An Analysis Of The Translation Of The Culture-specific Terms In Two Major English Versions Of The Secret History Of The Mongols From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Skopos theory, which developed from German functionalism, holds that translation is a form of transnational action based on a source text and the primary principle determining any transaction process is the purpose (skopos) of the overall transactional action. This theory has replaced "equivalence", an aged yardstick to judge the quality of translation with "adequacy". As a break with the traditional idea of equivalence and an important complement to translation theories, skopos theory thus opens up a new perspective for the translation practice and studies.The author of the thesis tries to make an analysis and contrast of the culture-specific terms in two major English versions of The Secret History of the Mongols from the perspective of skopos theory, pointing out that it is because of different translation purposes (skopos) that different translation strategies and methods are used in the two translations. According to skopos theory, the production of a certain translation is confined to specific social, historical and cultural conditions. With different translation purposes, the translation of the same source language text will surely focus on different points. Therefore, an evaluation of the two different translations must take into account the intended purposes of the translations and their respective social, historical, and cultural background.Through a comparative study of two major English versions of The Secret History of the Mongols (translated by Francis Woodman Cleaves and N.Dorjgotov and. Z.Erendo respectively), the research reveals that two translators adopt two different strategies, namely, Cleaves adopts foreignization strategy, semantic translation method and adheres to the source language text strictly and provides with extensive notes, footnotes and brackets. On the contrary, N.Dorjgotov and Z.Erendo mainly adopt domestication strategy and communicative translation method by means of assimilation, deletion and globalization in translating the culture-specific terms in the Secret History of the Mongols.Then the research further reveals that different characteristics represented in the two versions and the different expected functions of the TT are consistent with the skopos they set to reach. However, it is hard to say which version is better since both translations have their own merits and advantages. As regard to the capital monument of thirteenth-century Mongolian literature, Cleaves does well in keeping the cultural heritage; while concerning the target readers, N.Dorjgotov and. Z.Erendo's version is more acceptable to general readership.Theis thesis reaches a conclusion that the two versions account for the different strategies the translators take into their translation, and each translation is adequate when its purpose (skopos) is achieved.