目的论视角下《夏洛特的网》两个汉译本的比较分析

A Comparative Analysis of Two Chinese Versions of Charlotte’s Web from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

Abstract

This paper aims to apply the Skopos Theory on the translation of children's literature in order to investigate which translation skills or strategies of foreign children's literature cater for the needs of Chinese children. Methodically, based on the Skopos Theory, the author compares and analyzes, in this paper, the two different translations of Charlotte's Web by Kang Xin and Ren Rongrong, at lexical, syntactic and rhetorical levels. Thus, the problems existing in the translation of children’s literature can be revealed, and feasible skills and strategies can be proposed to improve the translation of child literature.

Structurally, this paper is divided into four parts: the first part introduces the rise, definition, principles and representative theorists of Skopos Theory. The second part is the introduction to the definition and the characteristics of children's literature. The third part conducts a comparative analysis of the two translation versions at lexical, syntactic and rhetoric levels. Based on the above analyses, the last part discusses the translation skills and strategies that can be drawn from the above comparative analysis, such as domestication and foreignization with annotation for children's literature translation.

In conclusion, through the comparison and analysis of the two Chinese translations of Charlotte's Web, this paper points that Ren’s translation version is guided by the Skopos Theory, and it more accurately reproduces the style of the original text, and conforms to children's reading comprehension ability and reading interest. 

Key words: Skopos Theory; translation of children’s literature; Charlotte’s Web