Translator's Subjectivity In Drama Translation Expalained By Skopostheorie Based On Ying Ruocheng's Translation Of Teahouse

Since the cultural turn in translation studies, research about the translator has attracted much attention, and the translator's subjectivity has become an increasingly heated topic. Scholars define the translator's subjectivity from different perspectives. To summarize, the translator's subjectivity refers to the subjective initiative displayed by the translator in order to fulfill their translation purposes under the prerequisite of respecting the objective translation circumstance. Taking Ying Ruocheng's translation of Teahouse as a case study, this thesis discusses the translator's subjectivity from the Skopos-theoretic perspective to investigate how translators exert their subjectivity in drama translation to best serve the goal of performance.The theoretical base for this thesis is Skopostheorie. According to Skopostheorie, the core theory of German Functionalist Approach, translation is a purposeful activity based on the source text. The prime principle determining any translation process is the purpose (Skopos) of the overall translational action. The top-ranking rule for any translation is "Skopos rule", which says that a translational action is determined by its Skopos; that is, "the end justifies the means" (Nord, 2001: 29). The significance of the Skopostheorie for the research on the translator's subjectivity lies in its breakthrough of the scheme of western translation studies which emphasizes the source text and neglects the function of the translated text and the role of the translator. Skopostheorie considers translation to be a type of purposeful communicative transfer. Driven by their purpose, the translator starts to choose appropriate source text. Skopostheoire advocates that any text is just an "offer of information" from which each receiver selects the items they find interesting and important. Translation is regarded as a process of rewriting. The translators are allowed to use any translation strategies which are most appropriate to achieve the intended purpose. Skopostheorie regards the translator as an expert who is capable of making decisions on the translation activity.Comparatively speaking, the history of drama translation study is rather short for drama is both a literature form and a kind of stage art. Different from other literary genres, drama can be either considered just as a literary text to be read, or performance-oriented to be watched, which involves far more complicated theatrical factors. Therefore, every drama translator is confronted with a dilemma before they begin their translation: whether to translate a play for the reader or for the audience. Since most dramatic texts are translated for performance, the translator is supposed to take the complicated theatrical factors in target culture into consideration as well as to transfer the linguistic information of the source text, which demands more subjectivity of the translator.Ying Ruocheng, an outstanding figure in Chinese cultural circles in the 20^th century, is an excellent actor, director and translator. He translates more than a dozen dramatic texts both English to Chinese (e.g. Shakespeare's Measure for Measure) and Chinese to English (e.g. Lao She's Teahouse). His translation has become a model of performance-oriented drama translation. By analyzing his translation of Teahouse from the perspective of Skopostheorie, the thesis draws a conclusion that drama translators do enjoy much freedom in translation for the complexity of dramatic texts and performance.Besides the ignorance of translator's subjectivity, another extreme should be avoided. That is, translator's subjectivity, which obviously to some extent is restrained by many factors, cannot be exaggerated. Excellent translators are those who can find balance between creation and self-restriction.