Perspectives

ISSN: 0907-676X (Print) 1747-6623 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rmps20

Drama language translation

Jianzhong Xu & Bo Cui

To cite this article: Jianzhong Xu & Bo Cui (2011) Drama language translation, Perspectives,
19:1, 45-57, DOI: 10.1080/0907676X.2010.490301

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 Perspectives: Studies in Translatology
Vol. 19, No. 1, March 2011, 45
57

Drama language translation

Jianzhong Xu* and Bo Cui

College of Foreign Languages, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300191, China

(Received 13 December 2008; final version received 27 March 2010)

Limited scholarly attention has been paid to drama translation mainly because of
the duality of the dramatic text: both a literary art and a theatrical art. Dramatic
text is the foundation of the stage performance, through which its value can be
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completely achieved. Its particularity lies in its purposes primarily for stage,
and then for page. On the basis of functional equivalence proposed by Eugene
A. Nida, Jin Di proposes his equivalent effect in translation. Guided by his
principle and with an analysis of the two English versions of Teahouse, this thesis
attempts to discover better ways to realize the equivalent effect of drama language
and achieve the theatrical effectiveness of the text in the target theatrical
convention so as to be accepted by the target-language audience.
Keywords: applied translation; cultural markers; equivalence

Introduction
Drama is a very special and distinctive branch of literature. According to the Big
Chinese encyclopedia, drama is a comprehensive art form defined in two ways. In the
narrow sense, it refers to a type of performing art originated from the ancient Greek
tragedies and comedies, developed in the European countries and now being popular
around the world. And it is called huaju (talking play) in China. In the broad sense it
includes some traditional forms of stage performance in some Oriental countries, like
xiqu (the theatre) in China, kabuki in Japan, sanskrit theatre in India, etc. (Big
Chinese encyclopedia, 1997, p. 5257). Drama in this article refers to its narrow sense.
Drama can be classified in accordance with various criteria, but the dramatic texts
discussed in this article refer to the drama performed on the stage.
Generally speaking, dramatic texts are mainly composed of two basic parts: stage
direction and dramatic dialogue. There is no doubt that drama dialogue is the main
body of a dramatic text, so it should be responsible for developing the plot, revealing
the theme and creating vivid characters.
Although it is of significance, dramatic text translation has long been regarded as
one of the most rigid types of translation due to its peculiarity as a very specific
literary genre, as stated by Susan Bassnett: Whilst it seems that the bulk of genre-
focused translation study involves the specific problem of translating poetry, it is also
quite clear that theatre is one of the most neglected areas. There is very little material
on the special problems of translating dramatic text . . . (Bassnett, 2004, p. 119).
What makes drama translation unique? Drama is characterized by its collective work

*Corresponding author. Email: jianzhong_xu@163.com

ISSN 0907-676X print/ISSN 1747-6623 online

# 2011 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/0907676X.2010.490301
http://www.informaworld.com
 46 J. Xu and B. Cui

of all its participants, namely, the audience, the actors and actresses, the director, the
playwright and the production team such as lighting and costume designers. In
addition to its collectivity, drama is different from other literary genres due to its
dualistic nature as both a literary art and a theatrical art. It is well known that most
dramatic texts are written to be performed. In order to realize the purpose of staging
the dramatic text, the translator needs to take into consideration not only the actors
performance on the stage but also the audiences response.
In spite of the difficulties confronted in drama translation, the circles of
translation studies are putting increasing emphasis on them; however, when
encountering these difficulties, translators become ineffective in guiding drama
translation, evaluating the translation, and justifying their initiatives. A theory,
therefore, is needed to compensate for this ineffectiveness. In dealing with the
difficulties, the following issues must be considered. What is the peculiarity of the
drama text? What should be the focal point in the drama text and its translation?
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What theory can account for the strategies adopted by translators? And how is the
translation evaluated?
The concept of equivalence has long been an important criterion in translation
studies. It is the equivalence between the source text and target text, which is judged
by the equivalent reaction between the source receptor and the target receptor. This
article will adopt Jin Dis principle of equivalent effect in translation of drama
language by comparing the two English versions of the Chinese play (Cha Guan,
or Teahouse).

