摘 要

戏剧一直以来都是一种很重要的娱乐方式，然而在翻译领域中戏剧得到的关注相对较少。近年来，在各大戏剧主办的宣传和艺术家们的努力之下，戏剧（尤其是外国戏剧）在中国演艺市场的热度越来越高。相应地，戏剧翻译的需求也有所增加。作为一种较为复杂的体裁，戏剧翻译中的问题得到了更多的重视。而在具有一定特殊性的戏剧翻译中，目的论作为重要的翻译理论起着重要的指导作用。在对戏剧翻译目的和策略的探索之中，在20世纪80年代，苏珊·巴斯奈特提出了戏剧翻译的动态表演性原则，这一原则强调戏剧文本与表演密不可分，并且文本并不高于表演。

本文以目的论为理论基础，对英若诚的两个《上帝的宠儿》汉译本（1988人艺剧院上演版、1999中国对外翻译出版社版）进行翻译对比分析。本文通过从原文、译文文本中抽取片段进行对比，探究译者在戏剧翻译中使用的特别策略。本文发现当剧本翻译的目的不同,即使是同一个译者，所采取的翻译策略也会发生变化。动态表演性在为舞台表演而作的戏剧翻译中有着非常重要的地位。

关键词：《上帝的宠儿》；戏剧; 戏剧翻译；目的论；动态表演性

Abstract

Drama has always been an important form of entertainment, but it has gained relatively less attention in the field of translation. In recent years, drama, especially foreign drama, has become more and more popular in China’s performing arts market thanks to the efforts of the production companies and artists. Accordingly, the demand for theatre translation has also increased. As a relatively complex genre, the problems of theatre translation start to gain more attention. Skopos theory, as an important translation theory, plays an important role in theatre translation, which has its own particularity. In exploration of the aims and strategies of theatre translation, in the 1980s, Susan·Bassnett proposed the principle of dynamic performability in theatre translation. This principle emphasizes that dramatic texts are inseparable from performance, and that texts are not superior to performance.

Based on skopos theory, this paper makes a comparative analysis of Ying Ruocheng’s two Chinese versions of Amadeus (1988 People’s Art Theatre version and 1999 version republished by China Foreign Translation Press). This paper attempts to explore the distinctive strategies employed by the translator in drama translation by comparing the fragments extracted from the source texts and the target texts. This paper finds that the strategies adopted by the translator and even by the same translator will change when the purposes of the translations are different. And that dynamic performability plays an important role in drama translation prepared for stage performance.

Key Words：Amadeus; Drama; Theatre translation; Skopos theory; Performability.

Contents

1 Introduction 6

2 Literature Review 8

2.1 Skopos Theory and Dynamic Performability in Theatre Translation 8

2.2 Overseas and Domestic Research 10

3 Characteristics of Theatre Translation and Translations of Amadeus 13

3.1 Characteristics of Theatre Translation 13

3.1.1 the features of drama and the characteristics of theatre translation 13

3.1.2 the relationship between skopos theory and performability 14

3.2 Translations of Amadeus 15

3.2.1 Ying Ruocheng and his two translations of Amadeus 15

3.2.2 the original play and other translations of Amadeus 16

4 Comparison of the Two Chinese Versions of Amadeus 18

4.1 Being Precise and Intelligible 18

4.1.1 cultural differences 18

4.1.2 audience’s needs 19

4.2 Colloquial Expressions 22

4.2.1 being speakable and actional 22

4.2.2 creating of a sense of reality 24

4.3 Assistance to Characters and Plots 25

4.3.1 portraying characters 25

4.3.2 assisting to the development of plots 27

5 Conclusion 29

References 31

Acknowledgements 32

The Strategies of Theatre Translation from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

• A Comparative Study of the Two Versions of Amadeus by Ying Ruocheng

1 Introduction

Theatre has always been one of the most important means of entertainment in people’s leisure life. In recent years, theatre is becoming increasingly popularized in China due to the effort of countless artists and successful commercial operation. More and more foreign plays are being translated into Chinese to fit the need of domestic audience and gain more popularity. Naturally, there has been a growing need for more professional and performable translation of plays. Many current translations of theatre texts are incompetent not because they are incorrect, but because they are not suitable for stage performing. With the special spatiotemporal feature of theatre, the audience cannot think over the whole content while watching a play in a theatre. The value of the play cannot be fully presented if the audience’s comprehension for the text does not match with their comprehension for the play. Therefore, unlike the translation of other genres, theatre translation must emphasize more on performability instead of just pursing “faithfulness”.

