Comparison Of The Two Chinose Versions Of Moment In Peking Under Skopostheorie

Translation theory has been a long-researched field both at home and aboard. Ever since the1970s, translation studies based on Skopostheorie have got a rapid development and attracted great attention. Although being a relatively new theory, Skopostheorie is, by no means, of little significance in inspiring and guiding the translation practice.Skopostheorie regards translation as a purposeful activity and claims that the decisive factor in translation is the Skopos of translation. Compared with the traditional theories, Skopostheorie reduces the status of the original text while stresses the roles of translators. According to Skopostheorie, translators can adjust their translation methods and strategies so as to achieve different Skopos. Skopostheorie is a great breakthrough in translation and provides a new perspective for translation studies and practice.Professor Lin Yutang is a well-known writer, scholar and translator both at home and aboard. He devoted all his life to promoting and spreading Chinese culture and his "one mind seeks the learning of ancients and moderns, two legs straddle the cultures of east and west". Moment in Peking is a great English novel written by Lin when he stayed aboard. It puts the changing of the modern Chinese society in a panoramic way on one hand, and on the other hand takes a deep penetration into the Taoist and Confucian culture. It plays a very important role in the promotion of the East-West cultural understanding and communications. Professor Lin was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature for many times just because of the creation of Moment in Peking.Due to the specialty that Moment in Peking is richly loaded with Chinese culture and written by a Chinese writer in English and the fact that Skopostheorie can well direct the translation practice, therefore, the study of the translations of Moment in Peking from the Skopos perspective will be of great significance. Based on the principles of Skopostheorie and in combination with the characteristics of translation, this thesis compares the two Chinese versions of Moment in Peking in light of Skopostheorie, explores the practicality and efficiency of Skopostheorie in guiding translation practice and figures out how those translation methods and strategies are adopted.The significance of this study lies in the following two aspects:in theory, the reorganization and analysis of the development of the Skopostheorie in recent time could contribute to the perfection of the framework of the translation studies; in practice, the comparison and analysis of the application of Skopostheorie in practical situation can further verify the practicality and efficiency of Skopostheorie in directing translation action. It is hoped that through the study of this thesis, more researches on translations will be conducted under Skopostheorie.