The principle of equivalence effect

It is generally accepted that it is R. Jakobson who makes a scientific analysis
of equivalence and points out its importance
Equivalence in difference is
the cardinal problem of language and the pivotal concern of linguistics (1959,
p. 233). J.C. Catford, in his A linguistic theory of translation, defines translation as
the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual
material in another language (TL) (1965, p. 20), which is the origin of a textual
equivalent. Baker declares that the key point of equivalence is no longer how
equivalence might be achieved but, increasingly, to what degree it can be achieved
and in what contexts it has been achieved (Baker, 2000, p. 236). The most widespread
and influential theory of equivalence is, however, the theory of dynamic
equivalence or functional equivalence put forward by Eugene A. Nida, who lays
great emphasis on the response of the receptor. Nida clarifies the definition of
functional equivalence into a minimal and a maximal one. A minimal, realistic
definition of functional equivalence could be stated as the readers of a translated
text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the
original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it (Nida, 1993,
p. 118). A maximal, ideal definition could be stated as the readers of a translated
text should be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as
the original readers did (p. 224).
Nidas translation theory was introduced to China in the 1980s. Jin Di basically
adapts Nidas principle, but he thinks that Nida put too much emphasis on target
readers response, which is suitable for religious, particularly missionary, purposes,
so he made some adjustments in order to suit the requirements of literary
translation. To Jin, only the main spirit, concrete facts, and artistic imagery of
 Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 47

the original text are faithfully regenerated in order to achieve an equivalent effect. He
admitted that it was not always possible for the translator to produce the three at the
same time, and argued that necessary semantic adjustments should be made on
condition that the main spirit of the original was better represented in the translation
(Jin, 1998, p. 20). Here effect refers to something different in the light of different
genres. For drama, artistic conception may be the most important factor of effect
(p. 18). The differences between the two are that Jin attaches more importance to the
original text and tends to be a literal translator, and Nida fails to address the issue of
transference of aesthetic elements.
Drama translation is a comprehensive and complex one because the translator
has to deal with several relationships at the same time: the source text and the target
text, the target text and the target performance, the target text and the target
audience, the impact on the source-language (SL) audience and the impact on the
target-language (TL) audience, and the performers performance and the TL
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audience. Besides, the translator has to consider the whole environment of the
theater (or other places where the drama may be presented). What the drama
translator needs to do is to balance these relationships and take the whole
environment into consideration in order to achieve the closest effect possible to
the original text.

Features of drama language

Drama language in a narrow sense can be generally divided into two categories:
dialogue and stage directions. Although some stage directions may run to several
pages and reveal much information about the development of the plot and
background of the characters, generally speaking they only account for a small
percentage in the whole drama-language and play a less significant role in the play
than the dialogue does. Dialogue, the main body of the play, is only language uttered
on the stage. Drama dialogue is the direct medium of the playwright to convey
information to the audience. Therefore, the dialogue is the focus of this thesis. Being
the main content of drama, dramatic dialogue should be performable; it is more than
the verbal interaction between characters and it shoulders the responsibility of
developing plot, revealing theme, creating vivid characters, etc.
Drama language plays a special role as the main channel for performers to
communicate with audiences. Due to the nature of the language, drama has its own
features, of which the major ones are as follows.

Intelligibility
Since the language of a drama aims at the audience and has the quality of
simultaneity, the expressions employed should be easy to understand immediately.
Compared with the language of other literary genres, intelligibility of drama is
perhaps more conspicuous because of its potential theatrical performance
quality. Therefore, the intelligibility of modern or contemporary theatre performance
shows preference for informal words and slang when playwrights make their
choices. Simple or incomplete sentences are usually a large proportion in drama
language.
 48 J. Xu and B. Cui

Brevity
In his Hamlet, Shakespeare wrote that brevity is the soul of wit. To a large extent, it
is also the soul of drama. The performance of a drama usually lasts for about two or
three hours. In such a short period, there is no time for the abundance of irrelevant
details which most of us use in our daily lives, unless they are intended for a special
dramatic effect. In drama performance, each unit of time
second, minute, or
whatever
is at a premium. Any dramatist measures dialogue by split seconds. How
long a person speaks can be as important as what he says (Bentley, 1996, p. 80).
Time has become an essential factor for the playwright to consider, so he/she has to
compact much information into a few lines of dialogue and sometimes the dialogue is
even condensed to some extent.

