A Comparative Study Of Translations Of The Caves Of Steel From The Perspective Of Functionalist Theory

Isaac Asimov is a key figure in the history of Science fiction literature one of the "big three" of the Golden Age of US science fiction. It is his effort that left us a hoard of literary and scientific treasures. But theoretical research into translations of his works is still rare. In January2014, the author input key words "Asimov" and "translation theory" into CNKI digital library and found225results and there was only one thesis to analyze the translation of his work.The functionalist theory, first evolved itself from the traditional equivalence theory, holds that translation is a kind of translatorial action based on a ST. And the dominating principle that determines any translation process is skopos(purpose) of the translation action, dictated by the translator or initiator. Skopos theory argues that the TT should achieve predetermined skopos and function and regard them to be the criteria for translation. The ST has been brought down to the same level of TT and they each has different values, both of which have their own purpose and function. The original author gives some information of the ST and a translator should make choices to transmit the linguistic and cultural information to the TT receivers so as to satisfy client’s need and TT receiver’s expectation. So far a lot of researches have been done to apply it to pragmatic and literary translation.This thesis will choose translations of Asimov’s The Caves of Steel as the study subject. Through comparison and analysis the author aims at finding some principles for sci-fi translation.The author picks out26examples from the novel and the corresponding translations of these sentences from Chinese versions. Through the analysis and comparison from the perspective of skopos theory the thesis shows that different translation strategies should be applied in the translation process in different circumstances, such as addition, deletion, instrumental translation and the principle of "function plus loyalty". Though the translator will alter his strategies, the TT function and expectations are consistent. We will see skopos theory once again proves itself to be a valuable tool of translation studies of various texts, including science fiction. And the author wants to attract more attention to the study of translation of science fiction.