2.1.2 The Subjectivity of Translation
In philosophy, subjectivity means the power of the subject which changes, influences and controls the object so as to make the object serve for the subject (Wang, 1995, p. 35). The above definition of subjectivity means that the subject has power or right to demonstrate while contacting with the object. When it comes to translation, the subjectivity of translation in fact refers to the subjectivity of the translator.
Based on the philosophical definition of subjectivity, Zha Mingjian and Tian Yu (2003) define the subjectivity of the translator as the subjective initiative showed by the translator who aims to realize his translation goal in the translation progress on the condition of respecting the translation object (p. 22). From the definition given by Zha  and Tian, we can infer that whenever the translator does a translation work, whether actively or passively, he/ she bears a certain goal in mind. And Xu Jun (2002) points out that the problems of how to choose exist in the entire translation process, and both what to translate and how to translate involve the translator’s choices (p. 68). In a word, how to translate usually means how to choose appropriate translation strategies and methods, which requires the display of the translator’s subjective initiative.
Some scholars hold that the translator’s subjectivity has constraints too. For example, according to the definition given by Zha and Tian (2003), the translator needs to respect the source-text (p. 22), which means that the translator should be faithful to the original text rather than alter the original ideas randomly without restriction. For another example, Nida and Taber (2004) place the focus on the “the response of the receptor” and advocate that “correctness must be determined by the extent to which the average reader for which a translation is intended will be likely to understand it correctly” (p. 1), which requires that the translator needs to take the target reader into consideration while producing his/ her target text.
2.1.3 The Overseas and Domestic Research Concerning the Translator’s Subjectivity
Since the emergence of the “cultural turn”, the translator’s subjectivity finally catches greater attention from both Western and Chinese translation scholars. “Cultural turn” was formally put forward by Bassnett and Lefevere in the 1990s and Yang Jie (2013) points out that it completely liberates the translator and recognizes the translator’s subjectivity at the theoretic level (p. 29).
In the west, Nida is among the first to argue for the translator’s subjectivity. As Nida (2004) points out, “in our present world, the need for extensive, accurate, and effective communications between those using different languages gives the translator a position of new and strategic importance” (p. 155). That is to say, the translator plays an important role in the translation process. Hatim and Mason also realize the importance of the translator’s role: “What has value as a sign in one cultural community may be devoid of significance in another and it is the translator who is uniquely placed to identify the disparity and seek to resolve it” (Hatim & Mason, 2001, p. 223-224).
In China, many scholars have made their contributions to the study of the subjectivity of the translator. Xie Tianzhen (1999) puts forward the concept of “creative treason” in his Medio-Translatology, which states that the translator conducts conscious and unconscious creative treason when he is considering the issue about how to translate (p. 145-146). Xie (2014) also points out that creative treason makes people realize that the translated work is not just the simple copy of the original text so as to draw the researchers’ attention to the unique contributions of the translator (p. 35). Yuan Li (1996) argues that the quality of a translated work depends on the translator’s subject consciousness to a large extent, the ignorance of which makes it impossible to solve the radical problems in translation (p. 8). According to Yang Wuneng (2003) , “literary translators are the subjects of literary translation”, “the study of translators should become an important integral part of translation studies” and “the copy right of translators and their other rights must be duly respected ” (p. 10). Xie Shijian (2004) points out that “the subjectivity of translators is an objective reality in the translation of literature” (p. 152). 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(4):http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_22642.html