A Comparative Study Of Two English Versions Of Teahouse From The Perspective Of Polysystem Theory

Teahouse is a masterpiece of the famous dramatist Lao She.Since it was published in 1957,the play has been performed many times at home and abroad,which caught great attention among the audiences.Up to now,there are two commonly-used English versions of Teahouse: one is translated by the famous translator and performing artist Mr.Ying Ruocheng whose version had been performed several times in the West and achieved phenomenal success;the other is rendered by Canadian translator John Howard-Gibbon whose translation was published by Foreign Languages Press in 1980.The success of Teahouse translation set a good example for the output of Chinese literature.However,as yet,the research on Teahouse was mostly conducted at the level of language research.Only a few scholars have tried to study the influence on translation from extra-textual factors such as politics,economy and ideology.Polysystem theory holds that all semiotic phenomena should be regarded as systems rather than disparate elements.A polysystem of any kind is always a component of a bigger polysystem which includes elements such as politics,economy and culture.Polysystem theory makes a remarkable contribution to the culture turn of translation studies and provides a brand-new eyeshot for translation studies by placing translation under a broader cultural background.This thesis aims to analyze two English versions of Teahouse from the perspective of polysystem theory.By conducting a comparative study of two English versions of Teahouse,the author attempts to put the translation activities under cultural background and social context at that time,tries to find out the reasons for the differences in text selection,translation strategy and translation methods adopted by two translators and analyzes the influence of factors such as patrons,ideology and poetics during the translation process,and finally proves the influences of extra-textual factors during the English translation process of Teahouse.