the Skopostheorie; Chapter There presents the research methodology and defines relevant translation strategies and methods in detail; Chapter Four conducts a case study of Lu Qiuying’s English-to-Chinese version of the novel entitled The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie, a famous American Indian writer; Chapter Five presents major findings, states the limitations of the research and puts forward recommendations for further research.
Chapter Two Literature Review
2.1 The Translator’s Subjectivity
2.1.1 The Subject of Translation
    For a long time, scholars and theorists have been debating as to who should be the subject of translation and they come to their various conclusions. Xu Jun (2014) summarizes that there are mainly four kinds of opinions: the translator is the subject of translation; the original author and the translator are the subjects of translation; the translator and the target reader are the subjects of translation; the original author, the translator and the target reader are subjects of translation (p. 125). Generally speaking, the major difference of the debate lies in that whether the translator is the sole subject of the translation or that the translator, the author and the target reader are all the subjects of translation. Scholars have their own understandings. For example, Zha Mingjian and Tian Yu (2003) state that different understandings of the translation subject are due to different understandings of the concept of translation. In their opinion, if translation only refers to the translation behavior itself, the translator will be the sole translation subject while the original author and original source text will be the objects of translation. But if we view translation from a broad view, the translator, the author and the target reader can all be the subjects of translation, each of which stands for different significance (p. 21). Chen Daliang (2004) agrees that the translator is the only subject rather than the original author or the target reader and he further points out that the translator is the subject of translation, the author is the subject of literary creation and the target reader is the subject of acceptance (p. 6). In a word, they all agree that the translator should be included in the category of the subject of translation. 以目的论为理论卢秋莹汉译本《我就是要挑战这世界》翻译方法(3):http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_22642.html