A Comparative Study of Lu Gusun’s and Liu Xuming’s Translations of The Death of the Moth from the Perspective of Translator’s Subjectivity

Abstract

Given that interpretations and translation approaches can vary significantly depending on the translator, the translator’s subjectivity is increasingly emphasized in contemporary translation studies. Prose, with its wide range of expressive possibilities and distinctive stylistic features, assigns a particularly important role to the translator’s subjectivity in the translation process. This study focuses on Virginia Woolf’s The Death of the Moth, a work that combines a world woven from delicate emotions with profound philosophical reflections on life and death. It examines the translations by Lu Gusun and Liu Xuming from four perspectives: lexical choice, syntactic structure, semantic transposition, and stylistic reproduction. The results indicate that Lu Gusun prioritizes accuracy, syntactic fidelity, depth of meaning, and comprehensiveness in conveying literary value, striving to reproduce the rhythm of Woolf’s stream of consciousness and the philosophical depth of the work. In contrast, Liu Xuming prioritizes plain language, smoother readability, clearer meaning, and a more restrained style to enhance emotional immersion and reading comfort. These differences stem from the translators’ educational backgrounds, views on translation, and aesthetic preferences, reflecting the diversity of translation.