An Analysis of the Translator’s Subjectivity in Yan Fu’s Translation Activities from the Perspective of Lefevere’s Manipulation Theory

Belgian scholar Andre Lefevere introduced the concept of “rewriting” into translation studies, maintaining that “rewriting” was mainly influenced by ideology, poetics as well as patronage. On the basis of Lefevere’s manipulation theory, this paper makes a detailed analysis on the translation activities of Yan Fu, a famous thinker and translator in the modern history of China, through literature research method and deductive method. This paper mainly analyzes the influence of ideology, poetics and patronage on Yan Fu’s translation activities in the late Qing Dynasty. Under the influence of these three factors, how Yan Fu show his translator’s subjectivity, determine his own translation purpose, translation materials, translation audience and translation methods are also discussed.