Project Report On The Translation Of The Importance Of Being Earnest

As translatology develops into a separate discipline and systematic subject, drama translation receives more and more attention. Different from other types of literary translations, drama translation has its own features. This translation project of The Importance of Being Earnest tries to explore the strategies to translate the difficult points the writer has met with in the translation process.Since the author comes across numerous difficulties in reproducing the musicality, colloquial features and implicit features, the report tries to offer some strategies in translating dramas by analyzing the original text and comparing the three versions by Yu Guangzhong, Zhang Nanfeng and the author. The findings are the following. Formal equivalence is very important in reproducing the musicality. It is suggested that the original rhyme and syntactical structure be retained. In reproducing colloquial features, modal particles and interjections are added sometimes. In terms of ellipsis, the author may omit other parts in the Chinese version to show the casualness. In the case of puns, polysemies, idiomatic deviations, and culture-specific items, the author may use other linguistic forms to decolor the original text in order to bring out the implied meaning. We can thus say that the strategy of creative compensation is of great significance in translating The Importance of Being Earnest as well.