Discourse Tracking And Cultural Reconstruction

As a social practice, translation must be restricted into a certain social environment. In this environment, the translator, as a mediator between two cultures, can choose translation strategies which are suitable for the intended purpose according to the concepts of Skopos theory. According to this theory, different translators have different cultural backgrounds because of different time and space. Their translations will bring forth different effects. Based on the framework of the Skopos theory, this thesis tries to explore the skopos and strategies adopted by the translator through a case study of a Chinese translation of an English novel by ZhaoYuanren in 1921. Born in the period of a new cultural movement during the 1920's, the Chinese version of Alice's Adventure in Wonderland translated by Zhao Yuanren was influenced by this peculiar era. The translating language features of Zhao's Chinese version also had a great effect on the development of modem Chinese language. This thesis addresses to the very effect within the host culture system.In this research, three sections are included. The first section gives a detailed analysis of the Chinese version of Alice's Adventure in Wonderland translated by Zhao Yuanren. In considering of the language reform in the May 4th period, this chapter discusses the language features of Zhao's translation. The second section examines the strategies of Zhao from the viewpoint of text style, readership, function and the time's reason. It reveals that Zhao had carried out his own strategies which combined both domestication and foreignization in translating Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. The third section explicates the influence of the translator's identity in the process of translation.In the course of the analysis, the perspectives are focused on relationship between the translated language and the target culture, the intentions of the source text, and the strategies of the translator; hence it explains the usefulness of the functional approach in translation studies.