A Study on the Translation of Literary Book Titles from the Perspective of Translator’s Subjectivity—A Semi-structured Interview with Li Yao

Abstract

Titles are the first stimuli that make the readers have the desire to read. However, the translation of book titles has been neglected by many scholars. Translator’s subjectivity is a new subject of translation theory research which is applied to study the embodiment of translator’s subjective initiative, passivity and egoism in the process of translation. However, the translator’s personal style, thinking activities and psychological state are rarely mentioned in the translator’s subjectivity theory. Few scholars have studied the translation of literary book titles from translator’s subjectivity. Through conducting a semi-structured interview with Li Yao, this paper aims to explore the embodiment of translator’s subjectivity in the translation of literary book titles. This paper finds that translators can exert subjective initiative in selecting translation materials and methods, but this initiative is limited by original authors, readers and publishers. This paper enriches the translator’s subjectivity theory, provides a new perspective for studying the translation of literary book titles and is beneficial to improve the status of translators.