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This paper is to investigate the process of a translation
that anticipates performance, stressing the pragmatic dimension.
Since within the field of literature translation, less time has
been devoted to investigating the problems of translating
dramatic text than any other literary mode. Yu Kuang-chung''s
translation of Wilde''s An Ideal Husband is chosen for its
relevancy. Yu has claimed that he wished to translate this play
for the theatre, and there is indeed a production based on Yu''s
translationwhich I will adopt in this thesis. In the first
Chapter, I attempt to clarify the question of equi- valence and
to expand the definition of theatre translation by including two
elements--the performance and the audience--which have a
position no less important than that of the source text.There is
another suggestion in Chapter Two: I see the translation of
theatre as a literary work, not merely a form of technical prac-
tice. I shall adopt Pavis'' suggestion that we must examine the
"artistic totality" of the translation as the basis for my
evalu-ation. Finally, in the conclusion, I suggest that we may
see Yu''stranslation as the result of a spiritual communication
between Yuand Wilde. Yu is so familiar with and fond of the
Wildean stylethat he intends to mimic it by way of his profound
knowledge and creative talent in the Chinese language.
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