A Study Of Drama Translation In The 1920s Of China

Despite one hundred years' history of drama translation, no systematic study of it has been carried out so far in Chinese translation studies. In the process of introducing foreign drama, the first three decades of the 20th century witness the prosperity of drama translation, especially the 1920s, with its unique characteristics in the selection of plays and translation strategies. To complete a history of Chinese modern translated literature, the 1920s is an inseparable part.This paper adopts the reception theory and the horizontal pattern of research for a detailed study on the individual and public horizons of expectations of the translators and the target readership in the 1920s. It describes the selection of plays and translation strategies, with an attempt to give a thorough picture of drama translation of that period. Through analysis, it holds that the horizon of expectations of readers exerts a decisive influence upon the drama translation in the 1920s. Based on this, it finds that drama translation in the 1920s is a paradox: the reason for the large-scaled translation of foreign plays is to enlighten the masses; however, it is the domesticated adaptations that are actually accepted by the masses. The national crisis of the 1920s arouses progressive translators' patriotic spirit, which has exerted a great impact on the selection of plays. "Realistic" is a criterion for the reception of plays of various literary schools. The critical spirit of the May Fourth Movement makes translators prefer the foreign plays of bitter and incisive sarcasm style. The themes of the works are mostly limited in the field of patriotism, anti-feudalism and anti-imperialism, sarcasm and exposure of social evils, sympathy for the poor, protest against war. The target readers' influence on translation is reflected on the different strategies adopted by the translators. Drama translation intended for reading and imitating of the progressive youth has the Europeanized tendency, even "Siyi". To attract the masses, theatre translators use domesticated adaptation of foreign dramas with an attempt to reach the fusion of horizon of expectations of the audience who have been cultivated by the traditional drama culture which has a history of nearly two thousands years.Structurally, the paper is divided into five chapters. Chapter one serves as an introduction, providing the necessity and significance of the study, a review of the study of drama translation at home, an introduction of the theoretical base, the hypothesis and structure of the thesis. Chapter two is devoted to the introduction of reception theory, the key notion of horizon of expectations and its application in translation studies. Chapter three gives a detailed study of the individual horizon of expectations of the 1920s, followed by its decisive influence upon the selection of plays. Chapter four studies the public horizon of expectations of different reader groups, which determines the strategies used in drama translation. The conclusion part gives a closing remark about the new findings, limitations of the present paper and some suggestions for future research.This paper only adopts the level pattern, studying the drama translation in the 1920s. The vertical pattern of research needs to be done on the translation and reception of foreign plays in other periods.