On Fiction Translation From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory-A Study Of Two English Versions Of Luotuo Xiangzi

Fiction is a literary form designed for public readers and imbedded with cultural peculiarity. Consequently fiction translation is supposed to take both aspects into consideration: ensuring the readability in target culture and transmitting properties of source culture. Due attention should be given to not only the intra-text factors but also extra-text factors. However, the traditional translation theories are comparatively more based on linguistics, which sees translation as the transfer of two languages, emphasizes the core role of the source text and therefore neglects the extra-text factors in shaping a translation and cannot account for fiction's special properties, such as the readability and culturally-loadedness, etc. Therefore, it results in two conflicting functions to be fulfilled by fiction translation: the adaptation to the target readers and the faithful transmission of cultural specificity. In order to compensate for the limitation, the present thesis aims at examining fiction translation from a functional perspective, viewing the two aspects of the conflict with reference to the purpose of the translation. The Skopos theory is adopted as the theoretical basis on which this study is based, and through a scrutinized sample analysis of Lao She's Luotuo Xiangzi, a skopos-oriented approach is highly advocated in dealing with the conflict in fiction translation.To illustrate the validity and exemplify the applicability of the Skopos theory, the present paper attempts to make a comparative study of the two English versions of Luotuo Xiangzi and probe into the application of Skopos theory in translation criticism. According to Skopos theory, translation is a purposeful intercultural action. The production of any translation is conditioned by many factors. The purpose of the overall translation action determines the translation strategies. As a break from the equivalence-oriented linguistic translation theory, Skopos theory places emphasis on the interaction of the intention of the original author, the translator and the target text readers, and offers a dynamic and multi-dimensional perspective on translation criticism. When applied to the evaluation of translation, it calls attention to the factors such as the translator, the target readers and the situation in the shaping of the translation. The uniqueness of the paper is to apply the Skopos theory to analyze the two versions from the perspective of both intra-text and extra-text.Structurally, the paper consists of five chapters. Chapter One gives a general introduction to fiction translation, including a summary of the features of fiction language, the contradiction in fiction translation and a review of the study of fiction translation at home and abroad and their limitations. Chapter Two is devoted to the introduction of the Skopos theory, involving the background of Skopos theory, the basic concepts and the insights it offers to translation criticism. Chapter Three provides information about the fiction Luotuo Xiangzi, and its author Lao She as well as its two versions, which paves the way for the analysis of the next chapter. Chapter Four offers a tentative analysis of the two versions of Luotuo Xiangzi under the guidance of the Skopos theory. Chapter Five draws a conclusion about the significance of the Skopos theory in fiction translation and gives a general evaluation of the two versions based on Skopos theory.