Skopos-based Drama Translation

Drama could date back to the ancient Greece, which is a fruit of human civilization and a comprehensive form of art. Drama shapes characters and reflects social and cultural life through a variety of measures such as literary, performance, art, music and so on. Drama as a unique literary genre is greatly favored by people all over the world. Owing to its popularity, there have surged countless translations of world famous plays in various languages and cultures. Highly developed as drama is, the study on drama translation is rarely touched upon, resulting in its short history and lack of systematic theoretical foundation. Such phenomenon is largely due to the dualistic characteristic of drama as both a literary art and a theatrical art. To put it in another way, drama should be readable and performable and an excellent translated version should fulfill these two functions, which poses a greater challenge and difficulty to translators as drama is concerned compared to other literary genres. In view of this peculiarity of drama, a suitable translation theory is called for so as to provide sound guidance in drama translation practice.Among the numerous translation theories, the skopos theory of the German school has broken the yoke of the traditional equivalence-based linguistic translation theories and provides a brand-new perspective for translation practice as well as translation evaluation. The skopos theory lays great emphasis on the extratextual elements such as the intended function of the source text, the relationship between the translator and the target receiver and what’s more, the skopos of the translational action.By adopting a qualitative approach, through exemplification and listing, this paper presents a detailed analysis of Yang Xianyi’s translation of Pygmalion from the perspective of skopos theory with the purpose of addressing three issues:(1) how skopos theory can be applied to drama translation;(2) by what approach drama translation studies can be carried out;(3) what are the qualities of the translated versions of drama that enjoy popularity with both the reader and the audience.In this paper, drama is defined and the characteristics of drama are introduced. A review of the study of drama and drama translation is also presented, followed by a theoretical review of skopos theory, which serves as the basis of analysis in the case study. Then a descriptive analysis of Yang’s version of Pygmalion is made. Through typical extracts from the text, Yang’s translation strategies in drama translation practice can be observed in his transferring of cultural factors, ensuring of intratextual and intertextual coherence and making the target text loyal to the source text writer. After detailed linguistic and cultural analysis, the paper finally summarizes the major findings of the present study:(1) When utilized in drama translation, skopos theory can be specified into concrete aspects such as individuality, conciseness, colloquialism and actability.(2) Readability and performability approach should be taken in drama translation and both should be given due weight.(3) Only those translations of dramas that fulfill the skopos of the translational action and ensure readability and performability can find its popularity with readers and audiences.