Characterization
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The plot of drama is driven by charactersdialogues. The characters have different ways
of behaving, thinking, expressing, and talking. So the most important device of the
playwright to portray the characters personalities is the dialogue. Characterization
of speech is defined as the features of an individuals disposition demonstrated in
ones speech, which are based on ones identity, experience, profession, interest,
education, etc. and compatible with the specific situation, personal relationship of the
interlocutors and the specific time (Liu Qingzhen, 1995, p. 48). As Boulton says: an
important aspect of dialogue is the differentiation of the speech of individuals. Every
speech, at least is characteristic of the speaker (Boulton, 1960, p. 108).

Actability
Actability requires that the drama language be dynamic. Speech is one form of
action. Another is gestures and movements of the characters. The former is an
important part of dramatic action. In a drama, performers lines not only describe
the story or expressions of feelings and attitude but also convey actions. To the end
that the characters should leap and become living and self-propelled from the written
pages, it is necessary for the dramatist to find the word that shall be the action itself
spoken, the living word that can move, the immediate expression, connatural with
the act (Bentley, 1996, p. 98).

Musicality
Musicality is generally acknowledged as characteristic of drama language;
playwrights, therefore, often take advantage of various devices to make the language
sound more interesting or entertaining than it would otherwise be.

A case study: two English versions of Teahouse

This section associates the features of drama language one by one with the three
terms that Jin Di thinks are the most important concepts in his theory. Arguments in
this section are mainly supported by an analysis of two English versions of the
Chinese play Teahouse. The case study exemplifies the theory rather than making a
judgment as to which analysis is the better one.
 Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 49

Lao She, a prolific writer who tried his hand at different forms of literature such
as the novel, short story, play, essay and poetry, is known for his vivid portrayal of
characters as well as his biting and lively use of language. He enjoys great prestige in
China and has been honored with titles like Peoples Artist and a Great Master of
Chinese Language. Translated into dozens of languages, his works have been warmly
acclaimed by readers both at home and abroad. His language is noted for its
conciseness and liveliness, which comes from his skillful use of the local dialect of
Beijing. In the history of modern Chinese literature, few writers can stand the test of
time; Lao She, however, is one whose significance and value increase as time passes.
Lao She, whose real name was Shu Qingchun, was a Manchu who was born in
Beijing in 1899 and who died in 1966. As a contemporary writer renowned for his
brilliant literary creation, he produced 23 plays as well as many songs and ballads in
praise of New China, such as Long Xu Gou (Dragon Beard Ditch), Chun Hua Qiu Shi
(Spring Flowers and Autumn Fruit), Fang Zhen Zhu (Our Heroine Fang Zhenzhu), and
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Cha Guan (Teahouse). Most of his works draw materials from the lives and feelings of
the common people in old Beijing, with which he is very familiar and for which he
expressed great love. In most of his novels and plays, he ruthlessly exposed and
condemned the social evils and injustices of the old society, such as how the Qing
Dynasty (1936
1912) was rotten to the core, how the people lived and died miserably
under the semi-feudal and semi-colonial conditions, and how they rose in rebellion
against the reactionaries. Besides his exposures and condemnations, Lao She showed
great sympathy for the sad plight of the common, the poor and the oppressed and
deep admiration for their courage. He displayed great skills in creating the exact
words and actions of his characters in their positions and in the given environment,
and in the successful use of irony or obvious exaggeration to achieve the penetrating
effect of his satire and strong sense of humor. His writing style is not only easy,
colloquial and amiable, but also vivid and vigorous.
The three-act play Teahouse, written in 1957, is Lao Shes first play put on stage
and introduced abroad. Regarded as his best work, it is respected as the summit of
realism in Chinese dramatic history. Through the events taking place in Yu Tai
Teahouse, he describes directly and indirectly the changes of the fate of people from
the upper class to the lower class, such as the fates of the Teahouse manager Wang
Lifa, the enthusiastic advocator of national industrialization Qin Zhongyi, the
upright Bannerman Master Chang, the poor peasant Kang Shunzi, the fortune-teller,
the butcher, and the broker, etc., in order to reveal the social and historical trends in
the first half of the twentieth century in China. The play begins in 1898 just after the
failure of the Reform Movement, the revolutionary or reform movements initiated by
Kang Youwei (1858
1927) and Liang Qichao (1873
1929), which aimed at
extricating China from her semi-colonial and semi-feudal state, and then proceeds
through the early Republican period (1911
1949), ending in the period of the
Peoples Republic after the victory in the Anti-Japanese War (1937
1945). During
the darkest 50 years in the history of modern China, people from all walks of life
wander in and out of the Teahouse
a microcosm of society, bringing with them
their accounts of what is happening to them and their opinions of the happenings.
Although the play is made up of 30,000 words, it depicts more than 50 characters
and records the social changes in the 50-year history, which exposes social evils to the
utmost, and points out the ebbing of the old world. It is, therefore, regarded as a
work ready to be buried three times. This work, due to the strong and abridged
sense of history, the vividness and amiability of characters, and the clarity and
 50 J. Xu and B. Cui

