Abstract

Nowadays, more and more importance has been attached to the problem of children’s education. As important reading materials for children to achieve literary knowledge and also to broaden their horizons，translated children’s literature plays an important role in the development of children’s language．Apart from its function of entertainment, children’s literature also bears the responsibility to educate, inform and inspire children. This has helped to increase people’s awareness of improving their quality.

-Published in 1896, Captains Courageous, written by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), the youngest Nobel Prize winner, is one of the most representative works in children’s literature. It has influenced children from generation to generation. However, when this kind of children’s literature is translated from its source language to the target language, it may negatively affect children’s understanding due to its inappropriate translation.

According to Skopos Theory, the priority of children’s literature translation is to maintain or obtain the function of children’s language in children’s literature. The theory has three main rules: Skopos Rule, Coherence Rule and Fidelity Rule. In this thesis, with the guidance of the three rules of Skopos Theory, the author analyzes features of the three Chinese versions of Captains Courageous, including characteristics of children’s language, children’s literature and translation of children’s literature. Also, the author compares and contrasts the three Chinese versions by analyzing the translational problems regarding children’s language, and finally offers some translation techniques.

Based on the analysis, the author concludes that some English to Chinese translations of Captains Courageous have problems on linguistic, pragmatic, and cultural levels due to their failures in attaining textual functions. On the linguistic level, some English words are mistranslated. On the pragmatic level, some information that only makes sense in English is translated only superficially into Chinese, which is obscure and misleading. Besides, some information that seems necessary in Chinese-version Captain Courageous for Chinese children are missing. On the cultural level, some words are translated improperly. 

Key Words: Skopos theory, translation of children’s literature, translation, children’s language, Captains Courageous

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Chapter One Introduction-2

1.1-Research Background-2

1.2 The Purpose of Research-2

1.3-Research Methodology-3

1.4 Research Questions-3

1.5 Thesis Structure-4

Chapter Two Literature Review-5

2.1 Previous Studies on the Skopos Theory-5

2.1.1 The Origin of the Skopos Theory-5

2.1.2 Achievements by Other Scholars-6

2.2 Previous Studies on Captains Courageous-7

2.2.1 Overview of the Writer-7

2.2.2 Overview of the Novel-8

2.3 Previous Studies on My research-8

2.3.1 Studies on Children’s Language-8

2.3.2 Evaluation-9

Chapter Three Theoretical Framework-11

3.1 Academic Sources of Skopos Theory-11

3.2 Three Basic Rules of Skopos Theory-13

3.2.1 Skopos Rule-14

3.2.2 Coherence Rule-15

3.2.3 Fidelity Rule-15

3.3 Feasibility of Skopos Theory to Children’s Literature Translation-17

Chapter Four Children’s Literature Translation from the Perspective of Skopos Theory-18

4.1 A Brief Introduction of Captains Courageous-18

4.2 Characteristics of Children’s Language and Children’s Literature Translation-18

4.2.1 Characteristics of Children’s Literature-18

4.2.2 Characteristics of Children’s Language-19

4.2.3 Characteristics of Children’s Literature Translation-20

4.2.4 Characteristics of the Children’s Language in the Novel-20

4.3 An Analysis of Children’s Language Translation of the Novel from Skopos Theory-21

4.3.1 An Analysis of Skopos Rule in the translation of Captains Courageous-21

4.3.2 An Analysis of Coherence in the Translation of Captains Courageous-22

4.3.3 An analysis of Fidelity in the Translation of Captains Courageous-23

4.4 Strategies in the Translation of Captains Courageous-24

Chapter Five Conclusion-26

5.1 Research Findings-26

5.2 Limitations of Research-26

5.3 Suggestions for Future Studies-27

References-28

文献综述报告-30