2. Drama and Drama Translation
2.1 Definition of Drama
    In Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms, drama is defined as:
The general term for performances in which actors impersonate the actions and speech of fictional or historical characters (or non-human entities) for the entertainment of an audience, either on a stage or by means of a broadcast; or a particular example of this art, i.e., a play … Drama is a major genre of literature. (Baldick 2000:61)
    Additionally, Wikipedia entry includes great information as well as some useful essays. Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. (Elam 2002) The term comes from a Greek word meaning “action”, which is derived from “to do”. A drama, as distinguished from a lyric, is not primarily a composition in the verbal medium; the words result, as one might put it, from the underlying structure of an incident and a character.
Drama can be classified according to its different styles, contents and ages, into such as musical drama, opera drama, history drama and realistic drama. For example, the drama in opera is generally sung throughout; musicals generally include both spoken dialogues and songs; and some forms of drama have incidental music or musical accompaniment underscoring the dialogue. 论戏剧翻译的可表演性原则以《茶馆》两英译本为例(3):http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_18843.html