A Study Of Performabilitv In Drama Translation From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Drama translation is a relatively special area of translation studies. The eminent British translation theorist Susan Bassnett once described it as labyrinth, because the dual nature of drama brings translators many problems. And the performability of drama translation still remains as one of the most controversial questions in drama translation studies.Should the drama translation conform to the standard of performability or focus on the readability? This thesis will analyze the performability of drama translation from the perspective of relevance theory. The definition of performability and the principle of performability will be discussed in the framework of the optimal relevance theory.This thesis analyzes the translation strategies and effects of the Chinese version of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion by evaluating the translation of cultural words, rhetorics, colloquialization and the action of language. It draws the conclusion that although the performability is not an absolute principle in drama translation, it is still an important standard to evaluate the translation quality according to the optimal relevance theory. And the translation strategies should be determined by three principles of performability, colloquialization of the lines, action of the language and depiction of the characters.