Strategies In Children’s Literature Translation From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Children’s literature constitutes a precious educational resource in virtue of its special functions in enlightening and entertaining children,and preventing them from losing their innocence.However,the current status of marginalization and the lack of appropriate theoretical guidance cause two major problems in children’s literature translation: the deficiency of source texts that are available to translators and the adoption of improper translation strategies featured with the use of odd words,complicated sentence patterns and obscure semantics.Based on Skopos theory,this thesis is committed to exploring how to provide more diversified and high-quality translated texts for children.Oliver Twist,a well-known social satire written by British writer Charles Dickens,is usually interpreted as a work aiming to expose the darkness of society at that time.However,Oliver Twist has also been described in a growing number of studies as a milestone for novels focusing on misery children,which means it has double readerships and functions.Therefore,translation strategies should vary according to the specific readership and function of Oliver Twist,so as to break the translation standard of functional equivalence between the source text and the target text.In this way,target readers such as children could be provided with high-quality translated texts.In this regard,the strategies used in two Chinese versions of Oliver Twist,respectively for children and adults,are comparatively analysed in this thesis from three aspects,including children’s linguistic characteristics,comprehensive ability and acceptance psychology.It mainly discusses three questions: Firstly,does Oliver Twist effectively realize functional transformation? Secondly,what strategies are adopted in the child-targeted edition of Oliver Twist to ensure the special functions of children’s literature translation? Thirdly,what are the implications of the translation strategies applied in the two versions? Through comparative analysis,it is found that although two versions of Oliver Twist adopt methods such as free translation and division to enhance readers’ understanding of the original text,translators can translate adult-targeted literature like Oliver Twist into a children-oriented version,serving as a new communicative tool in the target language context,which is conducive to solving the deficiency of source texts of children’s literature.Meanwhile,in the child-targeted version of Oliver Twist,some particular strategies such as onomatopoeia and purification are employed to actualize the special functions of the target text.In general,characterized by text processing,Skopos theory plays a positive role in refining the selection of source texts and the quality of children’s translations.