A Study on the Translation of Words in Zhang Peiji's English Translation of Modern Chinese Prose under the Guidance of Skopos Theory

Abstract

: Prose, as a literary type, possesses an irreplaceable position in both Chinese and western literary works. Chinese prose has attracted numerous literary experts who devote themselves to the spread of it. As an outstanding translator in China, Zhang Peiji spent most of his life devoting to Chinese-English prose translation and theoretical research. His four-volume Selected Modern Chinese Essays has been well received by translation learners and foreign scholars for its clever use of words, vivid language and expressive force. Since the translation version was published, many scholars have researched it from the various aspects, but their researches generally start from the textual level and the sentence level. The study of vocabulary is not deep enough. They do not systematically explore the translation features of words of Zhang Peiji’ s prose translation, and researches are still not in-depth enough in terms of the analysis of translation skills. Word translation has a great relationship with the improvement of the quality of the translation version. Therefore, this paper, based on the three principles of Skopos Theory of Translation proposed by Vermeer, studied the translation of words in Zhang Peiji’ s Selected Modern Chinese Essays and the translation techniques used in them, and analyzed the translation purpose and effect the translation has realized. The study shows that the three principles of Skopos theory have practical significance in guiding the translation practice of words in prose. At the same time, different translation skills need to be chosen in translating words to achieve the translation purpose that the translator wants to achieve, which can be used as a reference for Chinese prose translation and beneficial to the spread of Chinese culture.