A Comparative Study of Two English Translations of Chuan Xi Lu from the Perspective of Translator Behavior Evaluation

Abstract

This study draws on the theory of translator behavior evaluation, taking the English translations of “Chuan Xi Lu” by American translator Henke and Chinese-American translator Chen Rongjie as the main research objects. By examining the identity attributes of the two translators, it explores the translator behaviors they exhibit in the translation of “Chuan Xi Lu” and reveals the historical and cultural motivations behind them. This study employs the methods of literature analysis, text close reading, and text comparative analysis to summarize and analyze the translation features of “Chuan Xi Lu”. It also combines the “truth-seeking-pragmatism” continuum evaluation model in the theory of translator behavior evaluation to analyze the translator’s behavior, mainly from the following two perspectives: within translation, as a language person, how can the translator make the translation seek truth from the original text? Beyond translation, as social beings, how can translators make their translations practical for society? Therefore, the research steps of this paper are divided into three steps: The first step is to analyze the identities of the two translators within the translation, and based on this, analyze the translators’ in-translation behaviors in seeking the truth of language meaning at the language level of the translation and their reasons; The second step is to analyze the identities of the two translators from outside the translation, and based on this, analyze the translator’s out-of-translation behaviors in choosing translation strategies and methods under the influence of social environmental factors such as social politics, historical context, and reader consciousness. The third step is to analyze and summarize whether the two translators tend to be more truth-seeking or more pragmatic in the “truth-seeking-pragmatic” continuum evaluation model, as well as the reasons for the differences in their behaviors.