individuality of conversations among characters, has not only been greatly honored
by both Chinese literary and art circles and ordinary Chinese audiences but has also
gained international reputation through translation and performances.
Until now, there have been two famous non-abridged English renderings of
Teahouse. One was translated by Ying Ruocheng and the other by John Howard-
Gibbon. The latter, a Canadian whose Chinese name is Huo Hua, has worked in
China for many years, and currently is a copy editor for China Daily in Beijing.
As a translator, he knows Chinese and Chinese culture very well and would like
to spread Chinese culture abroad through his translations. He has translated
many Chinese literary works, one of which is Lao Shes Teahouse, which was
published by the Foreign Languages Press in 1980. Ying Ruocheng, an actor,
director and translator in China, joined the cast for the premieres of many of the
troupes repertoire, including that of Teahouse, in which he portrayed two pimps,
old Liu Mazi and young Liu Mazi. In 1979, the Beijing Peoples Artistic
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Theatrical Group was invited to stage Teahouse in Germany, France, and

Switzerland, so Ying Ruocheng was in charge of the translation for these
performances. Thanks to Yings great effort, the Beijing Peoples Artistic
Theatrical Group completed a successful tour of Europe in 1980. After the
tour, Teahouse was acclaimed by westerners as a wonder of Oriental stagecraft. As
Ying Ruocheng himself said in the preface of his translation of Teahouse, the
major reason for him to translate some famous dramas again is that the existing
versions are not so appropriate for performance (Ying Ruochengs translation,
1999, p. 1). He put emphasis on achieving the immediate effects of language
(p. 4). The translation principle of dramatic texts Ying has advocated is to
provide a translation that can be understood and appreciated by the TL reader
or audience to the extent that the original reader or audience responded to the
SL text.
Generally speaking, neither of the two versions is intended to be read only. Both
translators intend their translation for performance. The following will focus on the
comparative analyses of the two English versions translated respectively by Ying
Ruocheng and John Howard-Gibbon in the perspective of the equivalent effect of
drama language.

To achieve the effect of intelligibility

Dramatic language is characterized by its intelligibility. Teahouse, though a short
play consisting of only three acts, involves over 70 characters from all walks of life.
There are soldiers, policemen, police agents, soothsayers, peasants, teachers, etc. The
speeches of these different characters share one common feature: colloquialism.
Colloquial language helps to save the audiences effort in overcoming comprehension
difficulties caused by the unrepeatable nature of stage performance. In Teahouse, the
colloquialism of the characters language is the most obvious style of the author;
therefore, in order to achieve an equivalent effect in the target language, the drama
translator should recreate the colloquial style of drama language. In the translation
of such a masterpiece as Teahouse, it is a great challenge for the translator to render
the colloquial Chinese into colloquial English. Now let us look at the different
treatments of the original colloquial language in their translations.
 Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 51

