A Case Study Of The Peony Pavilion By The Translator Wang Rongpei From The Perspective Of Textual Function

In1970s, the functionalist translation theory began to emerge in Germany. Immediately, itaroused the extensive concern in the academic circles. The German functionalist approaches,which no longer focused on the traditional equivalence-centered linguistic translation theory,provide a brand new perspective for the research translation practice and evaluation. Fourcontributors to the formation of the theory are Katharine Reiss, Hans Vermeer, Justa-Manttariand Christiane Nord. Katharine Reiss, an important figure and also the founder of thefunctionalist school, advocated examining the whole translation process from the perspectiveof functions. She put forward a research model of translation criticism based on the functionalrelationship between the source text and target text and meanwhile classified the textualfunction into three kinds, namely representational, expressive, and operative. Therefore, sheproposed a multi-level translation strategy according to the different text type, translationaims and cultural factors.In recent years, as the exchange between China and the Western world has beencontinuously strengthened, traditional Chinese drama has been gradually arousing worldattention. The Peony Pavilion is generally considered to be the cornerstone of traditionalChinese drama with its poetic language, magnificent structure and admiring love story. Thedrama is featured with abundant allusions, idioms, historical figures, rhymes which have deepconnotations. So the translators should take the target readers’ receptivity and the faithfulnessto the original into full considerationUnder the guidance of textual functions raised by Reiss, the relevant analysis about thePeony Pavilion will be conducted in Wang Rongpei’s translated versions:The thesis first discusses the translation aims and different readership. Then it has a wide range of source text analysis in terms of subject matter, content, presupposition, textcomposition, lexis, syntax and suprasegmental features. At last, the thesis expounds thetranslation strategies employed in the translated version from the perspective of textualfunction. This research mainly resolves these following questions: What elements need to beconsidered to classify the text type in the process of translation? What kind of translationmethods and strategies should be used to better convey the traditional Chinese drama thespecial text? Can the textual function theory provide a guiding principle to the translation ofChinese classical drama?Through a detailed comparison between the source text and the target text, the researchshows that Wang Rongpei lays great stress on the expressive function of the text. So heapplies different kinds of translation strategies to realize the translation principle he sets forhimself, such as transliteration, the combination of literal translation and free translation,amplification, omission and so on. His translation in general achieved his goal "vivid indescription and faithful in meaning".At the same time, the research reveals that the translation is a complicated process doneby the translator but affected by the target reader. The thesis aims to provide some referencesand principles for translators in translating Chinese classical literature, especially dramatranslation from a new perspective.