A Skopos-theoretic Approach To The Translation Of Children’s Literature

In this paper, the author makes an attempt to discuss the application ofSkopostheorie to the translation of children’s literature with examples from twoChinese versions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. With the development ofeconomy and cross-cultural communication, publishing industry has gained a rapiddevelopment. However，some translated versions are not appropriate for target readers.It is of great importance to employ proper translation theory to translation practice.Translation practice supported by suitable translation theory can better serve targetreaders. Children’s literature belongs to general literature, but with particularcharacteristics owing to its special target readers. Translation of children’s literature isdefinitely significant to children’s growth. Therefore, more importance should beattached to translation of children’s literature.Equivalence has been dominating the translation field for a long time, but moreand more translators and translation scholars do not think it is suitable for translationin every aspect. More recent development in translation studies, especially theapplication of Skopostheorie to translation, makes it possible to move beyondequivalence to analyze literary translation. Skopostheorie plays an important role inthe development of functionalist approach to translation research. Compared withtraditional translation theory, Skopostheorie considers translation as a kind of humanaction with a specific goal. Besides, it attaches great importance to target readers. Thecore of Skopostheorie is three rules: skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule. Inspite of the misunderstandings, criticisms, and even attacks against it, Skoposthoeriesurvives and evolves, and becomes an important theory in the latest translation studies.The author of this thesis chooses two Chinese versions of Zhao Yuanren andChen Fu’an to conduct a case study of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland under theguidance of Skopostheorie. This paper will make a comparative analysis between two Chinese versions with respect to child interest, children readers’ acceptance,readability, cultural differences, rhetorical devices and aesthetic features on the basisof the three rules of Skopostheorie. Finally, the conclusion has been drawn thattranslation of children’s literature under the guidance of Skopostheorie can betterserve target readers and achieve communicative goal. The author hopes that thefindings in the paper will be helpful to the successful translation of children’sliterature as well as other literary works.