A Study On Seven English Translations Of Yuan Sanqu From The Perspective Of Toury’s Translational Norms

Tangshi, songci and sanqu are most splendid parts in Chinese classical literature.In spite of the difficulties, many translators have made great accomplishment up to now. There are lots of books about English translation of tangshi. Besides, the number of English translation books of songci is large either. While the number of sanqu English translation books is far less than tangshi and songci English translation books.It is of great value to select sanqu translation as research object. The research process and conclusions would be persuasive and popular among sanqu enthusiasts from home and abroad. Studies on sanqu from the perspective of Toury’s Translation Norm Theory will provide a new perspective of Chinese classical poetry English translation. Researches on translational norms would describe translation activities more objective and organized. It would highlight social and cultural elements in translation activities, and broaden horizon of translation research. The thesis is going to analyze seven sanqu translations from the perspective of initial norms, preliminary norms and operational norms in translational norms Theory. Social and cultural factors of the translation behavior from macro perspective are analyzed in this thesis,and descriptive translation research on qupai, language structure and rime, and cultural proper nouns of sanqu from micro perspective is done,either. Thus translational norms obeyed by translators in sanqu English translation would berevealed. The author hopes to give a hand to sanqu amateurs and learners from both domestic and overseas.