This paper carries out a detailed comparison on two Chinese versions of Amadeus by Ying Ruocheng. The intention of this study is to explore the strategies and methods of theatre translation. By comparing two versions of translation for the same play by the same translator, distinct differences could be found between texts serving publication purpose and texts serving stage-performing purpose. It is clear that under the guidance of the Skopos theory the translator would use different strategies for theatre translation, valuing more on helping the audience understand the plot and the characters in translation prepared for stage performance. Dynamic performability principle is usually the most significant principle in theatre translation. By studying the two versions of Amadeus by Ying Ruocheng, this study intends to explore how performability principle is used in Ying’s work and discuss the strategies for theatre translation.

This paper consists of five chapters. Firstly, the introduction of the topic of the study as well as the background and the motivation to do this study; the second chapter is the literature review. In this chapter, the paper will introduce the situation of the relevant studies of both overseas and domestic scholars. The third chapter introduces the characteristics of theatre translation and translations of Amadeus. In this chapter, the paper delivers how the dualistic nature of drama lead to the features of theatre translation. And how skopos theory is applied in theatre translation by the means of performability. This chapter also introduces Ying Ruocheng’s translations of Amadeus and other notable versions of translations. The fourth chapter compares Ying’s two translations of Amadeus. It also summarizes the principle of performability in theatre translation and the important role of performability principle in Ying Ruocheng’s translation of Amadeus performed at Beijing People’s Art Theatre in 1988. The final chapter serves as a conclusion: As a less-focused area in the field of translation, theatre translation is deeply influenced by Skopos theory. By comparing the two versions of translation of the play Amadeus, this study aims to explore the strategies used in theatre translation and finds that performability principle plays an important and very instructive role in theatre translation.

2 Literature Review

Skopos theory in the field of translation studies employs the prime principle of purposeful action that determines a translation strategy. It first appeared in an article published by linguist Hans Josef Vermeer in 1978. The theory is the core of the functionalist theory, it offers a fresh perspective for looking at translation, which is to view translation as an action with purpose and no longer be confined to conventional source-text oriented views. It is perfectly natural for a field in translation as special and less-focused as theatre translation to be studied from perspective of skopos theory.

2.1 Skopos Theory and Dynamic Performability in Theatre Translation

Skopos theory is a theory that was put forward to make up for the deficiency of traditional translation theories. Paul Kussmaul (1982) illustrates skopos theory as:

The functional approach has a great affinity with skopos theory. The function of a translation depends on the knowledge, expectations, values and norms of the target readers, who are again influenced by the situation they are in and by the culture. These factors determine whether the function of the source text or passages in the source text can be preserved or have to be modified or even changed. (Kussmaul,1982:149)

Skopos theory is one of the most significant theories in translation studies. In the history of translation studies, "equivalence" or "faithfulness" has long been regarded as the most authoritative criterion to judge the success of translation. The result of this kind of translation evaluation is usually sameness and oversimplification. Although this trend has played a positive part in guiding translation practice and regulating the field of translation. Since translation is a complex human activity, translation studies should also be descriptive (Xiaoyan Du, 2012), the other factors should not be ignored. In this case, skopos theory regards translation as a purposeful act. Hans J. Vermeer’s skopos theory is the core of German functionalist translation theory in the 1970s. This is a new perspective of translation studies, which is no longer confined to the traditional source-text perspective. According to Action Theory, Hans J. Vermeer found, every action has a purpose, and since translation is an action, it must also have a purpose. Every translation’s purpose is assigned by the means of commission. Skopos theory, to a certain degree, makes up for the deficiency of the traditional translation theory. In the framework of skopos theory, skopos decides the process of translation. Skopos theory explains different strategies in different contexts, and the original work is not the only determining factor.

In the 1970s, Hans J. Vermeer introduced the theory of translation as a technical term for translation and translation behavior. According to Hans J. Vermeer, the purpose of the text settles the translation strategy. He rejects the traditional equivalence-based theory, which holds that the source text or its influence on the readers of the source text, or the source-text author’s aim is the decisive factor of translation, and puts the purposefulness of the Translation Act at the center. In Christiane Nord’s Translating as a Purposeful Activity-Functionalist Approaches Explained (1997), she defines the Skopos theory like this: