| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣科技大學 === 應用外語系 === 102 === Mary’s Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is one of the most famous works of science fiction and an extraordinary English Romantic novel. However, the novel is more than a mere horror story or science fiction. Rather it is heavily influenced by the central tenets of English Romantic literature, that is, the sanctification of Romantic imagination and the inseparable bond between man and nature. By portraying the obsessed scientist Frankenstein and the Creature he created, Mary Shelley is tackling the issue of how man should pursue and apply scientific knowledge; meanwhile, she is also reminding people that man should live in harmony with nature and that tragedy will strike when the powerful imagination is abused and runs amok.
This thesis contains five chapters. Chapter One describes the motivation and purpose of the study. Chapter Two gives a brief introduction of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein. In Chapter Three, some studies related to Frankenstein and translation are reviewed. Chapter Four focuses on the comparison of three Chinese translations of Frankenstein, including the translation strategies adopted by the three translators and some problematic passages. In Chapter Five, a conclusion is given to summarize the findings of the research.
This study compares three Chinese translations of Frankenstein. In the study, Peter Newmark’s translation studies and Vermeer’s “skopos theory” were used to explore the translation strategies and methods adopted by the translators; some translation problems spotted in these translation versions were discussed as well, with possible solutions to these problems suggested. The results of the study indicate that the difference between the target readership of the three translations and the publishing companies’ varying orientation towards the entertaining and literary value of the novel had an influence on the strategy and method choice of the translators. The findings conform to Vermeer’s theory that the “purpose” of the translation is a vital factor that can determine how a translator conducts his/her translation task. In addition, the results of the research also reveal the importance of “context” and “culture” in literary translation. All these factors, if contemplated thoroughly by the translator, can help the translator produce a translation of high quality.
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