Abstract
In putting a literary work into another language, the translator functions as a literary critic, whose task requires both language competence and critical perception. As Venuti writes, “A translation does not communicate the source text itself but the translator’s interpretation of it”. The translation, therefore, can be considered as another form of literary criticism, inspiring the reader to enrich the repertoire of the source text. A comparative reading of the source text against the translation engages the reader in processing three-fold interpretations, leading to a multifaceted communication among the source text, the translator and the reader. The reading of the translation constitutes a meeting ground where readers communicate their interpretations with both the source text and the translation. This article examines how such reading constructs the theme of gaining and losing, the writing style, and the subversive act of transcending the gaining of material benefits as manifested in the translation of Henry James’s Washington Square.
Recommended Citation
Li, Jin
(2024)
"Beyond Gaining and Losing: A Thematic Approach to The Translation of Washington Square,"
Living in Languages: Vol. 3, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/liljournal/vol3/iss1/8