Appellation Translation In The Deer And The Cauldron From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Functionalist Skopos theory of translation, which has evolved from German functionalism, holds that translation is a form of translational action based on a ST and the prime principle determining any translation process is the purpose (Skopos) of the overall translation action. Skopos holds that the TT should achieve the anticipated Skopos and function, which considers the translation Skopos and function as the criteria for translation. For Skopos, the ST and the TT belong to two different texts with different values, both of which have their own Skopos and function. The original author offers information of the ST, while a translator should make choices to communicate the linguistic and cultural information to the TT receivers in order to satisfy the client's need and the TT receiver's expectation (Jia Wenbo,2004).This thesis studies the translation of appellations in The Deer and the Cauldron from the perspective of Skopos theory. Through comparison and analysis, the author aims at finding principles for appellation translation as well as the criteria for their evaluation.In this thesis, from the novel The Deer and the Cauldron,108 sentences from ST and their corresponding translations of these sentences from the English version, which are produced by John Minford, are collected. Through the analysis and comparison from the perspective of Skopos theory, the thesis shows that different translation strategies are applied in the translation process in different situations, such as semantic translation, instrumental translation, documental translation and the principle of "function plus loyalty". Whatever strategy is adopted by the translator, the TT function and anticipated expectations are consistent; therefore, Skopos theory provides a totally new perspective for translation studies and the translation of various texts.