Drama Translation: Linguistics And Culture

The study of drama translation is a comparatively less explored area characterized by a serious lack of guiding theory, and therefore theatrical performance as the ultimate fulfillment of translated drama's special property has conveniently been neglected. Beijing Opera, the refined traditional Chinese form of art, is one of the best representatives of the essence of Chinese culture. However, like other Chinese traditional art forms, Beijing Opera is in face of the predicament of how it can be introduced to the foreign audience on stage with its own flavor. In order to compensate for the limitation of drama translation studies, more specifically, the Beijing Opera translation, the present thesis sets out to prospect a tentative criterion and approach for it.Every text-type has its own peculiarity that distinguishes it from others, and different text-types should be dealt with respectively when translated. There is no universally applicable translation theory that is proper for all types of text. Consequently, in translating drama which has its own uniqueness, a translator should adopt translation theories and principles that are the most relevant. It is put forward in this thesis that drama is different from other literary genres in that drama is more of a performing art than a mere linguistic art and accordingly demandsthe audience's real-time acceptability and respondence. The translation of drama, therefore, should take the "performability" to the performer and the "acceptability" of the audience into serious consideration. On the premise that "performability" and "acceptability" are guaranteed, a higher standard of achieve the aesthetic function of Beijing Opera is raised. After a general analysis on Mrs. Elizabeth Wichmann's version of The Phoenix Returns to Its Nest, Mr. Mei Lanfang's representative work of Beijing Opera, some clues are revealed to translate a stageable Beijing Opera. With proper techniques on linguistic, balance of domestication and foreigniztion on culture, and creative efforts made by the translator, the mission of Beijing Opera translation is not impossible.