A Polysystematic Approach To The Translation Of Modern Chinese Drama

China has a long history of poetry, prose, novel and traditional Chinese opera. Yet Chinese drama still remains young. At the beginning of the 20th century, modern Chinese drama was introduced into China. Since then, many excellent dramatists and outstanding dramatic works have surged. However, the translation of modern Chinese drama cannot compete with that of other Chinese literary forms like poetry or novel in terms of quality, quantity, speed, and range. At present, China has enhanced its "cultural export" in many ways. Therefore it is of vital importance to know how modern Chinese drama has been translated abroad so as to be aware of the situation of the translation of modern Chinese drama and its dissemination.Under the guidance of polysystem theory, the thesis aims to study the translation of modern Chinese drama. From the perspective of linguistic features of drama, it puts in the spotlight the translation of modern Chinese dramas, and then places it into the literary system of the target language in order to further understand where it stands within that system, with an inspirational reflection on the development of the translation of modern Chinese drama being made.The first chapter mainly introduces the definition of drama, the development of modern Chinese drama as well as the basic concept of polysystem theory, and goes deeper into a new perspective provided by the theory for the translation of modern Chinese drama. In the second chapter, a discussion of the principles of drama translation is made, after which a summary of translation theories as well as practices based on polysystem theory is analyzed in order to further discuss the position of the translated literature within the literary system of the target language and its manifestations. The third chapter analyzes the translation of modern Chinese drama from the linguistic perspective. Out of the need for stage performance, the language used in dramas is quite distinctive when compared with other literary forms. So it is necessary to learn and analyze the language feature of drama when studying its translation. An exploration based on the language features of drama is made to study the translation of modern Chinese drama at lexical, syntactical and textual level. Under the guidance of the main ideas of polysystem theory, the fourth chapter gives an overview of the polysystem of the translation of modern Chinese drama and attempts to discover the influencing factors within that system. Then, by placing the translation of modern Chinese drama in the literary system of the target language, an analysis is made concerning its position in that system based on the translation strategies applied by translators. A further discussion is held on the relations between the position of translated literature within the literary system of the target language and relevant translation actions, thus with the help of polysystem theory, getting the enlightenment for modern Chinese drama. In the fifth chapter, a conclusion is drawn from the translation of modern Chinese drama both at linguistic and at socio-cultural level in order to demonstrate the significance of putting drama translation under a systematic context.