Fourth Customer: Still thats better than nothing! A dogs lifes better than no life. If
I were to earn my own living, Id surely starve. (Yings version, 1999, p. 44)
Fourth Customer: But its better than losing everything. Id sooner live in poverty than
die in style. Theres no way I could survive if I had to make my own living. (Howard-
Gibbons version, 2001, p. 50)

In Teahouse, Lao She uses many colloquial, idiomatic Chinese set phrases which
are concise but meaningful and expressive, thus making it difficult to represent them
in English. The set phrase (hao si bu ru lai huo zhe), which is defined as
even a good death is not like a wretched existence in A Chinese
English dictionary,
is rendered into Id sooner live in poverty than die in style in Howard-Gibbons
version and A dogs lifes better than no life in Ying Ruochengs version. Comparing
the two versions, we may find that even though both are quite faithful, the former is
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much closer to the original because it retains the sharp contrast between the two
ways of living or, to be more exact, between the way of living and the way of dying,
while with no life in the latter, one cannot adequately express the original meaning
of (lai huo zhe). But Yings translation sounds more colloquial and closer to
our daily conversation.

Wu Xiangzi: Deserters, right? Trying to hide in Beijing, with a few silver dollars in your
pocket, right? When the money runs out, become bandits, right? (Yings version, 1999,
p. 122)
Wu Xiangzi: Youre deserters. Right? Youve scrapped a few silver dollars, and you want
to hole up in Beijing. Right? If youve got money, you hole up; if you havent, you turn
to banditry. Right? (Howard-Gibbons version, 2001, p. 125)

In the original text, Lao She makes Wu Xiangzi speak a series of short, elliptical
sentences to show his aggressive attitude and complacent tone. The simple and
incomplete sentence is a main characteristic of colloquial language. When translating
these lines, Ying Ruocheng also uses many short, elliptical sentences, but Howard-
Gibbons version adds seven you(s) making all the sentences complete. So critical
readers will find Howard-Gibbons version less effective than Yings.

To achieve the effect of brevity

A play usually lasts only for two or three hours. During the time, plots will be
developed, conflicts will be brought to a climax, and characters will be created, so
there will be no time for the many trivialities, tactful hesitation, reticence and
circumlocutions that we use in daily life, unless they are intended for special dramatic
effect. Yet brevity does not mean allowing the playwright to neglect clarity. As
Matthews states, every person in a play is supposed to be capable of saying just what
he means the first time of trying, and in the fewest possible words (Matthews, 1910,
p. 137). When translating a play, the translator must, therefore, keep the limited time
and clarity of lines in mind. In addition, the translator must also be aware of the fact
 52 J. Xu and B. Cui

that in a drama performance the rhythm and speed of a line are as important as its
contents, therefore, the rhythm and speed of the source text must be well preserved in
the target text in order to promote the smooth progress of the performance. Only
when the drama translator keeps this feature in mind can the audience get the similar
effect of the source target.
Unlike the dialogues in other literary genres, dramatic dialogues are refined and
processed daily life; hence, the brevity of dramatic language in translation lies in the
number of words used. Stark Young has pointed out how fatal it can be for
translators of a master dramatist to render a short phrase into a long sentence to get
in all the meaning (Bentley, 1996, p. 80). If the language of the original text is very
terse, the target text should not be long; otherwise the beauty and rhythm of the
original text is lost. Here is an example.
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Master Ma: Settle your disputes in a reasonable way. Must you always resort to
fisticuffs? (Yings version, 1999, p. 14)
Fifth Elder Ma: If theres problem, you should settle it in an amiable way. Whats the
point of going around threatening people? (Howard-Gibbons version, 2001, p. 24)

In the latter version, an adverbial clause is used, which makes the sentence
long-winded, while in Yings version there are only two simple sentences, an
imperative and a question. Yings version enables the rhythm of reading to be short
yet powerful; hence, the language of Yings version is more concise.

Wu Xiangzi: A Bannerman turned traitor gets a heavier sentence! Chain him!

