A study of drama translation from the perspective of feminist translation -- A case study of The Romance of the Western Bower

Abstract

The theory of female translation originated from the western feminist movement. This theory regards translation as a political activity, pays more attention to the translator’s subjectivity and creativity in the process of translation, and tries to promote the spread of feminism through translation. This paper explores the specific application and limitations of feminist translation theory in practice through the study of the English translation of The Romance of the Western Bower(a classical Chinese literature written by Wang Shifu). According to comparative studies, female translators are generally more likely than male translators to pay attention to how female roles are portrayed in the target text and to use certain translation techniques to lessen the prejudice against female roles in the source text and attempt to balance out the gender differences. From the perspective of feminist translation theory, this paper also reveals the influence of the social background centered on male discourse power on women’s lives in ancient China.