Dexis Translation As Exhibited In Dramas

As a universal language phenomenon,deixis indicates time,places,persons,speakers’ relationship and their thoughts.It is critical in a drama and must be properly translated.This study takes materials from Death of a Salesman.Measure for Measure,Amadeus,The "Caine" Mutiny Court-Martial,Major Barbara and their Chinese versions to explore the characteristics of deixis translation.This study tries to define and classify deixis and introduce the principle of performability.Some examples are taken from different translators’ versions of a same drama and the characteristics of deixis translation are explored.Based on the discussion,this study tries to take a stock on the translation strategies of deixis,that is,how to make deixis translation in a drama more performable.This study finds that most drama translators did an excellent job in deixis translation.They fully understood the text and appreciated those culturally or socially delicate words.Sometimes,however,they westernized the Chinese in terms of either words or sentence structures.Besides,sometimes they were not flexible enough in translating seemingly simple deixis.The translated deixis should be accurate.The translator should be sensitive to the social and cultural connotation of deixis.Besides,the translated deixis should be performable.It should be clear,idiomatic,and easy to understand,demonstrating the personality and emotion of the speaker.With these strategies,the translated deixis may have the same function with that in the source text.