A Study On Zhang Guruo’s Translation Of The Return Of The Native From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Zhang Guruo, a famous Chinese translator and expert on British literature, enjoysa worldwide reputation for his translation of Thomas Hardy’s works and is thoughthighly of as “an expert on Hardy”. His strict attitude towards translation earns himselfthe title of “a model for translation circle”. He translated The Return of the Native, Tessof the D’Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure and other British works which are very popularwith Chinese readers. In the1930s, when translators tended to produce obscure worksdue to word by word translation method, Zhang’s translations were easy to understandfor Chinese readers. Recently, with the deepening studies on Zhang Guruo’s life andtranslations, his translation thought and features, such as “idiomatic translation”, useof Shandong dialect to translate Wessex dialect, detailed annotation and four-characterphrases have specially received scholars’ attention. However, there is also somecriticism on these three points. Based on the three rules of skopos theory, the authorcarries out a detailed comparative analysis on the source text and target text to identifythe skopos involved in the translation of The Return of the Native, and explores thespecific translation methods adopted to achieve intended skopos.It is analyzed that in order to introduce new Western culture to China, ZhangGuruo adopts the translation strategy of literal translation plus adding footnotes toremove cultural barrier and facilitate the understanding of the target text by Chinesereaders. The author mainly expounds and lists the examples of footnotes on Englishwedding culture, Biblical allusions, English proverbs and folklore. In order to fulfillcoherence rule, the translator changes part of speech or sentence order, divides longsentences into short ones, repeats sentence members where necessary in the translationof The Return of the Native. In terms of fidelity rule, Shandong dialect is employed totranslate Wessex dialect and four-character phrases are frequently used to present thearchaic characteristic of Hardy’s language feature.After a meticulous comparative analysis, it is concluded that different translationmethods are adopted to achieve intended skopos in the translation of The Return of theNative. As a result, the target text is made readable and understandable for Chinesereaders and new culture is introduced to China without any barrier or difficulty. Thetranslator’s thought on translation is also reflected in the target text. To explore thetranslation methods from the perspective of skopos theory provides significantinstructions for literary translation.