Chang: Dont bother! I wont run away!
Song Enzi: Just you try! You come along, too. Tell the truth in court and you wont get
into trouble. (Yings version, 1999, p. 48)
Wu Xiangzi: When a Bannerman turns traitor, the crime is one degree more serious.
Chain him!
Fourth Elder Chang: There is no need to chain me . . . I wont run away.
Song Enzi: You are damn right you wont. And youre coming along too. If you tell the
truth in court well let you go. (Howard-Gibbons version, 2001, pp. 54
55)

Obviously, for the actors on stage, Yings is terse, powerful, and easy to perform.

To achieve the effect of characterization

To make the roles vivid and lifelike, a playwright may employ different means in his/her
creation of various characters, but the most effective one and surely the one that the
translator should consider carefully is the diverse speaking style that helps to
individualize different characters. If the line of a character is not typical and
representative of the group it belongs to, the audience will find it confusing to
distinguish one person from another and will find it difficult to have a connection with
 Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 53

the soul of the character. On the contrary, the successful preservation of speech
characteristics will contribute a lot to the depiction and presentation of the characters
in drama performance. It is suggested that the translator learn from playwrights, trying
to find appropriate ways to characterize the speech and to sharpen the image of
characters. A successful drama translation should make the target audience know what
the characters on stage are like and get a feeling similar to that of the source audience.
As we know, although the original Teahouse is only made up of 30,000 words, it depicts
more than 50 characters. It is of vital importance to create characters from all walks of
life: soldiers, police agents, soothsayers, pimps, underworld bosses, eunuchs, chefs,
teachers, and so on. As a language master, Lao She is known for his talents of
creating one vivid character with one proper sentence (Ying Ruocheng, 1999, p. 6).
Let us see how Ying Ruocheng and Howard-Gibbon present the equivalent effect for
the target audience by highlighting the characterization of speech in Teahouse:
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Kang Liu: I, well, Ill have to talk it over with my daughter.

Pock-Mark Liu: Im telling you, you wont find another chance like this. If you lose it,
dont blame me! Youd better get a move on.
Kang Liu: Yes. Ill be back as soon as I can. (Yings version, 1999, p. 22)
Six-Born Kang: I . . . ah! . . . Ive got to talk it over with my daughter.
Pockface Liu: Im telling you, this is your only chance. If you miss it, dont blame me.
Hurry up.
Six-Born Kang: Ai! Ill be back as soon as I can. (Howard-Gibbons version, 2001, p. 30)

Verschueren maintains that elements at the level of sound structures, such as

intonation, patterns of hesitation, stress, speed and rhythm, provide clues to the
interpretation of utterances (Verschueren, 2000, p. 121). In the above example, Kang
Liu, a poor peasant, is compelled to sell his own daughter to Eunuch Pang. He is very
depressed about it and wants to have a talk with his daughter. Pock-Mark Liu, a
professional pimp, is so vile and venomous that he urges Kang Liu to make a quick
decision. (ai) appears twice in the lines, which vividly demonstrates Kang Lius
cowardly character and his unwillingness to carry out the deal. Howard-Gibbon has
put them into ah and Ai, respectively, which are not appropriate hesitators and do
not convey the intended meanings accurately, thus the audience could hardly
understand Kang Lius complicated feelings within a few seconds of the stage
performance. Ying Ruocheng, however, makes equivalent effect in the light of the
specific context and chooses well and yes to render them respectively, expressing the
mood and character of Kang Liu accurately and achieving the stage effect successfully.

Song: (after sizing up Erdezi) Excuse me, sir, you serve in the Imperial Wrestlers,
dont you? Come, sit down. Lets have a cup of tea together. Were all men of the
world.
Erdezi: Where I serve aint none of your bloody business! (Yings version, 1999)
 54 J. Xu and B. Cui

Second Elder Song: (Sizing up Erdezi) Well, sir, Id guess that youre from Wrestling
Academy, eh? Come on, sit down and have some tea. We are all men of the world.
Erdezi: What I do is none of your business. (Howard-Gibbons version, 2001)

In Teahouse, Erdezi is a snobbish person who is fierce of mien but faint of

heart. As an Imperial Wrestler in the Qing government, he bullies the weak but
fears the strong. He is afraid of those working for foreigners, but Song does not
serve in any foreign institutions. So when Song greets him, he is arrogant, rude
and domineering. The word bloody in Yings version sharpens the vulgar and
truculent disposition of Erdezi, portraying a lifelike and clear-cut image of the
character.

