| This is a study of how the notions of Greek tragedy have been perceived and constructed by the English-speaking world through translations and performances in Restoration England and since late nineteenth century.; The first part of this dissertation (Chapter I) focuses on the contemporary theoretical frameworks of the semiotics of theatre/drama and translation studies which, while shedding new light on the complex process of translating a theatre text, have been recently polarized between preference for a performance-oriented translation and a reader-oriented translation. In order to decipher the multi-layered process of interlingual and cross-cultural theatre communication, we use Sophocles' Oedipus the King as a test case to see how one Greek tragedy has been constructed by British and North American translators, producers and performers.; The second and largest part of this research (Chapters II, III, IV and V) is devoted to Sophocles' Oedipus the King and its subsequent translations and performances in English towards the end of the nineteenth and during the twentieth century. We follow three steps of investigation. First, in Chapter II, we examine how the process of the intralingual and intracultural communication takes place; that is, the relationship of the addresser (Sophocles) with his message (Oedipus the King) and his addressees (the Athenian audience of the fifth century B.C.E). Second, we try to understand how the first contact between Sophocles and his translators, directors and actors occurred.; The third and final step of the second part of this research (Chapters III, IV and V) is the multi-layered process of interlingual and cross-cultural communication. While working on English translations and performances of this Sophoclean tragedy, we take into consideration the interaction and interdependence between the translators, producers and actors and their societies and the constant changes of the "dramatic" and "theatrical" conventions. Furthermore, when comparing these translations and their performances, we try to point out--when possible--why translators made particular choices, what strategies they followed, what they aimed for in the target culture, and how the performances of their translations helped in the reception of Oedipus the King by the English-speaking world.; The final part of this study (Chapter VI) is two-fold. First, it focuses on the results of this research, that is, how Greek tragedy in general and Oedipus the King in particular have been perceived and constructed by the English-speaking world through translations and performances since late nineteenth century. Second, it proposes an integrated communicative model for theatre translation that ventures to resolve the current polarization between preference for a performance-oriented translation and a reader-oriented translation. |
