The Skopos Theory And Drama Translation

The study of drama translation is a comparatively less explored areacharacterized by a serious lack of theory to account for drama's specialproperties, among which, performability and culturally-loadedness are themost distinctive. It therefore results in two functions to be fulfilled bydrama translation, which is also a conflict: the adaptation to stageperformance and the faithful transmission of cultural specificity. It posesas an urgent issue to find a resolution. However, there is a relativeabsence of theoretical concern and writing on this point. In order tocompensate for this limitation, the present thesis aims at examiningdrama translation from a functional perspective, viewing the two aspectsof the conflict with reference to the purpose of the translation. TheSkopos theory is adopted by the author as the theoretical basis on whichthe study is based, and through a scrutinized sample analysis of YingRuocheng's translation of Teahouse, a skopos-oriented approach is highlyadvocated in dealing with the conflict in drama translation.Drama is a special linguistic art targeting the stage and imbeddedwith cultural peculiarity. Consequently drama translation is supposed totake both aspects into consideration: ensuring the performability in targetculture and transmitting properties of source culture. To fulfill these twofunctions, there appears a contradiction between adaptation andtransmission. Only by determining the skopos (purpose) of the translationof a drama can a translator skillfully solve the contradiction and approachthe play with appropriate strategies. To illustrate the validity andexemplify the applicability of the Skopos theory, the present paper givesan analysis of Ying Ruocheng's translation of Teahouse within theframework of the theory, with the hope of finding some insights into thepractice and the theoretical study of drama translation.Structurally, the paper consists of five chapters. Chapter One gives ageneral introduction to drama translation, including a definition of drama,a summary of the features of drama language, the contradiction in dramatranslation and a review of the study of drama translation at home andabroad. Chapter Two is devoted to the introduction of the Skopos theory,with some key concepts of the basic theory specially defined and itsinfluence on drama translation clearly referred to. Chapter three providesinformation about the drama Teahouse, its translation and the translatorYing Ruocheng. Chapter Four offers a tentative analysis of the translationof Teahouse under the guidance of the Skopos theory from five specifictranslation briefs. Chapter Five draws a conclusion about the significanceof the Skopos theory in the field of drama translation.