On Translation Of Dramatic Text

Translators are the medium between the original and the translated text. This opinion isshared by everyone in translation field. However, it seems that traditional translation studiesstill hold translators function like a tool in their practice of translating. Their focus is on thecomparison between the original and the translated. The impact of factors relevant totranslators upon the translated text seems to be ignored.Like the author of the original, translators have their own purpose-the purpose oftranslation. Although working on the basis of the original, translators form their purposesbefore translating. Guided by such purposes, translators adopt their translation strategy. Inturn, these considerations are reflected in renditions.Inspired by such this, the thesis chooses Zhu Shenghao's version of Hamlet for casestudy. Translation of dramatic text is different from other literature. Translators have to takethe application of their versions into consideration: for reading or for performance, andaccordingly adopt their translation strategy and methods. Hamlet as the representative ofShakespeare's drama, boasts various forms, rich language and cultural allusions, which are allhard for translators to deal with. So the discussion about translators' treatment in these aspectsis worthwhile from the perspective of translation strategy. This thesis attempts to explore towhat extent, Zhu's translation is influenced by his purpose and further highlight theimportance of the latter in the former. Meanwhile Zhu's distinctive and disputed translation isexplained.Now there are theories and studies of translators' purpose and dramatic text translationhome and abroad. A brief review of them lays a foundation for the analysis of Zhu's version inthesis. Zhu Shenghao is to popularize Shakespeare's drama in China by performance, so hetries to make his translation understandable and attractive, and highlight the plot of the play.To achieve that, Zhu adopts many methods. The main part of the thesis analyzes Zhu's versionof Hamlet and describes the impact of his purpose upon his version from the aspects of form,tone and changes of content.Major findings of the thesis are the purpose of popularizing Shakespeare's drama byperformance determines Zhu's translation strategy of making his version acceptable toChinese audience and further leads to his corresponding adoption in form, tone and changesof content in his version of Hamlet. Two points are emphasized from the demonstration of thisthesis: (1) translators' purpose exerts impact upon his translation strategy;(2) criticism cannotbe carried out on translations without taking translators' purpose into consideration.