In a manner of speaking, Skopostheorie is made up of the three basic principles。 However, while arranged in hierarchical order, they are not equal。 That is to say, skopos rule takes dominant place in the whole。 The coherence rule takes the second place and the fidelity rule, the third。 

4。 Comparative Study of Two Versions

4。1 Different translation strategies 

Different styles and effects of the two versions depend on different translation strategies, and how to choose translation strategies depends on different purposes or skopos of translation。 The Yang’s couple adopts foreignization method which means the main translation method is literal translation。 As they have in-depth knowledge on Chinese culture, their version almost reproduces the original text。 Yang Xianyi has always thought that translation is supposed to be a window which links the interactions and dialogues between oriental and occidental cultures。 He holds that the version should be loyal to the image in the original text and at the same time keep its exotic atmosphere。 Throughout his version, he uses many foot notations to supplement the cultural information。 Julia Lovell has studied Chinese literature in Nanjing since 1997; she later became a profound professor of Chinese literature in London University。 Overall, Lovell’s version combines freely literal translation with free translation。 Julia Lovell always takes the readers and their perceptions into consideration, she uses domestication method to imitate, replace and rewrite some contents of the source text。 Not a single annotation can be found in her version。 Lovell thinks that annotation would distract the readers’ attention and affect their interests。

4。2 Different translation styles文献综述

Apparent differences exist in translation styles between the two versions。 As to the style of language, the Yang’s couple prefers to use literal translation and emphasizes on the equivalence of expressions。 So the Yang’s couple tries their best to make their version loyal to the original text as much as possible。 However, just because of this, when translated into the target text, the essence and elasticity of the source text will lapse to some extent。 On the contrary, Lovell lays more emphasis on the functional equivalence of the language。 Yang’s version respects the original style, he is skilled in the use of words and short sentences, which is more close to the style and interpretation of the original text and meet the English language habits。 In the Lovell’s version, she uses lots of long and complicated sentences which English-spoken people like to employ in formal writings。 Besides, Lovell chooses words more freely, which makes her version much longer than Yang’s version。

From the above, we are aware that whether to use domestication or foreignization is a very complicated matter。 On one hand, they have differences in language styles and cultural connotation。 On the other hand, they have differences in holistic strategies and specific methods。 So it is impossible to use only one translation method throughout the translation process。 In this thesis, I will compare two versions of Ah Q Zheng Zhuan from the perspective of Skopostheorie to discuss why the translators choose different translation strategies, which translation method is better in certain context, and if they use the only one translation strategy in their versions。