Teahouse is a short play of only three acts, but the three acts successfully show us a panoramic and vivid picture of the change of all the characters’ life。 The play spans fifty years and has a cast of over sixty characters drawn from all levels of society。 Finished in 1957, Teahouse bids an inspired and resolute farewell to old society, despite some evils and ills, and extends a passionate welcome to the new society with its promise of freedom and equality of the people。 For its writer, China and its time, it’s a masterpiece of modern theater。 It has many English versions, such as by Ying Ruocheng, a distinguished Chinese actor and translator, and by Huo Hua, a Canadian, fond of Chinese literature。 Different backgrounds, different modes of thinking all affect the Teahouse’s translation。 This thesis will discuss drama translation by comparing the two English versions of Teahouse from the angle of translator’s subjective initiative, and explore the influence upon two versions。 

2。 Literature Review

2。1 The backgrounds of the generation of the translator’s subjectivity

In the ancient west, the social status of translators was very low。 They were usually compared to servants or dancers with fetters。 In 1960s, the feminist translation theory, manipulation theory, deconstruction and Skopos theory developed rapidly, greatly improving the status of the translator and promoting the translator’s transition from servant to master。 Furthermore, since 1970s the western philosophy of “pragmatic turn” and in 1990s the “cultural turn” in translation studies, the range of translation studies was largely expanded。 Scholars of translation subjectivity in western translation field attached much more attention to them。 Translation studies experienced a change from “language to culture then to people”, achieving a jump from object to subject, from a unitary to multielement。 论文网

Every translation theory has been constantly breaking through its traditional one, then pursuing its perfection。 The feminist translation theory holds that the translator does not change the original, but lasts the life of the original。 So the key task depends on the translator。 It is the translator’s continuous subjective initiative that brings new life to the new translation; The manipulation theory pays attention to considering the cultural perspective of the language during translation course。 So the translator is given the power to manipulate the text, better describing the two cultures represented in two languages; Deconstruction stresses equal status between the translator and the original author in the translation process; Skopos theory focuses on the analysis of all the participants in the process of translation, and views the translator as the most important role in translation chain, which highlights the role of the translator。 All these breakthroughs bring new life to translation researches and cause wide attention around the world。 Scholars in the translation practice emphasize the translators’ importance, giving full play to their subjective initiative。 

2。2 The connotation of translator’s subjectivity 

Subjectivity refers the subjective initiative of human beings, mainly covering the practical ability and creativity。 The translator’s subjectivity refers that the translator consciously displays his subjective initiative in the translation practice, overcoming his passivity, and ultimately achieves his own purpose。 It embodies the translator’s autonomy and purpose and creativity (Liu 2)。 The subjectivity of the translator is to show the nature of the translator in the process of translation, that is to say, the translator displays his nature in the active operation, interpretation and presentation of the source text, choosing appropriate translation strategies and techniques and so on (Chen 1)。 Translators’ subjectivity means that to realize the goal of translation, the translator, as the subject of translation, plays subjective initiative under the premise of respecting the original。 Its basic feature is that the translator himself has his own cultural awareness, cultural character and aesthetic creativity (Cha 22)。