To achieve the effect of actability

Action is an essential element of drama. It means that the lines of the characters
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should reflect their desire, will, and internal conflicts in order to present the
characters inner feelings through external movements and gestures. Ying Ruocheng,
in his preface to the translation of Teahouse, deems that dramatic lines are used not
only to make comments and express feelings but also to imply the requirement or
impulse of action. Sometimes, they are actions by themselves: threatening, striving,
appeasing, warning, making friends, and so on. In a word, the interaction between
characters, the continuous development of plot, and the conflicts of a play are all
reflected in the actability of actors lines. The exceptional translators of dramatic
texts have to keep themselves sensitive to the gestural understructure of language
(Bassnett, 2004, p. 123), not only the physical actions but also the attitudes and
emotions implied in the text. Furthermore, if the target culture has different gestural
patterning from the source culture, the translator is supposed to avoid deviation in
gestural patterning, too. No matter what specific gestural patterning is adopted in
the target text, the translators must achieve the same effect as those in the original
text; that is, they should reproduce the actability of the original text to the target
audience. Here are some examples.

Tang the Oracle: . . . Offer me a cup of tea, and Ill tell your fortune for you. With palm
reading thrown in, it wont cost you a copper! (Without waiting for Wangs consent,
takes hold of his hand) (Yings version, 1999, pp. 10
11)

Soothsayer Tang: . . . Give me a bowl of tea and Ill tell your fortune. Come on, let me see
your palm, wont cost you a cent. (Not waiting for Wangs agreement, takes hold of his
hand) (Howard-Gibbons version, 2001, p. 19)

In the original sentence (shou xiang feng song) implies a gesture of

reading ones palm. Apparently both translators have managed to preserve
faithfully the gestural text contained in the source text. Yings translation With
palm reading thrown in . . . sounds like a stage direction instead of a line, even
though it does indicate the gesture embedded in the language. If we try to
visualize the scene, we will probably find the sentence awkward and redundant
when the actor is taking hold of Wang Lifas hand and reading aloud a stage
direction. On the contrary, Howard-Gibbons translation integrates the words and
 Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 55

gesture into one quite naturally. While reading the sentence Come on, let me see
your palm, a vivid picture of grabbing and observing ones hand occurs to the
audiences mind immediately.

Kang Liu: But Master Liu, please, how could I ever face my daughter again if I sold her
to be the wife of a eunuch? (Yings version, 1999, p. 21)
Six-Born Kang: How could I face my daughter if I sold her to be a eunuchs wife?
(Howard-Gibbons version, 2001, p. 31)

From this example, we find that the gesture of language includes not only the
physical action but also the attitude, emotion, and feelings that accompany the
speech. Kang Liu, a poor peasant who has to sell his daughter to others, is pleading
with Pock-Mark Liu, a malicious professional pimp, not to sell his daughter to a
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eunuch. Both translators use the sentence pattern how could I . . . to indicate Kang
Lius piteous tone of begging for mercy, which proves appropriate; however, by
adding the word please, Ying tactically highlights Kang Lius feeling of despair and
sharpens his pathetic image. Such projection of compassion is significant in drama
performance because it has to arouse the sympathetic response from the audience
instantly.

To achieve the effect of musicality

As a comprehensive art-form, drama takes full advantage of the acoustic features of
language to achieve the appropriate sound effect. The aesthetic value of drama lies
partially in its rhythms. Almost all successful playwrights are conscious of the sound
effects of their plays. They often take advantage of various devices such as parallel
structure, repetitions, alliterations, rhymes, etc., to make the language sound more
entertaining. The rhythm of lines will provide much more room for the actors
performance. In drama translation, the reproduction of acoustic beauty is a big
challenge to the translator because the reproduction of sound effects in drama
language involves the transfer from one phonetic system to the other. This makes it
far more difficult to find an equivalent expression in the target language which
corresponds to the original meaning as well as the phonetic features. So the drama
translator should try to find an effective way to recreate the beauty of the sound
appropriate to the pronunciation in order to achieve an equivalent effect.

