On The Translation Of Children's Literature From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

This study explores the application of skopos theory in the translation of children's literature, through a contrastive study of two Chinese versions of Anne of Green Gables. Skopos theory provides a new perspective for translation study. It holds that translation methods or strategies should be determined by the intended function of the target text. Children's literature, as a branch of literature, shares the common characteristics of literature while bears its own distinctive features. Guided by different purposes, the two translators in the present case produce two versions that differ a lot in linguistic form, linguistic content and linguistic style.The big differences in linguistic form, linguistic content and linguistic style between the two Chinese versions of Anne of Green Gables offer a typical sample for translation criticism. From the perspective of skopos theory, this thesis probes into the reasons behind the different translation strategies and the effects brought by. The thesis confirms the rationality for which the translators adopt different translation strategies for various purposes. The thesis holds that translation criticism should not be conducted merely according to prescriptive translation criteria and the factors such as translation purpose and translation strategies should also be taken into consideration, thus the translation criticism can be carried out from a broader angle.Based on skopos theory, with the cognitive features of children and the linguistic characteristics of children's literature viewed, the thesis makes a detailed comparative study of differences between the two Chinese versions of Anne of Green Gables from the following three aspects: linguistic form, linguistic content and linguistic style. After a detailed analysis, the author draws a conclusion that those differences are caused by different translation purposes, which lead to different translation strategies adopted by translators, resulting in two versions different from each other in linguistic form, linguistic content and linguistic style.