Translation Of The Wu Ballads Revisited

The present thesis devotes mainly to the translation triangle of function, process and product within the branch of Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) on the one hand and the interpretation of the specific translating activity of the Wu ballads by applying the proposed normaskopic model on the other, all with a view to shedding light on how translation theories of a more applied nature function to bridge the yawning gap between them and translation performances. The overall framework of this thesis is arranged as follows:First of all, the subject matter──the products and the very act of translating the Wu ballads, is introduced after a general survey is conducted to such a special folkloric genre within the literary polysystem as to its present status of preservation, collection, studies and research hitherto involved, raising awareness of and arousing attention to this non-material oral cultural heritage.Then, a normaskopic model is framed, featuring the fulfillment of the skopos subject to norms, on the basis of the integration of the norm theory and skopos theory, two target-oriented translation perspectives, to offer an approach to DTS with more descriptive and explanatory force.Finally, the proposed normaskopic framework is applied to the interpretation and justification of the translating activity of the Wu ballads at three different stages──pre-translating, while-translating and post-translating, to show how the model functions in real context of situation.It is hoped that this study may serve as a point of departure for further research in the descriptive direction of Translation Studies. Nonetheless, far from wishing to attain a general agreement, the main intentions of this thesis are to stir a debate over the future perspectives of DTS, to reinvigorate efforts to link theory and practice, and to inject an interest in the inquiry of peripheral genres or fields within a certain polysystem in particular.