A Case Study On The Han Dan Dream By Wang Rongpei From A Perspective Of Communication Studies

Traditional translation studies incline to focus on linguistics features or comparative study of different versions, and at the same time they neglect the study of one work of a translator. As a culture disseminator, translator’s marginalized position has been raised to a new height since the “cultural turn” in 1970 s. Considering that Wang Rongpei’s English version of The Han Dan Dream is authoritative and reliable, the author of this thesis selects it as the research data to evaluate its value from a perspective of communication studies and to explore how Wang Rongpei deals with classic Chinese literary works in the process of translatingIn the research process, the guiding theory is the communication theory. The representative person of this field is Lasswell. Lasswell put forward a model of communication in his work The Structure and Function of Communication in Society in 1948, which is known as the 5W formula.The translation purpose of Wang Rongpei is to enhance communication between China and western world and show the essence of t traditional Chinese culture. Wang Rongpei worked on the translation of Chinese classical opera works painstakingly, and dedicated to push forward the broadcasting of “Four Dreams from Linchuan”. Wang Rongpei followed his standard of translation as usual, “vivid in description and faithful in meaning”, for a creative reproduction of the original play in its full spendour.The author of the thesis evaluates the translation strategies of Wang Rongpei from three aspects: the identity of the translator, the focus of the audience and the extension of the effect. On the basis of this, the whole thesis consists three chapters:Chapter one explores the identity of the translator. In the process of translation, translator is the sender who transmits the content of the original text which is the first step on the chain of message transmission. Wang Rongpei followed his translation standard “vivid in description and faithful in meaning” as usual.Chapter two explores the focus of the audience. In the process of communication, the audience is the final target of communication, so it’s essential to study the audience to facilitate communication. As far as translation is concerned, readers are audiences. Wang Rongpei’s translation shows consideration of target language readers on three levels: consideration of the TL readers on language level, consideration of the TL readers on emotional level, consideration of the TL readers on culture level.Chapter three explores the extension of the effect. As one of the main factors in communication, the effect analysis is important in the field of cross-cultural communication research. Wang Rongpei’s translation of The Handan Dream shows two main effects: the surveillance of the environment and the transmission of the cultural heritage.Through analyzing Wang Rongpei’s English version of The Han Dan Dream, reference to translation of Chinese classic works can be summarized which would give some enlightenment and guidance on the further translation theory and practice.