Ying Ruocheng_theatre translation 英若成剧场翻译.pdf

traduction littéraire literary translation • collection unesco d œuvres représentatives ’ unesco collection of representative works A translator on the target stage Ying Ruocheng’s theatre translation* Ren Xiaofei, Feng Qinghua, and Wang Nan Jiangsu University/Shanghai International Studies University/ City University of Hong Kong 1. Introduction 1.1. Who is responsible for performability: problems peculiar to theatre translation Theatre translation is gaining recognition with the development of globalization at the turn of the new century. More and more scholars are becoming concerned with the nature of theatre translation, such as Susan Bassnett (1978, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1998), Patrice Pavis (1989, 1992, 1997), Kruger (1986, 2004), Nikolarea (2002), Aaltonen (1996, 2000), to mention just a few. Through various perspec- tives, semiotic, cultural and theatrical, most of them agree that theatre transla- tion is peculiar with its own rules. According to Pavis (1989: 25), we cannot simply translate a text linguistically; rather we confront and communicate heterogeneous cultures and situations of enunciation that are separated in space and time. He quotes George Mounin when he tells the difference: “A playable theatre transla- tion is the product, not of linguistic, but rather of a dramaturgical act… one would translate the language well enough, without translating the play”(ibid: 28). Ismail * The research is sponsored by “Qinglan Project” of Jiangsu Province and the Philosophic and Social Sciences Fund for Universities in Jiangsu Province (095JB740006) and the Talent Fund of Jiangsu University (09JDG053) and the Humanities and Social Sciences Fund of the Minis- try of Education, China (09YJA740055) and National Social Sciences Fund, China (10BYY007).