Translation Strategy Of Wolf Totem From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Studies of translation theory experience a long era. Skopos theory, a new translation theory, was first developed in Germany in 1970s. The representatives are Katharina Reiss, Hans J. Vermeer, Justa Holz-M?ntt?ri and Christiane Nord. Skopos theory proposes that the purpose of translation determines the translational action. The translator should fully consider the target text receivers'needs and the culture of the target text in translational process. In addition, translation should abide by three rules of Skopos theory. Translation is a cross-cultural communicative activity which has the strong purpose. Because of the difference of language and culture, translation method and translation strategy adopted by translator are determined by Skopos. The appearance of Skopos theory is a big breakthrough in studies of translation theory. Besides, it opens up a new perspective for translation studies and translation practices in the future.Lang Tuteng, written by Jiang Rong, narrates an intellectual youth's colorful Mongolian lives, the survival and development of the grassland wolves and nomadic people, the historical origin of the nomadic and farming nationalities, and nomadic ethnic's contribution to the Chinese culture. Lang Tuteng has been the top bestsellers for four consecutive years since publication. In 2007, Jiang Rong won the first Man Asian Literary Prize at the Man Hong Kong International Festival. Because of the unique style, fascinating stories, this book not only arouses heat discuss over Chinese readers, but also attracts the attention from mainstream medias in American and European countries. So far, it has been translated into thirty major languages in the world, including English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and so on. The English version Wolf Totem, translated by Howard Goldblatt, was published in 2008.The thesis takes Wolf Totem as the case study. The translation strategies are studied from four sub-systems of culture, including the ecological culture, the material culture, the social culture and the culture related with thought, speech and gestures. Based on the Skopos theory, three translation purposes are proposed. They are to transmit Inner Mongolian culture, to meet target text receivers'expectation of Chinese culture and to cater for the target text receivers'reading habits. In the process of transmission of Chinese culture, language is the main barrier. In order to make the translation readable and acceptable, the translator chooses domestication. In addition, in order to transfer the unique exotic flavor of Mongolian culture, foreignization is mainly applied. The combination of domestication and foreignization achieves the anticipated purposes of translation. Therefore, Wolf Totem is a successful translation. The thesis consists of six chapters. The first chapter briefly introduces the research background, the significance of the study and the structure of the thesis. Chapter two is the literature review. This part expounds Jiang Rong and his well-known literature, Lang Tuteng. Besides, the translator Howard Goldblatt and his translation Wolf Totem are introduced.Chapter three provides the theoretical basis. This part represents the development and the definition of the Skopos theory, as well as the rules of the Skopos theory. Chapter four sets forth the Skopos of the translation and the discussion of foreignization and domestication applied in translation. Chapter five is the body of the thesis. In this chapter, the author will analyze Wolf Totem from culture elements to study domestication and foreignization applied in translation under the perspective of the Skopos theory. In the latest part, the conclusion is made. In the translational process, a good combination of domestication and foreignization fulfills the translational purpose. The author hopes that the detailed case study based on the Skopos theory can offer some help for Chinese translators with choosing a proper translation strategies in translation. Besides, Goldblatt has dedicated his whole life to translating the contemporary Chinese literatures. He accumulates abundant experiences in translation practice, therefore, his views on translation are worthy of analysis and research.