Song Enzi: Right. Youll hand in a token of friendship. Thatll save no end of trouble for
both sides.
Wang Lifa: How much is this token of friendship worth?
Wu Xiangzi: As old friends, well leave that to you. Youre a bright fellow. Im sure you
wouldnt want this token of friendship to seem unfriendly, would you? (Yings version,
1999, p. 97)
Song Enzi: Right. Just a little expression of gratitude. Save you time, and save us time.
Wang Lifa: This little expression of gratitude, how much will it come to?
 56 J. Xu and B. Cui

Wu Xiangzi: Were old friends; do as you see fit. You understand these things; you
wouldnt want to turn an expression of gratitude into ingratitude, would you? (Howard-
Gibbons version, 2001, p. 99)

In the original sentence, the repetition of (sheng shi) produces a repetition in

sound. Ying totally abandons the original structure and just renders the sense, but we
find that something gets lost in terms of sound effects; however, Howard-Gibbon
manages to preserve the original repetition of sound by repeating save . . . time. This
repetition makes the line more appropriate for reading and more pleasing to the ears.
In this conversation, (yi si) is of crucial importance in the rendering here, and
what is more, in the latter part we have another use of this word in the phrase
(bu hao yi si), which shows Lao Shes great mastery of the Chinese
language. This is a great challenge for the translator. Howard-Gibbon uses gratitude
and ingratitude in order to achieve an equivalent effect of the original, while Ying
Ruocheng uses friendship and unfriendly. These two versions demonstrate the
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translators profound understanding of the original and the sound effects of drama
language for the target audience.

Li San: I like that. Ordering me here and calling me there! You might as well cut me in
half! (Goes grumpily to the rear) (Yings version, 1999, p. 69)
Third-Born Li: Right. Called for out back, ordered around out front. Why dont you cut
me in two and have done with it? (Exits angrily) (Howard-Gibbons version, 2001, p. 71)

In the strict sense, there is no rhyme in the original sentence. But (hou bian
jiao) and (qian bian cui) are read in the same pace and rhythm and they share
the same pronunciation of the second character (bian), which has created a effect
of parallel sound in Chinese. By comparison, we find that both versions have done a
fairly good job in reproducing in the target language the parallel structure of
pronunciation, especially Yings version. First of all, Ying uses three words to
correspond with the three characters in Chinese, by which the two semantic units
ordering me here and calling me there manage to have the same pace and rhythm
when read aloud. Moreover, the two English phrases share the same word me in the
middle, which is exactly the same with the arrangement in Chinese. Second,
ordering and calling both have -ing endings. Third, here and there are a
commonly contrasted pair, similar in written appearance even though they do not
rhyme. All these contribute greatly to the sound effectiveness of language in the
translation. Obviously the similar efforts have been made by Howard-Gibbon. First,
he rendered them into phrases with four words so that the two phrases have parallel
pace and rhythm in pronunciation. Second, he also adopts words of the same ending,
called and ordered. The version of Howard-Gibbon, however, still deviates a bit
from the original structure. Another difference between the two versions is that Ying
selects -ing participles while Howard-Gibbon uses past tense endings. If we try to
read aloud the two different grammatical endings, we will find that the ending pitch
of the present participle shows the irritable and restless emotion of Li San better
when he complains about being overloaded with work. In sum, both versions have
successfully achieved appropriate sound effects.
 Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 57

Conclusion
By applying the principle of equivalent effect, this thesis makes a tentative
exploration of translating drama language, using examples taken from Cha Guan
and its two English versions. It attempts to demonstrate the significance of
intelligibility, brevity, characterization, actability and musicality in translating
dramas, which not only realizes the equivalent effect of drama language but also
achieves the theatrical effectiveness of the text in the target theatrical convention. Its
purpose is clear: trying to achieve its equivalence effect and making the translated
version not only faithful to the original but also acceptable to the target language
audience.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their deepest thanks to Professor Wally Pretzer of Bowling
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Green State University for his invaluable comments on the draft of this article.

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