A Study On The Translation Of Non-fiction Biography From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory And Reception Aesthetics: A Case Study Of The First Tycoon

According to the skopos theory raised by the German Functionalism School, any kind of translation activity is dominated by its purpose. The purpose of a translation determines the strategies and criteria applied in the translation process. In the light of recent researches, skopos theory could be served as a guiding principle in translation practice, however, scholars generally agree that the principles of skopos theory are more applicable to applied texts, but for literary translation it is of much less instruction. The First Tycoon, the translation case studied in this thesis, is a non-fiction biography. It not only shows features of applied text, but also contains some literature elements. Thus, this thesis employs the reception aesthetic theory to avoid the above-mentioned limitations of the skopos theory. The reception aesthetic theory was put forward by the Constance School. It focuses on the readers’ role and their experiences of literature works. The skopos theory and the reception aesthetics theory are complementary.Written by T.J. Stiles, The First Tycoon won the American National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Biography and Autobiography. This book tells the epic story of Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the richest American in history. Taking the translation of this biography as a case study, the thesis intends to analyze the strategies employed in the translation process from the perspective of the skopos theory and the reception aesthetics theory. A conclusion could be drawn from the research that the skopos theory and the reception aesthetics theory can provide feasible guidance for the translation of biography and improve the quality of translation, but the two theories also have some inevitable limitations.