Under the background of the turn, the role of the translator has become increasingly prominent. Translator himself belongs to a specific culture and all the factors, such as gender, race, class, ideological features and education background, have an impact on translation itself. Moreover, as the dominant factor in translation, translator is inevitably affected by his or her cultural identity. Therefore, translator's cultural identity leaves a detectable trace in the translation work.

Howard Goldblatt is a literary translator of numerous works of contemporary Chinese fictions. Goldblatt also translated works of Chinese novelist and 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Mo Yan, including six of Mo Yan's novels and collections of stories. He was a Research Professor of Chinese at the University of Notre Dame from 2002 to 2011.

By analyzing and discussing the characteristics of the Goldblatt's cultural identity, I have found that he holds many aggressive ideas about translation and know how to translate effectively. So, he has done a very good job in translating Mo Yan's works.

1.2 Purpose and Significance of the Study

This thesis probes into the translator's cultural identity so as to explore how translator's cultural identity influences his translation. By analysis the versions of Shifu, You’ll Do Anything for a Laugh by Howard Goldblatt, this thesis demonstrates the influence of translators' beliefs on their interpretation of key terms and cultural messages, and illuminates the impact of translators' background knowledge and modes of thinking on their translation style. The study aims to draw more attention to the role of the translator's cultural identity.

The value and significance of the thesis mainly lies in the following two aspects. Firstly, the introduction of cultural identity into translation study enlarges the research space for translator study. Secondly, an analysis of the translator's cultural identity enables us to better understand his translation work, translation strategy and cultural preference.