Research On Tibetan Translation Of Shakespeare’s Plays

[Abstract] Shakespearean drama is a masterpiece of world literature. At present, translations of Shakespeare’s works have been produced in Germany, Japan and many other countries and languages. Thanks to the efforts of the venearble Vkras Gling Dvang Rdor, there are now also Tibetan translations of these masterpieces. This thesis explores the process of translation of content and form from English to Tibetan through an analysis if Shakespearn works in Tibetan. The paper is divided into the following three parts:The first chapter briefly introduces Shakespeare and his plays, also brefily describes and analyzies the conditions of how translation work has been carried out in multiple languages. Special attention is paid to Tibetan translation. I conduct in-depth analysis to explore the importance having Tibetan translations of world masterpieces.The second chapter identifies and examines different methods of translation: transliteration, free translation, interpretation, amplification and omission and how the application of the different translation methods is used to amplify the translator’s own perspectives on the work. For example, Tibetan and English both have alphabetic writing scripts, therefore transliteration between these two languages is more concise and also more accurate than for transliterations between Chinese and Tibetan. Another issue is the cultural context gap between the cultural traditions associated with the two languages, which means that a paraphrasing approach is sometimes more appropriate.The third chapter expounds on the relationship between drama translation, discourse features, characters and original style reproduction, so as to explore the art of translation and translation techniques. Consideration is given to the application of discourse modifiers in the original, as well as use of honorific speech style and humor and other characteristics, and how they correspond with characteristics of the target language. For example, the Lhasa dialect is particularly suitable for translating honorific language. Other issues I explore are non-verbal elements, like stage background and character portrayal.