目的论视角下《西游记》中人物名称的英译研究_英语论文

On C-E Translation of Characters’ Names in Journey to the West from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

摘要

《西游记》是中国四大古典名著之一，小说中描述了形态各异的人物形象，这些人物形象的名称也体现了道教、儒教等诸多的中国传统文化, 富含着浓厚的民族特色，给作品的翻译带来了很大的困难。因此，对于《西游记》中人物名称的翻译研究，不但可以帮助世界了解中国古典文学，了解中国民族特色，还能更加有效地传播中国传统文化，成为中国与其他国家之间沟通的桥梁。

本文首先分析了《西游记》人物名称的特点及其特殊的文化含义，然后从目的论视角，以詹奈尔所译的《西游记》为文本基础，探讨了影响人物名称翻译的因素，并提出了几种可行的翻译方法：直译、音译、直译加音译、加注、意译等，希望能为文学作品中人物名称的翻译提供一个有益视角。

关键词: 目的论；人物名称翻译；《西游记》

Abstract

Journey to the West is one of the four classics of Chinese literature in which various characters are vividly described. These characters’ names embody numerous traditional Chinese cultures as Taoism and Confucianism, and are infused with rich Chinese national color. All these factors have brought great difficulties to the translation of the work. Therefore, the study on the translation of characters’ names in Journey to the West not only help the world understand Chinese literature and national characteristics, but also can spread the Chinese culture and provide a bridge of communication between China and other countries.

First, this paper discusses the characteristics and the special cultural meanings of characters’ names in Journey to the West, and then on the basis of Jenner’s English version of Journey to the West, the study explores the elements influencing translation of Chinese characters’ names from the perspective of Skopos theory and puts forward several translation skills, including literal translation, transliteration, literal translation plus transliteration, annotation and free translation. The author wishes to provide a beneficial perspective for translating characters’ names in literature.

Keywords:  Skopos theory  characters’ names translation  Journey to the West

Contents

Acknowledgments I

Abstract II

摘要 III

Chapter One Introduction 1

1.1 Background and Significance of the Study 1

1.2 The Layout of the Thesis 1

Chapter Two Literature Review 3

2.1 Introduction to Skopos Theory 3

2.2 Previous Studies on the Translation of Journey to the West 3

Chapter Three Application of Skopos Theory in the Translation of Characters’ Names in Journey to the West 5

3.1 Elements Influencing Translation of Chinese Characters’ Names 5

3.1.1 Linguistic Elements 5

3.1.2 Cultural Elements 5

3.1.3 Elements of Translator 6

3.2 Guiding Rules in Translation 6

3.2.1 Skopos Rule 6

3.2.2 Coherence Rule 7

3.2.3 Fidelity Rule 7

3.3 Translation Skills 7

3.3.1 Literal Translation 7

3.3.2 Transliteration 8

3.3.3 Literal Translation plus Transliteration 8

3.3.4 Annotation 9

3.3.5 Free Translation 9

Chapter Four Conclusion 11

References 12