On The Bias Of The "Skopos Theory" Through The English Versions Of Ancient Chinese Poetry

In the field of literary translation, the peculiarity of poetry determines the difficulties of its translation, and especially the translation of ancient Chinese poetry into English is more difficult. For the long time, translation of ancient Chinese poetry has not formed a large scale. For a long time, the studies on Chinese ancient poetry translation are mostly confined to the field of translation strategies. There are few systematical theories on it. Most of the studies are based on a certain western translation theory, and often points out the referential and positive roles of them, without analyzing the defects or shortcomings of such theories. Therefore, this thesis bases on the"skopos theory", from the perspective of the English versions of ancient Chinese poetry, illustrates the defects and limitations of"skopos theory"in guiding such literary translation.The translation functionalist school has been one of the most effective schools of translation in Germany since 1970s, which is with the characteristics of Germany. The founder, Han J. Vermeer, advocates Skopos Theory in his book The Frame of a General Translation Theory, which focuses on the social, cultural and communicative function of translation. Since then, the theory has gained many followers'support, first is his tutor Katharina Reiss, and then such as Christiane Nord, Holz Manttaris, Jeremy Munday, etc. With the appearance of more and more English versions of Skopos theory, it has been one of the most popular translation schools in the world. There appear more and more studies on it. There is more criticism than acclaim overseas, but it is the opposite in our country. On the basis of reading extensively the original works and reference books of"skopos theory", coupled with the analysis of the English versions of many ancient Chinese poems, the thesis mainly points out the limitations of the theory in guiding such literary translation as the ancient Chinese poetry, which are shown as follows: Bias I. Dethronement of the source text; Bias II. Unsuitable ideas of readers being the translation reviewers; Bias III. Some ambiguities of the"Skopos"and overstated general purpose of"to earn a living"of translators. This thesis has a detailed illustration on such limitations.This thesis consists of six parts. The first part serves as the introduction, explaining the background and significance of the research. Meanwhile, it introduces the methodology adopted in the thesis.The second part has a general survey of"Skopos"theory to show a panorama of the present situation of the theory study. And then this part shows the characteristics of ancient Chinese poetry and gives an introduction and review on the study of translating the ancient Chinese poems. Lastly it illustrates the feasibility and necessity of analyzing the limitations of Skopos theory from the perspective of ancient Chinese poetry translation.Chapter Three focuses on the first bias of the Skopos theory through the English versions of ancient Chinese poetry: dethronement of the source text. It points out that dethronement of the source text may have many defects as follows: the exaggeration of the subjectivity of the translator; addition and deletion of the contents of the source text as well as damage of the beauty of the source text which may cause the detriment of the authority of the source text.Chapter Four explains the second bias of the Skopos theory through the English versions of the ancient Chinese poetry: unsuitable ideas of the readers being the translation reviewers. Since there are various kinds of readers, the standards of the English versions can not be unified. What's more, it may easily produce some inferior-quality translation works which cater to the interests of readers for the"reader-oriented"idea.Chapter Five illustrates the third bias of the Skopos theory: Some ambiguities of the Skopos and overstated general purpose of"to earn a living of translators. It points out some the ambiguities of Skopos and the disadvantages of the extratextual-factors-based Skopos. Furthermore, this part states that the general purpose of"to earn a living"possesses a strong propensity for utilitarianism and pragmatism, which is not suitable for the ancient poetry translators.The last part of the research is the conclusion of the whole paper. It summarizes the main points of the thesis, and advocates the correct attitude toward the western translation theories, that is, such theories should be treated dialectically instead of being accepted blindly. Meanwhile, it points out the originalities and the limitations of the thesis and puts forward suggestions for the further study.