A Comparative Study On The Chinese Translations Of Culture Description In Argonauts Of The Western Pacific From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski was one of the most important 20th-century anthropologists.He has had a profound impact on modern anthropology,and his book Argonauts of the Western Pacific is a leading classical ethnography.In this book,Malinowski introduced a particular exchange system,Kula,describing some related aspects of Kula,such as magic,canoes building and so on.As the important writing method of ethnography,description of culture is fully employed in t Argonauts of the Western Pacific.Skopos theory was put forward in 1970s,represented by the four famous scholars KatherinaReiss,Hans J.Vermeer,JustaHolz-Manttari,Christiane Nord.There are three rules in the theory:the skopos rule,the coherence rule and the fidelity rule.Skopos rule is the top-ranking rule in the theory and the other two rules are subordinate to the skopos rule.Based on the skopos theory,this thesis makes a comparative study on the translation of descriptions of culture in the two Chinese versions of Argonauts of the Western Pacific,with a discussion on the reasons for its success and failure in the translation.The thesis analyzes the realization of the skopos theory in the process of the translation of description of culture about Kula:article exchange,magic and canoes.The findings show that the Chinese version from Social Science Press focuses on fidelity to the original text with preservation of the original style,and the other Chinese version from Hua Xia Publishing House strives to make the translation of Argonauts of the Western Pacific coherent with more adjustments in choice of words to reach the skopos.Furthermore,according to the rules of coherence and fidelity,different translation methods and strategies are employed in these two versions,for instance,literal translation and free translation.There are some problems and flaws in these two Chinese versions of Argonauts of the Western Pacific,due to two reasons for these problems:first,inadequate language ability,and the lack related discipline knowledge.